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Only in Ithaca

Fall 2010 and Parents weekend at Emerson 020
Originally uploaded by Alice Ploss

In September this year, I attended PORCHFEST, a uniquely Ithaca kind of event. I had heard about it for years, but had never had the energy on a Sunday afternoon to actually go downtown and experience it.

No, those people in the photo are not ooohing and aaaaahing over the porch, it's the musicians on the porch they are excited about. My vocal improv group, Ephemera, sang on the steps of one of the porches. People wandered by, some stopped to listen, others kept walking. There was a map and schedule showing who was playing where, and the streets were closed and busy with families, older folks, strollers and dogs, wandering from porch to porch in search of music.





Chris' band played. There were goofy acts, bad acts, funky, folk, and jazz bands. People who fancied themselves performers who really should never, and some of the more well known and fabulous local musicians.

Ithaca can at the same time be wonderfully and maddeningly earthy, filled with more crunch than a case of granola. Porchfest is just one more crunchy manifestation of my artsy-fartsy hometown. I'll be back next year, as probably both performer and spectator.

Taiko in Trumansburg!

Last year I was awarded a grant to purchase Taiko Drums for my middle school music program. Here you see a large drum stand that was designed and built by my father-in-law. I was getting ready to stain the wood in August.



Wood stained.



We are only in the third week of drumming. These pictures don't really show what the kids are capable of. They just look like they are flailing. I am spending a lot of time on how to move, how to stand, how to hold their sticks, arms and torsos. I suspect these kids have never been involved with something so precisely physical. But we are having a ball. We make a lot of decibels and have great focus. Friday's class and Monday's class were able to play two rhythms together, while I played a part called the base note. I was having so much fun I was grinning the whole time.

We have a long way to go for them to be looking good as well as sounding good, but hey- they are just beginners. And so am I. I wish I could channel Moko's spirit and energy and just a teensey bit of her many years of Taiko teaching experience.





Thank you Ujeni Foundation, Ed Dawson, Gary Buchner, Robert Ploss and Denny Millspaugh for making this dream happen! These guys are a bunch of woodworkers who donated their time and talent to make the drum stands and sticks for us!
Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!

Good Luck Chiba International Singers

This Saturday is the major concert of my friends the Chiba Singers. It hardly seems possible that 2 years ago- in the Fall of 2008, at their last big event, I was lucky enough to conduct a piece with this very proficient group in Japan. They came to visit me this summer and met our local Trumansburg Community Chorus. We performed with and for each other. It was truly a wonderful cultural and musical exchange.

Tonight was TCC rehearsal night, and at the end of our rehearsal, I announced that our friends in Japan were preparing for their performance this Saturday night. Everyone cheerfully wanted to send greetings and best wishes. This is the picture of us sending our wishes across the globe.

Dear Jeff, I am hoping you are still checking my blog for interesting information. I am counting on you to please pass along our good wishes to all of you. Gambatte!

Cheers,
Alice

"Bitter When I'm Old" - Fathead