Saturday, May 16, 2009Jason Castonguay * Prospect United Methodist Church
After supper at Anthony’s in Torrington, we headed to Bristol for another perfor-mance. We just made it in time to Prospect United Methodist Church, where Jason Castonguay was performing. He’s a young man in his late 20s, I’d guess, and he sings and accompanies himself on the piano. His primary style seems to be jazz and 
most of his songs were old-fashioned love songs, part of his new program. He does a lot of improvisation. The fact that he is totally blind made not one whit of difference in his performance. He has an easy relationship with the audience. He sang two or three songs 
that were not the same style, and they were big hits, showing another aspect of his talent: “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables and “Wind Beneath My Wings.” When he concluded the program, someone mentioned an “encore” piece, and Bob suggested “five or six.” Jason really didn’t want to quit, and we easily got six more pieces, including our song, “Misty,” suggested by someone else.
Apparently this was the tenth year he 
has come to this church to perform. We thought that the person who introduced him might have been his father, but he was actually Jason’s personal assistant; he schedules his concerts and helps with his travel. Jason plays twice a week at Cavey’s in Manchester, and visits many other venues to perform. He is very well educated, with a double major for his bachelor’s degree (music performance and management information systems) and more lessons at Hartt School of Music. His credentials and adventures are extensive.
Saturday, May 16, 2009Trinity Episcopal Church * Anthony's RestaurantThe Cal section of The Courant had a listing for Chorus Angelicus & Gaudeamus at Trinity Episcopal Church in Torrington and, later the same day, one for Jason Castonguay in Bristol. Jan investigated travel time from home and possible places to eat between performances, and we decided we could successfully attend both.
We arrived at Trinity Episcopal and were greeted by a beautiful 1890s Gothic style stone church. Pictures I took don’t do justice to the architecture and it would be better to visit their web site to view this beautiful building.
Nicholas White is the director of Chorus Angelicus (a children’s and youth choir) and Gaudeamus (an adult chamber choir). Chorus Angelicus was founded in 1991 by Grammy-winner Paul Halley, also from this church. The ensemble is comprised of more than 70 boys and girls from towns throughout southern New England and they perform some 30 concerts annually. Gaudeamus, the adult choir, consists of professional and semi-professional free-lance singers, and was formed in 1992. Director Nicholas White “is a Grammy nominated composer and conductor, as well as a versatile organist, pianist and singer, with experience in many different styles of music.” He was born in England, came to the U.S. in 1989, and has an impressive music-related resume. We heard him perform on the organ in Winsted in March (see posting for March 29). His choirs are top-notch—precise, well-balanced, and versatile.
This program, “In Sure and Certain Hope,” featured a work by that name that White composed. Performed previously in New York and recorded at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in 2006, this was a Connecticut premiere. The combined choirs sang together, sometimes featuring one choir or the other, for the entire program and included “Magnificat” and “Nunc Dimittis” for Treble Voices, also composed by Nicholas White, and a number of other challenging and impressive selections. Guest organist was none other than the famous Douglas Major. His career includes being assistant organist at the Washington National Cathedral, as does Nick’s, and includes numerous tours, concerts, and recordings too numerous to mention here. Dr. Major is currently on an advisory board at one of our favorite music halls, Methuen Memorial Music Hall and lives in Salem, Massachusetts. Kate Jensik turned pages for Major, but in the second half of the program played the cello, accompanying the choirs and organ. Her biography also is impressive.
We bought a CD with Nicholas White’s “In Sure and Certain Hope.”
Our time being limited, we left for a bite to eat, which turned out to be a challenge. Jan had carefully chosen several restaurants and had identified her preferences, but the first two were closed. We wound up at Anthony’s Restaurant which had excellent Italian food. We both had veal—I had parmigiano and Jan had franchese.
Friday, May 15, 2009Travelers Choral Club at The BushnellThe Courant’s Cal section on Thursdays usually has several programs that attract us, and we decided we could actually get to all three we had in mind for this weekend. Today we went to the spring concert of the Traveler’s Choral Club. We’d never heard of this group before, but we’ve always enjoyed choral music, especially seeing as that’s how Bob and I met. The concert was in Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell, and was free! We sat in the left section of the orchestra, about 10-12 rows from the front. It was very well attended.The theme was Waltzing Into Spring and they performed Rutter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Brahms, Randall Thompson, and Aaron Copland, among others. There were about 70 singers, with parts pretty well balanced. We enjoyed the pieces but once again came to appreciate the precision and discipline instilled in us by Doc Soule in college, which were missing tonight. A nice touch was the dancers who did some graceful walzing around the stage during the singing of Brahms’ "Liebeslieder Walzer."
Tuesday, May 12, 2009The CounterEver since The Counter opened in Blue Back Square and had an article in the Courant, Bob has wanted to go there. They specialize in burgers, almost every kind imaginable. Today was filled with various errands, and at lunch time The Counter was between two planned stops. When we walked in we got a clipboard with all the options, and we checked off our choices. Some options were built into the price of the burger and a few had an additional charge. We started by deciding on beef, chicken, or veggie burger, then the kind of cheese, other additives, and a flavor of sauce. The smallest we saw was 1/3 of a pound, but a couple who sat next to us found four mini-burgers and shared them. That would have been better. We got a half order of sweet potato fries and a half order of onion strings. Both were excellent. The burgers were delicious but our second halves needed to be eaten with fork and knife. We splurged and shared a chocolate milkshake which had very little chocolate in it and filled us uncomfortably full. It was an interesting experience but we probably won’t return too often.
Saturday, May 9, 2009Barbecued ribs supper at the Congregational Church of Naugatuck * Boys in HatsThis trip was a mystery outing, where Jan plans an event and doesn’t tell me where we’re going until we get there, when maybe I’ll figure it out by myself. This trip was to the Congregational Church of Naugatuck for their annual spare-ribs-with-all-the-fixings supper. The portions were generous and very tasty and included a large baked potato, coleslaw, corn bread, beverage, and ice cream with a cookie for dessert. People were friendly and it was an easy group to chat with. The tables were filled almost to capacity—about 100 people. There was evening entertainment afterward by Boys in Hats, a folk-singing duo, Eric Anderson and Paul Bryant-Smith. (They were the main reason Jan chose this outing--she wanted to hear them live for the first time and knew I'd enjoy them too.) Paul and Eric met in seminary and both are ordained ministers. Eric is also the "alpha geek" at the CT Conference of the UCC. They perform for church fundraisers and coffeehouses. We both had Eric as a student a quite a few years ago, and he and Jan shared an office at the UCC Conference Center until Jan’s retirement. We enjoyed their traditional and newer folk music like Waltzing with Bears, Hot Frogs, Charlie on the MTA, and one Eric composed for a friend, Chasing the Sun. We assume, by the lyrics, that the friend is someone quite special.
Friday, May 1, 2009Anne Laver, organist, at First Church of Christ * Metro Bis
Another organ concert, and this one was excellent! It was at the First Church of Christ in Simsbury. It is large and beautiful, with a balcony wrapping around three sides of the sanctuary. Most of the attendees sat there, as did we, because the organ is there, and seeing the organist’s hands and feet adds to the enjoyment of the sound. The organist was Anne Laver, the 2005 winner of the competition for the Charlotte Hoyt Bagnall Scholarship. She is pursuing a doctorate in musical arts at Eastman School of Music in Rochester. She is highly professional and played confidently and 
beautifully. Her pieces were enhanced with her explanations of their history and place in the liturgical year. She played Bach, Demessieux, Widor, Heinrich, Albright, and Vierne. There were between 40 and 50 people there including a former coworker of mine and his wife. There was a small reception after and we felt very welcomed by the members of the church and enjoyed chatting with several of them and with the organist’s mother, who lives in Woodstock.
We had had a late lunch and no supper before the 
recital, so we found a bite to eat at Metro Bis, a gourmet bistro in town. It was late, 9:15, but we squeezed in before they closed at 9:30. We both had and shared two appetizers (goat cheese and potato tart and crispy Thai spring rolls), a Caesar salad, and two desserts (vanilla panna cotta and chocolate ganache)—everything except the entrée. Every item was superbly presented 
and absolutely delicious. I have wanted to go there for many years and it was wonderful, finally, to do so.
Saturday, April 18, 2009O'Rourke's Diner * Joshua Brown, organist, at First United Methodist ChurchWe started this trip with dinner at O’Rourke’s Diner. We had been to the old one (the one that burned down), but because this was a brand new building—it opened in February 2009—we felt justified in counting this as our first visit there. Their supper offerings are limited, but we were happy with the sandwiches and fries (Bob had sweet potato fries). The diner appears to be close to a carbon copy of the old one, except the seating isn’t quite as tight as it used to be.
The main reason for the trip was an organ concert at First United Methodist Church. It was easy to find and was fairly well attended. They have two organ concerts per year to raise money for their fund to restore and refurbish their Kilgen organ. The organist who performed tonight, Joshua Brown, is the grandson of two of the church’s members. The organ is fairly small, but Mr. Brown got some nice sounds out of it. We weren’t enamored of much of his program but particularly enjoyed one of Bach’s “Easter Chorales” and the Nimrod from Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” There was a reception following the concert and we had our dessert there.
most of his songs were old-fashioned love songs, part of his new program. He does a lot of improvisation. The fact that he is totally blind made not one whit of difference in his performance. 
that were not the same style, and they were big hits, showing another aspect of his talent: “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables and “Wind Beneath My Wings.” When he concluded the program, someone mentioned an “encore” piece, and Bob suggested “five or six.” Jason really didn’t want to quit, and we easily got six more pieces, including our song, “Misty,” suggested by someone else. 
has come to this church to perform. We thought that the person who introduced him might have been his father, but he was actually Jason’s personal assistant; he schedules his concerts and helps with his travel. Jason plays twice a week at Cavey’s in Manchester, and visits many other venues to perform. He is very well educated, with a double major for his bachelor’s degree (music performance and management information systems) and more lessons at Hartt School of Music. His credentials and adventures are extensive.
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