Verdi Requiem!

Behind the scenes in rehearsal with the LPO, NOVA Chorale, The Jefferson Chorale, and the Newman School Choir. Wow, it's going to be a FABULOUS concert! 

The concerts are:

1. Friday at 7:30 PM in Covington, LA at First Baptist Church

2. Saturday at 7:30 PM at the Mahalia Jackson Center for the Performing Arts in New Orleans, LA

This requiem is my favorite piece of music, EVER. I first sang it on Thursday, April 22,1989, at 8:00 PM, with the Charleston Symphony Singers Guild and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (conductor: David Stahl). I was eighteen years old. The Singers Guild is now called the CSO Chorus. When I was in it, it was directed by Ms. Emily Remington, one of my first mentors and truly amazing woman. Through the years, both she and David Stahl were major influences  and role models for me. This first and formative experience singing the requiem was sooooooooo magnificent! I was simply transfixed. It's interesting for me to remember that the work is actually the reason why I went into music. Since 1989, I've had the great fortune to sing it with several different orchestras and choirs. I do believe this is my eighth or ninth time singing it. Now THAT is lucky! :-) Robert Shaw, Larry Wyatt, Richard Conant, Robert Lyall, and Yoel Levi were a few of the conductors. I also use this piece when I teach choral literature and occasionally a movement or two when teaching conducting. 

By the way....I made sure to wait until after the break and when Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto was working on a passage with orchestra only before I snapped these photos!

LightSail Liftoff!

LightSail blasted off this morning at 10:05 CDT, very cool project. I put together a collage of launch screenshots from the United Launch Alliance's live broadcast. What exactly is LightSail? Here you go!

More info here at The Planetary Society - http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2015/20150520-lightsail-liftoff.html

An Anglican Prayer at the Close of Day

Look down, Lord, from your heavenly throne. Illuminate the darkness of this night with your celestial brightness, and from us, the children of light, banish for ever the deeds of darkness. God our judge and our teacher, let us not waste time when the day is done in guilt or self-reproach. Give us rather the courage to face whatever has been, 

accept forgiveness, and move on to something better. 

Amen. 

~ From the New Zealand Prayer Book
~ Image: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140611.html 

Three Galaxies over New Zealand 

Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Mackinven

A Prayer for Nepal and Ways to Help After the Earthquakes

Almighty God, you are our comfort and strength

in times of the onset of sudden disaster, crisis, or chaos. 

Surround with your branches of solace, those who suffer 

through earthquake, storm, fire or flood.

By your Spirit, lift up those who have fallen, 

Sustain those who work to rescue or rebuild,

and fill them with the hope of the bright peace of new creation. 

Amen

HOW TO HELP NEPAL in the aftermath of two massive earthquakes:
If you can't get there or send materials to someone who is going, consider donating to one of the many international aid organizations. I donated to Episcopal Relief & Development. 

If possible, make contact with someone on the ground there who is a part of one of these international organizations. 

1. How to help Nepal: 7 vetted charities doing relief work  following the earthquake

2. How to help Nepal - via ABC News article 
3. Please consider keeping the people of Nepal and those processing and giving aid relief in your prayers.

4. Previous blog post: Help Nepal Earthquake Victims - Some World Aid Organizations Info and Links

A Dose of Louisiana NATURE!

This past weekend, I visited the Northlake Nature Center in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Photo by CPCarson

From their website:
"The Northlake Museum and Nature Center, Inc. was established in 1982 by as a project of the Greater Covington Junior Service League as an independent non-profit corporation directed to preserve, study, and publicly exhibit the natural and cultural resources of the Florida Parishes in southeastern Louisiana. In 1985, the Northlake Nature Center, Inc. entered into a 50-year lease with the State of Louisiana for a 52 acre tract of land situated along Bayou Castine on Highway 190 east of Mandeville across from Fontainebleau State Park, subsequently expanded to 400 ac, just 45 minutes from New Orleans. Situated in the heart of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, it is also adjacent to Pelican Park Sports Complex and the 31-mile Tammany Trace Rails-to-Trails path."

Photo by CPCarson

Northlake Nature Center is across from the Fountainebleau State Park, and just down the road from Big Branch Marsh, which we also visited.

Photo by CPCarson

Aside from the mosquitoes eating us up, it was fantastic to be outside and to have a fun day of taking photos! My personal photo successes of the day are as follows:

A bird eating a frog - The spacey-looking other bird, who didn't look like he was paying attention, attacked the bird eating the frog and a battle ensued about one second after I got this photo at Fountainebleau State Park.

Photo by CPCarson

A Green Heron - I don't see them very much, but this little guy was stunning!

Photo by CPCarson

Dragonfly eye - a very cool closeup! I have always loved dragonflies. I used to sit on the back stoop of our house called "Seafair" on Daniel Island, SC (waaaaay before it was developed) and hold out my finger. One by one, dragonflies would rest for a spell. Of course I had to name them and my little self started out with such original names as "Bluey" and then "Greeny". As you can probably guess, other names included "Orangey", "Purpley", and "Silvery" etc.

Photo by CPCarson

Turtle under water - There was a baby turtle resting above water on a branch and I think this is its mother keeping an eye on him. I love seeing the shell under water.

Photo by CPCarson

Hawk in flight - This one is, well, over-cropped and grainy to say the least, but I still like it :-)

Photo by CPCarson

Red-eared slider turtle head up close - I've never ever noticed turtle pupils before, but they are wild! When zooming in, I saw him blink too - very strange, but cool!

Photo by CPCarson

Here is the whole album - it's on FB, but I made it public so you should be able to see it. 

Photo by CPCarson

Photo by CPCarson

Photo by CPCarson

"Only in Sleep" by Eriks Esenvalds

Only in Sleep

Text: Sara Teasdale
Music: Ēriks Ešenvalds

I LOVE this YouTube recording! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvPynMI6Umc 

(The whole "Northern Lights" album here, downloadable from iTunes)

Only in sleep I see their faces,
Children I played with when I was a child,
Louise comes back with her brown hair braided,
Annie with ringlets warm and wild.

Only in sleep Time is forgotten –
What may have come to them, who can know?
Yet we played last night as long ago,
And the doll-house stood at the turn of the stair.

The years had not sharpened their smooth round faces,
I met their eyes and found them mild –
Do they, too, dream of me, I wonder,
And for them am I too a child?

This amazing piece of choral music and this outstanding performance by the Trinity College Choir, conducted by Steven Layton are such a GORGEOUS pairing!

On Being the Solar System ( @The_SolarSystem )

Hi, I'm your Solar System, it's very nice to meet you!

As I've just crossed the 20,000 follower mark on twitter, I wanted to say a few words about being space itself :-) That many followers is truly not a huge deal for a ton of people, but for me, it's cool. I've very carefully watched who follows me and taken care to note that, truly, most are genuine and active scientists, astronomers, science organizations, and space super fans. That's exciting! As a NASA Solar System Ambassador program volunteer, I have the opportunity to reach a great audience in person. It is such an honor! I've had several presentations this year and have some big ones in the works for next year (A big Music of the Spheres concert......then, a panel of guests to discuss science, faith, space exploration, and the big questions of life). On Twitter, I also get to talk to people about space and various missions. My account is not the NASA account (@NASASolarSystem - which you should definitely follow), but mine is also a space news service. It is both that and a personal account, as the 4.568 to 6 billion-year-old entity, the Solar System. Here are ten things about me. As space itself, I have a unique perspective :-)

                                  

It's been tremendously fun interacting with all of my followers over the two years of being spacey! Here are some of the highlights in screenshots and list!

- Meeting so many space science fans
- Interacting with space and science organizations
- Promoting STEM and STEAM education in a fun way
- It keeps me joyfully reading and on my toes with space science and launches!
- Humor! The interactions between real people can be very funny, but is almost always hilarious when inanimate objects, planets, nebulae, galaxies, spacecraft etc. start tweeting!

                                

- Occasionally, I live-tweet a launch or other NASA event. It is SO MUCH FUN to be online and part of the chatter that goes on and to feel the excitement of what's happening even if you're not actually there! MSL Curiosity's landing, ISS launches, and the Philae lander's release from the Rosetta spacecraft and landing on Comet #67P are examples.

                                 

                               

- Questions from people about space, science, and exploration: Fairly often, I am asked a question and I do take the time to answer. If I don't know the answer, I do some research and if I still can't find the answer, I point them to an expert! I always learn a bunch in the process.
- Conversations from young people around the world. One of my favorites was a conversation about how to be a scientist and how to stay in the know about space from a child in Pakistan. He asked me some great questions and I was able to share some online resources with him and give him some encouragement. Another time, it was a memorable conversation from someone in Japan who is very very ill and shares my same admiration for all things space.
- Astronomers share their photography with me. This is a special treat! Photographs they want to be seen, their amazing ongoing projects and photography work, and sometimes breaking photos of events such as the total solar eclipse that took place over a very thin line in remote locations. 
- Sometimes, someone asks me to say happy birthday to someone, from space :-) 

                               

- Sharing: I've been able to share content, photos, and space humor that I love! Plus seeing major organizations have fun exchanges is extra fabulous!

- The big guys interact sometimes! My personal favorites and the ones with whom I've interacted the most over time are The Canadian Space Agency, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, NASA Dawn, and Astronaut Cady Coleman.

So, with all that said, if you follow @The_SolarSystem, 

THANK YOU and keep looking up!