Jim Brown (L) performing with faculty colleagues
My name is James Brown. Yes, I do feel good, thanks for asking. This is my second year on the voice faculty of LSM and I am thrilled with the level of student we have this year! The schedule can be grueling at times, but my students are always ready to sing when they arrive for lessons. I observe this at other times as well. In Evening Prayer, you might expect students’ heads to be bobbing with the need for sleep after a full day of lessons, practice, rehearsal and navigating the lunch line at the cafeteria. But everyone sings and participates as if they were well rested. I think the reason for this is the inspiration that flows from student to student, faculty to faculty and faculty to student. I have been so inspired by my colleagues who work all day long and then walk onto the stage to display the kind of virtuosity only heard on the greatest world stages.
Last night we performed music from the Baroque. I sang a Bach duet with my voice colleague, Catherine McCord Larsen, who was born to sing Bach! I also had the opportunity to play my baroque guitar with some of our string faculty: Jubal Fulks and Spencer Martin, baroque violin and Sam Nordlund, baroque cello. My instrument is a replica made by Michael Schreiner (Toronto, Canada) based on a guitar made in 1630 by Andreas Oth. We surprised the audience by processing in though the crowd while I strummed and Jubal improvised on the violin.
At the end of the concert, we greeted the audience in the lobby and I was struck by the great questions from the students about my instrument. “What is the beautiful centerpiece design?” and “How is it tuned?” were some of the great questions they eagerly posed to me. At the end of a long day, they were still inspired to learn more before crashing in their dorms. I can’t wait to see what is next and how we will all be inspired!!!
