Wait, There Is A Creek In This Town After All

Having grown up and lived most of my life in Minnesota and Wisconsin, I have come to realize how lucky I was to be surrounded by water. I guess I kind of took it for granted. I grew up in Minneapolis, a community of lakes, on the Mississippi River. There were many summer days spent strolling through the woods along Minnehaha Creek. In fact, the Twin Cities metro area is home to the largest urban nature preserve in the country. For the last thirteen years I lived in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on the banks of the Chippewa River. It is a community surrounded by hills, trees, lakes, streams, with direct access to dozens of miles of bike trails along the river that connect Eau Claire to Chippewa Falls and Menomonie. You can bike for miles on the banks of the Chippewa River and not see another soul. It's truly remarkable.

I am reminded of this special relationship with nature that exists in other states when I read articles like this that appeared last Sunday in the News Gazette, our local newspaper.* It seems that when the city planners designed both Champaign and Urbana the only waterway in town, known as "Boneyard Creek," was considered unimportant and even a "public safety concern" so they simply paved over it, channeling the flow through the city sewers beneath the streets. When we moved to town we would often be out for a walk and hear running water in the storm drains - a lot of running water. It turns out we were strolling along the banks of Boneyard Creek without even realizing it!

Now both towns are beginning to realize that people actually like having a slice of nature in their otherwise "urban" landscape. Add to this the fact that we live in an area of the country that is flat, virtually treeless - Illinois is "The Prairie State" after all, with very little in the way of water features ("Crystal Lake" is a community swimming pool!). Now the city leaders are trying to find ways to uncover a bit of this beauty. Granted, they are still treating the creek as a "storm water runoff channel" but hey, it's a start.

I like to consider the popularity of Meadowbrook Park in Urbana as an example. It's a beautiful park with tiny McCullough Creek running through it's heart - see above photo. Every time I go there the park is filled with people walking, running, and biking along the trails. There is a community garden, a playground for children, a prairie restoration project, and a sculpture garden all within the park boundaries. To me it is the most "Wisconsin-like" place in this city so we tend to hang out there a lot (and it's free so that helps our budget).

Champaign embarked on a similar project last summer and fall. The "Second Street Basin" portion of the Boneyard Creek project opened this spring and a public was given a new park in which to stroll:


This looks pretty impressive doesn't it! In reality it's only two small city blocks in the "midtown" region of Champaign (midtown is known for it's ethnic restaurants - Indian, Korean, Mexican, Italian - one of each) but again, it's a start. People generally like the park, although there are some cranky folks who think it's a waste of taxpayer dollars (they're the ones that post the comments on the News Gazette website). From my point of view, anything that can be done to highlight what little we have in the way of nature in this community is worthwhile. Insert quote about the meaning of nature and it's relation to spirituality here.

Over Easter weekend, Kaia and I took a whirlwind two-day trip to Eau Claire to witness the baptism of our goddaughter. On the last day of our visit I work up early in the morning, put on my running shoes, drove to campus, and went for a 5 mile run along the river. I concluded my run on the footbridge on campus and stopped to take in a familiar river vista - something that I had done hundreds of times in the 13 years I lived in Eau Claire. This time as I looked off to the south, with the sun warming my back and shoulders, I was a visitor. I knew that my time in that spot would be brief and even though it didn't last long it still felt like being home.

Maybe water is a good thing after all.

*Newspaper may only contain 50% actual news.

MCYO Concert

This weekend was my first performance with the McHenry County Youth Orchestras in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Crystal Lake is a town on the Northwestern edge of the greater Chicago metro area (see map below). It's really about as far out as the city goes, offering an interesting mix of small-town America and suburbia, located one hour's drive from downtown Chicago.


The group I conduct is one of three orchestras in the MCYO organization which is part of the McHenry County Music Center. My job title, in addition to conducting the Symphony Orchestra, is that of "Music Director" so I get to oversee the artistic development of the organization and coordinate my programming with the other conductors. The youth orchestra program finished it's 31st season with this weekend's concert and just received the "Youth Orchestra of the Year" award from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. So, as I step into my new role I have some big shoes to fill.

I was called on to finish out the season with the orchestra after I interviewed and auditioned for the job a little over a month ago. I didn't really know what to expect when I went in for my first official rehearsal and I was a bit nervous because I only had three rehearsals with the group before the concert. Luckily things came together very well and I found the students to be very responsive, talented, and responsible. As a result of their hard work over the past few weeks the concert came off without a hitch.

The concert was held at the Raue Center for the Arts in downtown Crystal Lake. For a town of only 30,000 people this venue was absolutely delightful, and for me somewhat surprising - especially since I didn't quite know what to expect. It's an old vaudeville-style movie house that has been updated and refurbished with state of the art equipment and an outstanding staff/crew. I was especially excited since I even got my own dressing room:

The orchestras were great and the audience was fantastic (and very responsive). They seemed to genuinely appreciate the students and the performance. We got a standing ovation at the end of our final piece (the final two movements from the Mussorgsky/Ravel, Pictures at an Exhibition).


After the concert Kaia and I went out to dinner with the members of the Board of Trustees for the MCYO at a restaurant in downtown Crystal Lake called "Duke's" which features all locally grown foods (awesome!) and a great beer selection. When the meal was over we drove one hour south to Oswego and crashed at Kaia's aunt and uncle's house so we didn't have to drive all the way back to Champaign in the middle of the night. Don't worry, we called ahead to make sure it was okay.

Next up with the orchestra is the trip to Italy in June!

The Summer Begins

This week begins my first summer in grad school. After wrapping up classes and turning in my final projects and papers last week, summer has finally begun. There have been a few loose ends to tie up this week at the university as part of my TA, but now everything is complete. I am free to sit on the couch in our apartment - which is most likely how I will spend much of the first week (or two, or possibly three) of the summer. Before I can completely relax though I have a weekend chock-full of rehearsals and a concert with the McHenry County Youth Orchestras.

I am looking forward to this summer because I have several projects on which to focus and I can do them at my own pace. I'm going to spend some time with Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini operas as well as a list of other pieces that I want to study. I'm not going to any workshops or festivals so I don't need to frantically prepare repertoire. As a side note I did apply for one festival, but it turns out that I sent the application in late and to the wrong address. Always read the directions. Epic fail on my part. Oh well, there is always next summer.

As a beginning of summer treat Kaia and I took a trip up to Chicago for an evening. We spent some time in Millennium Park and then saw Riccardo Muti rehearse a festival youth orchestra at Symphony Center. We spent the night in the city and the next day we visited the Museum of Science and Industry. At the museum we were the youngest people who weren't a) accompanying a school group b) with their own children c) accompanied by their parents. Apparently all of the thirty-somethings visit at a different time (or they go to different, more "adult" places like art museums and bars) but it's okay because I was the king of the museum. Those little kids were no match for me when I wanted to:

Drive the train


or use the aging machine to find out what I will look like when I'm 74

Terrifying.

I was also way better at reading and following the directions on the exhibits than all of the school groups. They just starting mashing all of the buttons or spinning the dials. That's right folks, I'm better at following directions than an eight year old - at least when it comes to the science museum. Apparently I'm still learning how to do this in other areas of my life (see above) but at least I can take solace in the fact that I am able to operate the "tsunami simulator" with great skill.

And Just Like That... It's Over.

I am two-thirds of the the way through my master's degree program (as of Wednesday at 2 PM). It's been quite a year and I've learned a lot, conducted a lot of different ensembles, worked with some fantastic musicians, and I even got a job in the process. This year has been very good to me and I am thankful for the many great things that have happened in my life. I'm looking forward to next year but I am definitely ready to take a moment to pause and enjoy the summer.

Wednesday night was the final UISO concert of the year featuring the orchestra, the Oratorio Society Chorus, several guest soloists, and 4 different conductors. It was a huge event and a great way to wrap up the academic year. I conducted the Mozart Impresario Overture, a somewhat lesser-known work written in 1786 for a competition sponsored by the emperor Joseph II. It tends to be overlooked because it was written at the same time as Marriage of Figaro and is a much smaller work - a Singspiel - with only five musical numbers in the entire production. Even though the work isn't often performed the overture rocks (Mozart-style) and is fun to play and conduct.

Of course I couldn't have finished everything all at once so this morning I tied up the last of the loose ends for my academic work. I finished my term paper on Beethoven 3...

...and there was much rejoicing. It ended up being a 25 page romp through the fourth movement complete with philosophical connections to the French Enlightenment and the German philosophers, Kant and Schiller. Throw in a little bit of Prometheus, a composer going deaf, and a nod to Napoleon and you've got a stew goin' baby.

Honestly it felt great to finish this project which, of course, pales in comparison to a thesis or dissertation. I do feel though, as I did last semester, that I was dangerously close to tipping over the precipice in my paper. There's so much to cover and so much one can bring into a work like this that it's very easy to write 50-75 pages. For papers like this I have to remind myself not to get out of hand and just stay close to the thesis. I will be writing a dissertation (gulp) soon enough.

Now that the academic year is over I can take some time to reflect and relax. Next up: a youth orchestra concert and then a trip to Italy. I think I can handle that.

Almost To The Finish Line

I couldn't resist the title since this weekend was the Illinois marathon.

We're almost to the end of our first year in grad school - only three days remaining! This is the first year of many since we will both be sticking around for an additional 3-4 years to complete our doctorates. I'm hoping by the middle of this decade that we'll be Dr. Power and Dr. Simon Power and gainfully employed within a geographic region that doesn't prohibit our cohabitation. But I'm not going to worry about that right now.

Today we took a step back from our papers and final projects for a bit to enjoy some time outdoors. It's been spring-like for the past several weeks and today the sun came out for a bit, although as I type this it's raining again. I guess we had over seven inches of rain last month setting a record for the wettest April with more than twice our average rainfall. Seattle called, they want their weather back.

One thing about living in an apartment, we've both noticed, is that we rarely just go outside just to spend time outdoors. In our old life at this time of year we would both get home from school around 4 PM, crack open a beer and sit on the deck in our back yard. Man, that was the life. Now if I'm outside it's because I'm biking to school or going for a run - that's about it. There's not a ton of green space around here and unfortunately the mowed field between our apartment and the bank just isn't a great place to "hang."

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from today's outdoor adventure:

The bees were busy at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana today. Lots of the early spring flowers are blooming and we could hear the air around us buzzing as we walked by the gardens.

This is from the U of I Arboretum in Urbana. It's one of the few places in town with any kind of water to speak of. There is a park called "Crystal Lake Park" but the "Lake" is actually a "pool." When we found this last summer on one of our walks around town were thrilled - since white people like to be near water. It was a lovely day for a stroll around the pond.

We live near a pig farm and the agricultural test fields for the U of I but we also live within walking distance of these horses. Often my running route takes me right past these guys but I usually don't stop to chat. Today we did and we promised to bring apples and carrots the next time we drop in.