Musical Wanderer

When my mom and dad were born, a woman couldn't vote in the US.  A black man theoretically could vote, but his right to do so was usually denied, usually, alas, by Democrats in the south.  A woman and man of different races could not marry in most of the US.  Folks from poor backgrounds like my folks didn't really have much chance of going to college to change their lot in life.  If someone without money got seriously ill, they usually died, like my grand-uncle's young wife and their two-year old child in the flu epidemic of 1918. A little over 40 years later when I was born, a woman could vote in the US.  Barriers to black folk voting would be torn down a few years later with the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, laws pushed through by more visionary Democrats.  A few years later Medicare and Medicaid programs were enacted by Democrats so people without means had access to health care.    My father, who grew up on a tenant farm in Missouri, went to college after Wo

There is hope, a little.  Ok, it seems like the world collapsed Tuesday night.  But age provides some perspective.  My despair as a college sophomore after Reagan was elected in 1980 was nearly bottomless and it even deepened with his reelection and his VP's election in 1988.  My votes for president did not contribute to a victory until Bill Clinton was elected when I was 31.  I have some sympathy for folks who grew up voting for Obama twice only to see Trump elected this week, but frankly you didn't have to wait a dozen years before you had someone in the White House you could have faith in.  But I offer a few things to consider to   bring solace and perhaps hope. Had Hillary Clinton been elected, Congress would have spent the next 4 years investigating everything in her life from her real estate dealings in Arkansas 40 years ago through her over-tipping a barista at a NY Starbucks who looked vaguely Muslim in 2014.  With two houses united against her, nothing would b

This year, I found myself in the unusual situation of shopping around for ensembles to sing with in DC.  I've been lucky over the last 30 years as I've had the opportunity to perform a lot of wonderful music with professional choirs and volunteer ensembles .  A year ago, I left a church position I'd held for a number of years and was unsuccessful in finding a new position.  Around the same time, I was let go from a professional position with another chorus, so I was without a singing position for only the second time in 20 years (Fortunately, I got a position this year with an professional octet singing Sunday services, with some pretty good singers--I like being the sucky singer in a group).  It was rather painful because, as any artist knows, part of one's identity is wrapped up in pursuit of one's art and, without it,  I was bereft of part of my identity.  I am rational and logical enough to know that eventually nobody would think I'm worth being paid to sin

I was sorta lucky last Sunday.  The Smithsonian offered employees and volunteers (I've volunteered at the Folklife festival for half a dozen years and started volunteering at the Zoo at the Amazonia exhibit in August) the chance to see the new Museum of African American History and Culture before the big opening this weekend.  Evidently the free timed-entry passes to the museum have "sold out" on weekends through Christmas, though  weekday passes are available in November, so Robin and I were psyched to see it.  I still remember how exciting it was to wander the new Museum of the Native American Indian at 2 AM the night it opened when, for the only day ever, the majority of the visitors were native americans. I thought the optics might not be great, to see a bunch of white folks entering the museum before everyone else (most Smithsonian employees and volunteers are lily white like me).  But once we got there the crowd was somewhat diverse.  Just waiting to get in gav

The chaos following the Brexit vote has dominated the British and world press in the month since the referendum.  Some have called it the greatest blunder by the UK since the invasion of Suez 60 years ago.  It will probably be considered one of the most significant events in the early twenty-first century, affecting the economies and politics of Europe and by extension the world for years to come.   The Brexit vote has overshadowed the release of the Chilcot Report, the seven year study of the UK's government leading up to, during, and following the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  The report's findings are somewhat scathing regarding the conduct of the governments of the UK and the US in the rationale, planning, execution, and follow up of the invasion of Iraq, another sovereign state which, though not a virtuous nation by any measure, was not at war with either state.  The invasion has had consequences in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe that will last for decades.  Tony B

Current as of 2022 Professional Ensembles - For a year or more Washington Bach Consort – J. Reilly Lewis, director Palestrina Choir – Michael Harrison,  director Woodley Ensemble – Frank Albinder,  director Washington Master Chorale – Thomas Colohan,  director National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Choir, Washington DC - Leo Nestor, Peter Latona, directors Washington National Cathedral Choirs, Washington DC - Douglas Major, Bruce Neswick,  James Litton, Michael McCarthy,  directors St. Matthew’s Cathedral Schola Cantorum, Washington, DC - William Culverhouse, Thomas Stehle, directors St. Alban's Episcopal Church Choir, Washington, DC, Justin Boyer,  director Professional section leader/support for Volunteer Ensembles - For a year or more St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Choir, Canton, Ohio - Frank Wiley,  director St. Peter’s Catholic Church Choir, Washington DC - B. Andrew Mills, Kevin O'Brien,  directors St. Francis Episcopal Church, Great Falls, Virginia - Larry V

I made a summary of failures to go along with my regular resume.  I figure it's only fair to note organizations and paths that I said "Thanks, but no thanks" to over the years. Stephen Francis Pearcy Summary of Thanks, but No Thanks Education Masters in Education, Middle Tennessee State University - To teach more than two years in Tennessee, a teacher was required to have at least 12 graduate credit hours in education.  It didn't matter how and where you got them (some earned them via correspondence courses, some via night classes in the next town, some via summer classes in Murfreesboro), or what classes you took (one of mine was the History of American Public Schools, a fascinating class, yet not very useful for everyday teaching), you just had to have 12 credits.  I earned 9 credits at MTSU and 3 credits at Columbia University for a summer program I got into there.  So I was almost halfway to a Masters and