Commission

I have commissioned my first piece of music! It is a trio by Andrew List, a Boston composer who teaches at the Berklee College of Music, and it is for the Montage Music Society (www.montagemusicsociety.org). You might know their pianist, Debra Ayers. The piece is based on a Gaugain painting at the Boston MFA and will become part of Montage's repetoire related to the visual arts. Montage is working is on recording these pieces, hopefully this year, and support of this project is most welcome! I heard Montage play a preview of the piece in Boston and it is wonderful. The official premiere will be at the St. Botolph arts club in March (an organization with quite a history and membership).

Hooray! -- Updated

Jessica made it safe and sound from The Quest! I talked with her briefly and she said, "I never thought I'd be glad to be back at this school, but I am! This was the hardest thing I've ever done, even harder than wilderness." That's saying something, since she spent 40 days camping & backpacking in Oregon last winter in sub-freezing temperatures. Hopefully a stronger, more self-aware and self-confident young woman came down from the mountain! The details: backpacked 30 miles up the mountains on telemark skis, climbing 12,000 feet. It snowed everyday, including 30 inches during the 3 day solo.They carried all their gear, cooked all their meals in the snow, & slept in tents and hand-made shelters. We can guess on the hygiene!!

Architectural coincidence

Just finished reading Female Ruins by Geoff Nicholson, the story of the daughter of the deceased "most famous British architect never to have built a building". She ends up on a quest to see the one building he actually did build, which is unknown to scholars. Many years ago dad abandoned his family and stayed in contact with them, ....a la Louis Kahn, the American architect featured in the film My Architect (see below). Strange to stumble on both accidentally. If you like architecture, you might enjoy this quirky book, a fast read.

Quest

Jessica is in the middle of her eleven day Quest trip into the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia. The photo is from the area they will be in, taken by the guy who is leading them. She and nine other students are backpacking on telemark skis and eating & sleeping in tents. They get one night in a yurt in the middle of the trip! She is doing a three day solo, which would give anyone plenty to time to reflect on life and on staying warm! Today's high there is five degrees! We understand that the scenery is spectacular, and the only way to see it is to ski in. We hope she is having fun in addition to building self-awarness and a large amount of self-confidence.