Rehearsing Galilee

So, tonight I rehearsed "Memories of Galilee" with my choir and it was amazing! They went all the way through the second verse and chorus, and it worked out so well. They just took it and ran with it. It's so exciting for me as a composer to hear people get excited about my work and to hear them really sing it with heart. I can't wait to hear the whole thing! I'll probably post a recording or two.

One of my pieces . . . Memories of Galilee

So . . . I've never actually posted any of my sheet music up here. Or even talked about it much. Here's a piece that I've been working on since 07/06. Yeah, it's been a long time.

This is basically an arrangement of a hymn by H.R. Palmer with words by Robert Morris. Mr. Morris wrote the words while on the banks of Galilee. It's gone by a few other titles such as "Each Cooing Dove," and "O Galilee," but I've learned that the original title was "Memories of Galilee."

I was learning a lot when I arranged this (still am), and I've spent nearly two years polishing it. I think It's finally ready, and I've started rehearsing this with the chamber choir I conduct. I'm really excited.

So here you are. This is page 4:

Research? Really?

I have this pet peeve, people throwing around the word "research" like it means nothing. I constantly hear people saying, "I did some research on this or on that," when really all they mean is "I googled it." When people tell me they've researched something, I'm so tempted to say back, "Really? Are you sure you didn't just glean that from Wikipedia?" (P.S. I love Wikipedia)

Now that I know what research actually is I don't throw that word around anymore. Spending hours pouring over a stack of books about whatever searching for answers. I've done this many times till my eyes and brain hurt. My sister also does research in a laboratory constantly doing experiment after experiment trying to find the results she wants. These are examples of research.

So the next time you're tempted to throw around the word "research," ask yourself, did you really research it, or did you just google it?

New Laptop!

I'm writing this entry on my brand new MacBook Pro! I got it yesterday, but only took it out of the box today. I wanted enough time to really set it up, plus I was totally intimidated by its ultra-hot looks. It's like rilly hot!

It's got some great features on it besides being super fast. This is my first step into the laptop world so I'm still getting used to having everything all in one place and all compact and stuff. I don't have all my files yet, but that'll all work itself out. I've already put Sibelius on here and it runs sooooooo much faster. I can't wait to see how this thing handles Pro Tools and Final Cut!