Spring!

This morning, after a colossal few months I feel like I finally have stopped. Stopped rushing, stressing, working, thinking. After waking up to a gorgeous text message praising the amazing weather I finally felt relaxed. 

It has been a very intense semester that seems only now to have finally let up, with two weeks to go. So much has happened! I realise today, now, how much the weather has played a part in my mental wellbeing. And I wonder if today being the first day of 20C and blazing sunshine in six months has something to do with my new found serene state of mind. 

The hectic rush from one thing to another has only been compounded by the blast of chill winds while walking to and from Uni or around campus. And the snow, still falling and accumulating 4 inches only 4 days ago, persistent in its icy grip, has only now finally abated. The elusive spring has played hard to get these last few months. Teasing us with brief, brilliant sunny days (all below 8C) only to hide behind another snow storm or sheets of freezing rain.

So it has been for about 2 months. Waves of possibility that spring might soon arrive, that crash and blanket us in cold again. 

But it seems spring has finally sprung, and with that the world seems ripe for the taking. Trees are blossoming, lawns full of irises are budding and the birds are singing. And suddenly the work, the toil doesn't seem so oppressive. Today I'm shedding the blankets, the coats, scarves, gloves and beanies, and with it the stress of this recent time. I'm going to lose my shoes and to stand barefoot on some green grass.

Hallelujah!

Falling into winter

Food Adventures

As seems to be the pattern, my updates seem to be unpardonably erratic and far too infrequent, so I apologize. I’m now sitting in my living room feeling hungry while old episodes of Julia Childs are playing on free-to-air TV.

Food

Food has been a fun inspiration/distraction/activity for me more and more recently, and I’ve enjoyed the cathartic process of cooking. In particular, I’ve been voraciously pairing and consuming as many vegetables as possible and feeling wonderful for it. I think I’ve mentioned in a previous post about the great co-op nearby whose garish coloured produce endlessly entices me. 

I was also given the wonderful gift of a juicer for christmas. As a result I’ve been enjoying fresh vegetable and fruit juice every morning including plants as diverse as kale, oranges, parsley, cucumber, carrots, apples, clementines, collard greens and tomatoes. There have been some fairly technicolour conconctions - from bright purple to deep green - all delicious. 

Here’s one example:

The coffee quest continues

I’ve continued my obsessive coffee quest with fervour over the last few months, travelling by public transport across the city in search of a good cup. The vast majority of experiences have been positive, and there are some really great roasters, shops and baristas here. My favorite all-time place is still the one I first visited on my arrival - Kopplins - but I have to give props to Urbanbean, Spyhouse and Dogwood who are always excellent and consistent. 

They also sell great beans for me to keep having a go myself with my machine at home. 

Photographic treats

My time outdoors with my camera has, like my blog posts, been infrequent but comprehensive. The winter here provides so many opportunities and beautiful spectacles that I’ve just never seen before, and feel compelled to capture. Whether it be frozen river banks, icicles on houses or snow-dinosaurs in peoples front yards. 

Uni

The semester started off with great speed and somehow half of it has already passed. I am currently taking classes in Alexander Technique, Wind Conducting Seminar & Lab, Research and Issues in Higher Education and Gamelan ensemble. 

I chose to focus my subjects this semester on the area of awareness and this has helped me develop greater self-insight, reduce and better understand my stress and generally be more centred. The ideas explored in gamelan, Alexander Technque and my Sunday morning Tai Chi class are all connected and I am enjoying seeing parallels between these fields and synthesising what I’m learning. 

Part of my Teaching Assistantship also involves helping out at the rehearsals of one evening band and helping teach the beginning conducting course. All this has given me plenty to think about, reflect upon my own conducting learning and consider how I might eventually like to design and teach such a course. It has been a great learning experience being able to work with the students in this class. 

Campus Band

We had a great first concert in early March, performing:

Invercargill - Alex Lithgow arr. Laurendeau

Mock Morris - Percy Grainger arr. Kreines

Llwyn Onn - Brian Hogg

Puszta - Jan Van der Roost

It went very well and now we are preparing our next program:

Tilbury Point - Nigel Clarke

Moonscape Awakening - Joni Greene

Muerto por Tango - Ed Fairlie

A Jazz Funeral - Christopher Coleman

With any luck we will be performing the Fairlie with live tango dancers, just as I did in 2010 in China. 

Wind Ensemble

The wind ensemble performed a magnificent concert of all-Grainger on March 9 with the incredible singers of Vocal Essence. As the resident holder of an Australian accent I had the fortune of being involved in the pre-concert talk with Craig Kirchhoff and Vocal Essence director Philip Brunelle. I was happy to be able to add to the conversation by at times describing the Grainger museum, his houses, childhood and personality. I also provided this program note.

The evening featured everything from the original, wordless version Australian Up-Country Tune for a capella voices with the 32-voice singers to the epic Marching Song of Democracy with full wind ensemble and 130 voice chorus. The entire program was wonderful but the highlight for me was the best performance of Lincolnshire Posy I have ever heard live. Very stirring. I think Percy would have loved it.