The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Dr. Leanne Clement, Bridgid Eversole, Michael Slon & Christine Fairfield Were On "Today y Mañana!"

Episode Date: April 4, 2024

Dr. Leanne Clement & Brigid Eversole of Charlottesville Opera and Michael Slon & Christine Fairfield of The Oratorio Society of Virginia joined Alex Urpí & Michael Urpí On “Today y Mañana!” ��Today y Mañana” airs every Thursday at 10:15 am on The I Love CVille Network! “Today y Mañana” is presented by Emergent Financial Services, LLC, Craddock Insurance Services Inc and Matthias John Realty, with Forward Adelante.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Today y Mañana. I'm Alex. This is Michael. We're very excited to have you joining us on a beautiful morning here in Charlottesville, Virginia. We have a great show lined up for you. We're going to be joined shortly by Leanne Clement, the general director, and Bridget Eversol, education director at Charlottesville Opera, followed by Michael Slon, conductor, and Christine Fairfield, executive director for the Oratorio Society of Virginia.

So it's a great show lined up with some fantastic music. Two of our favorite organizations here in Charlottesville. So we're very excited to have you join us for that. Michael, good to have you on with me. Thank you. I'm glad I'm finally here on this show. Exactly, on the music show.

Exactly, the music show, I know. I'm not as musically intelligent as Nick is. Nick will always ask these specific questions about music, but hopefully... But at least now we won't have any spoilers. Nick's always like, so, how are you going to do the scene where this person dies in the third act? Did he really do that? He did.

I think once he did, once he slipped. And we're like, Nick! Can't stand him. That's why we left them off this time, to be honest. Exactly. We don't want any spoilers. No spoilers.

No spoilers this time around, but it's going to be a fantastic show. Of course, love being here on the, I love Seville network set. A couple of the big shout outs, of course, thank you to our presenter,

emergent financial services and to our amazing partners, credit series, insurance, Matias, your own realty forward. Adelante. Thank you. Of course, our fantastic guests for watching. Be Series Insurance, Matias Young Realty, Forward Adelante. Thank you, of course, our fantastic guests for watching.

Be sure to send us any questions, comments you may have. I think we've already got some people, some people tuning in. Bill McChesney already tuning in. Thank you so much for joining us. I think we've got a couple more here that Edward Herring,

thanks so much for tuning in and liking it. Nidla Serpi, of course. Oh, you've been here to bad mouthing us well he did he won't be able to do that for much longer because I think

he has a client coming in yes well he should be working right now anyway I don't know what's he doing

watching the show he's smart he keeps an eye on I noticed Nid is smart whenever he's not on the show since you know

he does so much behind the scenes with you know who's watching setting up guests he's got like one I don't see it he's got like one earphone in and he's like listening on the show since he does so much behind the scenes with who's watching, setting up guests. He's not like one, I don't see it, he's not like one earphone in and he's like listening to the show while he's working. Yeah, he's got the wireless

earphone thing. He's almost like a professional. Yeah, those TV producers, you know, they're like working but they're kind of like actually listening to the thing that's going on at the same time so he's really in his producer mode. And I mean, big shout out to him. Of course,

he's the one that helps get all this set up and running. So we're very excited for it. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to jump right in. Let's do it. Let's do it. So we're excited to welcome to the show Leanne Clement, the general director, and Bridget Eversol, education

director at Charlottesville Opera. Leanne, Bridget, thanks so much for coming on this morning. Yeah, thank you for coming on. Thanks for having us. It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. So maybe for people who are new, first time, maybe for each of you, just introduce yourself and a little bit about how maybe you first became connected to Charlottesville Opera. Well, sure.

So I became the general director two and a half years ago, almost three years ago. And before that, I was general director at Opera Louisiana in Baton Rouge, but I grew up in Louisa County. And so when this opportunity came up, it was just a perfect fit for me to get to come back to the place where I grew up and to be closer to my family and to work for this company who has been here for 47 years. And it just really has such a strong place in the opera world, and it's a real honor to be able to lead the company. Absolutely. And how about yourself, Bridget? Well, I am new to Charlottesville Opera. I just came in February. Congratulations.

Yes, welcome. Thank you. It's very exciting. I moved to Charlottesville around 2017 and have been teaching voice in the community and taught at PVCC. I'm teaching voice at UVA and Leanne and I had lunch a couple of years ago and hit it off and had a lot of the same philosophies on opera and education and all that stuff. So last spring I was able to do some of the outreach events with the Boys and Girls Club which was a lot of fun. Yes. And then it just worked out that I was able to start this position as the Education Director. That's fantastic. So tell us a little

about the education programs. I know we've talked in the past obviously about shows and the Emerging Artists Program but tell us a little bit about the education programs. I know we've talked in the past, obviously, about the shows and the Emerging Artists Program, but tell us a little bit about what the education program is at Charlottesville Opera. So this is, we are kind of growing the education program, figuring out what we can do in all aspects, getting out to the Charlottesville community. As I said, we did the Boys and Girls Club in the spring. Kids Fest is a big thing and Girls Club in the spring. KidsFest is a big thing that we have in the summers.

Lots of wonderful programs that you can check out on the Charlottesville Opera website. But one upcoming event that we're very excited about is a program at the Paramount, in conjunction with the Paramount, on April 23rd for kids, students in grades three through seven for all of the surrounding schools. It's a free event. And basically we built this program from scratch and it's all about finding your voice, whether that's your singing voice or whether you're into stage managing

or directing or conducting or anything, lighting design. And so really taking a journey with the singers and all of the other different aspects of opera and letting the students see how many wonderful things there are to do in opera. Even if you're not a singer singer there's so many other things and just helping them to find their own voice which is going to be exciting so i'm actually curious so there's someone who doesn't know anything about singing and like voice stuff like that what's a good age for children or parents have the children that they think they have a good voice like what's a good age for them to start actually taking like vocal lessons

and working like on building up their diaphragm or something or another? Whatever muscles are associated with voice. Well, I always say, when you have somebody who's a young child coming in, I encourage parents to get them in piano or violin

or some instrument like that. And then find a children's choir. We've got lots of really wonderful children's choir in town. And then usually it's around middle school into high school where it's an appropriate time to start having the formal voice lessons. Absolutely. So for the event, I'm curious, on the 23rd, I believe you said, will it be like a combination of some songs to kind of get the 23rd, I believe you said. Will it be like a combination of some songs

to kind of get the children interested, but also like little education snippets? What can people expect for the kids? You'll get a little bit of all of that. I mean, what we've, as Bridget said, we've kind of created this to show not only great opera and great music and to demonstrate that, but also to have people who are creating

that music talk as well. Throughout the show, we'll have different artists as well as our stage team, our crew, talk about how they found their own voice in little segments just to give kids an inspiration because what I've found is that unless

kids can really make a connection with an individual, it's hard to say, oh, look at this big production, where could I fit into it? But if you see someone on stage who looks like you, who you can identify with, who you think, oh, that could be me in the future, then it's really believable. And we're hoping that the kids will get inspired by that. And I think it makes perfect sense. Sometimes I think opera, if they only just saw the final performance,

it would look daunting because you see these people who clearly on stage, opera singers, you have a presence, the voices are projecting, you use all this music, the sets, I mean, particularly sharks, the sets are beautiful, and you would sit there and say, oh, man, that's such a, it's such a high-end production.

How could I ever enter into that world? Because these people are so talented. They're so good at what they do. But just trying to show them, you know what I mean? Like, you're normal people. It's not that, you know what I mean? Like, you can, with time and training and talent, obviously it's not that there's no talent, but there's a lot of things that go into it. And

there's a place where you can kind of work your way and fit into that world, even though the final product just looks so impressive. There are real people that behind the scenes that actually make that happen. That's right. And as we wrote the script, you know, we tried to write in real issues that singers face, issues that lighting designers come up against. And so throughout the show, kids get to watch us kind of deal with those issues. And then the individuals talk about how they deal with it,

how they deal with stage fright, how they deal with something that's complex, like, you know, the Paramount Theater, which is not built for opera, but it's a beautiful space. And so how do we make that work with projections and things of that sort? So it's really, it allows people to talk openly

about challenges in the opera world, but also to see that opera singers and people who create opera are real people too. And it's for everyone. It's for all of us. Oh, absolutely i would learn i mean remember i remember when nick went to one of the um uh like dress rehearsals to to do his little review um and he said one of the things that struck him most um was that you know you go to a final performance of an opera and everything just goes seamlessly. And you're like, oh man, how did they just come out of the way?

And he said he was shocked in the dress rehearsal. The director, this was I think for last year's musical for Guys and Dolls, the director would be like, stop, move that lamp this way, put that there. And he would say, even to the last minute in essence right you're making this tweak you're making that change you're working on this so it just what goes on behind the scenes are really kind of just simple simple things it's problem solving it's it's challenges that you face every you know everybody at work you know faces okay i have to deal with

this i have to fix this that didn't go as planned, especially probably with the Paramount, right? You're like, oh man, that's not the ideal place, but what can we do with this space? And then it does end up looking like a beautiful final performance, right? But if you only saw the final performance, you'd think it's so good, you'd think, oh man, they just did up there and like it goes magically. And there is some magic to theater. I think somehow the show always comes together, but it's because of the work of so many individuals. We have 140

company members who come together during the summer to create our productions and we have great partners like the Paramount Theater who is our partner for this event, which is called Sing Me a Story. Sing Me a Story. And that's the name of this education program. And I just want to mention that it wouldn't be possible without the support of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation,

who gave a grant to both Charlottesville Opera and the Paramount to put this on together in conjunction. And again, to offer it free. And that's a big part of Charlottesville Opera's initiative to reach out to our community. We'll have this free event for kids. We have how many students attending? Almost 700. Almost 700 registered.

And there's still some space if people are interested, they can log on to the Paramount's website and find more information. But in addition to this, during our summer season of six weeks, we have ten performances and events that are free of charge to the community. We have this big Arts for All festival that actually features our conductor you're going to see later on today, Michael Slahn, and the Oratorio Society and our partners there. And we put on this big event, and it's free to the community. It's at Ting Pavilion this year on June 29th.

And, again, it's an opportunity for the community to come out and experience live classical music and professional classical music. This is, you know, everything we do we put the highest standards to. In addition, we have a master class series that we offer free of charge, several other performances, but that's part of what Charlottesville Opera is about, is making classical music accessible to the community. And sure, we have great main stage season performances, and those are ticketed events,

but in addition to that, we have these 10 free events each summer. Which is wonderful. Yeah, that's pretty great, bringing the community in, especially younger kids. Because, I mean, like, my brothers and I, we kind of grew up, our parents were kind of a little more old school, so we kind of grew up a little more classical music and opera.

Well, I mean, our father, yeah. I mean, he grew up around that because, yeah, I mean, one grandmother loved opera. The other one worked for the Met up in New York doing the costume design. So our dad kind of grew up around that because, yeah, I mean, one grandmother loved opera. The other one worked for the Met up in New York doing the costume design. So our dad kind of grew up in that world. But for a lot of kids... Today, yeah, it's tough to kind of get accessibility to that kind of musical world. You know, everyone's kind of stuck in YouTubes and, you know, like music videos and stuff like that.

But I think it's nice to have an entry that, especially at a young age, they can kind of see. I did have a question, too. So for the kids' program, do they get to kind of go behind the stage, too? Is that like there's demonstrations of raising curtains and all that stuff, too? Absolutely. So they'll get to see some stage hands moving set pieces.

And we have three characters who are actually played by Brigid, myself, and Caroline Wara our artistic director. We're the stage director, the artistic director and the stage manager. That's right. So you see us all

working together and that's a big part of it is to show these are all the things that happen backstage while the show is going on. We also have an orchestra there. We have a five-piece orchestra that will be on stage and do demonstrations. And so the kids will get to experience that. See the different instruments and how they work.

Right. Oh, that's amazing. And all of this, I mean, yes, it's important for kids to experience music, but I think it goes beyond that. And maybe Bridget can say a little more about the education focus, what music brings to kids, and just opening their eyes to what's possible out there and that maybe it's not just your doctor or a lawyer,

not that those things aren't good or, you know, in finance, as you all are, but that there are jobs in the arts that are really fulfilling as well. And even if it doesn't become your job, just being a part of the arts, whether it's as an audience member or singing for your church or a local choir. All of these things are really important and just help a person's whole self, I think, which is really important, and I think that's one of the things. Just, again, to show that it's not an overwhelming experience. I mean, I was in college when I saw my first opera,

which, you know, how cool would it have been if I had been younger? And I thought, oh, my gosh, this is actually pretty cool. This isn't like old people stuff. And so I think that's it, is just teaching us that it's accessible and it can help us all on so many levels. Absolutely, especially I think in today's day and age, sometimes there's always those pendulums.

And I think sometimes we're in a little bit of the pendulum swing where the arts are kind of derided. I mean, the arts is the low-paying stuff. That's where, man, if you come out of college with an arts degree, you've probably wasted four years and $50,000, right? But there are actually careers. And sometimes what you have to do, though, is broaden your perspective of what jobs aren't there, because if you go,

maybe if you go into the arts, and you think, okay, it's singer or bust, then you might come out of it and say, oh, man, I didn't get to be a singer, I wasted four years. I said, well, no, there's a lot, there's a lot of position, I mean, with 104 cast members, they don't all sing. No, you're absolutely right, and we've all, you know, we've all done that. You know, I started as a singer and, you know, I realized that that was not the life for me. But here I found my career in arts administration and especially during COVID so many singers had to pivot and, you know, there are no jobs anymore.

And not only singers but stage stage hands and stage managers shows aren't happening you've got to find something else and being um being in the arts makes you really adaptable and creative at solving problems and so we've seen lots of folks um who have found other careers and things that are very fulfilling um that allow them to continue their craft as well. Absolutely. I mean, I remember even in other fields, I think, like you said, it makes you creative and helps you to think outside the box. And I remember even in our own field that I remember once seeing a major private equity firm that these guys, it was two guys that they, basically, they would look for companies that they could help and grow and turn them into something bigger.

And their backgrounds were like, one was the arts. I forget what, like something completely. And the other guy was a religious studies major. So you've got basically a philosophy guy and an arts guy. And they built this successful company. You would say, how on earth do you end up in finance after doing that but they both are in the interview that they had done they both said we wouldn't be as good

at what we do if it weren't for that because otherwise we would have come out of finance school thinking this is how you do things this is how a company needs to be run and if it's not run that way it's a lousy company and they were able to look at things and say well no if you just change this or do that,

this boring trash company can become a very successful trash company. You can do different things. But they both credited their kind of arts, liberal arts background for helping them do that. And it just broadens your perspective in so many ways because you're using that other part of your brain, you're also you're even in an arts field you're facing all right here's a problem how do i solve it right and oftentimes quickly yes exactly because you

don't have a lot of time there but it's also about how you interact with with other people you know i think about you know that's a big part of the arts is that you have to work together and we have you know these 140 is that you have to work together. We have these 140 people. They all have to work together in that one three-hour segment to make the show come together. And that's a big thing that I love about having these 700 kids come into this room to sit next to each other, kids that go to different schools and who otherwise might not ever meet or see each other. But they're going to sit in this room, and they're going to have this emotional experience next to one another,

and they're going to see that, oh, this is something different, something that I could be involved in. And to me, that's a wonderful thing about the arts is helping us to relate better to one another, and I just think that's so important. It's all grounded in the teamwork. That's right.

I mean, that's really at the heart of it because with rare exceptions almost all music is a whole bunch of people trying to be in time with one another. Think about an orchestra. An orchestra is a whole bunch of people

playing instruments trying to be in sync. You add operas like the lighting guy has to be insane, the stage hands have to be insane, where you are on the stage movement wise compared to the other people I remember last year when we went to see Dice and Dolls

just the dancers, I mean you're going across the stage two groups like this and when they like pass through each other you can't bang into the dialogue, you have to be sync. And so just that level of teamwork at the same time to put together something is a great example I think for kids to see. That's right. And I hope that's what they do see on the 23rd. They watch how this all happens.

And it's exciting to be a part of that. To think that, oh, I'm one part of this big picture. Yeah. And listen, even if you inspire one child, that's worth it in the end. That's worth it. That's right. And I will say that this is how,

Bridget said that she saw her first opera when you were in college. In college, yeah. So I saw my first opera anything when I was in sixth grade because a school, well, Virginia Opera came to my middle school. Wow. And I had no experience with opera before that, but I remember that moment. I remember the seat I was sitting in when they came in and these folks walked on stage

and this woman who looked like me, she had broad shoulders and big cheekbones, and she got up there and she sang. And I just remember that moment that I thought, I want to be like that. I want to have that kind of control. The room was just drawn to her. And to see those folks working together to create something so incredible was life-changing for me. Because before that, I was as shy as shy could be.

You would never have gotten me on a stage but um it certainly planted the seed and I hope that that's what sing me a story will do on April 23rd for these 700 kids or more or more I'm sure it will I'm sure it will it really is and even and just from a perspective of like careers but also just having a general appreciation for the arts and the the emotion that you can experience with opera, the story, the appreciation for what goes in there. I think it really does change you as a person when you watch these things.

It helps you become a more well-rounded person, even if you don't end up working in the career, just to have an appreciation of it. And I did just a beautiful thing that for a lot of these kids my hope is that their their first now experience of opera will not be like the hollywood version where like it just bugged me so often like hollywood opera the first time you see it's some bad guy attending an opera and you're like they're looking for him and like he's in the bop scene you're like okay yeah bad people listen to opera and classical music right the villain always does it but like their first experience of it will not

be this pretentious thing but like exactly their first experience of opera will be wow this is what all these things that happen that are really cool behind the scenes. And then when they sing and the music plays, it's a beautiful sound. And I just think it would be awesome to have that be, just for a lot of these kids, their first experience of opera or maybe even classical music as a whole. So I'm really proud that you guys are putting this on. Well, that's definitely our hope. And some of the pieces

they may have heard in commercials or in film or something. So just making the connections that this is where it all comes from. And again, making it accessible is the biggest thing. Absolutely. So if people are interested, I know you said there's still a few stops left. Where would they need to go?

So it's going to be Tuesday, April 23rd at 10.15am. Yes, at the Paramount Where would they need to go? It's going to be Tuesday, April 23rd at 10.15 a.m. Yes, at the Paramount. They have to register on the Paramount's website. I think it's paramounttheater.net. I think it's theparamount.net. The Paramount. Oh, thank you. The Paramount.

Theparamount.net. They have an education tab. Under that, there's a spot for them to register. There's a spot for them to register. There's a spot for them to register. There's also a study guide that they can take a look at beforehand. There's some activities for them, giving them some explanations of what they'll see. And yeah, I think it's going to be a really fun day for them. So definitely. Well, 700 kids is going to be packed house. It's going to be a lot of fun. We have a ton of energy in the room.

There will be energy. Absolutely. So that one is on April 23rd. And then June 29th, people can look forward to this year's festival, which is another free event at Teen Pavilion. That's right. And that, as I mentioned, will be with the Oratorio Society and the Charlottesville Ballet as our partners. We'll also have tent partners that will be there to have activities for kids from 5 to 7. 7 o'clock is our concert with conductor Michael Slahn, who you all are going to talk with next. And then our season this year, we have The Music Man, and that is June 21st through 23rd at the Paramount, and then The Elixir of Love, which is July 12th and 14th.

And both of these are super family-friendly shows. Elixir of Love is one of my favorite Italian operas because it's so lush, full of chorus music. And it's all about red wine. So there's nothing wrong with that. It's not to love. I would say it is one of my favorites as well. It has one of my favorite all-time

opera songs, which is the one that the I'm not going to try to hum it because I do a terrible job. You can sing it, Alex. Go ahead. It's the one that the con man sings. Oh, Dupermata. Yes, when he's trying to sell them the elixir of love. Two definitely family-friendly, light-hearted.

But both about con men. Was that a theme that was going for you? There might have been a theme. I mean, a little bit unintentional, but it is definitely a theme. And actually, as far as education goes, we're going to have a lecture on April 24th with Ali at UVA, and that's a free also event for folks to sign up, and that's on our website where people can come and hear.

I'm going to talk a little bit about the con man in both the Elixir of Love and Music Man. I know we're having you back on before those come to talk. Nick will probably get himself onto that show to talk about the two performances upcoming this year. Before we let you both go, if people want to find out more, theparamount.net is the place to go

to register. You're exactly right. You find arts education. You find this Sing Me a Story and you click this nice big button that says groups under 150 register here. And so that's pretty much everyone will be under 150. And then where can people find out

more for the rest of the season? At charlottesvilleopera.org and you'll see there we have Bridget's contact is there also and she'll be with us going forward through the summer so we're excited to have her continuing our education program as our education director. And it's a real benefit to have her here with us in Charlottesville.

That's wonderful. We're glad to have you on board and really just appreciate what you guys are doing to not just bring great opera to Charlottesville, but bring great opera to a, to a new generation of kids in an accessible way. So thanks so much for doing it. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Appreciate it. And we'll look forward to next time. Exactly. All right. So as we go ahead and pull a little swap-a-roo here. Yeah, no, it's going to be,

it's going to be a great season. It's great making opera and just like you were talking about everything that happens behind the scenes more accessible to younger kids absolutely because as older

people probably can figure out exactly what goes on behind the scenes even though to be honest I probably actually don't even know what goes on behind the scenes

there is still the magic of the stage exactly yeah I mean to be honest I was kind of like wondering whether I could sneak into that thing you know

put my name as like 70-year-old. Could you pretend to be in 70-year-old? Exactly. I want to see behind the scenes and the stage and all that. Absolutely. We've got some more people tuning in. Trey and Chiss, thanks so much for watching this morning. Michaela Hadfield, thanks for tuning in.

Montaigne Camper, thanks for tuning in this morning. Appreciate everyone who's watching the show this morning and sending us your thumbs up, your likes, and your questions and comments. So really, really appreciate everyone tuning in. And from one set of great guests to another, we're excited to welcome back to the show

Michael Slon, the conductor, and Christine Fairfield, executive director for the Oratorio Society of Virginia. Michael, Christine, thanks so much for coming back on this morning. Thank you. Thanks for having us, as always much for coming back on this morning. Thank you. Thanks for having us, as always. It's always a pleasure, always a pleasure. So last time I think we had you on, it was pre-Christmas.

Has it been that long? It's been that long, it's been that long. So the Christmas concert was beautiful, I have to say. It was just stupendous. Just to hear all those voices sing some of some really familiar tunes in expected and unexpected ways. I did really enjoy, you had told me I would enjoy the song of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and that was very good to hear that song. What else has Oratory Society been up

to since we last had you on? Well, first, oh, go ahead, Christy. I was just going to say thank you for coming. Always great to have you, your family, and the audience. Yes. What have we been doing? We gave another concert in March together in song, our annual community benefit event,

and also a community choral workshop. Yes. And we had over 70 choral workshop participants. And so for the second half of that concert, there were 160-some voices on stage. On stage. And this ranged from like maybe high schoolers or even a middle schooler. Yeah, we had some middle school students. Up to retirees.

Oh, my God. Yeah, it was fantastic. We were really delighted to have a youth chorus join us for part of that as well. It's a new ensemble that Will Cook began specifically with

no financial barrier. Any teen interested in learning more, experiencing more choral music can participate. Right. So it's called Voces Lete. It's called Voces Lete. Voces Lete.

So that was really fun. And that program was opera and Broadway music. And it ended just like it gave everybody goosebumps. People were standing up. Just to talk about it since you asked what we've been doing, there were really two pieces. One was a medley of Climb Every Mountain from Sound of Music and You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel,

Rodgers and Hammerstein. Okay, yes. Incredibly inspiring. Could have ended almost any concert. But we actually ended with One Day More from Les Mis, which some of your listeners may recall. Incredibly inspiring music. And so it was a lot of fun to do that program.

Yeah. And it also benefited the Boys and Girls Club, right? Indeed, it did. Another great organization. That's one of the things I love, because we've had so many wonderful organizations in charge. It's amazing how many are always working with each other, collaborating, benefiting a third organization.

As it just shows with your previous guest, Leanne and the two of us and several groups have been collaborating now for several years with the opera, which is tremendous. Absolutely. It's a beautiful thing. I just love the great work together. And we, of course, we as the audience get to benefit from it every time.

So before we get to a certain major performance in May. Don't rush, Alex. Don't rush. Don't rush. There's a couple things, exciting things coming up very soon. Tell us first, I think it's tomorrow, is speaking of collaboration between the UVA chamber singers

and the Center for Politics so tell us a little bit about that what's that collaboration? Thanks Alex so as your listeners will know I'm also the director of choral music at University of Virginia and so our two groups

chamber singers and university singers our curricular courses both have big concerts coming up director of choral music at University of Virginia. And so our two groups, Chamber Singers and University Singers, our curricular courses, both have big concerts coming up. Tomorrow, I'm excited to say that we have this collaboration with Larry Sabato and the Center for Politics, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary at UBA. And I think Larry is celebrating his 50th anniversary here. Wow. And he and I had run into each other.

I was walking to Boda's one day right by UVA on the corner, and it was in the summer. It was quiet. We started to chat a couple years ago, and we came up with this idea. What if you did a concert of campaign songs across the era? I mean, from George Washington forward. And so tomorrow night, it is coming to reality in this very special concert where we will do,

the chamber singers will do from Hail Columbia, which is the original national anthem, and then go through a whole number of campaign songs up into the 20th century. And the Center for Politics, because it has tremendous connection to a lot of major figures, has brought in, for example,

Martin Luther King III, Martin Luther King's son, who will introduce one of the selections. And there are other political celebrities that will be around this weekend. So it's quite exciting. That's amazing. That's a major, major event.

Major, yeah. And just a special thing is I didn't realize we actually still had, like we knew what campaign songs. Well, you know, it's interesting because based on a period when people, I was just talking to Daily Progress about this, when people would sing because they didn't have recordings, excuse me, they would make the music themselves. So in the 19th century, we have more kind of homegrown campaign songs.

Now what tends to happen is that a candidate will borrow a song that's a popular song. That happens more often. That certainly happened in the past. So we don't go actually past the 1970s. Which makes sense, since they probably haven't written that many. Yeah, most people now borrow. But I think it's exciting. That's at 8 o'clock tomorrow at Old Cabell Hall.

And the tickets are available, artsboxoffice.virginia.edu. You can share that, and or right at the door. People can walk up. Okay, you can do it if you ask. We should alert potential audience members, there will be tomorrow some security measures, so clear bag policy. Okay, you can do it if you ask. We should alert potential audience members there will be tomorrow some security measures, so clear bag policy.

Okay, yeah. So basically pretend as though you're going to a UVA sports game. Like it's a sports event. So be prepared for that. And so that was tomorrow at 8 p.m. Friday, April 5th, yeah. At Old Cowbond. Yep, you're absolutely right.

Music.virginia.edu. You can get to a bunch of things on the calendar, and you can flip the link to the tickets in the Arts Box office. So I have a quick question. So you said they have even campaign songs from George Washington. How do we know what they even sounded like? Well, because the music is written down, fortunately. Oh.

Yeah, yeah. My question was, how did you find all of that repertoire? That's a tough question. Yeah, yeah. My question was, how did you find all of that repertoire? Because that's not going to be like standard sheet music that you just order. Yeah, everything was homemade. Yeah, great question. The Center for Politics has people, shall we say. So they did some research, and then I added to that my own research, and we made additions.

Even some of the students helped put additions into computer notation software. And Hell Columbia, that was the one that's more like a song. It wasn't really a campaign song. But from John Adams on, they are really like campaign songs. Jefferson's one that we're doing is a great fiddle tune, like a jig with new words. We've got High Hopes where Frank Sinatra rewrote the lyrics for Kennedy.

Hello Lyndon, which is a take on Hello Dolly. And Etipa Canoe and Tyler Too, which is one of the better known ones. But you know, the Library of Congress has some resources and you go online and you can research these scores.

And then some we have arranged for chorus. Some were already arranged for chorus. And we just had to adapt them. We'll have piano and Baroque fiddler David McCormick will also join us. We had him on recently, Early Music Access Project.

I think it's fascinating. For some of the selections. I think it's fascinating. Everybody should come hear it. There's also a live stream link if people can't get there. Wonderful. Yeah, that does sound like a very unique. When I first saw it, I'm like, the Center for Politics, how has he done it?

I'd like to collaborate with them. Do they sing? We'll do the singing. They'll do the talking. They'll do the talking. But just a great opportunity to hear things that you probably have not heard before. No. And may well never hear again.

Correct. Unless you do it again. Well, because some of these people, as it happens, aren't running for office anymore. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. That's amazing. And then you have another one coming up,

which is interesting. So it'll be the North American premiere with the university singers of Eric Eschenwald's St. Luke's Passion. I'd love to hear a little bit about that. So we are really excited about this at UVA. We've had a bunch of special guests this semester, and we're going to cap it off with the university singers are bringing in Eric Eschenbalds who is a Latvian composer who, would you agree

Christine, he's world famous in choral music. He is world famous now. And has written some gorgeous music. And by miracle he was available. We're flying him in from Lafayette.

So he's at, the composer is coming in? He will be here from Wednesday to Saturday as part of a residency next week. The concert's on Saturday, April 13th at 8 o'clock, Old Cabell Hall. But he will come all week and work with our students. We'll do several of his pieces. He has several, Sarah Teasdale, the poet, famous setting, Stars, and a

piece called Only in Sleep. A lot of choirs do this. But the St. Louis Passion, it's about a half-hour piece, chorus, orchestra, and soloist. I found it online, and when I got in touch with him and his agent, he said no one has done it really outside Lafayette, and I would be thrilled to have you not only give the North American premiere, but try to open it up to new audiences. It's a really good piece. So we'll be doing that for the first time outside of Lafayette next week. And you said it's called St. Luke's Passion?

Yeah, Passion According to St. Luke. Okay, all right. So they basically sing that portion of the Bible? So, right, so you'll know there's historic kind of passion settings, most famously Bach, St. Matthew and St. John. And those are very long and literal. This is much shorter, right? In a half hour, you're not going to probably be able to set the whole passion story. What he did is he took several segments of that story, and he actually interpolates other material,

including a gorgeous poem by Christina Rossetti about the prodigal son story. And he interpolates that with the passion, the crucifixion story, such that I think in a way he sets up, you know, there's that aspect of the two thieves on the crosses beside Jesus. And in a way, it's almost like a prodigal son story connects to that.

And he literally sends a solo singer away from the group, out of the auditorium, like the prodigal son. He sings, I want my inheritance. He leaves. And at the end of the piece on this beautiful Rossetti text which starts, does that lamp still burn in my father's house? He brings the soloist back. It's powerful. So I hope people can join us to

experience this music. Absolutely. What a gift that we're able to just enjoy these things because I mean, how often do you live in a place where you experience, I mean, essentially a world premiere, not including the composer's home country, of a piece of this magnitude,

which is just such a blessing and so amazing. And that will be April 13th at 8 p.m. That's right, Saturday at Old Cabell. And all the same sites will work. Okay, perfect. Artsboxoffice.virginia.edu. Wonderful. So thanks so much for taking a minute to talk about that.

Oh, of course, of course. And that one, if you're a UVA student, that one is also, you might be a little short to get your free ticket for the one in, you're still 24 hours in advance. You still have time for tomorrow, too. If you're a student. Free UVA student ticket still 24 hours in advance. You still have time for tomorrow, too. Free UVA student ticket reserved 24 hours in advance. You still have seven hours to pull that off.

Then you have plenty of time if you're a UVA student to get a free ticket for that one. Then the general audience, for $15. It always amazes me how UVA pulls that off. I guess we should raise prices.

The idea is to make it accessible. Which is a beautiful thing. So be sure to check both of those out. Again, like Michael said, UVA Arts Box Office always has the full calendar. MusidaVirginia.edu will also have some of these listed on its calendar of events. So be sure to check both of those out.

And Michael has... Well, I mean, really, I was going to ask the question, but I know you want to ask it. No, you do it. You do it. Okay, we want to know what's coming in May. Well, yeah, that's... We know, but we want everyone to know. This is oratory aside. I'm going to let... I'm going to talk foratory aside. I'm going to let Christine talk for a minute. Christine, what do we look forward to?

And then I'll jump in. Well, something really special that we've been working on behind the scenes since the fall even. We got some of the music for this already to our chorus members and started rehearsing as early as September so um we are celebrating nearly to the day the 200th anniversary of the premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna so May 7th 1824 in Vienna um Beethoven's Ninth was first performed for an audience, and it blew people away, because never before had a chorus been part of a symphonic work. And unfortunately, we don't have time on our program to do the whole symphony,

but we are doing that final movement. That is, of course, probably one of the most popular parts of that work, with some incredible vocal soloists, that is, of course, probably one of the most popular parts of that work, with some incredible vocal soloists and an orchestra, of course. And we have two opportunities for our audience members to hear this concert. One will be Friday, May 10th, at Brisham Hall, which is the fairly new and really wonderfully acoustic space at St. Anne's Belfield School on Ivy Road. So that's Friday night, May 10th at 7.30. And then we will give it a second time at Old Cabell Hall at UVA on Sunday, May 12th at 3.30. So in addition to the final choral movement of

Beethoven's Ninth, we're also going to perform, or our orchestra will, an overture, Beethoven overture. And yeah, Michael can talk about that a little more. And then the choral fantasy, which

is for chorus and orchestra and a phenomenal piano soloist. Oh. The Choral Fantasy, which is for chorus and orchestra and a phenomenal piano soloist. Is that a Beethoven work as well? That is also a Beethoven. It's all Beethoven. That one is new to me. The whole concert is Beethoven.

Nick is probably saying for shame, but that one is new to me. You're going to love it, and here's why. It's a great pairing because it is like a mini version of the Ninth Symphony, way before he wrote the ninth so he has this piece his piano starts out it's like a concerto the orchestra comes in very virtuosic and then toward the end of the piece the chorus comes in in a very joyful tune that sounds like a prefiguring of the odede to Joy. Like it's the early formulation of his mind. Right, right. Oh, amazing.

And what will be the overture? So you're right. The significance of that, we're going to play the consecration of the house overture, which was played the same day the ninth premiered, that day in 1797. There's also that Meir Stille beautiful short piece about calm seas and prosperous voyage.

Yeah, I was excited. You know, when I thought of this back last year when we were coming up with our programs a year ago, and I looked at the calendar and I thought, wow, we could do it almost to the day, 200th anniversary. And so I'm glad of the idea, but I'm also glad the Oratory Society, with Christine's help, but our whole organization really, has gotten behind this idea and made it possible,

not just in a musical sense, but in a financial and infrastructural organizational sense. And I think hopefully people will be very excited to hear that along with these other... Because it's an amazing undertaking. It is. And Beethoven's Night is pretty daunting. It's a huge orchestra and a lot of voices.

If I remember when we saw it once... I remember when we had seen it. It was so big that I remember when Charlottesville Symphony did it several years ago. They had both of them at the MLK Junior Performing Arts Center. The reason was because I prepared two courses

for my colleague Kate Tamarkin on that one. The University Singers and the Oratory Society. And there was no way to fit 160 singers in Old Cavill Hall. Old Cavill, ah. Yeah. And it's going to be snug. I was about to say that. With our 90 singers and 40 plus

orchestra and soloists. As it always is. Yeah. It'll be really fantastic um and tickets are on sale for both the may 10th and may 12th we are also offering um a live stream option only for the friday night at at stab where are the tickets so tickets on our website or you can get links to the places where you can get those tickets on our website, oratoriosociety.org. And, yeah, that'll just take you. There's a link on the homepage and our performance tab.

The performances tab. And then when you scroll down, bold, tickets available. Right there. And click the link. So I'm curious, what, Christine, from a, maybe you can talk about just from the singers and technical perspective, and then Michael maybe a little from the musical perspective, what goes into preparing for a piece of this size, even just the one movement is big? Well, probably one of the more challenging elements is that we're doing,

all of the choral music will be in the original German. So there's a lot of diction coaching involved and resources that we share with our singers. And Beethoven, as many people know, became deaf during his lifetime and continued to compose. And one of probably the major criticisms of his compositional style especially when he was still living

was that his writing for the voice was sometimes considered a little bit outside of the normal average vocal capabilities so it is it's very high for

all of the parts it remains high and so a lot of what we are being coached wonderfully by our fabulous maestro is how to warm up that sound, how to make it keep the stamina through the whole

concert program because it is a bit taxing. Yeah, so it's a physical as well as a mental challenge. Yes, yeah. Wow. But it's coming together really nicely. Yeah, the rehearsals are sounding really great. It's very exciting, yeah.

I did not know that. I guess being a listener, I wouldn't know what is outside the normal range. Although that is such a classic. You would like to ascribe it to his becoming deaf, but it kind of fits in with the personality of Beethoven as well. They can do it. They can pull this off. I think you're right, Alex. I think that's actually very insightful.

Because Christine's 100% right about the challenges. What we should know, if it's all right if we talk music and depth here for a minute, Beethoven is really pushing the orchestra and the chorus. There is hard writing for the orchestra in that symphony. And then there's no question that he writes the chorus in a high tessitura at times for length of time. He also achieved some extraordinary effects that have kind of become eternal in the world of art. And I think you might be right. The chorus members at the premiere or around the

premiere asked him to change the parts and he refused. And I think you're right. If he could hear them better, I'm not sure he would have changed a note because I think his vision was clear and he did what he wanted to do. And while you can quibble with that a little, I think there's a couple things to remember when we talk about the 9th in a rather serious way, actually. One is, here is a man who was deaf, basically, who was, you know, to your point,

he was a bit of a curmudgeon and you know perhaps a bit antisocial and various other things there's theories why and yet he created this piece he put in the time and the effort without being able to hear it to get on paper this extraordinary work of art. That in itself seems like a miracle. On top of that, it has become culturally, I mean, he saw something ahead of his time maybe. Culturally, this is kind of one of the most pervasive and influential works of art that the world has ever seen.

I mean, that's ever been created by a human being. So, and it seems to touch people around the world. You see it, you know, when political things are happening, people see it like the Berlin Wall or a Tiananmen Square or whatever, what have you. People see it as this unifying human anthem. Every once in a while, I will go back, because it's a grainy recording,

but I will go back and just listen to the one that Leonard Bernstein did at the fall of the Berlin Wall where he changed the word because in German you can change the word joy to freedom and it sounds almost the same so he changed that one word and did the performance

at the Brandenburg Gate I think after the fall of the Berlin Wall you're so right and it was a performance that was so powerful because it involved musicians from both sides of the wall and from around the world. It was kind of a quintessential unifying moment in human culture. I'm glad Bernstein got to see that

right before he passed away the next year. And I think for him, that fall of the wall was certainly, for all of us, a significant human moment in a positive way. We have plenty of negative. That was very powerful. And the last, I think for him too,

probably the last culmination of the end of World War II, because the existence of that separation kind of perpetuated so much there. And just to see that happen, and for that to become the German national anthem, which it is. My wife, they're from Germany, and they said, because of course in World War II just to see that happen and for that to become the German national anthem which my wife said, in World War II it was a completely

different anthem there. But for that to then become the unified German national anthem. Isn't it the EU anthem? It may also be the EU, but she told me it definitely has become the unified German national anthem. It's the Ode to anthem. It's the ode to joy.

Well, it's a human anthem. It seems to transcend our nation states and draw us together. Absolutely. What goes into it? I mean, is there anything you as a conductor have to think about when performing a work of this size? Because you're melding challenging, you know, work for the instruments with challenging?

Yeah, that's something we do in a lot of pieces is put the instruments and voices together. So that's something we do every year and try to create a balanced and compelling whole. I think the maybe particular challenge is you got to look at the score with fresh eyes right we've heard it a lot yeah so now what i and i've been reminding myself of this recently in fact as soon as i get through these other concerts i'm going to take a step back and think about this

some more i think you have to look at go back and look at the text and look at the notes and think okay i've done it a lot i know it i've I've done it this way. But I want to make sure, wait a minute, am I seeing it really clearly what was intended? What's the best interpretation that I can think of for all of us at this moment? And correct me if I'm wrong, Michael, but I think this is the first, you've prepared choirs multiple times for this work. You mentioned that in a rehearsal that his his score has notes for the different conductors that he was preparing for with you know dates and like this this is so-and-so's instruction this is so-and-so's and and this is the first time you are getting to conduct the final product.

That's right thank you. Christine is exactly right. I first prepared this when I was barely out at college. I helped my mentor prepare it at Cornell. And then I was involved in a performance in Indiana. And I prepared it multiple times, as you say, for multiple conductors. I've also, as most of us have that are in the world, sung it multiple times in various performances in the chorus. I'm certainly not as old as and uh um and then and i'm sure you've sung it before you know before too right or no i actually oh amazing oh i'm excited this is your first time i'm excited i've heard it a couple of times yeah

but this is the first time i'm excited i to sing it. I'm excited about that. Yeah, me too. Because she's a very experienced singer. But that's exactly right. And so I prepared it. I have all these sets of markings. And it's almost like you have to wipe the slate clean. Now get rid of them and say, what do I want? Some of them are very good. I have a score my mentor gave me from Eugene Normandy, from the Philadelphia Orchestra, legendary Hungarian-born conductor,

with his markings for Beethoven 9. And so that's very helpful. I mean, you can get great ideas. But the truth is, yeah, you've got to still also think about it, try to see it with clear eyes, fresh eyes. Yeah, do you combine elements just as general? Like, okay, this conductor that I like did it this way. eyes. Do you combine elements just as general? This conductor that I like did it this way.

Combine a little bit of what they've done with that fresh look and say, okay, what would I do differently? Yeah, exactly. That's so interesting how much... It isn't until recently that I think, particularly for people who haven't heard it before. I mean, sorry, for people who haven't heard it before I mean sorry

for people who have heard Beethoven's like before it is amazing that there are differences when you hear it from different conductors and different orchestras it's not like you're going to hear the same stock

you know footage or audio every single time the differences difference is to be dramatic and moving in different ways. Yeah, there's not a right answer always. But I think that's exactly right. And more than one path is possible

in the piece. But there are some interesting choices and some great possibilities. I feel like Beethoven's Ninth is one of those pieces, Mahler's Seventh is another one that I mean, I know you and Nick, but it's amazing. 20 different versions. 20 different versions.

And I'm like, man, that guy, that conductor made that part play so slow. Or wow, there was like more horns in there. The drums, like there's always something different there. And it's always kind of exciting, because pieces like that, you kind of said you really don't know exactly, you know what it's going to sound like in terms of the music, but you know, there's other elements that kind of

can spice it up, I guess. 100%. And you've done some great, the soloist, I noticed one that you've reached out is, I think he's the same soloist that did the Petite. Yes, our tenor soloist. The Rossini, and he was marvelous in that.

So I was looking forward to him coming back. And the other two, we're still working on our alto soloist, coming soon. Our soprano soloist is Christina Pierre. And she has sung with Oratorio Society before. Incredible soprano voice. She's going to be fabulous. And she has sung this before.

It's a Met winner, former Met winner. And Weston Hurt is our bass soloist. Yes, he hasn't been hurt in town in like 20 years. He's not been here in a very long time, but he's really excited to be on board for this and coming here. Also sings at the Met, right? Also singing, making his debut at the Met this season, actually. Crazy.

Really, really fantastic soloist. And the pianist we should mention. And the pianist, yes, which we're also delighted. And this has not been in our publicity yet because we've still been working on the details. But coming soon will be some information about some pre-concert talks that

our pianist and Michael Salon together are going to do. Peter Henderson is our pianist and Michael and he were roommates in grad school. We were housemates. Let me tell you so Peter is the pianist for the St. Louis Symphony right now.

He is tremendously talented. Honestly, one of the smartest musicians I know. And so what I'm basically hoping to do in these pre-concert lectures, he does them sometimes for the St. Louis Symphony. He'll interview John Adams or something. I'm going to interview him and just let him share his thoughts about this music and his insights about Beethoven. And I think that is going to be very enlightening for all of us. And that's going to be free for any ticket holder. So plan to come

early. More details to come on what that looks like. That's amazing. And I will say his name because I feel bad not to say his name. Jameson Lee Walker is the tenor soloist I was talking about because he did that really hard part in the Rossini Mass. Yeah. Where he has to go like...

Quite high. Imagine, yeah, imagine going like this with your voice. And he did it beautifully. And so when I saw his picture, I'm like, yes, I think I know who that is. And he's coming beautifully. And so when I saw his picture, I'm like, yes, I think I know who that is. And he's coming back to do this.

And also, Dan, that you're helping, if you're a ticket holder, to also be a little educated and learn about the piece and Beethoven and to hear a great pianist's interpretation of how he sees it on the choral fantasy. And then to hear the night, even though the last moment, you know, like you say, we hear these things a lot on recording, but it's always special when you get to hear it

live, when you are in the room and the music is happening. And maybe not perfect like it is on a CD, right? You don't have the editing capability, but it's there live. That's a very inspiring, powerful experience. They can do it. And just tied to the

history of it, I can't imagine we'll be the only one kind of imagining, oh man, we'll have to dress like we were in 18. No, candles only, please. No, none of those little Mozart wigs. Get the wig, yeah, exactly.

I don't think Beethoven had one of those. Probably, yeah. Probably not. He would have torn it off. Any picture of his hair is kind of crazy. But just to imagine just the... He himself, there's always the story of one of the singers turning him around because he couldn't hear

the applause. He was conducting it even though they had been told don't listen. They had another been told, don't listen. They had another conductor. Don't follow Beethoven. But you can feel music. You can feel live music, even if you can't hear it.

There is something everybody should go look up. Helen Keller wrote, I think we should try to print this in the program, a stunning account of experiencing the 9th century. And she only could have felt the vibration. I couldn't believe it when someone sent it to me and I read it. I was tearing up. It was so powerful. It's to your point, because she would have experienced it a little bit in the way Beethoven did. Exactly, by sense, by feeling the vibration of the music. And you can imagine, I mean, an orchestra in...

And the beauty of the thing about, I mean, I'm sure that you said St. Anne's has nice acoustics as well, but also Old Tabel, you will feel that all of that music in a small space of so many instruments and 90 singers really coming in your direction. And I think that's going to just make it such an incredible performance,

not just audially, but visually to see it. And it's that, you know, School of Athens backdrop. To see it, but then also to feel it in the seats. Yeah, physically and spiritually and musically, all the... You know, because, I mean, like you said, Michael, it's a piece that changed. I mean, some historians date the switch from placidal to romantic period.

They put that date as Beethoven's ninth premiering. And I say that's when it started. And just the people that were influenced by it and the world was never quite the same afterwards. said, that's when it started. And just the people that were influenced by it and the world was never quite the same afterwards. So just an opportunity to hear in Charlottesville from just so many talented seniors

and just, I'm looking forward to tremendously how people should be as well. And I know our audience is. So remind us one more time, Christine, where do people need to go to get tickets? I don't think you want to wait very long. Yeah, tickets are

selling steadily every day and we have what's today? Yeah, it's more than a month before this concert. So get your tickets. They're selling. Please go to oratoriosociety.org and you will find

everything you need to know there. Very easy to do. When you click it, it takes you to a place where you can very easily just click which performance you want and go from there. So it really would encourage people to not lose time in doing that.

And then as a quick recap, don't forget tomorrow night at 8 p.m. is the collaboration of campaign songs with UVA Center for Politics. And then next Saturday at 8 p.m., the premiere of Eric Eschenwald's Passion of St. Louis. Right, with University Singers. With University Singers. So you can find both of those at UVA ArtSpot's office. So Michael, Christine, I mean, I always love so much when you both come on.

It's such a joy. I know Michael was happy to be here. I was happy to have you. I know. I felt like in awe. I was just sitting in the inquiry just listening to Christine and Michael talk. I'm like, wow. We really do appreciate you coming on and kind of sharing with us what goes on behind the scenes. I think it's important for people to know, like, you. We really do appreciate you coming out and sharing with us what goes on

behind the scenes. I think it's important for people to know, you go to these performances, you buy tickets, to know what people are thinking, how it comes about, because it's so much work that goes into it. It's not just that, too. Also, it feels like sometimes, too, it's also a little more than music.

It's like the passion that people have about what's being played. Michael you know michael talking about you know mention the helen keller thing now it's like the spiritual emotional feeling that you will get listen to these pieces it's it you don't get it listen to an earphone and i know i mean we go to the symphony all the time it's like you can get the best earphones you want it's not the same experience you're there the music hits you you know i mean i'm a big drums guy. You hear the timpanis playing. You're vibrating. You hear it. The piano

going. It's like, wow. It's a memorable experience. I encourage everybody to push yourself. Go out there and listen to this. This is a once in a decade opportunity. It really is.

You don't get Beethoven's Night in Charlottesville every year. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity. Yeah, it really is. Be sure to take... You don't get Beethoven's Ninth in Charlottesville every year. So take advantage of it while it's here and while these great people at Oratorio Society are putting it on. Thank you both so much for coming. Really appreciate it. Enjoy. Looking forward to it.

Looking forward to all the big events coming up. We'll see you there. Really appreciate it. Enjoy. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to all the big events coming up. We'll see you there. And, yep, be sure to check out oratoriosociety.org for your tickets. Well, this has been a great show. Yeah, it really has been. Really appreciated it. Thanks for coming out with me. No, thanks for having me, Alex.

It was super enjoyable. Thanks for Nick for taking the back seat tonight. Yep, he sacrificed. He sacrificed. He sacrificed. He sacrificed. Next week, we'll have some more great guests.

We'll have Jody Mills from Boella Southwest Mountain Vineyards and then Matthias John for our monthly meetup with Matthias will be coming on. We'll talk some, we'll talk, you know, things to do in Charlottesville,

restaurants to see. I think Southwest Mountain Vineyards is a new winery, isn't it? I believe so. I believe so. I've heard they have a very beautiful location. Is that the one in Keswick? I think it's near Keswick area.

We're looking forward to having them on, kind of hearing about their venture there. Be sure to send us any comments or questions about people that you would like to have. A couple thank yous, of course. Kevin Hiddens, thanks

for watching the show this morning. Olivia Branch, thanks for watching the show this morning. Olivia Branch, thanks for watching the show this morning. Ah, Nick says, Michael is correct. It is the EU anthem as well. No, no, not me. Yeah, Michael. Yeah, that Michael. You pointed at me.

I wasn't sure. No, it was just a pen. No, no, this Michael is correct that it is the EU national anthem is Beethoven's nine. So Nick was watching the show as well. So thank you for tuning in. Judyann Watchersmith says she's tuning in. So I appreciate that. Thank you so much for coming in there.

Really appreciate everyone who tuned in today. So, oh, I feel bad. I missed a comment from Kevin Higgins who said, do you think there's another Luciano Pavarotti out there? I think I'm not sure if that's in reference to the guy who belted out in the Christmas concert. Or is it maybe

talking about Jameson the tenor? Or maybe Jameson the tenor. Not sure what it was referencing. Sorry I missed that, Kevin, but maybe. That's a special singer, Luciano. Maybe. We'll have to wait a little for that one. So definitely appreciate everyone who tuned in today.

Thank you all. We look forward to seeing you all next week. Thank you to Judah behind the camera, making us all look good, keeping it going. Thanks to, of course, the Out of Civil Network set, Emergent Financial Services for presenting, our great partners at Mattias Yon Realty Credit Series Insurance. Thank you for being on with me, Michael.

Thank you. Thank you all for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week. But until that time, as we'd like to close it out on the show, hasta mañana. Thank you.