Snow in May

Well, actually, I do remember a May with an amazing snowfall back in college. The event served as the basis of a friend's stance against living in the Upper Midwest..."No way I'm staying here! We literally had nine months of winter this year. It snowed at the end of September, throughout the fall, winter and spring, and here it is again in May!"

One of our collective favorites on the upcoming series Covers II: A Pop Concert takes advantage of the nostalgia surrounding snowy images and ties them beautifully to summer. If you haven't yet heard White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes, you ought to do so. Then come hear our performance, including collaborators Dave Hagedorn, Lee Blaske, Mark Ilaug and Rikki Davenport.

Cantus Idol!!!

Hey Everybody,

Well it's been a while since The Big Event, but Cantus Idol was a huge success! For those who don't know what Cantus Idol is, Cantus has hosted a fundraising event, a "competitive karaoke" competition, entitled Cantus Idol for the past two years. This year the event was held at Hell's Kitchen, a fantastic restaurant in the middle of downtown Minneapolis. It's a competition a la "American Idol", so it wouldn't be complete without a panel of three judges with fantastic, and unique, personalities. This year our judges included John DeHaan, professor on the faculty of the Vocal Department at the University of Minnesota, Brian Newhouse, broadcast host for Minnesota Public Radio, and Laura Anderson, who is working as the Assistant Director of the University of Minnesota's opera program. Without this panel, the evening would have only been half as entertaining!

In Cantus Idol, each member of Cantus gets up and performs a song they chose. Before, during, or after each of the songs, people can "vote" for their favorite (or favorites) by placing donations in the jar with that singer's picture on it. That's why you see a man's head in the picture with Elvis...I mean...Adam, below. He must have liked that performance, and put some money in! After the first round, five singers are eliminated. After the second round, it's just the top two. Last year Tim won (and I keep hearing about his legendary choice of "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid), but this year Gary took home the trophy. You can see him above, singing out to the audience in his last number.

Speaking of pictures, I was able to capture some great ones with my new camera! I've been toying around with my new digital SLR for a couple months now, and thought Cantus Idol would be perfect practice. The best part was, I had no idea what I was getting into. From Dashon's white jacket, which became famous by the end of the night it was referred to so much, to Tim singing "A Whole New World" with Jocelyn, his wife...In German..., to Adam singing an Elvis tune while looking the part. The night was just way too much fun, and we all knew it. Below is a picture of Eric Hopkins with his husband Andrew and a bunch of friends. They had fun right up to the very end!


With over 150 people in attendance, we were able to raise TWICE the amount generated from last year's efforts. So thanks so much to everyone who attended. For those who didn't attend, there's always next year. And if you are seriously into popular music, come see our pops concerts coming up in the beginning of June.

Posting again soon,

Paul

Quick Thoughts

It's been a busy few weeks for Cantus. We had a wonderful time in Kirkland, WA (at a very posh resort/spa/hotel), and Fullerton, CA (100+ degrees!). Eric and I (shown below trying to be super chillaxed since we're near a rock 'n roll museum) averted disaster when we decided to not go to the star-in-your-own-rock-band part of the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Just imagine us trying to sing and drum "Purple Haze." No.

We're looking forward to the National Lutheran Choir collaboration this weekend, and we'll also be welcoming James Frazier on the organ for an incredibly exciting movement from Duruflé's wonderful Messe Cum Jubilo.

Today, we went to St. Peter also, in our never-ending quest to seem cool to high schoolers across the country. We're in the thick of our Artist-In-Residence program, and we've been having a blast with the students. Thank you also to Como Park and Minnetonka for putting up with us sleepy heads that are usually still dreaming when they are warmed up for choir, and have taken several chemistry, social studies, and trigonometry quizzes by the time we are still groggily choosing between a half-grapefruit or Pop-Tarts. You all are doing great work, and we're looking forward to working with you more!

"geeking out" in concert

Hi, Gang!  Returned but a few short hours ago from the Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds symphonic concert, which kicked off a world tour in Minneapolis last night at the Orpheum.  For those of you who have read my fuller bio on the Cantus website, you may not be surprised that I am a bit of a gamer, and a huge fan of Final Fantasy soundtrack composer Nobuo Uematsu.

While the majority of the music on these epic games has been synth-oriented, the more recent Final Fantasy soundtracks have included full orchestral and choral arrangements that rival Orff, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and other classical greats.  As a genre, the game soundtrack has certainly gained more respect over the past few years, graduating from the chintzy 8-bit days of Atari and Nintendo.  Game soundtracks are now being recorded by groups like the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and London Symphony.  The gaming public demands sound design comparable to a Hollywood picture, and Uematsu has been known for composing masterful songs and themes for twenty five years.

At home, we know a lot of this music by heart because my collection of game soundtracks actually far exceeds my collection of games--there are often multiple albums released with arrangements varying from fully orchestral to celtic-inspired, pop, and solo piano versions, and I have acquired quite a few of them.  

The show

I was happy to run into some Cantus fans in the audience, beginning not more than three minutes after I walked into the theater lobby!  Met four students over the course of the evening that we had taught: one from Iowa State glee club, and three from Sartell and Como Park, where Cantus has worked as clinicians and artists-in-residence.  (I think the kids were very surprised to see me as excited about the show as they were).  

The orchestra featured a lot of players I recognized from gigs around town, including a bunch of SPCO members.  Macalester College provided the chorus, and at one point some colleagues of mine got up on stage to perform a tongue-in-cheek rendition of "Maria and Draco" an opera that takes place in one of the games.  Of course I am completely jealous--not begrudging anyone,  I just wish I could have found out who was contracting the darn show!  A local classical guitarist made a technically sound and very musical appearance on two pieces.  

Here's some footage from the show provided by another fan from last night's show:

 

It really was a festive atmosphere, with fans young and old (like me) cheering throughout the show.  New arrangements of some old favorites were fantastic, and the stage-mounted video screen displayed cut-scenes and gameplay throughout, often with comedic or heartfelt effect.

One down-side to the show, however, was the decision to blast the band through speakers on each side of the stage.  It made it seem as though the music was piped in, rather than being performed right there on stage.  It was disappointing to have the acoustic sound of players obliterated from only ten feet away.  Also, it highlighted a few loose seams in under-rehearsed parts (you can't get anything past the gamers--they know every note).  The concert would have been a better fit at Orchestra Hall, though a similar concert was cancelled there a couple of years ago because of lack of ticket sales.  The Orpheum's size and advertising push did help in that regard, even if the acoustics there are poorer.  the tour will soon be visiting the Baltimore and Dallas Symphonies, so I imagine the aural experience will be nicer at those venues. 

After the show

Uematsu made a few appearances on stage during the show (he's a very funny guy), and sat in the audience watching throughout.  After the show (because I had splurged on the good tickets!), we got to visit with both composer Uematsu and conductor Arnie Roth backstage.  The receiving line was long, but eventually we talked with them for a few minutes.

We got autographs and a picture, and passed on some Cantus CDs to them as gifts, expressing a wish that if Nobuo-San ever wants to write music for men's voices, that he please consider Cantus!   Both men were gracious, and patient sitting for photographs with all the fans coming through the line--a few hundred people for sure.  Audience members ask for Cantus autographs after shows pretty often, but it was neat to be seeking one myself.  

Hopefully the continuing tour of Distant Worlds will pick up steam (they actually encouraged recording and non-flash photography during the show--maybe we should take a clue here...), and bring some kids over who wouldn't normally attend an orchestral concert, and vice versa--bring a few classical concert-goers over to the genre of video game music.  

Bad Babbitt

OK. This youtube video is sick. It has great dancing, great modern classical music, and a great jazz combo. What more can one ask for within the span of about a minute and a half?

Bad Plus' arrangement of Semi -Simple Variations by Milton Babbitt

Three P's

Wow, two posts in one night, watch out.

I thought I would upload a few of my favorite photos from the last two tours. I call this post the Three P's (and yes, I know that this is technically an incorrect use of an apostrophe. Call it, "folksy.")

The first P stands for Pretzels. I love soft pretzels and in Amherst, MA I had the biggest soft pretzel ever. It was covered with melted, smoked cheddar cheese and served with spicy mustard. Mmmm.





The second P stands for Puppets (technically marionettes) . We stopped at a truck stop in Illinois that has this glass case full of dancing marionettes. The restaurant at the truck stop had amazing baked goods, including french pastries. I'm sure most truck drivers appreciate an eclair, Napoleon and a quick puppet show before hitting the road for another 15 hour shift. . .


The last but not least P stands for People. We've spent the last couple of days in Cedar Falls, IA. It's a cute, little river town that is also home to the University of Northern Iowa. The folks here have been very hospitable and we've had some great restaurant experiences. While in charming downtown Cedar Falls I happened upon a travel agency that bears my last name! I've never met anybody outside of my family with the last name, "Humble" so I was pretty excited!

We head home tomorrow to put together our collaboration with the James Sewell Ballet. Peace!

Aaron

Hello Everyone

Oh boy. I have never created a blog entry, so I hope this goes OK. Paul, one of our younger and more tech-savvy singers suggested we upload videos. I would have probably uploaded a video of the wall with just my ear and no sound. So for now, I'm sticking to basics.

Here is your introduction to, yours truly, Aaron Humble

1. General: Aaron David Humble, I'm a Tenor and I've sung with Cantus for Four Seasons

2. Past: I was born in Ravenna, Ohio and grew up in a tiny town called Diamond, OH. Actually, it was the township of Palmyra but out mailing address was Diamond. When I was in college my parents moved to Kent, Ohio. I usually just say Kent because some people actually know where Kent is--or at least that it exists. BUT, Dashon doesn't like it when I say Kent so now the truth is out--I'm from Palmyra/Diamond, Ohio.

3. I grew up in a house where music was part of life. Whether it was Peter, Paul and Mary on the radio in the car of singing hymns around the piano. I really started focusing on music in High School and, of course, in college. I attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois for undergraduate and continued on at Indiana University where I earned my Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees. I have majors in vocal performance and literature and minors in theater, musicology, and choral conducting (across all of my studies).

4. Cantus: I decided to audition for Cantus after seeing an audition notice. What I like the most about singing with Cantus is the high level of artistry. Peformers rarely have the opportunity to sing a program as many times are we do. Over this number of repetitions, we have the opportunity to refine the product over and over again. It's a really gratifying experience.

5. Personal: When I'm not busy with Cantus there are a variety of things I like to do. I pick up extra gigs here and there and study and prepare solo repertoire as well. I enjoy cooking, baking, film and movies and enjoying the Twin Cities. One thing that is very cool about Minneapolis is that there are lakes and of course a bunch of parks right in the city! I love enjoying all of the natural beauty Minnesota has to offer while also enjoying the great urban lifestyle Minneapolis has to offer. It's a great place to live.

Well that's more than you probably ever wanted to know about me. Now that I've cut my teeth on all of this blogging business, hopefully I can get back on here more regularly. Take care and thanks for reading!

Peace,

Aaron