Sometimes it pays to have good peripheral vision

Here is a lovely vocal offertory featuring a young woman named Courtney Cumberland, who sang it at Due West United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia, on October 6, 2013. The piece is “Pie Jesu” from John Rutter’s work, Requiem.

“Pie Jesu” at Due West Methodist Church, Marietta, GA, October 6, 2013

Here is a translation from the Latin:

Merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus
who takes away the sins of the world
Grant them rest, grant them rest,
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world
Grant them rest, grant them rest, everlasting, everlasting rest

I do not know Courtney Cumberland or the man playing the piano. However, I do know the man playing the soprano saxophone at the right edge of the screen. Sometimes you get a glimpse of his profile.
He is my son.

Now you can go back and watch that video again.

It’s like Susan Boyle all over again, sort of

For those of you who don’t live in the U.S., we have a television program here called America’s Got Talent. A program in the U.K. called Britain’s Got Talent came first, but many other countries have their own version now, so I’m fairly sure you have some idea of what I’m talking about no matter where you live. For example, here’s Armenia’s Got Talent (3:44) and here’s Georgia’s Got Talent (3:33) -- that’s the former Soviet Georgia, not the one with all the peaches -- and I just want to state for the record that (a) it doesn’t take much to entertain some nations and (b) Armenia’s program doesn’t even seem to have a buzzer. But I digress.

This summer a certain segment of our country (the segment watching America’s Got Talent) is going bonkers over three young operatic tenors who named their singing group Forte (pronounced FOR-tay). (Editor’s note. In Italian, Forte means LOUD, and the full name of the musical instrument you probably call a piano is actually the pianoforte, which in Italian means SOFTLOUD. That is neither here nor there, but I thought I’d throw it in for good measure even though you may think I’m digressing again. Actually, it’s all right to digress inside a note, especially if you’re the editor.--RWP)

It’s a pretty safe bet that the segment of the country that is going bonkers over Forte is not the same segment of the country that is going bonkers over Duck Dynasty. The former formerly went bonkers over Downton Abbey and the latter formerly went bonkers over Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo and The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Some days I fear for my country.
I think I’m digressing again.

Originally, Forte consisted of a Puerto Rican, a South Korean, and a New Yorker. Here’s their audition round song, “Pie Jesu” from John Rutter’s “Requiem” (6:12).

Forte was praised to high heaven and passed the audition round.

Acts that pass the audition round go to “Vegas Week” which is held (click here) in Las Vegas.

According to the Puerto Rican third of Forte, the Korean third of Forte unexpectedly “dropped out” shortly before “Vegas Week.” I read later that the Korean third had a problem with renewing his visa. My theory is that his student visa had expired and a team of ICE agents came swooping down on him after he was brash enough to appear sans visa on a nationally televised talent search. (ICE are the U.S.’s Immigration & Customs Enforcement people.) I could be wrong, of course. The Puerto Rican third of Forte doesn’t need a visa because Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. The jury is still out concerning New York.

The Puerto Rican third and the New York third of Forte were able to find a suitable replacement for the missing third of their act and proceeded to Las Vegas for “Vegas Week.” The judges on America’s Got Talent had absolutely no problem with this turn of events.

During “Vegas Week” the new version of Forte performed Andrea Bocelli’s “The Prayer” (1:50) and wowed the audience again, enough to make it to the “Quarter Finals” at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall

At the “Quarter Finals” at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, Forte sang “Somewhere” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (5:12), wowing everyone but the British judge.

Only time will tell how far Forte will progress this season on America’s Got Talent.

Stay tuned.

Things could be worse. You could be watching an Armenian woman twirl hula hoops without a buzzer handy.

Update: I seem to have confused [Country Name]’s Got Talent with The X-Factor. A thousand pardons! The buzzers are on the latter only. [Country Name]’s Got Talent doesn’t have buzzers. I’ll try to pay closer attention in the future.

We’re not quite done yet

If you clicked on Auld Lang Syne #1 in my previous post, you heard what I consider to be a really bad musical saw rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” by Nicki Jaine. I’m sure Nicki is a lovely young lady, but I fervently hope that her technique has improved since 2006 (the date of the clip). It made my ears hurt because of just how off-key it is in places and also because of the swoops and slides from note to note, never a good thing. I’m assuming you understand that I included it in our festival precisely because it was so bad, just as I included Darlene Edwards in an earlier post for the same reason, which some of you did not seem to catch. Of course, Darlene’s performance (a parody by the great Jo Stafford) was purposely bad. Nicki’s, I think, was not.

A new commenter, Michelle, gave us a link to a pitch-perfect rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” on the musical saw by a young lady who has performed it in the subways of New York every New Year’s Eve for the past 17 years.

Here is the same person playing John Rutter’s "Pie Jesu" in a trio consisting of musical saw, recorder, and piano in a Lutheran Church.

She is none other than Natalia Paruz, the increasingly well-known “Saw Lady.” Natalia has performed on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion and with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic.

Now we’re done.

Well, with New Year’s Eve, “Auld Lang Syne,” and the musical saw, at least.

For now.