My Last 3 Months… A “Bleet”

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I have posted on my blog.  I have sincerely missed writing and posting.  Where does the time go?  In an effort to catch up fast and move forward, I offer you… a bleet!!

What, you ask, is a bleet???  A bleet is a cross between a short blog post and a tweet.  See, with a bleet, you can be short, but you don’t have to keep it to 140 characters, which, of course, is an absolute impossibility with me.  (And in case you’re wondering, I just made all that up!)

So, here’s my bleet about the last 3 months:

Julia with Bryan Ashley

At The Mother Church:  March, April and May took me weekly up to Boston where I continue to sing as Soloist at The Mother Church.  I sang some gorgeous, inspired music ranging from the wonderful contemporary songs of Mindy Jostyn, (“I And My Father Are One” and “Prodigal Child”) to a perennial favorite, “On Eagle’s Wings,” to several deeply loved traditional treasures: “Arise, Shine” by James MacDermid (with acoustic grand piano) and the healing words and music of “Reality” by Dorothy Currey Chancellor.

At The Watchfire Music Listening Room:  From March through May, I performed at The WFM Listening Room in New York City.  As a partner in Watchfire Music, I have been helping to develop this wonderful performance venue with Peter Link and have also co-produced concerts when not performing:

March 25, 2011:  I co-produced an evening at the Watchfire Music Listening Room with Jenny Burton and Margaret Dorn — two fantastic women and each uniquely gifted performers.

April 8, 2011:  I performed at The Watchfire Music Listening Room with Special Guest LaTanya Hall.  We had an eclectic and uplifting evening of wonderful jazz standards and beautiful inspirational music!

April 22, 2011:  Jenny Burton returned this time with world-class guitarist Chieli Minucci.  A soaring night of vocal and instrumental music!

May 13, 2011:  I returned to perform at the WFM Listening Room and shared a great evening with the witty and entertaining Jimmy Roberts – the composer of the 2^nd longest running off Broadway musical in history, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!”  I debuted brand new material from my forthcoming new CD, “Silk Road.”  It was exciting!

May 23, 2011:  Jenny Burton soared again and capped off Series II of the WFM Listening Room with Chieli Minucci.  Chieli brought two fantastic guest artists, vocalist/drummer Philip Hamilton and violinist Alan Grubner.  It was a powerhouse night at the Listening Room, a great send-off toward Series III coming up this summer!

Cast Members of "Expanding Our Music"

June 4, 2011:  Live PodCast from The Mother Church:  “Expanding Our Music:  A Workshop on Church Solos with Julia Wade and GREAT cast of musicians and singers, produced and directed by Peter Link.  I will be blogging about this experience in the very near future.  For now, suffice it to say that this was a truly beautiful and exciting concert/workshop presented at The Mother Church as part of the Boston Church Alive Summit. You can listen to the podcast and download resource materials here.

June 5, 2011:  I had the honor to introduce the local and international congregation to world-class guitarist Chieli Minucci, who accompanied me for the solo in the Sunday Services at The Mother Church. It really felt like a duet between the guitar and voice.  We performed “Gloria” by Peter Link.  Chieli performed the night before in our Solo Workshop, and it was a gift to continue that experience the next morning in the service.

OK – lots more to come now!

Up Next:  I will soon be posting my “On Memorization” article series.  It’s been a long time in writing, but it’s time to share.  Stay tuned!

Wishing you love, music and joy each and every day!

End of bleet!