a building made for the human voice and how the human voice moves within a body

last week at the end of a class discussion with our professor

about the psalters of the 16th century in england

a classmate mentioned that the tallis scholars would be

performing some arvo part and gregori at christ church

the following night...i literally almost jumped out of my chair,

and i basically shouted "WHAT?!!!!"

i think i may have surprised my very sophisticated professor

with my response...oh well. i think it's quite well known by now

that i get excited about certain things.

so i quickly went and bought my ticket and began counting down the hours.

those of you who have been graciously following my blog know

how obsessed i am with arvo part. i, unfortunately, have never been

in the right place at the right time to hear his music performed live.

so i seriously wanted to cry with joy when i heard that i could sit

in christ church (founded 1525...have to mention that my college was founded 100 years earlier) and listen to my favorite composer performed live.

(and should probably mention that some of harry potter was filmed here).

have you ever been to a vocal performance in a cathedral?

it's the most powerful and real bodily experience i've ever had.

one of the member's of the tallis scholars seems to have perfect pitch

and starts the group out with a single note...i think that may have been

one of my favorite parts: just to have one note pierce my entire body. amazing.

they sang a few magnificats, including arvo part's, during the first half.

the second half was a series of misereres, beginning with gregori allegri's.

for gregori's they positioned the singers at different places in the cathedral.

this was a magic i have never experienced before.

i play this night over and over and over in my head.

i loved walking out of the doors to twilight,

christ church all lit up and beautiful songs in my entire body.

this might possibly be my most beloved experience of my entire summer here in oxford.

sebastopol celtic music festival...where i decided i wanted to play every instrument on the planet

the drive to sebastopol is just what you'd hope for
on a saturday morning after a long week.
you pass garden after garden,
antique store after antique store.
i could tell it would be a brilliant day.

so many fiddles, bodhrans, and accordians.
heaven.

moira smiley.
you've got to hear her live.
especially her bosnian folk songs.
you'll think you've entered another sphere.
{plus, check out those amazing tights!}

i'm pretty sure that if i did my wedding over,
i'd have a celtic band play for us
{the bagpipe would be a must}

this was an amazing session...
four beautiful, talented, kind women all singing together.
it was every girl's dream:
singing, harmonizing, and dancing.
my brothers would NOT have been invited.
the teasing would have been unbearable!

there was no end to the dancing.
at one moment i was frustrated with the dancers who stood right in front of cj and i, blocking our view of the stage. but then i realized they were not the rude ones...we were the rude ones for actually staying in our seats. so, i let it go, and was happy to watch the dancers.

i took a picture of these little irish dancers.
my niece takes irish dance lessons, and they remind me of her.
i think i'm going to find some adult dance classes.
what do you think?

can't wait for next year.

photos by ceej and me. sebastopol 2009.