Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Camp Dwight: Fellowship, Music and Good Plain Fun
Our summer vacation turned out to be a mish-mash of different activities, a kind of three-part vacation taking place during the course of ten days in July. And of course, musical experiences followed us everywhere. (Imagine that!) Here are some photos from part one of the "Bisceglia Family summer vacation" which happened at Camp Dwight, a Christian family camp in Bend, Oregon.
Our trademark, trusty brown van is showing itself not to be trustworthy anymore. :( Although it groaned and moaned going over Mt. Hood, we made it safely to Bend. We love riding in the car together. We read, journal, gaze out the window, try to keep Dad awake...
...and sleep!
One of the best parts about Camp Dwight was catching up with friends we hadn't seen for awhile. We got to meet Emma Christine first time! (Photo above.) Mom and Dad met friends they hadn't seen for twenty years! Fortunately Camp Dwight is designed to allow for maximum visiting time. Mom said she felt like she spent most the time wondering through the camp looking for Dad (wishing she could keep him on a leash!) and invariably finding him deep in conversation!
The afternoons were hot and relaxing with our feet in the creek was the thing to do!
Janna and Heather S. in stiff competition! Well...that might be an exaggeration...I think there was more giggling that anything else during this game!
The camp hosts set up a huge slip and slide one afternoon, which is created by rolling black plastic down the hill and flooding it with soap and water. It was wild! Noah can be seen close to the grass wearing red shorts and a smile!
We found creative ways to keep up our appearances while tent camping. (Which, by the way, is not our family's normal style of vacationing! I mean, why would anyone want to cram in a little tent if there is a cabin with running water to be had? This time though, there was no cabin to be had, so we camped. And you know what? It was fun!) Kathrina and Janna rigged up a beauty salon in the van!
I think the best part of Camp Dwight was Talent Night. Watching other musical families is one of our favorite things to do. We all agreed we had not had such a wonderful evening of entertainment in a long time! It was over three hours of singing, sharing, comedy, skits...all presented by individuals and families whose faces glowed with enthusiasm and obviously did everything for the honor and glory of the Lord!
We were thrilled to finally meet some members of the Booher family for the first time and enjoy Ben, Brendan and Gabe (and their sister Meriwyn!) sharing their talents.
Musical spasm! This had us grinning from ear to ear! Each brother had one hand on his instrument and one hand playing a brother's instrument. It is so funny! I might post the video. The photo doesn't do it justice.
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Of course, we had get up on stage too! We sang "The Haying Song", which was perfect because we were surrounded by hay fields!
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We girls also sang "In The Garden".
Then for something extra special, we performed an Irish jig. A couple members of the Voetberg family band provided live music. They were wonderful! It was such fun to dance while they played. The audience enjoyed it immensely.
A ceili swing finishes up the dance! We're going to upload a video of this so stay tuned!
Talent Night wasn't the only fun thing to do! Noah will assure you that the volleyball court was the best part. He aught to know. We couldn't get him to leave the volleyball games. He would reluctantly come to meals only when he heard the food line would be closing momentarily!
Although the nights were cool, the afternoons were very warm! A dip in the creek was so refreshing! Kathrina happened to be one of the first people to discover ice cream being served on Sunday afternoon. As she walked through the camp, everyone stared after her and then called out, "Where did you get that?" Kathrina must have directed a hundred people to the ice cream table! The ice cream didn't last long, I assure you!
Another way to stay cool is to ride a paddle boat in a pond where several boys are keeping up a constant splash!
I think my absolutely favorite part of Camp Dwight was "jamming" with other musicians. (Okay, I know I said those other things were favorites, but this was truly exceptional!)
"Jamming" is a musician's term for playing together spontaneously without any practice. It's not as easy as it sounds, however. In fact, it takes a good musician to be able to give and take, feel out when to take over lead or harmony, and follow by ear or by notated music as the situation dictates. Ben and Brenden B. on bass and fiddle and Chris D. on the piano exceeded our jamming expectations. Others raised their voices with us in joyous song. We sang American folk songs and well known hymns. The half-hour before supper went by way too quickly!
Our trademark, trusty brown van is showing itself not to be trustworthy anymore. :( Although it groaned and moaned going over Mt. Hood, we made it safely to Bend. We love riding in the car together. We read, journal, gaze out the window, try to keep Dad awake...
...and sleep!
One of the best parts about Camp Dwight was catching up with friends we hadn't seen for awhile. We got to meet Emma Christine first time! (Photo above.) Mom and Dad met friends they hadn't seen for twenty years! Fortunately Camp Dwight is designed to allow for maximum visiting time. Mom said she felt like she spent most the time wondering through the camp looking for Dad (wishing she could keep him on a leash!) and invariably finding him deep in conversation!
The afternoons were hot and relaxing with our feet in the creek was the thing to do!
Janna and Heather S. in stiff competition! Well...that might be an exaggeration...I think there was more giggling that anything else during this game!
The camp hosts set up a huge slip and slide one afternoon, which is created by rolling black plastic down the hill and flooding it with soap and water. It was wild! Noah can be seen close to the grass wearing red shorts and a smile!
We found creative ways to keep up our appearances while tent camping. (Which, by the way, is not our family's normal style of vacationing! I mean, why would anyone want to cram in a little tent if there is a cabin with running water to be had? This time though, there was no cabin to be had, so we camped. And you know what? It was fun!) Kathrina and Janna rigged up a beauty salon in the van!
I think the best part of Camp Dwight was Talent Night. Watching other musical families is one of our favorite things to do. We all agreed we had not had such a wonderful evening of entertainment in a long time! It was over three hours of singing, sharing, comedy, skits...all presented by individuals and families whose faces glowed with enthusiasm and obviously did everything for the honor and glory of the Lord!
We were thrilled to finally meet some members of the Booher family for the first time and enjoy Ben, Brendan and Gabe (and their sister Meriwyn!) sharing their talents.
Musical spasm! This had us grinning from ear to ear! Each brother had one hand on his instrument and one hand playing a brother's instrument. It is so funny! I might post the video. The photo doesn't do it justice..jpg)
Of course, we had get up on stage too! We sang "The Haying Song", which was perfect because we were surrounded by hay fields!.jpg)
We girls also sang "In The Garden".
Then for something extra special, we performed an Irish jig. A couple members of the Voetberg family band provided live music. They were wonderful! It was such fun to dance while they played. The audience enjoyed it immensely.
A ceili swing finishes up the dance! We're going to upload a video of this so stay tuned!
Talent Night wasn't the only fun thing to do! Noah will assure you that the volleyball court was the best part. He aught to know. We couldn't get him to leave the volleyball games. He would reluctantly come to meals only when he heard the food line would be closing momentarily!
Although the nights were cool, the afternoons were very warm! A dip in the creek was so refreshing! Kathrina happened to be one of the first people to discover ice cream being served on Sunday afternoon. As she walked through the camp, everyone stared after her and then called out, "Where did you get that?" Kathrina must have directed a hundred people to the ice cream table! The ice cream didn't last long, I assure you!
Another way to stay cool is to ride a paddle boat in a pond where several boys are keeping up a constant splash!
I think my absolutely favorite part of Camp Dwight was "jamming" with other musicians. (Okay, I know I said those other things were favorites, but this was truly exceptional!)"Jamming" is a musician's term for playing together spontaneously without any practice. It's not as easy as it sounds, however. In fact, it takes a good musician to be able to give and take, feel out when to take over lead or harmony, and follow by ear or by notated music as the situation dictates. Ben and Brenden B. on bass and fiddle and Chris D. on the piano exceeded our jamming expectations. Others raised their voices with us in joyous song. We sang American folk songs and well known hymns. The half-hour before supper went by way too quickly!
When we got home, we realized that experiencing the joy of Talent Night and that incredible jam session put new life into our music practices. That's what every musician hopes for when meeting other musicians: a re-awakening of the excitement and joy music brings.
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and family for hosting Camp Dwight and providing families like ours an opportunity to get together. It was an incredible blessing!
Come back soon for videos and posts about Parts Two and Three of our vacation!
~The First Rose
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Summer Concert Announcement
Saturday, August 1, 2009 7:00 pm
"Neighbor to Neighbor Community Fair"
Oak Hills Presbyterian Church
5101 SE Thiessen Rd., Milwaukie, OR 97267
(503) 654-4321
Fair begins 3:00pm, We play at 7:00
Oak Hills Presbyterian and King of King's Lutheran Church join together to celebrate our community with music, food, art displays, clowns and games! Fun and festivities abound for the entire family. Please bring a can of food for King's Cupboard/The Oregon Food Bank. Hope to see you there! For more info, click here.
5101 SE Thiessen Rd., Milwaukie, OR 97267
(503) 654-4321
Fair begins 3:00pm, We play at 7:00
Oak Hills Presbyterian and King of King's Lutheran Church join together to celebrate our community with music, food, art displays, clowns and games! Fun and festivities abound for the entire family. Please bring a can of food for King's Cupboard/The Oregon Food Bank. Hope to see you there! For more info, click here.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Christmas CD: Recording Sessions 17-20!
This was our final big recording week!!!! There is still some recording to be done, but the major stuff is finished. We are excited to be moving towards the mixdown!This week we recorded our three most complicated and challenging vocal songs ever. They've included unison, four-part harmony, and every kind of combination in between.
Here I am trying to gain confidence for my solo verse. Don't worry; the pressure was nothing - "Just try and unite energy, musicality, beauty, clarity and power....in one take."
In truth, everyone is really quite supportive. :)
I think I used to have a vague idea about recording artists "getting it easy" compared with live performance musicians, but now I see there is lots of work, time, and energy in each area of the art. Our sessions this week were four hours minimum, and Wednesday night Thai food was a refreshing treat.
And how could we leave without tasting the coconut ice cream?
Mmmmmm :) But there was more recording the next day...
New Recording Studio Regulation: Young child artists should not be allowed to use headphones unsupervised. (They really can be most dangerous. ;))
Producing. One of the biggest differences in recording of this CD from the last is that Whispering Roses is producing. Terry Prohaska produced Journey Through The Highlands but this time we are recording on weekdays, and he is not often with us. Producing is about deciding when we've done enough takes, listening to all the takes, weeding some out and keeping others...essentially, it's about decision making. It can be hard, but there is also a certain pleasure in working with the engineer, having the final say, and knowing that we're producing this album.
Sarah using her persuasive charms.
Krista deep in decision-making.
And me, getting my point across.
Friday, after about four hours in the studio, Aunt Stephanie came and sat in on the session! She was up visiting from San Jose, CA, and we were delighted to spend a little extra time with her. After a few more hours of recording we came home and enjoyed delicious summer dinner outside!
~Kathrina
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