Tibia Duo

Rotem and Cléa have arrived.  Fun rehearsal today. Dinner with most of the other residents joining which was lots of fun and stimulating. Concert tomorrow night in Lincoln City will include a new piece by Frances written here!

We’ve been so engrossed in our work and play here we haven’t had much time for blogging. But we know you’ll all understand and probably encourage us to keep it that way! Here’s a really significant bit of information for those of you who know me fairly well.  I get so involved with practicing, thinking, and trying new things out that even when I’m actually hungry I don’t want to leave my studio to get something to eat. Now you know what kind of an impact this residency has.

The Winds and Waves workshop starts Saturday.  Cléa and Rotem arrive Thursday and we start rehearsing.  Frances has written a wonderful new piece for us to play with Jane Boyden on the piano. I’ve been having a great time playing modern pieces for recorder and piano with Jane.  We’ll include one on the concert. Here’s a picture of a skunk cabbage – they are blooming all over the place. And a picture of the wonderful cards and notes we got from Tibia supporters.

Yesterday was a great day.  Well, they all are great days but yesterday we heard Jennifer Boyden read some of her poetry at the Lincoln City library. The poems we heard were amazing. It was like looking into someone’s head and seeing their visions articulated, in a pictorial way but with words.  Funny, maddening, moving. Afterwards we had some very stimulating conversation with Jennifer and her husband Ian who is a visual artist and a poet. The other residents here are also great to talk with.  It’s very refreshing to be with artists from  disciplines other than music, and to hear them talk about how they work and think about things. The sun came out finally yesterday and is warming up the place again today. Last night I went with three other residents for a full-moon hike up to Cascade Head.  The moon rose about the clouds and was glorious.  The hike down in the dark was hard but I made it, obviously.

I’ve been using Kees Boeke’s Three Exercises in the morning for finger and reading work. I really like them. Current modern pieces I’m working on – Lux Aeterna  by Markus Zahnhausen and Melodie by Louis Andriessen.  Both fascinating and completely absorbing.

It’s been a good week so far.  Lots of social activities in this first week.  Orientation for new residents, salon for residents to present something representing their work, a tour of the surrounding forests with a Sitka board member/retired Forest Service scientist, potluck farewell for a resident who left Wednesday.  We’ve managed to get some good work in nevertheless, and walks. It’s been raining almost non-stop since Wednesday so we haven’t gone up the trail to the Cascade Head yet.  The forest tour was informative and provided a good hike.  The other residents are all very interesting and fun to talk with.

ground cover in the experimental forest

1,200 year old buried tree on Neskowin Beach

We arrived here at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology yesterday, Monday. Weather – sunny cloudy mix, no rain!

Arrival at Morely House

Social calendar – full. We’ve met residents about to leave and residents newly arrived, staff, and friends. So far, we’ve mainly been setting up our work spaces, getting the house in order, buying groceries and so on. But we did begin a little work. I wrote my first “lightning composition a day” – 30 minutes, one page of music paper, no restrictions, no rules – and Tish practiced recorder in the beautiful acoustics (but cold air) of the Boyden Studio. We went for a great walk with Corinne yesterday, and look forward to many more walks and hikes.

Frances at the wheel

Our drive up was beautiful. Here are some photos from the drive and our arriva

The Salmon River going out to sea

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The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, on the Cascade headlands of coastal Oregon, is one of our favorite places on Earth.  And we get to spend some time there soon! Frances will be working on new pieces.  Tish will be working on a new solo program of medieval and modern music, and a new program for medieval ensemble. We’ll be working together on a pedagogical project which we hope will contribute something important to the recorder world.  More later.

We’re getting ready for a short road trip down to Santa Barbara, CA for a workshop.  We’re looking forward to seeing a part of California that is new to both of us.