This school year, I've had the good fortune of serving as the kindergarten music teacher at Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, where my son attends (and my daughter will attend this fall). It would be difficult to overstate how much fun it is to play music with these kids. I always leave class with a smile that lasts for days. 

Yesterday, May 25, we had our end-of-year show for the parents. We performed our very own original tune, "Things We Love," with lyrics supplied by the kids, and the French song "Le petit chaperon rouge et le chasseur" ("Little Red Riding Hood and the Hunter"). Learning French alongside the kids has been a delightful perk of the job. 

The kids rocked it. See for yourself! 

All I can say is that the future of classical music is in excellent hands. 

On Sunday, May 21, I served as one of three judges for the American String Teachers Association SF Chapter's competition finals, here in Berkeley at the Crowden School. Students of violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, or harp compete in two divisions: Youth (age 14 and under) and Junior (age 15-18). (There is also a Senior division that did not hold a competition this year.) This was my second time judging the ASTA finals, in addition to helping select finalists from a preliminary round of video auditions.

When I decided to dedicate the lion's share of my composing time to choral music back in fall 2014, I knew it was likely to be an exercise in delayed gratification. It takes time to build a body of work, establish relationships with choirs and directors, and shepherd a piece all the way from the sketchpad to the concert stage.

I'm happy to report that the first of my recent choral crop has been sung publicly for the first time. The choral ensemble Full Circle, under the direction of Jennifer Yocom, premiered my setting of Robert Frost's "Stars" at concerts in Bradford, VT and Lyme, NH on April 28 and 29. 

"Stars" is one of four pieces in my cycle of SATB a cappella settings of Frost poems, from his collection A Boy's Will. I call this cycle Hymns from a Meadow: four seasons in a secluded, sacred spot in northern New England. So I am beyond delighted to have this first Hymns premiere take place in the Upper Valley of VT and NH: Frost's stomping grounds, and my favorite place in the world.  

My heartfelt thanks to Jennifer Yocom and Full Circle for taking a chance on this new work, and for their hard work in bringing it to life!

Coming up later this year—here in my current Bay Area home—my frequent collaborators Pacific Edge Voices will premiere the entire Hymns from a Meadow, performing "In Hardwood Groves" and "Stars" (Fall/Winter) this fall, and "A Prayer In Spring" and "Rose Pogonias" (Spring/Summer) in spring 2018.