Becky and I were in the Pacific Northwest last weekend, a trip we’ve always wanted to take. The official reason was that my Ophelia Songs was performed on Saturday morning at the University of Puget Sound, so details about the performance first.
Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano, and Keith Ward, piano, gave an absolutely stunning rendition of my song cycle. Truthfully, since the piece is a few years old, I hadn’t given it much thought lately, but these two performers gave it a reading that made me realize that my compositional decisions were the right ones–it reaffirmed my faith in the piece and in myself as a composer. Dr. Padula’s luminous tone and flawless diction, combined with a wonderfully dramatic approach to the piece were stunning, and I can’t believe that such a reading of my piece was possible. In the fourth movement, “Giving of Flowers,” I was on the edge of my seat.
The rest of the weekend, Becky and I experienced Tacoma and Seattle, with wonderful food, great sight-seeing and wonderful companionship.