Monday, November 8, 2010

Going once...

Like I promised before, this week I have exciting news on the KCVI Auction.  The auction will be held online and the items will go up for auction the evening of Friday, November 26 (the day after Thanksgiving) and most should be ending on Monday December 6.  I have debated over this, but for exposure's sake and because of the relative ease of it all, these items will be auctioned on ebay.  I will post links to them on this blog, and you will be able to follow and bid on the items easily through ebay or by using the auction catalog on www.kcvocalinstitute.com.  All the items were donated by these individuals and most include personal comments and other unique traits.  The proceeds will support the individual scholarships created by these individuals. If you have questions about any of these, please email me at bryanpinkall@gmail.com or write a comment on this blog and I will answer your questions. The catalog is not yet online, but I want to give you a sneak peak of the items up for bid.  I will list more next week and the following week you can view the entire auction catalog on the KCVI website.

Here are a few things up for bid:
John Williams Autographed Star Wars Film Score
Tom Watson Autographed Cap
James Horner Autographed Avatar Film Score
Randy Newman Autographed Toy Story 3 Film Score w/ Hand Written Comments
Several Maya Angelou Autographed Poems w/ Hand Written Comments
Eric Whitacre Autographed Music and CD
Betty Buckley's Autographed Law and Order: SVU Script w/ Personal Comments and Markings
Emily McCully Painting "Wonder Horse"
Beth Krommes Engraving "Cats"
Zubin Mehta Autographed Baton
Morten Lauridsen Autographed Music

More to come next week! Remember the auction begins Nov. 26 on this blog and at www.kcvocalinstitute.com

Sorry I take these introspective tangents sometimes, but I want to tell you about my morning.

Today I woke up and got ready for school.  I dressed up in slacks and button-up shirt, took my allergy medicine, stopped at a McDonald's for coffee, and then on to the Interstate.  I drive thirty minutes to school, only to park a mile away in free parking behind a laundromat next to a middle eastern restaurant.  I walk past a coffee shop with three tables of twenty-somethings playing chess outside while smoking and down to the end of the block, cross the street, climb up 132 steps on a giant hill to campus.

At the top I can see all the way to the Nelson Atkins Museum with a giant shuttlecock on the lawn.  I get to my first class; a music history class.  The teacher is from Russia, and like many times before, she somehow manages to discuss the atrocities of the Soviet Union - this time making a connection between Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovitch in a discussion of Hauptstimme.  All the students have their heads buried in their notebooks: a two-week-over-due Russian woman in total misery, an emo rocker girl literally crying next to the window for some unknown reason, a Japanese woman taking notes with her pet terrier sleeping in a reusable grocery bag on her lap with its head resting on her moving and writing arm, and a fashion forward student lugging around a bright yellow guitar and wearing skin tight black jeans, black boots, floral print shirt and a giant purple-sequined Mad Hatter hat.

Of course the day goes on from there, with equally odd things, but that is how today began, and besides varying outfits, it is how every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday begin.  Just a comment, but I love how interesting the day can be.

On another note, I will be singing the National Anthem at the Roos home basketball game on Friday versus the Truman State Bulldogs at the Swinney Recreation Center.  Let me know what the line on this game is...I suspect the Roos will box the bulldogs pretty good.  And I will be performing "Der Lindenbaum" on a presentation of Music in Graz, Austria by my coach, John Mueter on Wednesday at the Conservatory.

I have two ancient and weird instruments this week, highlighting what you can expect at the 400th Anniversary Concert of the Monteverdi Vespers where I will be featured along with the Conservatory Singers and the Kansas City and St. Louis Symphonies Chamber Ensembles:

First, the Sackbutt.  It's not that weird, because it closely resembles the trombone, but the name is pretty funny.  Be careful if you try to Google this word.  Here is an audio example of the sackbutt and other instruments playing the opening movement to Monteverdi's Vespers (which you should come to on December 7).  The solo at the very beginning will be just one of 12 solo parts I will be singing including several duets and a solo movement.  Also, for all the history buffs, can you guess what other work by Monteverdi has this same music?  Try to guess without looking...hint, it's probably the only other Monteverdi thing you can think of.



And lastly, the Crumhorn.  It is a very harsh sounding instrument.

 To get you in the holiday spirit (for the holiday KCVI auction, naturally) I want to leave you with a less-than-professional performance on the Crumhorn of some of your favorite Christmas classics!

Current Audition Info & Results
Missouri NATS - October 30-31 - 2nd Place Advanced Division
Santa Fe Opera - applied 9/16 - not invited 10/22
Chautauqua Opera (New York) - applied 10/5 - invited 10/22
Wolf Trap Opera (Washington D.C.) - applied 10/8 - not invited 10/18
National Opera Association Competition (San Antonio) - applied 10/12
Crested Butte Opera (Colorado) - applied 10/12
Sugar Creek Symphony and Song (near Chicago) - applied 10/12
Shreveport Opera Competition - applied 10/12
Symphony in the Valley (Colorado) - applied 10/13
Ash Lawn Opera (near Washington D.C.) - applied 10/13

Upcoming concerts:
November 10, 2010 - Singing "Der Lindenbaum" on John Mueter Presentation - Grant Hall 122 - 3pm
November 18-21, 2010 - The Dialogues of the Carmelites by Poulenc - Chevalier de la Force (cover) - White Recital Hall
November 30, 2010 - Choir Concert - Atonement Lutheran Church
December 2, 2010 - Chautauqua Opera Auditions - New York City, NY
December 7, 2010 - Featured Soloist - Monteverdi Vespers (400th Anniversary Concert) - Visitation Catholic Church -  Kansas City, MO - 7:30pm
December 12, 2010 - Tenor Soloist - Messiah by Handel - Centennial United Methodist Church - Kansas City, MO - 4:00pm
March 17-20, 2011 - Don Giovanni by Mozart - Don Ottavio - White Recital Hall
April 23, 2011 - Gloria by Poulenc - White Recital Hall

2 comments:

  1. Bryan, why am I suddenly thinking of Brent's Christmas present??!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Somehow I always love weird instruments around the holidays. Nothing beats a Dragon Horn!

    ReplyDelete

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