"Right back at you . . . "

Thanks for directing your readers to us, Jonathan Miller!

Jonathan blogged about his frequent visits to ChoralNet, and in the spirit of reciprocity, I want to direct you to his site. He's a great blogger . . . I've followed his posts for some time and encourage you to look at the site.

Jonathan directs the group Chicago A Cappella and you can read more about him here.

By the way, Jonathan, I'm interested in that piece you talked about once . . . Stacy Garrop's "Hava Nagila."

Here's how he described it:

There is really nothing like commissioning a new piece of music. Late last week I was blessed to find, in my inbox, a PDF of the newest piece we have commissioned for Chicago a cappella. Stacy Garrop, a huge talent, has written her own take on "Hava Nagila," and it is a barn-burner.

I won't give away too many details, but there is a gradual speeding up of tempo, at one point reaching eighth note = 264! (The only time I can remember moving that quickly was last week, when I went on the bobsled ride in Park City, Utah, at the Utah Olympic Park.) There are some semi-improvised sections in some of the voice parts in this piece, while others carry a more conventional momentum.