Welcome to the bleak mid-winter at the Hilltop here in middle Tennessee, probably with the lowest temperatures we will have this year. Last night we had our first (and possibly only) few inches of snow of the season. I have known spring to arrive here as early as mid-February, at least in terms of our tulips blooming. It cannot come soon enough for me! Meanwhile, it’s pandemonium here when we have even a dusting of snow. Above or to the side is a photo taken in downtown Nashville last night.

I had a great trip to South Bend, Indiana on Jan. 5-6 for our first big production meeting for the ballet Raffaella, A Tragic Ballet in Two Acts, set to premiere in June at the historic Morris Center for the Performing Arts there. How exciting. There were eleven production people (not only music and dance, but sets, lights, sound, costumes, PR, etc.), and there are even another five more members of the production team who could not be there.

Then the choreographer, Claire Kretzschmar of the New York City Ballet, and I went to the venue for our premiere, the historic Morris Center, to film interviews that will be used in Promo and Documentary videos. The next day there were auditions for most of the roles, which were filled by dancers from regional ballet companies. The title role will be danced by Isabella LaFreniere, principal dancer of the New York City Ballet.

Here are two photos from the beautiful Morris Center, which seats an audience of 2,400. We’ll have a live orchestra of 42 musicians in the orchestra pit, under the baton of my conductor of choice, Robin Fountain, who conducted my last two albums. Robin is great to work with and studied conducting at Oxford and the Royal College of Music in London. (See caption for more description of the photos.)

Meanwhile, things are gearing up for recording both the ballet music and my new Symphony No. 3 (both with a large, 92-piece, orchestra) in Europe. We are holding a tentative time frame for several days of recording sessions on September 1 – 10. After that will come post-production (mixing, mastering, album art, etc.) working with the Parma Recording engineer in New Hampshire who mixed my last CD.

I’m not yet sure what the release dates for the two new albums will be yet, but likely three months apart, the symphony first. Some fund-raising will be necessary to hire the orchestra. Unashamedly, I will ask if anyone reading this would like to contribute $500., $1,000., $5,000., or more, please write me and I’ll put you in touch with the right person! A good friend of mine who is an attorney in Washington, D.C. will be heading up the fund drive. Yes, this is how it works today for classical recordings, even when it’s Beethoven. Classical symphonic albums simply never make enough to pay for themselves. The overhead costs of making them, like hiring the orchestra, always come through donations and grants.

Yesterday, after a week’s delay, we had our first working rehearsal of my musical show, Dear Miss Barrett. Because we have a director and musical director, my job is more to be a fly on the wall but available to offer advice, for example for the actors to understand the personalities and motivations of their various characters.

Too bad that I was too under the weather with a cold to attend yesterday’s rehearsal, but it was in good hands with the director! As soon as they clear the highways, I’ll hope to attend the next (rescheduled) rehearsal. This month we will have three rehearsal a week, which include music, choreography, acting, and blocking. We open March 1, 2024 at Center for the Arts in Murfreesboro, TN, which has a lovely, refurbished, historical theater.

Back at the Hilltop, our dear cat Noah has been struggling with arthritis, which often troubles older cats (he’s 15) and has now had some shots to help him feel better. He had taken to nursing his pain in the back of a closet. I could not help but feel bad for him, myself. But with this latest shot, called Solensia, he must be feeling better, since he’s climbing up on things again and sometimes darting around the house like a crazy cat.