The Australian Voices and...

6/26

Welcome Australian Voices, Ralph Farris and Joseph Twist

Hours required dealing with Facebook. Even though I understand that this person’s response to feeling hurt is to launch a broad based public assault on virtually everyone connected with our building, it is nonetheless spiritually draining to deal with. It is so easy to use social media to attack people, so much more difficult to actually engage real human beings. The saddest of all is to realize the person doing this actually believes what they are writing. And that they are somehow righteously serving the public instead of realizing that what they are doing is seeking to hurt and embarrass innocent people. Publicly. With no proof. I’m breaking my number 1 rule, trying to have a rational engagement in an irrational situation. Makes me sad. Hurts my heart. There’s also this...to know someone believes something bad about you, even when not literally true, hurts because the fact that someone believes it makes it true in at least one head. One place in the universe.  And that is draining. And sad. Got to disengage.

While in the sanctuary, the Australian Voices are filling the house with beautiful sound. ...and champagne...again. (http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2012/09/and-champagne.html)

Lots to catch up with Stephen. But I need to go speak to RL. Again, his story is his to tell. But I again marvel at what each of us has to deal with. There is marriage. There is love. There is years. And  as Paul Simon sang,

This is a lonely-lone, lonely life 

Sorrows everywhere you turn 

And that's worth something 

When you think about it 

That's worth some money 

That's worth something 

When you think about it 

That is worth some money 

Jeremy can’t come to the concert so he drops by for the pre-concert rehearsal. Hears the earthy sounds of Kalkadinga Yurdu rooted in indigenous song and Lisa Young’s Indian based Other Plans. He nods in appreciation. It's been great,their living with us.

Back again. Time for the Australian Voices concert fast approaching. Time to run home, change my clothes. Run back. On a hot and humid night. 

On my way in, Sergeant Keith wants to talk. Wants to do a project. Still working in getting it together. 

The concert came up with short notice. Not much time for publicity. Still the turn out is decent. The Australian consul is here as well as a number of ex-pat Aussies and a New York Times reporter. Friends of the string quartet Ethel and musicians like Carman Moore of the Sky Orchestra, my friends Beppe and Ric and West-Park and Sanctuary NYC folk.

                                                     Toy Story 3=Awesome


I do a welcome. Introduce my friend Ralph of Ethel. And the concert begins. Conductor/director/composer/arranger Gordon Hamilton

Gordon Hamilton and Bob

has created a musical exploration of his country, covering every base. From indigenous to folk (Waltzing Matilda)  to pop (Joseph Twist’s decon/reconstruction of Like a Virgin, Ave Madonna) to sacred (Biebl’s Ave Maria) to social media digital age (Toy Story 3=Awesome and Initialese) he hits it all. Including throat singing and mulitnote overtine vocals. 

The night ends with composer Joseph Twist joining them for the encore. It feels good to have hosted them in their New York debut as we previously hosted guests from Iceland (Graduale Nobili), Japan (Renato Ito and Emiko Iinuma) and Serbia (Zeljko Mircovic). 

Encore

It’s been a good night. As Beppe and I prepare to go to the B, the lost boy comes up and offers to help. I direct him to Danielle. It’s been a long day.

Australian Voices and Ralph Farris and Dorothy Lawson