My Memaw

I'm so proud of my grandmother. Check out this article from The Birmingham News:

Mt. Olive quilter wins NEA award
Posted by Alec Harvey -- Birmingham News May 28, 2008 9:29 AM

Bettye Kimbrell of Mt. Olive is one of 11 recipients of a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The National Heritage Fellowships are the country's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, according to the NEA.

Bettye Kimbrell

In 1979, Kimbrell organized a quilt show to raise money for the Mt. Olive Community Center, and out of that came the North Jefferson Quilters' Guild.

In 1995, Kimbrell received the Alabama Folk Heritage Award.

Here is a quilt that Memaw created based from a design my Mom created:

Back to the Ordinary

Wow, I really meant to update daily while over in Ireland, but internet was really expensive over there.

Okay, so I know everyone who reads my blog but doesn't have Facebook is dying to see all my pictures from Ireland. So you can check them out here in my online album (http://picasaweb.google.com/briankdenton/Ireland).

I love my parents! When I got home around 3 in the morning from Ireland, my apartment was clean and Mom and Dad decorated my room in addition to giving my XTerra a complete tune up and work over. It was great! Here is a good picture of them from Christmastime:



Well, of recent happenings, I have recorded the first song I plan on using for a cd I will put out sometime in the near future. My friend Marcus recorded and mastered this song. So as a treat, here it is for your listening pleasure:



More later! I hope all this works!

Brian

Do You Hear The People Sing?

Today started with a rehearsal at the Cork School of Music. We met there and rehearsed for our concert at the Carrignafoy Community College in Cobh (about 30 minutes outside of Cork). Now, when I say we went to a Community College, it was not like Jefferson State Community College. Here in Ireland, a college is similar to a high school. The University is relative to an American college or university. So today we performed in the gymnasium of the college (which had amazing acoustics). The concert was great! We have had so many wonderful performances since we've been here. I'm pumped about tomorrow night's competition.

Tomorrow night is the real deal. The reason we're here in Ireland. We have 12 minutes to sing our hearts out and make magic with the wonderful music that we're performing. We're ready. Our Spring concert back at home was just the start for this choir.

Here is a picture of us after yesterday's concert at the Cork City Hall for the National Competition for Schools. We were one of the featured international choirs that closed out the competition.



Also, to view the pictures that I've taken so far while in Ireland, head over to Brian's Ireland Pictures to view them. I haven't tagged them yet, but they are up for you to see. Enjoy!

I'm also taking some video while over here and I'm uploading them to YouTube as often as I can. Internet is pricy and slow over here, so bear with me.

One thing I thought was interesting about today was after our concert at Cobh, we went to the Heritage Center at Cobh. This place is where nearly every Irish immigrant to the United States departed from. This was also where the Titanic and Lusitania both made port last before their untimely ends. Cobh, as it is now known, was once known as Queensland (during the Titanic era) and Cove previously (Cobh is gaelic for "Cove"). There was of course a memorial to the victims and survivors of the Titanic there.



Well, I'm about to start winding down for the night. It is almost 10:00 p.m. here. Tomorrow, some friends and I are taking a trip to Blarney to visit Blarney Castle, home of the famous Blarney Stone. I'll post pics!

Love and Miss you all! Leave comments! They are very encouraging!

These are a few of my favourite things...

Notice, I spelled "favorite" with a "u" as it is spelled here in Ireland and the UK.

One thing I love about Ireland is that they offer tea and coffee at every meal. I have always been a lover of hot tea, but to have authentic Irish tea is a good thing. I'm digging this!

Hmm... patton leather tux shoes were not made to leisurely walk around the city. My feet are sore after today, but I am going to have to get used to it because we will be walking in our tuxes alot while here.

Daytime vs. Nighttime is weird here in Ireland. Yesterday, the sun set around 8:30 p.m. and this morning when we woke up at 6:30 it was already up. I guess since we're so far up in the northern hemisphere there are little nighttime hours.

Today we performed three times. This morning we performed at the Bishopstown Library in Cork. We performed our competition pieces and three other pieces. We were well received there. We were actually the first choir to perform at that library. It was a great performance even though we had little space to perform in.

After our performance, they had a reception for us with muffins and water. It was interesting because you had to make the distinction between what type of water you wanted, flat or sparkling. After talking with the locals, Patrick decided to tell us a story.



Just so you know, here is a rundown of the songs we're performing while here in Ireland:

Competition Pieces
Regina Coeli - Romauld Twardowski (b. 1930)
Nunc Dimitis - Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934)
So Far Ich Hin Zu Jesu Christ - Heinrich Schutz (1585 - 1672)
wITH a Lily In Your Hand - Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)

Other Concert Choir Pieces
Song of Triumph - Dale Grotenhuis (b. 1931)
Lord's Prayer - Arr. Jerry Jordan (b. 1946)
Star of the County Down - Arr. Ben Perry (b. 1965)
Silence of Time - Darmon Meador (b. 1953)
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands - Arr. Raymond Liebau (b. 1937)

Chamber Singers Pieces
Haec dies - William Byrd (1539-1543 - 1623)
Michelle - Arr. Grayston Ives (b. 1948)
Country Dances - Arr. Ward Swingle (b. 1927)

After our performance at the Bishopstown Library, we headed over to Cork City Hall to meet the Lord Mayor of Cork and officially be welcomed by him and we performed a private performance just for him inside the City Council Chamber. We performed Star of the County Down, and he was very pleased. He said he knew that piece (since it was an Irish piece) and he was glad we performed a Swingle Singers piece especially since they were the opening choir for the Cork International Choral Festival last year.

After our performance for the Lord Mayor, we performed as the closing choir for the National Competition for Schools at Cork City Hall. We performed Song of Triumph, Silence of Time, and Star of the County Down. They really seemed to enjoy our performance. It was a little while before they stopped clapping at the end of our set.

Here are a few pictures from our day today:

Linc and I are International Choirstars


The two B's


The view from my hotel room in Cork


Well, that is about all for today. I'm off to supper!

Love and Miss you all!

LEAVE SOME COMMENTS PLEASE!!!

Brian