dad runs through some of his music at the UNLV music building
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| waiting for our flight |
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| about to depart |
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| over the mountains of Nevada |
Las Vegas Baby!
I met dad at the Portland Airport this morning. We ate lunch at Gustav’s, on concourse C. We both ordered the same thing: yummy BLTs on croissants. Our flight to Las Vegas was on time, however the descent into Las Vegas was long and bumpy due to strong 25-40 mph winds. Yellow dust filled the valleys between the rugged mountains. Nellis Airforce base is out there in the alien infested mountains. I looked hard for alien craft and homes and found none, at least to my naked eye (google ‘millenial hospitality’). Our plane was full of boisterous people, ready for a party. Las Vegas is a party town, built to entertain you, if the kind of entertainment offered is your cup of tea.
Dad is singing the role of Christus in Bach's St Matthew Passion. The work is being presented by The Musical Arts Chorus and Musical Arts Orchestra, with guest choruses: San Fernando Masterworks Chorale and Greenspun Junior High. The performance is Sunday April 10 at 3pm.
Upon landing we got word that Bobbi, our ride, was ill and wouldn’t be meeting us. We took a taxi to Terribles Herbst hotel, for an $11 fare. As we waited to register for our rooms I took a few photos of the slot machines, then switched to video mode. As I panned from the desk to the machines one of the employees told me that taking photos of the casino was forbidden. Some old rule about the mob people not wanting their photos taken. Oops. The clanging of the slot machines, the blinking colored lights and stale air nearly sent me running from the casino as it was.
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| you are not supposed to take photos of people in casinos, so this is a photo of chairs only |
We unpacked and caught a cab to UNLV campus, to the music building named after Alva Ham. It was a straight drive down Flamingo Drive, turn right on Maryland, pass Cottage Grove street, and it’s on the right, about one mile from the hotel. We passed a Sinclair gas station, with the big green dinosaur on top. I’d just been talking to hubby about that last night as we reminisced about Terribles Herbst gas stations of our childhood. We are in a music classroom on the second floor. There are the hand signals for Do, Re, Mi, etc. There are two batiks of hand signs. There is a quote from Carl Orff “Elemental Music is never music alone but forms a unity with movement, dance and speech”. This is a run through with the tenor Evangelist and my dad, who sings the baritone role of Christus .There is also a cellist, a pianist, and the soprano (who is married to the tenor). The soprano and tenor came from Virginia. The evangelist is the main character of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Scott, the tenor, is definitely the one running the rehearsal, marking the score and counting syllables, because the German language and the English don’t match beat for beat. The performance Sunday will be sung in English.
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Dad and Scott rehearse with cellist and pianst
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| Amy, the soprano, sits to the side to listen to the rehearsal |
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| this is a building on the UNLV campus, makes alot of sense to have an entire department devoted to this discipline, right? |
Scott rehearses the role of the evangelist
