Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

What a great concert last evening in the Princeton University chapel with its wonderful acoustics.  We heard music by Arvo Part, Tchaikovsky, Veljo Tormis and Sibelius.

We had a snowstorm last night and this morning so we were worried we might not make it to the concert.  The roads weren't too bad, the worst part being blowing snow.  But the crews here in the neighborhood still hadn't made it to our drive so it is a good thing that W shoveled it.

Indexing for the NYGBS

I have finally found a volunteer opportunity that suits me.  Several weeks ago the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society asked for volunteers to index part of their collection.  That is something I could do at home.  They also had folks in NYC scanning documents.  The initial push is done but some of us are continuing to index.  They send me a set of files and I access their cool indexing system and input the data.  Given how much I rely on online resources for my genealogical work, it is great to be able to contribute in that way.  Last week I went to the local Family History Center to look at some microfilms I had requested.  I had forgotten what a painful process that is.  I'm happy to do anything I can to make data more accessible.

Kremerata Baltica Concert

When I decided to post about the concerts we attend, I didn't realize what a large fraction of the posts would be about them during the winter time.  But that is one of the reasons we stay here at this time of year, to take advantage of the great selection of musical events.
Last evening we went to Princeton's McCarter Theater for a concert by the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra.  They played

• Arvo Part - Fratres
• Weinberg - Chamber Symphony No 4
• Tchaikovsky - Serenade Mélancolique
• Mussorgsky - Pictures from an Exhibition
• Silvestrov - Serenade

Another NJSO Concert

Yesterday was the final concert in NJSO's Winter Festival featuring Pinchas Zukerman.  We drove to NJPAC in Newark for the concert.

• Bach Violin Concerto No 2 with Zukerman as soloist and conductor
• Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht
• Beethoven Symphony No 3

Quilt #50

This is the summer quilt for our bed.

NJ Symphony

We attended another NJSO concert last evening, this one in Richardson Auditorium in Princeton.  Our seats are in the front orchestra, so we were sitting well below the players, which gave us a good view of their shoes but not much else.  But the acoustics were fine and we really enjoyed the concert.

• Barber - School for Scandal Overture
• Beethoven - Violin Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman as soloist
• Saint-Saens - Symphony #3.

Another Day in Princeton

There was another 55PLUS talk in Princeton today.  This one described how a drug is developed, focusing mostly on the trials necessary to prove its efficacy and safety.

Then this evening we went to another of the Takacs Quartet concerts of Beethoven string quartets.  These were numbers 3, 8, and 12.

New Jersey Symphony

We went to a wonderful concert this afternoon at the State Theater in New Brunswick.  We hadn't been there for a while and were impressed by the acoustics.  Pinchas Zukerman is playing in the NJSO Winter Festival.  We will be attending several of those concerts.  Today he soloed and conducted the following pieces.

• Tchaikovsky - "Melodie" from Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher
• Tchaikovsky - Serenade Mélancolique
• Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings in C Major
• Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4

After the concert we went to Brother Jimmy's BBQ for their "Humongous Nachos."

Raiders of the Lost Ark in Concert

We had a great time last night listening to the NJ Symphony play John Williams' music while watching the movie.

At Camp

We just got back from several days at camp.  We drove up December 28th and came home today.  We had hoped to stay until tomorrow, but freezing rain was forecast so we changed our plans.  It was great to see everyone at the New Years Eve party.  There was a fair amount of snow while we were there, snowing about 3 inches several times.  The rain forecast for today will spoil most of it.