JA Shrader

Greetings!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve spoken with you. I see the last post is dated April 5 – OMG!

I had been relating that marvelous time in Tucson and Phoenix when I was hanging out with my darling granddaughter Eva, while her parents, Alek and Daniela, performed with Arizona Opera. I flew back to Valdosta on April 10 and was met with an avalanche of real estate work (shooting five videos and taking an advertising/social media class) along with an eye exam, Moxie grooming, and VSU Blazer softball.

On April 20, it was time to fly to Boston and record my Very Short Opera – Frogs Always Get You in the End. We were recording at the Shalin Liu auditorium in Rockport, MA. It is a beautiful 300 seat space with an incredible view (from the conductor’s POV) of the rocky shoreline, crashing waves and all!

The crack PARMA Recording crew was excellent and very well organized. The instrumental trio was outstanding and very flexible. The singers were well prepared and a brief rehearsal was all that we needed to begin the session. I was thrilled to return to the conducting podium where I hadn’t been (and missed it!) for quite a while.

The Princess was Aliana de la Guardia. 

The Frog was Brian Church. 

I was so fortunate to have my wife and partner Aija with me for the entire project. While I was conducting on stage, she was in the control room with the technicians. Her input was invaluable as it has been for the last 39 years!

I have uploaded the recording on the music/opera page in this blog. I hope you will take seven minutes to listen to it. I am in the process of developing a performance package that would include scores, parts, and staging/touring possibilities. I’m hoping that universities and opera companies will consider this piece for community and school touring projects.

Because the recording session in Rockport was on Friday and the editing/mastering session was scheduled for the following Monday, we had Saturday and Sunday off. At first our plan was to be tourists in the Boston area, but we ended up driving our rental car to New Jersey and we spent some great time with daughter Dorothy! It was a whirlwind visit to be sure, but well worth the drive. Conversations during long drives are often the best and the time spent with Dorothy was wonderful!

So we returned to the PARMA Recording home studio in North Hampton, NH and got to visit with technicians and executives as we put together the fruits of our recording labors. It was a wonderful experience and I hope to be able to do more with this exciting company.

After an overnight near the Boston airport, we boarded planes – Aija to South Bend, IN and me back to Valdosta. But that’s the next chapter!

Thanks if you read this far! More coming soon … Cheers!

Greetings all!

Coming to the end of my three weeks in Phoenix/Tucson! I’ve been Hanging out in Phoenix and Tucson with Arizona Opera, represented by Cenerentola (Daniela) and Ramiro (Alek), AND my main squeeze – granddaughter, Eva (22 months old)!

After eighteen days, really missing the Georgia family – Aija (of course!), Valda, and MOXIE!!!

A few highlights so far:
♦ Sunday, 03.19 Arrive in Phoenix – a beautiful mini-hacienda in Spanish style – lovely bedroom for the grandpa-nanny!
♦ Saturday, 03.25 – scratched my Spring Training itch by taking Alek to see the Indians/White Sox at Goodyear Ballpark. [Indians up 7-6 with 2 out in the top of the 9th … BAM! White Sox GRAND SLAM! … Tribe loses 10-7!] I coulda seen this with the Phillies in Clearwater!
♦ Monday, 03-27 – load up the car and transfer to Tucson for opening weekend. Staying next to the opera singers plus one, in my own room at the Courtyard Marriott. [Great to see Andrew Owens (Best Man at the Alek/Daniela wedding) again after several years! He’s alternating Ramiro with Alek.]
♦ Saturday, 04.01 – Opening Night for Daniela & Alek – can’t find a review yet – everyone seemed happy!
♦ Sunday, 04.02 – I’m going to the matinee to see/hear Andrew, et al. Good show! Dean Williamson conducting – Andrew was great!
♦ Monday, 04.03 – load up and drive back to Phoenix (We actually did this on Sunday right after the matinee!)

Future highlights:
♦ Friday, 04.07 and Sunday, 04.09 – Daniela/Alek performances
♦ Monday, 04.10 – Everybody to airport; me to Valdosta, the other three to Houston!

If necessary, I’ll fill in details of the above in another post!

Let’s go around the categories!

Reading List:

Spring is only ten days old and I’m well ahead in the Spring 2017 reading list. Two contributing factors – I finished the winter list early, and – I have a lot of time to read here in Phoenix/Tucson when I’m not on Eva duty! I have added several new entries including some novellas which I’m happy to put paid to my complete reading list. So far this Spring,  I’ve investigated diverse crimes with Tom Gabriel (Tim Ellis – Games of the Dead), Hubert Schuze (Michael Orenduff – The Pot Thief Who Studies DH Lawrence), John Rebus (Ian Rankin – Rather Be the Devil), Milan Jacovich (Les Roberts – Speaking of Murder), Joe Gunther (Archer Mayor – The Catch), and now I’m in England with Alan Banks (Peter Robinson – Blood at the Root). Still to come are visits to the Scottish Highlands (MC Beaton – Knock, Knock You’re Dead), England – (Tim Ellis – There Is No Fear in Love), Philadelphia (Jane Haddam – Baptism in Blood), Arizona (JA Jance – The Old Line), Seattle (JA Jance – Ring in the Dead), and finally Amsterdam (van de Wetering – Just a Corpse at Twilight). Lots of adventure and travel. Join me …

Composing/Recording:

Doing some score preparation on the Frog Opera to be ready for the Boston recording session on 4/21. Once I get back in the studio, I’ll continue work on the Georgia Ambassadors repertoire and look ahead to the next holiday publication season.

Real Estate:

I’ve been doing quite a bit of long-distance work from here in Phoenix/Tucson. Several closings and a listing await my return to Valdosta. The learning curve is not quite as daunting as it once was and I’m guided by my brilliant mentor, Aija.

I’ll sign off now, but with anticipation that the next post will have details of the Boston trip, perhaps some vacay sight-seeing, and the recording activities. Cheers!  – Jim

Greetings all!

I sit here observing the beautiful rose bush embracing the mailbox in the front yard, and realize that it’s March 7 – egad!

We had a great Minneapolis/NYC trip to hear Alek (Soler – Diana’s Garden), Daniela (Dvorak –Rusalka), and Dorothy (Rachmaninoff – Midnight Vespers). Of course, that was all topped by the quality time we spent with Eva, or, as she calls herself – “Vavi.” We stayed at the Beacon Hotel at 75th and Broadway, a short two block walk to the Alek/Daniela/Eva abode, and a short cab ride to just about anywhere we were going. We also took Eva to Riverside Park and had some great, albeit a bit chilly, outside time. Musically, all performances were terrific! Alek’s physical comedy is second to none and his voice is finely burnished. Daniela had no trouble filling the Met with her glorious sound, even in the small role of the Kitchen Boy. Dorothy and The Westminster Choir were sublime in the a cappella Rachmaninoff. It was a great start to the new season!

Let’s go round the categories:

Reading:

Well, the Spring TBR list hasn’t even started yet, but I’ve already finished the first book! It was the new Tom Gabriel adventure by British author, Tim Ellis entitled “Games of the Dead.” Ellis is incredibly prolific and writes in a way that keeps me totally absorbed. I’m also reading his Parish & Richards series, the latest tome of which will appear a bit later. Next on the Spring List is Scotsman, Ian Rankin’s new John Rebus mystery, “Rather Be the Devil.” I just started it this morning, but it’s a page turner like most of Rankin’s work. Later on, I’ll delve into fellow Valdostan Michael Orenduff’s “The Pot Thief Who Studied D.H. Lawrence,” which is the latest Hubie Schuze escapade. If you don’t know this series, you’re really missing out!

Take a peek at the Book Page/Reading Lists on this website to see what else is in store for the Spring.

Composing/Recording:

I spent most of the post travel time editing the final scores and parts of my Really Short Opera – Frogs Always Get You in the End (Story by Ian Ruthven). I now have a good set of production materials including a piano-vocal score, a full score, and flute, clarinet, and cello parts. Aija and I will fly to Boston on April 20 to record the opera. I will conduct the recording as well as be involved in the editing and mastering. The session will take place in the beautiful Shalin Liu performance space. The Princess will be sung by soprano, Aliana de la Guardia and the Frog will be sung by baritone, Brian Church. This is a dream come true for me and I am terribly excited about it. After the recording, I plan to make a set of production materials available directly from me, so that hopefully others will produce this little show to the delight of all, especially children.

In other musical activities, I still hope to convince Colla Voce to publish my arrangements of “Watchman Tell Us of the Night” and “I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In” for the 2017 holiday season. I think they would have broad appeal to performer and listener alike.

And, I continue to write some new pieces for the Georgia Ambassadors of Music tour of Europe in 2018.

Travel/Opera/Family

I’ve eschewed the traditional Spring Training (Phillies) trip to Clearwater this year! Instead, I’m going to spend three glorious weeks in Phoenix/Tucson with my darling granddaughter, Eva, while Mommy and Daddy sing opposite each other in Arizona Opera’s production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. I love being the Grandpa-nanny to this wonderful munchkin! I’m sure I will be loaded with tales for this blog – stay tuned! Alek and Daniela met in a production of Cenerentola when they were both in the Merola program at San Francisco Opera. The rest, as they say, is history!

Now, Spring Training is not completely out of site because my beloved Cleveland Indians train in Phoenix! I think I can do two games – Wahoo!

There are many more opera/babysitting travels on the horizon as we follow our two favorite opera singers and their amazing little girl! (I apologize for the over-gush!) More later …

Real Estate

Wow, do I have a lot to learn! Aija is a fabulous teacher and sometimes a tough task-master, but I am slowly figuring out how to do this. In these few short passing months, I have actually listed a house and sold a few more. I find the work falls into two categories, the technological side of figuring out the various computer programs and the servant attitude that brings success with clients and customers. The former presents a somewhat steep learning curve, but I continue to improve and become familiar. The latter, however, is a bit of a struggle for me. This will come as no surprise to those of you who know me. (I think that’s everybody here, I mean, who else reads this stuff?!) Anyway, it’s no secret to many folks that I like to tell people what to do and how to do it! That doesn’t cut it as a successful Realtor! Aija is just about perfect in this profession with just the right combination of pluck and grace. I hope I can come close!

Anyway, money is beginning to come in and my goal of adding to my retirement and social security funds is becoming a reality.

Finally:

I find negotiating the pathways of a life to be interesting, thought-provoking, joyous, terrifying, sometimes depressing, and always surprising.

If you made it to these 900 plus words, I sincerely thank you. I will ask you to like, comment, and all that stuff because that’s what bloggers are supposed to do. It doesn’t really work here, but I do like to hear from you occasionally.

I’m looking forward to doing more regular journaling as the Phoenix trip unfolds. That’s all for now, except to say that Moxie says, “Hi!”  Cheers!  – Jim

Greetings!

In case you’ve forgotten, I left you next to the Christmas Tree on December 21! Now it’s January 25, 2017 and much has happened! After Alek, Daniela, and Eva headed for Christmas in Houston, we had a wonderful Yule Celebration with Dorothy and the Latvian branch of the family. Dorothy stayed for the New Years festivities and then we went back into empty nest mode! Obviously given the bulk of my compositional ouvre, Christmas and the Winter Solstice holiday time is very special for us. Added to that was the birth of Alek on Christmas Day in 1981! However, since I haven’t had a church music post for several years now, the holiday has become somewhat private to us which actually makes it all the more special. I carry on my personal tradition of listening to the King’s College Lessons and Carols live every year. I do pull out recordings of some of the Christmas Concerts from my Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Northwestern Oklahoma State choirs. And, of course, those magical holiday services we produced at First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland where I served for 17 years! I cannot complete my holiday without listening to Gil Hellwig’s splendid recitation of the biblical Christmas Story. All those things happened this year. I also accumulated some ideas for new Christmas compositions which will go into the hopper for future endeavors. I’m still hopeful that Colla Voce will consider publishing my Watchman Tell Us of the Night and I Saw Three Ships for next year. You can read about them in an earlier post.

Let’s do a roundup of the categories:

Author Stuff –

It gives me a touch of melancholy to announce that I have suspended my activities as a writer of mystery novels! Nick Flemons and Adrian Stone will be in a state of suspended animation for the foreseeable future. They have become victims of time, or rather, lack thereof! I really wanted to sink my teeth into authorship as a logical companion to my avaricious reading habit. Alas, the lacunae between writing sessions became wider and wider until the momentum was lost. I still hope to return to see where my two acquired friends go and whether they are successful in their crime-fighting solutions, but, for now, I must bid them farewell.

Reading Stuff –

I am well into the Winter TBR List by now. I will probably finish before the March 21 deadline. So far, I have enjoyed anew the adventures of Parish & Richards (Ellis – Dominion of Darkness), The Pot Thief studying Escoffier (Michael Orenduff), a brilliant Jack Reacher (Child – Night School), Bruno, the French policeman (Walker – The Children Return), Gregor Demarkian (Haddam – One to Grow On), and currently I’m about to finish a new adventure with Inspector Bill Slider and his team (Harrod-Eagles – Body Line). Only one more on deck and that’s another UK Inspector, Alan Banks (Robinson – Innocent Graves).

I’ll illuminate the Spring 2017 TBR List in a future post. I hope you will consider reading along with me. There are some really good new books coming from some of my favorite authors – stay tuned!

Composing/Recording Stuff –

I am into the third edit of my “Really Short Opera” – Frogs Always Get You in the End. You can see and hear a production over on my opera page. The reason for the slight revision and new edition is that I will be recording and conducting it at the end of April in Boston. This will be under the auspices of PARMA Recordings and I, with them, am trying to collect enough recording minutes to develop an entire Shrader CD. I have really drilled deep into the eight minute piece and paid attention to every nuance on the written page. The marvelous story/libretto is by Professor Ian Ruthven. We have yet to choose the instrumentalists and singers, but we will begin that process as soon as I can complete the editing and prepare the piano-vocal score. It’s very exciting and I’m thrilled to be working with PARMA again!

I’m also working on some choral things for the Georgia Ambassadors of Music Choir, a group which I hope to lead and conduct a bit on the 2018 European Tour. More about that later …

Travel/Opera/Family Stuff –

Well, you know about Alek’s Japan visit (Cosi fan tutte) and Daniela’s Fort Lauderdale jaunt (Carmen). Now we’re off to Minnesota where Alek is singing Endimione in Martin y Soler’s Diana’s Garden with Minnesota Opera. We leave very early on Saturday morning and we’ll see two performances. Then we’ll join Alek and fly to New York to be with Daniela as she makes her Metropolitan Opera debut in Dvorak’s Rusalka. We’ll be in the house for opening night (always very exciting at the Met). I’m also really looking forward to hearing the Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais in the title role. To sound out this family musical adventure, the next night we’ll get to hear Dorothy sing with the Westminster Choir in the Rachmaninoff Vespers. Of course, the highlight of our NYC days will be the quality time spent with our darling Eva! The adorable munchkin just passed her nineteenth month. She’s been in  New York with Dani and Dorothy and we’ve had many, many facetime sessions, but there’s nothing like the real thing!  I can’t wait …

There’s a lot more opera/travel/grandpa stuff coming later in the year, but that’s for another post.

Real Estate Stuff –

It’s quite an escalation and education as I learn this new (I’m certainly not retired any more!) phase of my remarkable life. Aija has been an incredible mentor! I have been taking videos, showing houses to prospective buyers, and I actually have a listing! Getting me up and running with all the necessary accoutrements has been a time-intensive activity, but it’s starting to fall into place. It looks like I really will be able to pad my social security and pension allotments and continue to be a contributing member of the family! If you want to see my listing, click HERE. (BTW – Wanna buy a house?)

Conclusion –

Well, friends I’ve reached the 1000 word limit I set for myself in these tomes, so, until next time, I wish you all the best for a blessed and prosperous 2017. Please tell your friends about this website and like or leave a comment. See you on this page in a few weeks!  Cheers!  -Jim