Semester winding down

The Fall 2011 Semester at USC is almost over. The mornings in SoCal have a bit of frost. The damaging winds have abated, and I am LOVING seeing so much of my wonderful wife, Tina. Ive been working on "Prospero" from Thomas Ades' "The Tempest. Definitely one of the most challenging roles to date. Also, Don Alfonso for the NYCO Cosi fan Tutte this Spring. I'm M/C and narrator for the Charles Dickens Dinner at the L.A. Millenium Biltmore tomorrow night. A GREAT way to get into the Christmas mood!

NYC Post-Thanksgiving

It seems that NYC is just waiting for winter to come. It's mild weather today, but I can already imagine the streets and sidewalks and cars covered in snow, people bundled up in gloves and scarves. We seem to be in a holding pattern...

Check out my son's movie trailer!

The music in this movie trailer about surfer Jamie O'Brien is my son's band AMERICAN ROYALTY. That's him singing. I really like it. Hope you do too!

Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd is a fantastic role. Following in the footsteps of Len Cariou, George Hearn, Thomas Allen, Bryn Terfel, and Johnny Depp is a distinct honor. Stephen Sondheim: my hat is off and I am bowing deeply to your greatness. This is a masterpiece.

Ouch

The bikeride was great, but not without incident. I dumped it on a steep, rutted hill and got kinda scratched up. Then came down very hard while jumping a stream, broke a spoke and bent my seat post back about 15%. That one hurt. Bike's in the shop now, and I can't ride til Monday anyway. We have 20 hours of New Student Auditions at USC this weekend.

The Day After

Now I have a free day, and I'm looking forward to a long mountain bike ride in the hills above Claremont with my beloved brother-in-law, Mark the Mountain Bike Master. Just as soon as I get my Christmas lights down. kind of embarrassing!

Recital last night

My thanks to everyone involved in my rectal last night on the USC campus: To Mitsuko Morikawa for her excellent piano collaboration. Sorry I didn't have readable music to you sooner! You did great, especially the Messiaen, which is almost unplayable! Thanks to Kevin Kumar for his great solo on "Oif may'n kas'neh" and to Timothy Landauer on the beautiful Elijah excerpt. And to Maia Jasper and Meredith Crawford for completing the quartet for Dover Beach! To Morten Lauridsen, who made a special guest appearance to play the duet version of his "Sure On This Shining Night" with me and Carin. That was really amazing! Of course, I love singing with my daughter Carin, who ALWAYS says "yes" whenever I ask her to perform with me. Thanks Cari!!