My musical theater show, Dear Miss Barrett, got through its second and final weekend (eight performances in all) on June 27 with a crescendo to a wonderful height of excellence in performance and of audience enthusiasm and praise. I’m very thankful and looking forward to sending out the video of the show to all sorts of professional contacts (for further performances) and to the cast and out of town friends who were not able to come but wanted to. The video is still being edited, but what I’ve seen of it looks and sounds fantastic.

Since then, I’ve created and hosted more radio show episodes, one each on Vaughan-Williams, Saint-Saëns, Wagner and Mahler, and a whole show on Holst’s Planets. See the “Adventures” link above, if you’d like to hear any of the previous episodes archived there, streaming at no charge. I have to do only two more radio shows to be done with all 21 planned episodes.

The impresario for my upcoming ballet project came from out of town to see the show, and the next day we had a long meeting about many of the ballet’s concepts and details. I’m eager to start writing the music!. But first I have to record twelve lectures on “Basic Music Theory” for a new recorded, online class for Homeschool Connections. I will have more time to compose when these and an upcoming week in Colorado, are put to bed. I will still have to write two articles a month for The Epoch Times, but that does not take too much time. My article there on my DMB show experience was published, and I added a link to it in my last diary entry, if you want to go there and read it. I’m doing a few composition lessons online also.

On the horizon, near the end of September, documentary film maker(s) are coming to town to record interviews with me for their project on “The Meaning of Music.” In October, I will give the keynote address to the convention of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, based in Pasadena, but I will be speaking to them via Zoom. I will hope to do some travelling to promote Dear Miss Barrett in New York and perhaps other places. And we will be gearing up to do the recordings for Parma Recordings of my symphony, a band piece, and another choral piece.

Coming up socially is a long-delayed (by Covid) restaurant meal with my former Vanderbilt department faculty in honor of my May 2020 retirement and for a few others who have retired in May 2021. I’m also hosting the men of the Dear Miss Barrett production for a “DMB Guy’s Night,” complete with grilled steaks, libations, cigars, and a showing of The Godfather! Macho! The last week of this month, Crystal and I will travel to Vail, Colorado, for a belated anniversary trip (our 11^th anniversary fell on a night of a show performance), and then we’ll attend her nephew’s wedding in the Denver area, staying at the grand old hotel at an area called Estes Park.

Our garden is thriving, but with a few flowers munched by deer, and last night there was a squirrel invasion of our tomatoes, completely carrying away a handful of small tomatoes that were growing – but several still remain and will now be under stricter security measures! Still, there are many beautiful blossoms to enjoy. Photos below. See if you can identify: Chard, Romaine, Parsley, Basil, Jalapeno, Rosemary, Sage, Oregano, Thyme, tomatoes, lemons, blueberries, and assorted flowers. Best wishes for a lovely midsummer night’s dreaming.