I had a wonderful time presenting at and attending both ITF and IWBC! Unfortunately, both conferences were at the same time, so I had to split my time between the two. It was great to be in Rochester and experience the famous Eastman School of Music. It was even better to see good friends and colleagues. I finally experienced Abbie Conant’s live performance of Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano. This chamber music theater work left me feeling inspired by the beauty of Abbie’s trombone playing and singing. The subject matter of this piece is dark, though: subjugation of women in opera, violence against women, misogyny, etc. There were many times when I felt a tear in my eye or a chill down my spine. Good theater does that– makes you feel a sense of vulnerability as an audience member. It was an honor to present my lecture the next morning, especially with Abbie and Bill in the audience. IWBC was great, too. I saw some outstanding performances at Northern Kentucky University, and I had a really enthusiastic audience for my presentation. If anyone wants to download my PP presentation, I put the files under my “Projects” section of my site.
