February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, wherever you are today, I hope you have a wonderful day and if you plan on being romantic, might I suggest a few love songs from The King's Singers to serenade you on your way?

Right, gratuitous plug out the way. Last Sunday, as you may have seen by some of the pictures floating around Facebook, Instagram and goodness knows where else, we had such a fabulous day, surrounded by our loved ones on the red carpet...THE. RED. CARPET. in Los Angeles! I just loved the ridiculousness of the whole situation! Here I was trying my best James Bond impression, dressed in my first ever KS suit from Marc Wallace, trying to just soak it all up and try not to trip over.

One of the highlights was a surprise appearance by Michelle Obama and hearing her speak about what music had meant to her throughout her life:

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the ‘who run the world’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that’s true for everybody here,” she continued, referring to the Chicago neighborhood where she was raised.

“Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters — every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right ladies?” she said as many in the crowd remained standing. (NY Times)

The ladies she was referring to were host, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and J-Lo. (I'll be outwardly stunned if anyone reading this needs to Google any of these ladies but inwardly I'll smile and remind myself of the MANY celebrities that appeared during the afternoon ceremony and evening telecast that I honestly had NO IDEA of who they were!)

Liz said to me that she felt so empowered to be a woman, hearing Michelle Obama speak, and I was in awe as well.

Memories to last a lifetime...

Tonight we are singing the first concert of our new Love Songs programme in Ames, Iowa as part of ISU's 50th anniversary season. Here's an excerpt from an interview I gave about it the other day.

p.s. Just unwrapped my Valentine's Day card from my beautiful wife and on the front cover was a picture of a lobster with the words, 'The one for me'. I hope you tell your lobsters how much they mean to you. Bye for now!