As the days get longer and spring flowers turn to the lush green of early summer, my various cultural communities explode with outpourings of music and art. First there are all the wonderful spring concerts presented by the community choruses here in Brooklyn: the Brooklyn Community Chorus, Brooklyn Women’s Chorus, Grace Chorale of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Contemporary Chorus, the Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale and The Brooklyn Philharmonia Chorus to name just a few. The Park Slope Singers (my chorus) presented two fantastic concerts the last weekend in May which included Vivaldi’s Gloria, Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances, Dyson’s Four Songs for Sailors, Duruflé’s Quatre Motets and Lauridsen’s Dirait-on. We literally brought several audience members to tears, the music was so moving. There was also the annual Big Sing in Manhattan on June 8 which was hosted by the NY Choral Consortium where members of all the NY area choruses got together to sing two major works. This year we sang Mozart’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria. This spring also saw the 2nd Annual Brooklyn Choral Sing-In on June 17. Singers and conductors from several Brooklyn choruses shared favorite pieces and sang together, creating a wonderful spirit of community.

On the visual art side of the cultural coin was the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) Spring show. My spring show pieces are shown in the photo above, and I was in excellent company as the members of my art collective created wonderful artwork to view and purchase. Sales were brisk and it was a fabulous show. I feel so lucky to live in a city full of such incredible cultural communities. Now that summer has arrived, a full season of free outdoor performances of all kinds has begun. The weekly choral summer sings have also started. Stay tuned for updates on any events I find time to attend (the choices are overwhelming and lazy days at the beach compete for my time.) If you know of an up-coming performance that is really outstanding, leave a comment here so we can be sure not to miss it – and if you see something incredible, let us all know as well!