Welcome to the November-December 2022 chapter newsletter.  As you may know, the Netflix series Stranger Things has revitalized interest in that strangest of British rock stars, Kate Bush. “Running Up That Hill,” featured in the fourth season, topped the UK charts 37 years after its release. The song weaves a fascinating tapestry of melody and […]

Welcome to the October 2022 chapter newsletter.  October is, in this writer’s estimation, the most beautiful time to live in Minnesota. The air crispens, the lakes crystallize and the leaves pause to blush before taking their final bow.  On a mostly unrelated note, please take a listen to “Musetta’s Waltz,” from Puccini’s La bohème. This […]

Welcome to the September 2022 chapter newsletter.  Autumn is a time of transformation. As such, please listen to William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2 in G minor, a standout entry in that quintessentially American genre of jazz-influenced classical music. Alternatively titled “Song of a New Race,” this symphony was composed to represent the African-American experience […]

Welcome to the July–August 2022 chapter newsletter.  As summer days become summer nights, let us pause and reflect on all that we are – and all that we could be. This month’s musical recommendation is the Nocturne from Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Op. 61). Following the Dionysian antics of Nick […]

Welcome to the June 2022 chapter newsletter.  It’s summertime. And, all things considered, the living is easy. Please, if you’re inclined, checkout this recording of Gershwin’s Summertime by The Academy of St. Martin in the FieldsChamber Ensemble. Like many Gershwin compositions, Summertime occupies a dual existence: sometimes catchy jazz tune; other times swelling orchestral arrangement. […]