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

Across the Waters

WE MADE IT!! We're in Ireland!

First things first...

Jet lag is not fun. I'm so tired right now as I'm typing this, but I must stay awake so I can sleep tonight and regulate my sleep cycle. I was able to sleep some on the plane, but the crying child would not allow me to sleep peacefully while we crossed the waters.

So here we are in Ireland. I'm in Cork, Ireland to be more specific. Tomorrow starts the various singing events that we are performing in for the Cork International Choral Festival (http://www.corkchoral.ie/). We have our first rehearsal since the last time we met in the States in a little while. I'm excited to see how we sound. I'm taking many pics while I'm here (thanks to my best friend Roxy for letting me borrow her camera). I'll try and post some as I'm over here. However, I'm not sure when I'll be online as we have to pay for internet usage at the hotel. It is 10 euro for 24 hours of internet usage. But I might possibly find a public venue with free wifi.

Well folks, I have to get ready for rehearsal.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for our safety while we're away.

Much love,

Brian

The Return of Brian

Yes, I know it has been forever since I last posted anything on here, so I apologize to all of you who read this (Especially Dr. Copeland... because we all know he likes to keep little tabs on all our lives... j/k).

I am leaving for Ireland in 3 days.

Final exams are done with, Juries are over with (thank God), AND I don't have to write a paper until the end of May. So I am somewhat content with life right now.

I have so much packing and preparation to do before Tuesday morning. Here is a semi-run down of the coming days:

Tuesday (4/29): Leave UAB on a charter bus to Atlanta. Fly from Atlanta to Chicago, then fly overnight from Chicago to Shannon, Ireland.

Wednesday (4/30): Arrive in Shannon, Ireland then take a charter bus to Cork, Ireland.

Thursday (5/1)- Monday (5/5): Compete in the Cork International Choral Festival.

Tuesday (5/6) - Wednesday (5/7): Arrive in Dublin, Ireland for sightseeing and fun. Leave on Wednesday to go back to the United States.

Thursday (5/8): Begin Summer classes.

So as you can see, I have no downtime from Tuesday on through the rest of May (until my Foundations of Education II class ends).

But I am really excited about our trip.

I am going to try and update this blog regularly while i'm in Ireland so friends and family back home can hear about my exploits as an international choral star! Hah!

You can also check out our choir's blog at http://uabchoirs.blogspot.com, as I'm sure that Dr. Copeland will update it frequently while we're away.

Well, I hope everyone is well and I look forward seeing everyone when I return.

Much love,

Brian

Recent Happenings

Well, classes are in full swing and I'm getting slightly stressed at some things. Here are my thoughts on my classes so far this semester:

• Education as a Profession: Wow, I never knew that there was so much stuff required of teachers in Alabama. I've got to register for the APTTP (Alabama Prospective Teacher Test Program) test before next week. It is much like the ACT, but for teachers in Alabama. I also have to get certified in First Aid and CPR soon as well as have a criminal background check on me...that's scary...just kidding!
• Teaching and Technology: Ok, this has to be the most boring class on the face of the planet. I really wish that this wasn't a required class. Basically, you learn how to use Microsoft Office. But see, I learned all of these things in my Business classes in high school. The teacher is a very sweet lady (she is a retired business/marketing teacher), but I think they should get someone else to teach this class who would apply today's new technology (blogging, podcasting, ect.) for education. Maybe Dr. Copeland should teach this class just for Music Education Majors.
• Music Theory I/Aural Skills I: I think since I've taken this class twice already (once with AP Theory at Mortimer Jordan and the other Theory I at Jefferson State) that I do have a little bit of an advantage. I wish my theory from JeffState had transferred so that I could be in Theory II right now, but I do enjoy Ms. Reynolds' teaching and I enjoy the people that I'm in the class with.
• Private Lessons: Voice: So far things are going good. Dr. Mathes has expanded my range somewhat. I'm able to "touch" a low G and my upper range has grown a good bit (those higher notes are coming easier than they used to).
• Concert Choir: WOW!!!! We're going to IRELAND! I can't wait for this! Now I only have to come up with the money for it...ugh. So this past Saturday was my first time to sing a solo in the Alys Stephens Center. Everyone keeps giving me complements on it, so I hope it sounded good. I am overly critical of myself, so I did notice some things I could've improved on it. I auditioned for a solo in the song "If I Got My Ticket" and got it. I was really shocked. I mean, I consider it a great honor because it is my first semester at UAB and the other guys who tried out were really awesome on it. I think Dr. Copeland is going to rotate the soloists on that song though, but I really would like to sing it at one of our public concerts where Mom and Dad are going to be there.
  
• Chamber Choir: UGH!! The Debussy "Trois Chansons" are very tough (the music is not extremly hard, but the language is...FRENCH!!!!)
• Opera Workshop: Things are coming along for our Opera Scenes performance on November 9 at 7:30 in the Hulsey Recital Hall. I'm trying to let everyone know about this so that nobody can say "I didn't know that you were doing that." I am in two scenes as well as in the chorus for two other ones. It's going to be fun.

Well, I think this will do for now. I will probably edit this to say other things, probably about SNATS and other things. More to come!