I'm back in Portland for the break. As the astute reader will have surmised from my posting frequency, it has been an extraordinarily busy semester. It feels good to have worked so hard. My singing is better than it's ever been, both technically and artistically. I am currently in Phase Two of my plan:

1. Stop singing countertenor and switch back to baritone.
2. Practice your ass off.
3. Profit.

There is much I could write about this semester: the utter chaos of Semele with HEMS, my audition recordings, E-Harg's brilliant coachings, the fecklessness of some conservatory students, my growing love for continuo playing, devious recital scheming, and all manner of romantic drama in the Early Music department. But there's little joy in summarizing after the fact.

Semele's story is not a happy one. Like so many of Jupiter's lovers, she fell victim to Juno's jealous trickery. In the Congreve libretto which Eccles (and later Handel) set to music, Semele extracted a vow from Jupiter to revel his true godly form under the mistaken belief that it would grant her immortality. Of course, no mortal can look upon Jupiter's majesty and live; she was consumed by divine lightning. However, their child Bacchus survived, albeit sewn into his father's thigh for the remainder of gestation. (In my mind's eye, Jupiter is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa Junior.)

Now, you might think that this opera sounds like a total downer. But, like so many baroque operas, it ends with an unexpectedly happy chorus:

Then Mortals be merry, and scorn the Blind Boy;
Your Hearts from his Arrows strong Wine shall defend:
Each Day and each Night you shall revel in Joy,
For when Bacchus is born, Love's Reign's at an end.

This strikes me as a particularly hilarious sort of happy ending: rather than love conquering all, booze conquers love! Hooray!

I was pulled aside for extra security screening at the gate in Heathrow. While searching my backpack, one of the security personnel mentioned that he'd seen a kid solve a Rubik's cube in 55 seconds and asked me if I could do the same. Apparently, cubing in front of security guards makes me nervous, because I took 1:05. They let me through anyway.

Having finished our tenure at Southwark Cathedral, on Wednesday we headed down to Canterbury for one final concert. Canterbury cathedral is exceptionally beautiful. Like other English cathedrals, it has a long history of being expanded, destroyed, and rebuilt, so there are many different centuries of architecture intermingled. I already knew the story of Thomas Becket, but it was interesting to hear about St. Augustine of Canterbury.



The central tower.



Our tour guide in the cloisters.

I am back in Boston and re-internetted, so there will be a brief cascade of stored-up posts over the next few days.

Monday was another day off for the schola, with a treble evensong in the afternoon. Instead of following the boys to the Tower of London in the morning, I decided to strike off on my own and spend the day at the British Museum.

( Amazing adventures (and many images) lie within... )

London awesome. Still no internet on my laptop. British Museum is the best place ever. Canterbury tomorrow, flying home Thursday. More text and pics when internet allows.

Hello from London! The internet here is quite spotty and not available on my laptop, so for now you'll have to live with (brief) text and no pictures. Southwark is quite nice, if quite new-seeming because most of the building is fewer than three hundred years old. The incomparable M, my old choir director, gave us a quick walking tour of the West End last night. London is gorgeous; I could go walking by the Thames every night if I lived here. Boys have been singing quite well; the Dean said we were one of the very best visiting choirs they'd had, facetiously (I hope) adding, "for an American choir." The cathedral staff are quite chill.