A Bridge Exemplified – A New Year to Welcome In

Jason Martineau and Fumiko Ozawa working with Lua Hadar on 'Like A Bridge'

Lua Hadar 12/31/11

12/29/11: Wrapped in worries and struggles of producing my most ambitious project yet, today I had an experience that reinforced to me WHY I am doing this. A ‘Bridge’ experience.

I’m having one of several sessions during this season with my Music Director, Dr. Jason Martineau. We’re jamming to get the arrangements ready for our new live recording project, ‘Like A Bridge.’ Today, my friend Fumiko Ozawa, who plays the koto, has come to create, with Jason and myself, our arrangement of the Japanese pop song, Ue o muite aruko, known in the 60’s as Sukiyaki, a food which has nothing to do with the song, but which, for a non-global 60’s world, signified Japan and helped to brand the song to worldwide popularity.

The song was heard during the past year as Japan weathered a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant crisis, on a TV public service commercial featuring many famous Japanese singers, encouraging Japan to ‘walk with its head held high’ through the crisis. Deeply concerned for my friends in Japan, I decided to learn it. Jason and I performed it in a salon concert last June, and it received the stamp of approval from my friends Yoshiko and Russell, as well as the rest of the audience. I determined to record it, and dreamt of having Fumiko, who also made her koto debut at the Herbst Theater in this past year, to play on it.

She arrives today at Jason’s studio with her 6-foot koto, a long wooden traditional Japanese 13-stringed instrument played with the hands and picks worn on the fingers. She brings with her the koto version of the music for the song, which had to be mailed to us all the way from Japan. The song is so global it was hard to find in koto music literature, but you have to love the Internet for that.

Jason is not called Dr. J for nothing. He has a wide knowledge of world music styles and even speaks a little Japanese. We set up the koto and then Jason set about educating himself as to how the koto was tuned, how to change the tuning to the key we sing the song in (Gakujoshi tuning works for the western key of C, I learned), what kinds of stylistic language was available to us, what the terminology is in Japanese. Within 3 hours we have worked Fumiko into the arrangement, created a special part and sheet music for the piece and created an audio practice track. It was amazing and inspiring to watch Dr. J at work.

I sat by taking photos and video, singing the lyrics when needed and marveling at how, every day, each of us has the opportunity to be a Bridge, in some way, to some one. A few days ago, Jason’s Bridge, his cultural sensitivity reinforced by his knowledge, talent and skill, allowed me to connect musically with my friend Fumiko, on a new level, bringing her into our band as a musician. His Bridge allowed me to know more about her music than I knew before. All three of us were enriched by the experience. We hope that the audience will be enriched as well.

Being a Bridge is my theme for 2012 and for our new audio and video recording project, ‘Like A Bridge,’ which uses the Bridge as a metaphor for the connections we can make to each other to foster world unity and harmony. Each song represents a part of that Bridge, either because of its language or because of its message, such as Bridge Over Troubled Water, which we will twist with a world beat.

The instrumentation is:

Core band: vocals, piano, bass, drums, global percussion, reeds

Specialty instruments: cello, koto, jazz accordion, and a small Zulu Choir.

We will record on February 18 and 19^th, here in the Bay Area.

The CD will be released on April 14^th at an East 52^nd street jazz club in Manhattan which has a sister club in Tokyo.

The Bay Area release will be in late May/June.

Stay tuned because we’re getting ready to rock.

2012, come on in!!

In gratitude,

Lua

On the learning curve to Like A Bridge, our new recording project

Photo by Kingmond Young

BLOG: On the learning curve to Like A Bridge, our new recording project

LUA HADAR

11/29/11

I’m a member of the 99%. Most of us are. I’m just (just J) trying to fulfill my potential, make a living, have a life.

Spiritually speaking, I was raised Liberal-New-York-Jewish and now would consider myself a Buddhist and a Pantheist. What that means to me is that I believe in a great spirit of the Universe that is in all of us and in all things. My grandmother, a contradiction in herself as a Jewish-Christian Scientist-Nurse, taught me so.

Humankind has found many ways to call that Spirit and has built structures such as religions around it, but I believe that the Spirit existed before Humankind, and gave birth to it. It is the energy of the Universe. As such, we are ALL members of the 99%, EVEN that last 1%.

I also believe in our own power to use that Spirit. As an Indie-Performer-Producer, I’m noticing that about every 3 years, I have something to say that feels and sounds different from before, and I’ve been percolating that feeling for about a year now. I feel like somehow, as a human, I’ve come of age. Maybe it is because I have been teaching so much in the last year. Or because of the inevitable – and non-inevitable – losses of loved ones that come in The Middle Third of life, as I’ve euphemistically been calling middle age for some years, now; since 2005.

I started feeling like I was in The Middle Third when my Mom passed away in July of 2004; she was preceded by my older brother, and by my father before that. She was the last.

Psychologists tell us that the loss of one’s parents creates the awareness of our own mortality and also “promotes us” (my quotes) to being the reigning generation. Youth in their 20’s are now the younger generation of adults. We in The Middle Third (say, age 35-65, for example) are the ones with the bulk of the responsibility for the moving and shaking of the world; and a responsibility to mentor the next generation, both by direct instruction and by our own example.

I note that it is 7 years since my mother’s passing, and I feel as if all my cells have rearranged themselves inside my body. So much so that I got my hair cut last June. It was a big deal to feel like I wanted to do that. Perhaps it is because all my cells have rearranged that I have something to say, which means it is time to create a new music and performance project, because that is my language of expression.

This is my belief and this is a concept I want to articulate: Since Humankind is all One, and since the World was born without borders, all humans have the RIGHT to equality and to the fulfillment of the same basic needs: food, shelter, healthcare, safety, liberty, self-expression. I truly believe that if ALL humans were treated that way, we would pass into a new era, without the need for war or terrorism.

Hence the birthing over the last few months, of a new project. Since these things seem to happen every 3 years, I am getting wise and CONCIEVING of it AS a 3-year project, and it is more complex than before, so I think it will TAKE 3 years.

In the time since my last CD project, I’ve also birthed my teaching studio and a broadening cultural exchange with France; they will be woven into the new project, because they are now an important part of me.

The 3-year Bridges Project will have as its centerpiece our upcoming CD and DVD recording project, Like a Bridge. I just got a release date for the CD in New York City on April 14, 2012. We will release the DVD on the West Coast after that. Now we have to record. Ha ha

Ha ha because as I write I have not finalized a venue in which to record, nor booked the band for the specific date because I have no specific date yet, I have not done the fundraising, I do not know all the songs and some of them are in new languages for me, I am not sure of the set list, the charts have to be done, I do not have a publicist and the concept just became clear to me today. And it’s the holiday season.

On the other hand, I have amazing musicians, interesting arrangements in the making, a music director whom I revere, a producer with a rolodex to die for, and somehow, by the grace of the Universe, the video director who’s worked with Mariah Carey, Sting and Tony Bennett.

Like A Bridge is, like all my recordings, both a snapshot of where my ‘head’ is right now and also a sum total of who I am as a result of all that has come before this, personally as well as musically. Influencing me very strongly at this point in my life is the awareness of mortality and the need to make something of value that can effect change. The sum total of my many years of life experience includes creating projects with people from other countries, teaching students from age 3 to age 80, making music with music director Jason Martineau since 2005, becoming a Buddhist, realizing my innate abilities, learning many new skills; like all of us; we live, we learn and we become who we are.

Before I became verbal about the theme of this recording, all I could do when I explained it to people was to hold my arms out, as if embracing the world, and cry. If I could do something, anything, to help to heal the fundamental darkness in the world, I would like to try. To me, it involves helping people to see the bigger picture, the zoomed out shot of the world in which it is one world, with no borders, everyone descending from common ancestors, and realizing that we all deserve a decent life, safe from strife. Hmm – song lyric.

What people hear and sing, they remember, and maybe can live by. So I want there to be as many languages on this CD as I can muster, songs from as many countries and origins as I can manage, and stories of bridges between it all. Why is this song a bridge, and to what? The songs are bridges simply by virtue of the fact that they come from other countries; some songs, like Bridge Over Troubled Water, talk about bridges between people; about the bridge I want to be.

The inspirational quote came from the family that hosted us in Lille, France, for last year’s cultural exchange – here’s an excerpt from the larger passage, written by Séverine Suffys:

Lua et Candace savent chanter. Lua and Candace know how to sing.

Elles savent la langue des autres. They know the language of others.

No borders! Avec un charme fou, la voix de Lua s’élève, au-dessus des “ponts de Paris”.

No borders! With a crazy charm, Lua’s voice rises above “the bridges of Paris.”

Bien au-delà!Well beyond!

A la rencontre des musiciens français qui inventent les rythmes et les mélodies des golden gates.

To the meeting with French musicians who invent rhythms and melodies of golden gates.

Des ponts à danser sur toutes les musiques du monde.

Bridges on which to dance to all the music of the world.

Yikes I am in the middle of another learning curve and I’m holding on tight.  How did this all evolve? What’s happening? Who’s on first?

In the 1990’s I became enamored of a song called Child of Man, by an Israeli-American pop artist; a Swiss friend who came to visit me in San Francisco introduced me to the music of Noa. I was awed by her musicianship and drawn to the energy of the world beat song. I tried teaching it to kids because I loved the message. I’m a strong believer in songs that have meaningful lyrics.

Fast forward 15 years of teaching, cultural exchange, performances, recordings. And living and dying. And schlepping. Do not forget the schlepping.

For the new recording with my band, TWIST, Child of Man re-enters my head. It enters in the spring of 2011 and is performed with music director Jason Martineau at a June Salon Concert at my studio, where the audience was asked to comment on potential songs for the upcoming recording. Child of Man was well received. Somehow it is the anchor piece of the new CD. Yet nobody knows this song.

But when I sought out Global Percussionist Ian Dogle, he knew Child of Man, of course. I met Ian years ago, when I taught at a magnet school for the arts in Redwood City. I booked him to perform for the kids – a global percussion concert for an assembly. He was great and I never forgot him. During 2011, I saw him perform with Ancient Future at Yoshi’s. A friend from the band put us in touch. I wanted my new CD to be more world, more driving; Ian was the musician to help me make it so. I was honored to have a meeting of the minds with this inspiring performer, musical, cultural, philosophical.

Prepping for that Salon Concert, which was in early June 2011, really gave me a kick in the pants, you might say. I learned a bunch of new songs in a short time and really got to remember that I was a singer in addition to being a producer and a teacher. Five of the songs we performed will indeed find their way on to the new recording.

By late June, another stunning influence had appeared in my life: Maxime Le Forestier, whose 1971 French hit pop song, San Francisco, had been a favorite on our set list since 2009. He came to San Francisco for the 40^th Anniversary of this famous song about The Blue House, and Jason and I got to sing with him and for him. I had begun to delve into his discography and loved a world beat song called Né Quelque Part (Born Somewhere). He tried to teach me how to say the chorus in the Zulu with the difficult-to-learn mouth click, at which I was shockingly unsuccessful. I listened to his recording, and to the live one on Youtube. I needed a Zulu Choir. And I found one, right here in Oakland. O, bountiful Universe. We have connected at last and they will record with us on Maxime’s song.

Incidentally, I am expecting a learning curve on the acquisition of rights that will need to be obtained for all these songs, mechanical rights for the making of a physical CD, digital rights for online distribution, and probably video rights as well. That’s the new part.

Our original idea was to do this live in concert in front of a live audience. Then the concept of streaming the concert on the Internet was added to the picture because of the capabilities of one of the studios we were considering. Some Irish producers from the BBC came to visit us on Halloween. We started trying to define “broadcast quality” by talking to them, with the idea of making not only a DVD and music videos but creating something with the specs that could go on TV, should we be so lucky.

By now this is sounding immense to me. We establish what the production schedule would look like – tech in on Friday, audience in on Saturday, re-takes on Sunday. We get the quote from this high profile venue. For the venue and the engineering, which will be absolutely top of the line. To that we must add video cameras, and the all-important lighting. Unless you are 20, you need great lighting, at whatever price, because you can throw the whole thing out if you don’t look good, am I right? And this is a huge venue and would require a lot of lighting. Plus, in any venue with a project like this, a Director of Photography, which is what is known in the theatre world as a lighting designer, and then you need the lighting tech. And an Art Director. Which reminds me, you would not THINK of doing this without a makeup artist and a hair stylist. Look, Ma, I’m in the movies. My head is spinning.

The schedule changes with a new scenario, a new way to think about it, proposed by our Director, which would work for the smaller recording venue, the scenario that might result in a more realistic budget. Need to wrap my brain around that. Am I giving up the original reason for doing this?

This is where you need a co-producer who has her feet on the ground, experience under her belt, and your best interests at heart. She is there when the Director comes up with that great idea for using the smaller studio that changes the concept of the project. And you both know that you trust him like crazy and that you’d be nuts to do it in the bigger venue with the budget from hell.

So I haven’t signed on the dotted line yet, but I think we know what we’re doing, when we’re doing it, and generally how we’re doing it. Will keep you posted as things evolve. Very quickly.

” …the way to counter the long, historical cycle of hatred and vengeance is to evoke the compassionate and constructive energy inherent in human life and use it to counter the energy of enmity and destruction. Buddhism believes in the Buddha nature—that is, the good—in all people… ”  - Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, from Humane Education: Bridge to Peace

Thanks for reading. Apparently these are never short.

Lua Hadar

11/29/11

Musical and Cultural Nirvana: I meet and sing with Maxime Le Forestier

 June 26, 2011: The world spins in interesting ways. Two years ago I came to know the name of French pop star Maxime Le Forestier for the first time. Through a series of *French Connections*, on Wednesday 6/22, I got to meet him in person, an event which I never dreamed would take place, and right here in San Francisco. Even better, on Friday night I got to sing both for him and with him. This moment of musical and cultural nirvana I will remember for all my life.

July 24, 2009: Did it all start with Rick Steves’ guide to France? That’s where, two years ago, my fiancé Hamilton Everts saw the name of Chez Georges, on Rue des Canettes in the Latin Quarter of Paris. I had just finished a rehearsal at the Swan Bar with pianist Sheldon Forrest and I was ready for my Paris debut the following night at the petite club. I took a big hike towards the Luxembourg Gardens from the Montparnasse neighborhood, and finally found my way to Chez Georges, which satisfied all my fantasies of a Parisian local cave-bar. Upstairs wine-tasting, downstairs a world music dance club, with music curated by DJ Jean Francois Devehat, grandson of the original Georges, who hosted the likes of Bob Dylan in this underground room with a vaulted ceiling, years ago.

It was still light out, and we looked for a white wine to taste in the upstairs wine bar. A gentleman named Jacques, clearly a regular, advised us and struck up a conversation with us. Learning that we were from San Francisco, and that I was a singer, he asked if I knew the song San Francisco. Which one? The one by Maxime Le Forestier! No, I don’t know that song. His utter shock that I did not know either the song or its famous French pop singer-songwriter motivated me to write it down and look it up when I got back to San Francisco. I loved the song immediately, learned it and put it in my new show, French Connection, which debuted at San Francisco’s Rrazz Room in September 2009. The song became a favorite, and I performed it often at San Francisco’s Bliss Bar with my band, also in New York and in Lille, France (April-May 2010).

September 2010, a young French journalist named Alexis Venifleis writes an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the Blue House, the house that was featured in the evocative lyrics of Le Forestier’s song San Francisco, (C’est une maison bleu…), written as a thank you to the inhabitants after Le Forestier stayed at the house for a month, 40 years ago, enjoying the full hippie life of San Francisco at the time. With the help of journalist Sophie Delassein, Venifleis had tracked down the Blue House, which was now sort of a greenish tan and had interviewed the current owner about this house whose history was so dear to the French, and yet quite unknown to Americans. I contacted Venifleis and invited him to hear us perform San Francisco, which we did at the Bliss Bar a few weeks later.

Fast forward to early May 2011 – through a web of French connections, I find out that Maxime Le Forestier is COMING to San Francisco. I’m wild with anticipation. The Blue House is being re-painted (blue) and will receive a commemorative plaque from the French Consulate and a visit from Maxime. A new CD is being released called The Blue House (La Maison Bleue) and at the time a concert at the Herbst was planned for June 24, which ultimately did not come to pass. But my evening of musical and cultural nirvana with Maxime Le Forestier took place exactly on that night.

June 20: A French phone number shows up incoming on my cellphone. A few hours earlier, I had spoken with the young French journalist who’d written the first Blue House article; he had just flown in from Paris. Now, it is Maxime’s producer calling me on the phone. I had been introduced to her San Francisco-based colleague by email the week before, told him about my connection to the song San Francisco, and had sent him a music track at his request. I sent Sous le Ciel de Paris (Under Paris Skies), which I recorded in 2008. Maxime’s producer wants to interview me. They are looking for a location where music can be performed for the documentary. I offer a lovely piano and living room at the yellow house of Candace Forest, (my friend and producer) who is out of town, tearing her hair out to not be in San Francisco when such exciting events are taking place.

Meantime, I am packing to go teach at the Young Actors Theatre Camp, off the grid in the woods of Santa Cruz, and it is happening in the middle of all this. No cell service, no internet. I’m leaving on Wednesday, June 22, in the evening. Won’t be back till late afternoon of Friday, June 24.

It is Wednesday, June 22, 3pm, and I go to the Blue House on 18^th Street near Dolores Park for the official ceremony involving the French Consulate, Maxime, his documentary crew, and a bunch of journalists, French people from the community, and I am introduced to Maxime by his producer. (photo taken by Christine Lemor-Drake) The French Consul makes a speech, a plaque is presented to commemorate the newly painted Blue House. The cameras are all over it, click, click.

Maxime is so warm and lovely. I am embarrassed to speak French to him; we speak in English and his is very good. I tell him about my feeling for his song, San Francisco, and how honored I am to meet him. How his song has become a favorite of my audiences, touching their hearts even when they cannot understand all the words. This is true.

It is arranged that we will have a casual music session for the purpose of the documentary about the 40^th Anniversary of this song and Maxime’s trip. We agree to do it at Candace’s house, and I call Jason Martineau to tell him that this is ON for Friday at 7pm. He’s been holding the time; fascinated as well, at the prospect of meeting the man whose song we have enjoyed performing.

I take off in my car. Within 2 hours I am cut off from all internet and cell phone service, in the woods, in a bunkhouse, preparing to teach an Elton John song to 10-year olds and to get them close to performance level on it in 2 days. (Electricity, from Billy Elliot)

Maxime Le Forestier’s music stays in my head. I have downloaded some of his most famous tunes and have picked out a couple more I could imagine eventually performing. I have the words but cleverly have not brought a French dictionary (no internet) and there are passages I cannot understand. But I’m listening and reading, and my heart gets him.

I’m particularly attracted to 2 songs of his. One, Saltimbanque, sounds somewhat autobiographical, about performing, and I connect with it. Another called Né Quelque Part, is about equality of people, and has a great world beat and a chorus in the Zulu language. I’m there.

Friday, June 24, 4:00pm. I’m back on the grid, having left camp, my wiggly and fabulous 10-year-olds and my dark and quiet bunk, and I’m in my car, driving towards my San Francisco studio, where I intend to renovate my camp appearance and get ready to sing with Maxime Le Forestier. Time is tight and I’m excited. I’ve got my hair dryer, a good pair of earrings and my city clothes.

Bleep! Messages begin to arrive, texts, voicemails, oh god, cops don’t get me but I’m answering everything and can’t make the damn new headset work. Do you HAVE the guitar? You want to come earlier? I’m still driving up. I can’t hear you. OK, I’ll call him. Can you hear ME? I try to text but the iPhone corrects my French to English. Is the house aired out? What if Maxime is allergic to the cat, as I am? Finally I am in my studio. The phone is still ringing. What am I going to wear? Can I get there in time? Where’s the hair dryer? Calm down and put your makeup on.

Friday, 6:50pm – I’m charging towards Candace’s house. They said they’d be there at 6:45. I’m late. Thank god David Rozelle is there, the perfect French native speaker-photographer-house sitter, with the gorgeous and talented pianist-songwriter Allison Lovejoy. Jason calls me – where are you? Where are they? Where is anybody? Is this thing really happening? 10 minutes later, we’re all there, we’re all introducing ourselves to each other: Maxime Le Forestier, this is Jason Martineau. Yes, please come in. Can I get you a glass of wine, if I force you? OK, 4 whites, one sparkling water. Is my makeup ok? Do the earrings make too much noise? Maxime would like you and Jason to perform San Francisco. Do you know any other songs of Maxime’s? Well, I’m in the process of learning some.

Maxime, salut! We clink wine glasses. I’m thrilled he has accepted a glass so I can drink one, too, and calm down. I tell him it helps my French; that I’ve been embarrassed to speak French to him. He banishes shame and embarrassment from the room. He’s warm and at ease. We begin to chat. The sound is ready, Jason’s at the piano, and the producer asks me if I will explain how I learned about the song San Francisco. I tell it to Maxime, in French. We talk about other songs of his; I mention Né Quelque Part, the one with the Zulu chorus. Maxime tries to teach me to say it in Zulu, with the difficult mouth-click sound on on the K. I try it, it eludes me, we laugh. They videotape. One take. They want it real or not at all, I think.

We perform San Francisco; Maxime’s still next to me on the light green couch; I’m sitting on the arm of the couch, between Jason at the piano and Maxime on the couch. I’ve told Maxime that we do it as a funk, with an instrumental solo; he’s cool with that. One take. They are very happy and don’t seem to want to do it again, although I’d been advised that we might do it more than once if they needed to.

Now Maxime picks up the guitar. It is a super duper fancy guitar and I have been told (by text a couple of hours before) that he loves it. They’ve borrowed it from Bobby Weinapple, my dear friend, colleague and director; I’d put them in contact earlier in the week. Whew. Shall we try one of those other tunes? Gulp; I barely know them. What about Saltimbanque, the story of the young one, born into a family of jugglers and acrobats, who can’t juggle very well but makes his way instead as a poet-singer-thinker? Yes, he leads me through it, we’re using the lyrics I’ve downloaded. I sing the choruses with him. I could cry it is so moving. I’m singing and looking into Maxim’s eyes.

Laissez-moi rester Saltimbanque.

J’aime la lumière et le feu,

Les tours et les mots dangereux

Toujours je manque.

Mon numéro n’est pas fameux.

Je jongle avec ce que je peux.

We try Né Quelque Part. I wish I’ve had time to show these to Jason ahead of time, look up all the words. We do a little of it until I get all befuddled at the Zulu chorus part. A bit later, Maxime jams with Jason on the tune. So cool. He admires Jason’s ability to improvise.

Maxime performs a solo – a new song of his, emotional, beautiful. He’s in excellent voice; the guitar is gorgeous. I’m thinking he would have done that at the Herbst tonight, had the concert not been cancelled. I’m thinking how unbelievably blessed I am to be sitting next to him on Candace’s green couch, hearing it.

8:30pm – Thank you, merci, au revoir. We are done, they are leaving to do one more shoot at the Blue House. They leave tomorrow. One more photo with Maxime, please? Goodbye, thank you, such an honor, we hope to see you in France, when is the documentary coming out? Thank you again. Au revoir. And they are gone.

DID I JUST DREAM THAT?

And they’re gone. We sit and debrief. We Skype Candace. We see a little video David was able to take, but which we’ve agreed not to publish until the documentary comes out.

CONCLUSION: These are the moments I live for. These are the moments I have sought out all my life, since I first tasted the excitement of travel as a stage-struck teenager. Editing this now, 48 hours after the fact, I am moved to tears at the memory of singing and looking into Maxime’s eyes:

 

Laissez-moi rester Saltimbanque… Je jongle avec ce que je peux.

Let me stay a performer, an acrobat… I juggle with what I can.

 

 

We will play San Francisco and very possibly a brand new English translation of it by Christine Lemor-Drake at our Bastille Day celebration at the vintage chic Bliss Bar in San Francisco on July 10, with 3 sets beginning at 4:30pm. Owner Pierre Letheule is French, loves us, and mixes a great cocktail.

JULY 10 info: http://profiles.sonicbids.com/events/index/LuaHadar/2981172

Links French:

ALL BY Sophie Delassein – Le Nouvel Observateur

http://recherche.nouvelobs.com/?q=maxime+le+forestier+

 

BIRTH OF THE SONG SAN FRANCISCO FROM MAXIME’S TIME AT BLUE HOUSE

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualite/people/20110623.AFP5061/maxime-le-forestier-san-francisco-et-les-martiens-de-la-maison-bleue.html

 

MAXIME’S RETURN THIS WEEK TO THE BLUE HOUSE

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualite/culture/20110622.AFP4954/c-est-une-maison-bleue-que-maxime-le-forestier-retrouve-a-san-francisco.html

 

2010 article/blog by Sophie Delassein about the origin of the song, Luc, Joan Baez, etc

http://livres-et-chansons.blogs.nouvelobs.com/index-4.html

Maxime Le Forestier website

http://www.maximeleforestier.net/

Links English: 

Chez Georges

http://www.timeout.com/paris/bars/venue/1%3A9995/chez-georges

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebzOh1UWBSc

Blue House Article by Alexis Venifleis

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-09-25/entertainment/24096993_1_french-tourists-french-song-blue-house

Dan Kryston had a million children in this town

Dan Kryston came into my life around 1999 or 2000, or I should say, I came into his, as he was at that time the co-owner of Piaf’s, a cabaret and restaurant in the San Francisco neighborhood that is still today the hub of the SF cabaret community. I don’t remember exactly the first time I met him. I think I was a little awed by him, as I am in a certain way by all club owners.

Through the years our lives kept touching each other, first through the environment of his club, but then through the arts education community, when he surprised those of us who didn’t know a lot about him, and popped up at San Francisco’s School of the Arts, where he touched many lives through one of his most significant contributions, the gradual creation of a Musical Theatre Dept., for which he worked tirelessly.

Exactly a week ago today I was observing in the vocal studio of a colleague with whom I became friends thanks to Dan. Several years ago, Dan produced a cross-generational concert version of Follies, inviting several singers he knew from the Piaf’s days to participate. Barry Lloyd was the musical director; Barry and I had performed several times at Piaf’s together –- New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, The Cabaret Competition — and those occasions are still pretty vivid in my mind. In the production of Follies, I met Shannon Day, a singer and teacher whom I admire a great deal. I don’t remember, but I think she was heroically filling in for someone who could not do the show, but she was the vocal teacher of many of the talented SOTA high school students who also took part in the production, and she was excellent. We’ve been friends ever since; performing together, discovering other ties in the music and education communities that connect us.

It was at Shannon’s studio last Thursday that I heard of the passing of Dan Kryston. The bittersweet tang of tears comes up as I write of the ironic timing. Dan had for years been working to establish a Musical Theatre Dept. at SOTA, and had just succeeded, brimming with enthusiasm to go forward. The last time I saw him was this past spring at an AMAZING student production of Seussical. At intermission he was selling sponsorship of chairs – chairs that would be occupying the SOTA theater when the renovation was done. I hear it has just been completed.

Why, in this moment, did he pass, from pneumonia of all things, and in a hospital? I can’t fathom this.

Dan Kryston had a million children in this town. His artistic children; people whose lives Dan touched and who hold his legacy within them: Striving musical and cabaret performers, students and families at SOTA, and his numerous colleagues, so many. Lots of offspring.

I invite you to post pictures and make comments, to forward this blog, so on.

I would also welcome any info on how to contact his sister, who used to own Piaf’s with him, to pay my respects.

Thanks, Dan, from all of us.

Lua Hadar

San Francisco

2/17/11

Here’s a posting for reference that I found:

http://www.sfcv.org/article/kids-around-the-bay-1

Key moments in unifying my identity – from 2007 to now

UNIFYING MY IDENTITY AS A PERFORMER AND MY IDENTITY AS A TEACHING ARTIST

Two key moments: maybe three, or four

May, 2007

Key moment number one: Frank and Kathy Jackson came to see me perform at Jazz at Pearl’s – before my band was named TWIST, in May 2007.

I was honored to have Frank and Kathy there at Pearl’s for many reasons, including that Frank was one of the first musicians I knew when I came to San Francisco and he had always been an inspiration to me.

PHOTO below: I’m singing with Frank Jackson and his trio at the (now defunct) Cinnabar underground cabaret on Geary Street in the mid 90’s.)

Lua singing with the Frank Jackson band, San Francisco, mid-1990's.

The May 2007 show was at the legendary (now defunct) San Francisco nightspot, Jazz at Pearl’s. At the time I was calling the band the Jason Martineau Jazz Quartet, with my music director Dr. J at the piano, and including Tony Malfatti on sax. I remember that specially because we had started to perform Pink Martini’s Una Notte a Napoli, and Tony was so much fun to play off of. We had a guest appearance by Bobby Weinapple, who played guitar as we sang a duet with the band, Two Sleepy People, and also joined us in the closer — Tom Waits’ sweet and lovely song, Take Me Home.

Anyway, Frank Jackson saw me a few days later at the (now defunct – yes, they’re all defunct) Octavia Lounge, where he was playing with his trio, and I asked him I think to describe the genre we were doing. I have to check with him on this, but I seem to remember him saying something like, ‘whatever it is, I like it.’ I asked him what he thought the next instrument I added should be; I could feel there was another layer I wanted. Should it be Latin percussion, I asked? And he lit up and said, ‘yes, Latin percussion!!’

So we did that, we added Latin percussion, (and jazz accordion) named the band TWIST, recorded a CD at Laughing Tiger Studios in San Rafael,

Released at the Iridium Jazz Club, NYC, May 2008

released it at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York, performed in Bangkok (with brilliant producing by Candace Forest, superb music direction by Jason Martineau and advice and help from Robert Russo,) and began a cultural exchange with Candace and bassist Albin Suffys in France, following my 2009 debut in Paris with Sheldon Forrest at the Swan Bar and the debut of our French Connection show at San Francisco’s Rrazz Room.

So thanks are due to many, but YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT WAS A KEY MOMENT IN HELPING ME TO DEFINE MY IDENTITY AS A SOLO PERFORMER AND A BAND, FRANK JACKSON, so I thank you. You continue to inspire me, as you did so recently onstage at Yoshi’s on your 85^th birthday.

Key moment number 2:

On the heels of a class on social networking that I shared with vocalist Clairdee, I had a brief and important exchange with vocalist Faith Winthrop. I admire both of these women, as musicians, as teachers and as people. My exchange with Faith took place at the Bliss Bar, a performance venue we both appear at.

The message from both exchanges was that I was going in the right direction with my work and with our mutual profession as teaching artists. When Clairdee told me she read my blog I almost fell over. That’s how honored I was.

I understood from Faith and her supportive words that my performing artist life could blend with my teaching artist life and that they could reinforce each other. She said, this is how we do it. FAITH, THIS EXCHANGE WAS 2 MINUTES, BUT IT WAS A KEY MOMENT.

You have to have your brain and heart set up to have a key moment – the seeds need to be planted in fertile ground.

I had just returned from performing in France, where I had surprised myself by delivering a master class on the Great American Songbook – in French. Well, French and some English and a lot of acting it out, but that’s what we were there to do anyway, and they all got it and took the coaching, making changes before our eyes in stage presence, mic technique, lyrics interpretation. Thrilling. KEY MOMENT – THAT MAKES THREE.

FLICKR PHOTO STREAM FRANCE MASTER CLASS, May 2010

It was stupendous to make contact with the community in Lille and Lomme – our students, the musicians, the Suffys Family who hosted us, and the queen of cultural exchange, Candace Forest. On the heels of TWIST’s sold-out performance at New York’s landmark Cornelia Street Café in April 2010, the French performance and class gave me new assurance about my ability to communicate to an audience and to my colleagues.

Meanwhile, in another universe, at the moment of this great French experience, the trumpet player and friend, Gil Cohen, who had been staying in my studio in San Francisco was elated to be moving to a location where he could live and practice in his own studio, and we were elated for him. My studio was now empty, and I started to think. And it was early June 2010.

But in the meantime, I was slogging my way back to the States with all the amenities a frequent flyer ticket can provide. (not) Never mind, I’m grateful. We’re here to be challenged.

I returned from France, but not the easy, direct way I would like to, as I am exhausted. Oh no. Because I am ALSO a ‘studio teacher’ for kids in the professional performing arts, I HAD to go to Los Angeles on a very specific day in early June, YES, coming home sooner than I wanted to! YES! And so for spite on the Department of Labor Standards for making me come back EARLY to renew my studio teacher license, I decided to perform in L.A. That’ll show those tyrannical bureaucrats!

The lovely Dolores Petersen was so gracious to invite me to perform at the Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill (I love that name because I am a bit of an Old Hollywood freak) and I got to do a set with her terrific trio, further reinforcing my conviction that I would teach my master class students to count off and lead a band. Without that skill, how would I have pulled off a set with a trio I’d never met and no rehearsal?

So I felt lots better about being shlepped to L.A. and even more since my buddies Shawn Ryan and John Ainsworth were in attendance, sitting there cheering and sending out tweets about the show; sweet that they are, in addition to talented, smart and hard-working. And come to think of it, I would say that when they invited me to teach at their Young Actors Theatre Camp, it was THE FIRST STEP TO UNIFYING MY IDENTITY AS A PERFORMER AND MY IDENTITY AS A TEACHER. Shawn and John had done just that, continuing to burst out as performers and also mentoring the next generation through their camp. SURPRISE KEY MOMENT – that makes four. Sometimes they jump out at you as you write. Thanks, guys.

So it is July – August 2010, also known in my mind as the summer of the U.N.,

One of the many dinners in our "summer of the U.N., 2010

 

in which my partner Hamilton Everts and I joyfully hosted dinners for visitors from Switzerland, Vietnam, Japan, Italy as well as Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. I was finally home, feet on the ground,regrouping. What next?

Teaching artist work started to flow in from 3 different sources to work with youth – San Francisco Opera Education, Young Audiences of Northern California, LEAP Imagination in Learning. It was during this time that I had the KEY MOMENT experience with Clairdee and Faith Winthrop, about being a performing and teaching artist.

I had been teaching Sing Out Loud classes for vocalists for about 5 years with Linda Kosut, Barry Lloyd and Dave Miotke. Linda and I had decided that we would go forward teaching separately.

My Potrero studio was empty; awaiting a construction timeline.

In 1990, I had established my sole proprietorship, NEW PERFORMANCE GROUP, upon my return from a 5-year performing and teaching residency in Italy. Here now was the chance to fulfill a long-term goal, to establish a space where teaching, project development, cultural exchange and community building could take place. With the security of the new teaching projects, I decided to take the leap.

‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.’  -  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

New Performance Group history and mission

I decided to begin, to make the first move. I invited my music director, Dr. Jason Martineau to become my co-master teacher, and set up a schedule for my new Singers Master Class to take place in the New Performance Group Studio, with a final performance downstairs at Thick House theater, where I had held events many times. The class registered quickly, bringing in several new students and several with whom I had worked before. The show on November 21, 2010 was a triumph for the students, for our concept, and for the studio.

We were launched, and plan to teach another series in Winter 2011, with a final performance on April 3, 2011.

If you build it, they will come – Dear friend and respected colleague Allison Lovejoy decided to bring her baby grand to the New Performance Group Studio and teach piano lessons and classes from there, giving up her studio in the Richmond.

To continue christening the Studio, singers and friends gathered on the New Year to sing around the piano, with pianists Sheldon Forrest, Allison Lovejoy and Jason Martineau. Bill Belasco dropped in and brought his small drum setup, and we were jumping and jiving.

More events are in the works, and we hope more partners are in the wings, waiting to enter.

And just the other day, we received one of those we regret to inform you letters about the French-American Jazz Grant, to which I gave much effort and investment in September and October 2010.

TIME TO REGROUP AGAIN. All of this has been fueled by my commitment to Buddhism, and by the Buddhist philosophy that we are masters of our own destiny. I realize no one is going to make it happen FOR me. I must make it happen for myself.

STAY TUNED.

2010 blog-year in review by WordPress

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 4 times

 

In 2010, there were 16 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 18 posts. There were 16 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 12mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was September 30th with 43 views. The most popular post that day was It Takes a Village to Make an Opera – and hey, vat’s a Wandelprobe?.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, digg.com, mail.yahoo.com, slashingtongue.com, and legal5ounds.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for time waits for no one quote, john florencio, alfred d’souza, quote time waits for no one, and lua hadar blog.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

It Takes a Village to Make an Opera – and hey, vat’s a Wandelprobe? September 2010
2 comments

2

Time waits for no one – a quote from Alfred D. Souza January 2010
1 comment

3

The Bravest Night of my Life so far July 2010
2 comments

4

About December 2009

5

Paris, Lille and Los Angeles June 2010
2 comments

New Year: a commitment to write

The New Year has always been for me a time of reflection and a time for new action based on that reflection. This year will be no exception.

On my altar sits my father’s conducting baton. It has now been joined by a pen.

2010 has been a year to move to a leadership position as a musician, inspired by my father’s example, and to connect my commitment as a teaching artist to my work as a performing artist.

2011 is the year for the writer in me to emerge, inspired by my mother.

How does musical leadership, writing, teaching and performing all fit together in my head?

• Working with musicians in Lille, France and in Los Angeles, stepping up to lead the band, to feel my father’s conducting baton in my hand, so to speak. It was thanks to my Music Director, Dr. Jason Martineau, that I developed the skill to count off a band, and learning from the challenge of having DONE so infuses my Master Class teaching with a commitment to teach singers to count off a tempo.

• My past work as a performer of Musical Theatre helps me to create and deliver a class in Musical Theatre History and Practice to 150 4^th and 5^th Graders in the Albany Schools, weekly, collaborating for performances with Berkeley pianist Dave Miotke. Dave also performs jazz accordion in my band, TWIST.

• My erstwhile training as an opera singer and language geek allows me to bring material of several languages into my band’s jazz without borders songlist. I work also as a teaching artist with San Francisco Opera Education. This spring I am set to create mini-operas with 5 classes at Rooftop Alternative School in San Francisco Unified District. This will require me to become stronger in my skills as a songwriter.

I sit here, on December 31, still waiting for the results of the French American Jazz Exchange Grant application I made in October. I realize that in the act of making that application, envisioning the project and falling in love with the idea of creating a new French-American Jazz Suite in collaboration with Albin Suffys, Candace Forest and Jason Martineau — I realize that the envisioning of it has made me want to commit to more writing, also on this blog.

So whether or not the grant comes through, that is my commitment for 2011, my gift to myself, and my challenge.

In the photo: the Balinese goddess of Art and Education: Saraswati

Happy New Year to all and a victorious 2011!

Balinese Goddess of Art and Education

Performing, Teaching, Evolution and Human Rights

A person’s a person, no matter how small. – Dr. Seuss

My thoughts continue on the intersection of performing and teaching.

When you teach a subject that you know a lot about, the very act of imparting it to someone else makes you research and think, thereby making you a better practitioner of your art form. Being a teaching artist makes me a more thoughtful performing artist and gives me a clearer voice in expressing my thoughts.

Last month, I was sitting blissfully alone on a sunny deck at Sea Ranch, reading Edna Ferber’s novel, Showboat, (1926) the source material for Kern and Hammerstein’s history-changing musical by the same name, which opened on Broadway in 1927.

My copy of the book had apparently been purged in good condition from the Green County Library, somewhere in Ohio, and it has come into my New York-born hands here in Northern California through the miracle of the Internet and its miracle child, Amazon.com.

And why was I reading it, that lovely weekend at Sea Ranch, when I was supposed to be resting my brain from work? I was enthusiastically becoming better informed on the origins of the first musical in American Musical Theatre history to tell a serious, unified story through song, dance and text.

Because I am teaching it.

I am teaching it to my class in American Musical Theatre History and Practice; a curriculum I am creating for 4^th and 5^th graders in the Albany School District, thanks to LEAP Imagination in Learning. It is the project that has cured me of my fear of LCD projectors.

This is the project that a few months ago sparked a discussion on the 10 Most Iconic Songs in Musical Theatre History, graciously moderated on Facebook by Mike Ward of the San Francisco Bay Times.

So there I was, voraciously reading Showboat. I’ve known the show since I was very young and know most of its songs by heart, having sung along with the record in my childhood bedroom. And I get to teach it to today’s kids, whose parents are younger than I am and who probably have never heard of Showboat, although their children have become FASCINATED with it.

And I MUST teach it, because I’ve defined the course as comprising the iconic songs of Musical Theatre history — and the kids are to learn Ol’ Man River.

And to teach Showboat, I must explain laws against racial inter-marriage to multi-racial 4^th and 5^th graders. And so I must research, so that I have the facts with which to handle this delicate subject with honesty.

So I read Edna Ferber’s Showboat, set in 1887 on the Mississippi River in the post-slavery South.

And I’m thinking about Slavery. And the fundamental law that you cannot buy and sell a person. PERIOD. And how much that law is still violated on our planet every day, now in 2010.

And I’m thinking about the evolution of our species. How we are ALL alive today because of some strength that has sustained our literal DNA ancestors and allowed us to come into being here today.

We are all the products of survival. Some have survived because of flexibility and adaptability, some because of intelligence, wisdom, bravery, daring, strength, hardiness, some through wielding power or domination, some buying their survival through craft or riches.

But in the end, we are all – despite the vastness of our variety and our differences – we are all PERSONS. The teacher is equal to the student. The boss is equal to the mail clerk. The general to the cadet, the rich to the poor. Those that speak a specific language are equal to those that speak another. Those who express their spirituality in one manner are equal to those that celebrate it in another. Those of one race are equal to those of another. We all come into the world in the same way. We are all persons.

At this time of year, at Christmas time, much thinking and praying and card mailing involves an invocation for peace. MY prayer is that we can, as humans, remember that we are fundamentally all equal to each other, and that we all have human rights. If we were all treated with compassion and all had enough to eat, would we be able to banish war?

GROWN UP CHRISTMAS LIST (Foster & Thompson)

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal our hearts
Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end

—

Blessings to all of us in this season and in the coming year.

As a teaching artist

This theater will host a youth version production of Viva Concha! Rose of the Presidio, directed by me, with the composer, Candace Forest, at the piano. Coming in December 2010.

When I first started this blog in January 2010, my friend and fellow teaching/performing artist, Shannon Day, suggested I write about my process; how stuff gets up on the stage, so to speak. At the time it seemed like who would want to read that? But I am realizing that the information I take so easily for granted has a value.

I look around at all the musicians I admire. Oh, for example, like the hot-shot players I hire as sidemen when I perform in New York. Don’t you think these guys all teach? They do. (or else they sub for Broadway shows in the pit.)

This theater will host a youth version production of Viva Concha! Rose of the Presidio, directed by me, with the composer, Candace Forest, at the piano. Coming in December 2010.

Teaching the Master Class for Singers in France

After teaching a master class in France last Spring, and having a few choice conversations with big-time singers like Clairdee and Faith Winthrop, I FINALLY have come to realize that my working life is going to be sustained in the long run by continuing to be a teaching artist.

Oh, I fought the idea. My father was both a working musician and a lifelong credentialed music teacher. I remember thinking he was only teaching because he had to support a family. (well, yeah, right?) But I learned MANY years later, from my mother, that he loved to teach and regarded it as a mission and a privilege.

September has been wild, and has strongly reinforced my role as a teaching artist. I have many projects.

I’m creating and teaching a program in Musical Theatre History and Practice for the Albany (CA) School District, in which I teach close to 150 fourth and fifth graders every week on what came before High School Musical and Wicked, starting from 1911, Irving Berlin, and Alexander’s Ragtime Band. I have learned to use an LCD projector (my triumph!) and I show them video, photos, we sing, we discuss how national and world events influenced the creation of musicals and how they evolved. Broadway Theatre expert, Joe Marchi, would approve, I think. I was lucky to consult him as I was planning the curriculum. Input also came through the very knowledgeable Mike Ward and his generous posting of a discussion item about the 10 Most Iconic Songs in musical theatre history. Fabulous pianist and singer Dave Miotke helped me introduce the song literature to the kids through a series of classroom concerts. And they still look at me as if I am speaking Sanskrit. But we’ve just begun. Soon I’ll have even the shy ones singing and swinging.

I’m directing a project at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Again, fourth graders. They wanted a piece about California History with a part for everybody. Now I may be wrong, but the best scripts for kids to perform usually come from the UK. But not on the subject of California History. Enter Candace Forest, my producer-friend-composer-writer, in whose chamber musical, Viva Concha! Rose of the Presidio, I performed in 2006. Based on a true San Francisco love story and set in the Presidio of the 1800’s, it seemed like a perfect fit for this theatre project, except for the fact that a youth performance version did not exist. We adapted the 2-act musical into two shorter pieces, part one to be performed in December and part two to be performed in March, by the second group of students. The first read (and casting) is this Friday. The kids have a great attitude; I think it will be fun, and the theatre in which we will perform is IMMENSE. (see the photo)

The San Francisco Opera has been my constant companion through the last 2 months. I’ve been working both backstage as a studio teacher (credentialed teacher required by Dept. of Labor for professional kids) and also in the SF Opera Education Dept., both attending and presenting professional development on opera, with a stellar group of colleagues and teaching artists. They are about to assign me to Rooftop Elementary School, where I will work with several classes. I feel lucky to have an assignment here. Rooftop is so committed to the arts that this is part of their mission statement: We believe that when the arts are thoughtfully integrated into the academic program, students’ opportunities to think critically and problem solve creatively significantly increase. Yeah.

And, perhaps most importantly, I am re-opening my San Francisco studio to teach master classes for singers. FINALLY (after how many years?) put some content on my website www.newperformancegroup.net, to explain about what I do as a teaching artist and specifically about the classes for singers, which will start on October 11, 2010. I’m thrilled that the music director for my band, Jason Martineau, will be at the piano to teach with me. My experiences on tour last spring convinced me that having the ability to count off and lead a band are VERY important skills. Like I would never have gotten through my shows in France or L.A. without that ability. And who taught me? Jason. So we’ll add that to the curriculum, which includes song interpretation, mic technique, patter, stage presence, style, audience contact. And to make it a band, we’ll bring in one of my favorite bass players for the final class and the concert, to be held at Thick House theater, which is downstairs from the studio, on November 21.

It’s the Fall and it is Back to School time. And in addition to my own performances, I freely pour my energy into mentoring the current and next generation of performing artists. Technology helps a lot, but I still believe our skills are handed down person to person in this field. And I’m glad.

NEXT BLOG: How does an arrangement come into being?

It Takes a Village to Make an Opera – and hey, vat’s a Wandelprobe?

Werther opens Sept. 15 at the SF Opera

OK, I’ve been in theatre and opera for a million years and I just learned a new word: WANDELPROBE.

I know SITZPROBE. Sitzprobe is a term used in opera for the rehearsal that takes place with the full orchestra and the singers sitting (sitz – in German) in chairs. It is a chance for the orchestra to play all together with the singers and for everyone to just focus on the music. No blocking, no props, no tech. Just music. We had that the other day – it was gorgeous.

Today is the WANDELPROBE for San Francisco Opera’s new production of Massenet’s French opera, WERTHER, based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. VERY romantic.

SO VAT’S A WANDELPROBE, ALREADY? A rehearsal used in opera and musical theatre where actors, the orchestra, and blocking come together for the first time. I get it. That’s the first rehearsal with everything. The one you need a lot of patience to get through.

I’m loving my relationship with the San Francisco Opera this season. I’ve worked in several previous seasons as a Studio Teacher for them, which is what I am doing on the production of WERTHER. A Studio Teacher does not teach the students to sing. That is done by Maestro Ian Robertson, who is fabulous.

A Studio Teacher is someone who is required by the Dept. of Labor to be present whenever minors work in the professional entertainment industry, which includes opera, ballet, theater, film, and also photo shoots, even rodeos and circuses. A studio teacher supervises working hours and conditions and assists with homework, sometimes creates curriculum, depending on the length and complexity of the situation. You need 2 teaching credentials to get a studio teacher certificate, and I’ve got them.

So, I’ve had the privilege to attend rehearsals for WERTHER, since several members of the SF Boys Chorus and SF Girls Chorus were introduced into the process, because I am the studio teacher on the production. I’ve enjoyed watching (multi-lingual) stage director Francisco Negrin work with all the singers and the covers, as the performers sing their parts, do their stage blocking, flesh out character relationships, etc.

It takes a village to make an opera. In a normal staging rehearsal in a rehearsal room, here’s who is there, BESIDES all the singers and their covers (understudies): Director, Assistant Director(s), Set Designer (sometimes), Conductor, Prompter (in charge of feeding French words to the singers just before their vocal entrance to remind them, if they need it), Diction Coach (in charge of correcting the French diction), Pianist (who, if called upon, will sing any missing vocal part), prop person (even for rehearsal props – they’re also in charge of chairs), Head Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Managers, Studio Teacher (myself in this case), Wrangler (works with studio teacher and assists in getting kids to their entrance positions), parent chaperones, representatives from the Boys and Girls Choruses. This is just for a regular rehearsal in a rehearsal room.

And those stage managers are all cue-ing off vocal scores, not scripts or libretti. And it’s in French, ok? If you are familiar with stage management, take all that down-to-the-second complexity of timing and set it to music, in French. These people don’t fool around.

Put that on the Opera House stage, and, in addition to the ORCHESTRA, you have all manner of stage carpenters, scene movers, riggers, electricians, lighting technicians, wardrobe people, makeup and hair people. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone. IT IS VAST.

So if you get to see the beautiful production of WERTHER this season (opening Sept. 15), know that I’m back there someplace. Check out www.sfopera.com

Starting last Spring, I ALSO now work with the SF Opera Education Dept. under the direction of Ruth Nott. In this role I DO teach about Opera, but not to the performers; I teach students (SF Unified District Schools) and their teachers about Opera, preparing them for experiences with Opera both at their schools and at the Opera House. I have an amazingly intelligent and well-prepared cohort of colleagues on the teaching roster, and we meet in a Think Tank type atmosphere to brainstorm and edit activities that both we and classroom teachers use to prep kids for the opera experience. Ruth has come from doing this work with the Met in New York, and she and her assistant Dolores DeStefano have created an immense world of opera education in the 2-3 years the Education Department has been in existence.

Excerpt from the SF Opera’s Press Release on WERTHER: www.sfopera.com

San Francisco Opera presents Werther, Jules Massenet’s French opera based on Goethe’s novel, at the War Memorial Opera House opening September 15 with five subsequent performances through October 1. Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas appears in the title role alongside mezzo-soprano Alice Coote as Charlotte. This new co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago, directed by Francisco Negrin and designed by Louis Désiré, debuts in San Francisco and is led by French conductor Emmanuel Villaume. These performances mark the return of Werther to the War Memorial Opera House stage after an absence of 25 years and only the fifth time it has been presented in the Company’s 88-year history.