Beans & Bees

The Crowden 8th grade took a field trip today to the Jelly Belly factory and Marshall's Farm, home of the Flying Bee Ranch. The Jelly Belly factory displayed it's industrial candy making power with an interesting array of candy making and packaging machines, which we viewed from an overhead walk way. In contrast, the bee farm was all the more fascinating in that almost no machinery is used (only a centrifuge to spin the honey out of the combs), relying mostly on the bees and their amazing ability to turn anything that blooms into honey. More photos here.

Philip Glass Visits

Composer Philip Glass came to visit Crowden School on October 10, 2007 and John Adams came along to join the fun. The Crowden kids asked all sorts of questions about his music, how he creates it and where the ideas come from.


It's hard to explain, but listen to this interview with his cousin and radio host Ira Glass on NPR from 1999 and you'll get an idea of what Philip Glass talked about. Also, check out a few photos I took.

Sara's Stuff

The Crowden Tour is a funny thing: I have been on four of them now. They see me in my PJs and we enjoy everyday life together. (including water fights--Tori!) It is a great musical experience for the students. At the same time, it has a strange quality. We are moving as one, in a bubble, away from home, lacking much news or awareness of the greater events. This was definitely the most peaceful and easy of all the tours that I have been on: partly because of the music being so great and partly because it was a great group that had a wonderful social cohesion. There was no conflict or trouble. Additionally, there was an amazing group of willing parents who came with us and helped at every turn--carrying violas, urging reluctant boys to bather, foraging for food in Boston and New York, doing laundry, tending to poorly kids, and sleeeping less that the rest. Special thanks to Linda Shay and Keith Copenhagen. It was great getting to know Mary Lynn Miller, Ray Meister, Mark Alternberg (who created this amazing blog!), and Alex DeVigal. It was also strange that we could transmit the minutest details of our day to y'all back home.

Each day Teale took a group jogging at 7am. There was a core group and some visitors each day: Megan, Genny, Nick and Tori, Mary Lynn and Lisa. The cool morning air provided a great insight to the cities' parks and beaches. In Central Park we saw two red tail hawks, one of which had caught a rodent on the grass. It was a great nature lesson for all of us.
In Boston we saw a very sleepy raccoon in a tree. Too bloody hot for him to hide in a sewer!


Kaufman Centre
This was a great concert. The students there are K-8 and play a full range o instruments. They played an amazing contemporary piece which was really intense and 20 minutes long. Mary Lynn Miller leaned over to me and said, "There would be alot of wine consumed if Crowden had 2 hour concerts with this type of repertoire."

We went for an early dinner at a restaurant close to Times Square. The waiters sing along with a soundtrack and entertain the guests was serenading the guests and dancing in the aisles. Can we say hokey? . The kids loved it! Get down Linda Shay! We have photos!
The day continued with swing dancing! At the Lincoln center across from Julliard, there is outside dancing on summer nights. We went over and mingled with people going to the Opera, the New York City Ballet and other riff-raff. There was a large exhibition stage over the fountain and people were dancing all around. Mary Lynn, Linda Shay and Lynda Bartie (our tour leader) gave lessons to the willing kids who were not horrified that adults-that-they-knew could have fun.

Saturday--A huge day.
The church performance at Saint Paul's church was beautiful. There were many friends and family of TCS students, as well as Angela Archie (current board member) and her son, (TCS alumni) and grandson.
Larry Rosenthal was there with his wife Diana and TCS alumni Jonathan. They are on an East coast college tour as Jono is going to be a senior at Head Royce this year. Stephen's mum and relatives joined us, Alia's mum and dad too!
Ground Zero proved a variety of responses from our group: My experience was that it looked like a huge construction site and therefore did not make me sad. It was the Fire Department Memorial that was moving. Additionally, the de facto memorial that is in Saint Paul's Church was much more moving. It contained a mountain of badges from fire and police dpartments from around theworld, who had particpated in the rescue effort. Hard to take.


Shop-ping!
Off we went to lighter things in Little Italy and Chinatown. The traffic! I cannot imagine driving in this city.
But the most exciting part of this day was the discovery of the North African men who sell knock off designer handbags on the street: Prada, D&G, Coach, Louis Vuitton--the girls went wild. I have never seen such a swift exchange of money. (I bought a Kate Spade purse for $20 in about 20 seconds which diminished the impact of my discussion on the morality of buying such illegal copies).
The kids also picked up the designer sunglasses and the inevitable "I love New York" t-shirts. So much fun! After gelato and Godfather t-shirts we went to the Lower East side tenement museum which was wonderful. This museum was constructed around a tenement that was occupied by a family called Confino, who are Sephardic Jews from Salonica, Greece. Larry Confino is one of my oldest friends. It was very cool to see where his grandma had settled when she came to America. But it was especially great for the kids to see the history of immigration that we study in 8th grade. The students always look skeptical when I tell them how other people lived. It is amazing that 10 people would have crammed into that tiny space. No wonder the streets were so busy!
We were separated into three 'families'. They put an introductory video. Unfortunately, this was missed by most because as soon as they lowered the lights in that dark room we nodded off! My brain was conflicted with trying to set a good example and swooning at the thought of a pillow.Fortunatley they put on a fabulous thought-provoking discussion about American citizenship, as well as an interactive theatrical prodcution which kept us riveted.

Men in Tights
That same night, the 8th grade girls had an amazing treat courtesy of Lisa Grodin and her friend Laura Corcos. While the rest of the group went to an outdoor Fisherman's Wharf type set up, Lisa, Annika, Maya, Miga, Asuka, Lyly, Zoe, Nina, and I were treated to the New York City Ballet! We dressed up as best we could and met Laura at the stage door. We were in 5th row seats!!!!!!!!!! As went to meet the orchestra. a violist exchanged chat with the girls about instruments. When showed an 18th century viola, one student remarked, "that's hecka old"

The ballet was a George Ballanchine production of Jewels. The music was Faure, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. I have to say that the sets drew gasps from the audience whenever the curtain was raised. Although I wanted to offer food to some of the ballerinas, it was stunning! ohmygod it was so lovely!
At the third curtain call, one girl leaned over to another and said," you have to watch your diet to do that"
We all went home to do sit ups.

Sunday at St. Paul's Lutheran.
Quickly forgetting the ballerina diet, we went to Balducci's food emporium for lunch on Sunday. It was one of the first places that I visited when I first went to New York. Amazing foods and salads. mmmmmm
It was awesome to practice in Julliard practice rooms. I even did a little strecthing on the ballet barres..
We then went to play a concert at the Lutheran church in Chelsea. Joan Balter's mum (The Balter Room) came to listen. She was thrilled. It was a lovely sound, as you can tell from Mark's blog.
After the concert we went for a river cruise around the Hudson and East Rivers. It was so cool! The skyline! The moon! The sights! Hundreds of photos were taken. We were all refreshed in the evening breeze. The Statue of Liberty was as wonderful as ever. (The next day a prankster put a doughnut on it--did you hear?) I think that this was one of the highlights. and this was when I really felt the absence of the Twin Towers...

On to Boston.
As we left New York the heat started. Michel T gave a great tourist guide presentation as we drove through Harlem, South Bronx and Connecticut. We were pretty lucky with the trafffic, but Boston was 92 degrees when we arrived. The dorms are a different set up from Julliard, (no AC!) however, the highlight of NorthEastern was the all-you-can-eat-buffet cafeteria. I don't think that it would take a year to gain the freshman 15 here! They have waffle machines, Italian, Vegan, desserts, roasts, sandwiches, ice cream, cereals, juices. etc, It sent the kids into a frenzy of anxiety at the choices! For the adults it was great to find a salad bar after all the fried, salty stuff of tourist restaurants. Mary Lynn is afraid that her husband won't recognize her when he arrives tonight as her face is so puffy.

We went to the Boston Pops! Very cool to be in such a hip crowd.

Did Mark metion that it was hot?
The dorms are not fun. It is so hot that we are not sleeping well. No AC or fans and little cross breeze. It is seriously hot and we are all sleeping with our doors open to catch any air that might waft through.
Kids are taking mid night showers and adults are soaking their heads under taps. It proved an interesting discussion on global warming/air conditioning; How lucky we are as Californians; How we need to consider how other people live and be less judgmental; And how we really, really would do anything to get AC right now......

Those Bloody English!
I love Boston for the history! It is great that the Californian kids can see it all and really get the geography and sense of space. They are quite patriotic here in Boston and there are a lot of slurs against English people. I am trying to hold up. I keep reminding them that the English won Bunker Hill, but they won't listen. Even 18th century English hygiene is dissed.
As we went from Paul Revere's house to Lexington and then Concord, we heard the battle story 4 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The students should be able to pass AP history at this point. I picked up great books and Revolution souvenirs for the library.

A shot heard around the world
There was a wonderful film re-enacting the American Revolution (or so I heard), but the AC had broken down and once we were stuffed into a dark room to watch it. It was lights out time again. The adults were only jerked awake by the sound of musket fire. The we went back to sleep. I have never been so hot in my life. It is unrelenting. We would have paid $10 for a lemonade or Frappacino, but there was nothing in sight.

Unfortunately, I spent the night with poor, poor Ashley in the hospital. So brave! I was very glad to have Mary Lynn with me. However, we both felt guilty about the others back in the dorms because the waiting room was air conditioned. We arrived back at the dorm at 7.50am --another police car ride--and off we went for the next leg of the journey.

600 thread count sheets matter.
After a two hour ferry ride across the North Atlantic to Nantucket, I was asked, "Do they drive on the left here?" I knew that I shouldn't have mentioned the Atlantic! Where do they think we are? County Cork? So much for my geography lessons.
The houses that we stayed in are so beautiful that it is a sensual delight, Every angle is a postcard. The flowers smell so lovely as you walk down the lanes-geraniums, roses and privet hedge all assault your senses as it is so clean and clear. Everything is Ralph Lauren and J. Crew. "Why is everyone wearing cable knit sweaters tied around their shoulders?" We look like savages marching through town.
We spent the next two days looking for a t-shirt that cost less than $20.....hmmmm
The concert was sooooo wonderful, and a lot people came to this beautiful 17th century church. However, it was a little stressful because of forgotten concert dress, (ever tried to buy black tights in Nantucket in June?) Ask Peter about his trousers!
Staying here was the treat of treats. Seriously. I cannot tell you how fantastic it is of Sara and Betsy to have put us up. We had a wonderful barbeque and the adults stayed up until midnight after the concert. My head hit the pillow and I was gone.
I awoke to a picture perfect view of the sandy beach, with rolling waves. My room looked like a photo from Pottery Barn Catalogue. Pure luxury.
Oh the beach! The shells! The reeds! The waves! Sandcastles and mosaics!

The next day, it actually felt cool. Boston seemed a distant memory and we all went to buy Nantucket sweatshirts. Ray Meister was alarmed that his wife jeopardized their annual family budget by buying two sweatshirts.
Many of us visited The Whaling Museum presentation was wonderful: Mark had a good nap (surprise!) and I bought even more library books.....Now you kow why the history section is so disapportionate!

After a great morning and lunch we left with lighter backpacks (unloaded wine and gifts) and lighter wallets. We took the fast ferry back Cape Cod and rejoined the bus (did you know that the driver has stayed at a motel near the Nantucket airport which was the cheapest place and had cost $350.00 a night--eeeek!!!!!!).

We were treated to the tour of the Mayflower, which was again great to really show the kids how cramped everything was. Then an amazing last concert by the Crowden School. We had a good audience, including Tori's uncle and Annika's family friends. Fiddle Faddle for the last time. Go 9th grade! =-(

After our concert at the Mayflower we went for our final dinner and then the awards. This is when we really have fun celebrating the social observations. All positive.

Best Water Fighter...Tori

Most Uncomplaining....Alia

Best Morning Jogger....Nick

Miss Congeniality......Susana

Best Shell Artist.....Jenna

Best Dresser Gangster in Nantucket....Oliver

Most Improved Eye Contatc ...Genny

Toughest Student...Ashley

Smoothest Video Game withdrawal.....Angelo

Most Enthusiastic Shopper...Asuka

Soundest Sleeper.....Camellia

Most Improved Bassist...Annika

Pool Shark Award....Tyler

Most Independent.....Megan

Best Immigrant Father...Stephen

Best at Overcoming Homesickness...Ariana

Most Expressive ......eeeeewwww....Zoe Shay

Most Resourceful Dresser .....Peter

Most Enthiusiastic Handbag Shopper.......Miga

Most Influential Trip Coordinator...Gideon

Most Dedicated Musician...Lyly

Most Photogenic......Zoe A.

Best Beachcomber...Nina

Most Empathetic...Rachel

Longest Shower Award (cleanest?) ...Alex

Most Notes Played....Maya


You were all wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations.

Beethoven at the German Church of St. Paul June 24

Beethoven wasn't there, but you can listen now to his String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18 as performed by the Crowden 7th & 8th grade and recorded at the German Evangelical-Lutheran Church of St. Paul in New York City on June 24, 2007.

Nauges at the German Church of St. Paul June 24

Listen now to Nauges by Crowden 8th grader Annika Holmlund as performed by Annika and members of the Crowden 8th grade and recorded at the German Evangelical-Lutheran Church of St. Paul in New York City on June 24, 2007.

We Land at Plimoth

Hey, isn't it spelled Plymouth? Well, yes, that's the name of the town, but this refers to the original spelling in William Bradford's manuscript 'Of Plimoth Plantation' in which he wrote a detailed account of the early days of Plymouth Colony, including fascinating details about the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620, relevant to us today as we visited the Mayflower II. This replica of the Mayflower was sailed across the Atlantic in 1957 in a recreation of the original voyage. Our guide, as far as we could tell, was a sailor from 1620 and retold the story of the original voyage, describing the hellish conditions below deck where passengers were basically packed in for 66 days and shipped as cargo to the new world. Have a listen!

There Once Was a Band in Nantucket...

Ahh, the island life! After the Boston heat wave, it was nice to get a refreshing dose of San Franciso-style of summer weather–cool and foggy. Upon arrival, after a 2 hour ferry ride from Boston, we got the universal Nantucket directions for finding any place on the island – 'turn left at the gray house with the white trim'. The Hendersons and the Ditmars were kind enough (kind of crazy?) to put us all up in their wonderful homes on the beach and threw a barbecue after a fine performance at the Methodist Church. We walked about a mile to the house–in our case, turning right at the gray house with white trim–and got down to grilling.

The Big Break

Wednesday night we got our first big break of the tour... and not a good one. At about 1am, Ashley fell off of the top bunk and broke her right arm. Thanks to Mary Lynn and Sara, and a little help from the campus police, Ashley was whisked off to children's hospital and reappeared the next morning with a bright blue cast. So we're down a violinist, but the good news is that the tour now has an additional tambourine player, page turner and audience member. The orthopedist took a while to get around to setting Ashley's arm because apparently he had been a little busy and this was the 10th cast that he had applied this night! Anyway, all's well now and we're off to Nantucket on the ferry.

We are HOT!

It was already in the 80's by the time the kids headed down to the dorm lounge for their 9am rehearsal today (Wednesday), showered and sweating again before they even cracked their instrument cases. By the time we boarded the bus, an hour later, it was creeping into the 90's and lethargy was setting in. We drove into Boston and set up for the midday concert in front of Quincy Market (across from the historic Faneuil Hall), sweating just at the thought of it all, trying desperately to find a little shade, handing out water in little bottles, but wishing for a swimming pool or better yet, an ocean. The kids shlepped their instruments from the bus and set about unpacking them, setting up music stands, tuning and preparing to play outdoors in heat so stifling that the granite paving stones seemed to be softening under our feet.

And then they played, amazingly, without complaint, without looks of dread or exhaustion, fretting only when the sheet music started blowing around in the breeze. Professional musicians would be hard pressed to do as well (in fact, they probably wouldn't stand for it!) Passers by stopped at the mirage and some even listened, amazed at what they were hearing, but even more astonished by the appearance of such grace and show in the sweltering heat and the obvious dedication of these young students, imagining that they must do homework, make beds and clear the table after dinner with the same enthusiasm and dedication. By now the temperature had hit 100, but from the looks of it, the kids were too busy performing, and somehow compensating as their instruments, unhappy in the heat, drifted out of tune. Even Michel, Doris and Lisa conducted with as if totally oblivious to, or perhaps delierous from the broiler like conditions. If nothing else, this day will be that day-in-Boston war story, to be told and retold, and toasted to and laughed about in the years to come. And if the truth be questioned, so here it is blogged.

La Bella Cubana at Kaufman Center

A little bird requested La Bella Cubana, by José White Lefitte, so here's the recording of the Crowden 7th & 8th grade violinists performing it at the Kaufman Center near Juilliard in New York City on June 22, 2007. (play it now or check your Crowden Life podcast in iTunes) This performance took place in a recording studio, so the sound is a bit dull, especially for this beautiful piece which would probably like a little more room to breathe and soar. I've heard the kids rehearsing it, so hopefully we'll get another performance or two in the next few days.

Boston!

Yesterday we spent a good part of the day travelling from New York to Boston on our bus and although it's air-conditioned, it's been in the mid 90's for the past couple of days, so everyone is wilting and dragging a bit from the heat. Boston is a nice change, though: the town is a little less busy and intimidating and cars actually stop for us, so crossing the street seems a little safer, especially for Californian's who expect the world to come to a halt when they so much as glance in the direction of a cross walk.

Our dorm is a big change too. Juilliard's dorms had the feel of a run-down hospital, in contrast to our dorm at Northeastern, which is painted bright orange, green and yellow inside and has a great rec room that includes a nice home theater setup with a big projection screen and sound system. Jurassic Park was shown last night and everyone enjoyed hanging out. The cafeteria is also an improvement... the food is better and there are more selections, plus it's all you can eat, which is exciting for the kids, but terrifying for the adults, who are having a hard time avoiding the various dessert stations.

Our tour of Boston today included Paul Revere's house and the USS Constitution, AKA 'Old Ironsides'. Interesting and educational stuff, but the sweltering heat made it a bit difficult to fully enjoy. This evening we got to experience the Boston Pops playing at Symphony Hall. Although most of the performance was a bit light and sweet for my tastes, the orchestra was very polished and the hall sounded beautiful. The opening medley of West Side Story tunes was wonderful and I overheard some of the kids saying that it made them want to see the movie again. I'm down for that!

Bloch at the German Church of St. Paul June 24

Play the Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra and Piano Obbligato, No. 1 by Ernst Bloch as performed by the Crowden 7th & 8th grades and recorded at the German Evangelical-Lutheran Church of St. Paul in New York City on June 24, 2007.

Bloch at St. Paul's Chapel June 23

Play the Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra and Piano Obbligato, No. 1 by Ernst Bloch as performed by the Crowden 7th & 8th grades and recorded at St. Paul's Chapel near Ground Zero in New York City on June 23, 2007.

Bloch at Kaufman Center June 22

Play the Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra and Piano Obbligato, No. 1 by Ernst Bloch as performed by the Crowden 7th & 8th grades and recorded in a studio at the Kaufman Center near Juilliard in New York City on June 22, 2007.

(Note: click Add to iTunes, to subscribe to this podcast, which will automatically download future recordings and allow you to sync with your iPod.)

Another St. Pauls

Today, fittingly on a Sunday, the Crowden kids played at the Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische St.-Pauls-Kirche in New York. Founded in 1841, it is now the last of the German-speaking churches in New York, which at one time numbered more than 20. The current neo-gothic church building was built in 1897 with 5 beautiful stained glass panels surrounding the apse and altar, a tall vaulted ceiling and a magnificently decorated pipe organ in the back balcony.

The acoustics were wonderful and the sound of the strings easily breathed into the naves and vaults of the church and thanks to the more residential setting, lacked the distracting downtown Manhattan roar of buses and jackhammers that accompanied yesterday's performance at St. Pauls Chapel. Listen to the difference between the performances of the Bloch Concerto Grosso (in the next couple of postings) and pay particular attenton to the brief moments of silence between the attacks of this stormy piece and you'll hear the deadness of the recording studio compared to the livelyness of church, allowing the sound a few more milliseconds of life before it tapers off. Seems that this dark piece of music is a little more at home in a neo-gothic church than a recording studio!

We ended the day with a balmy evening cruise down the East River, around lower Manhattan and up the Hudson to take in the incredible New York City skyline as well as Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, a symbol trite and timeworn as sometimes seems, when you see it in real life and think about it's meaning, you have to wonder if some of the people running this country forgot.

Bach Double at Kaufman Center

Listen to the first performance of our tour: Concerto in D minor for Two Violins (BWV 1043) by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on June 22, 2007 with Maya Ramchandran and Lyly Li soloing on violin and Lisa Grodin conducting. This was performed in a small recording studio in Kaufman Center, near Juilliard. It will be interesting to see how the performance of this piece sounds towards the end of the tour, after a few more rehearsals and performances. Stay tuned!

Note that this recording sounds best when heard on headphones, as it was made using binaural recording techniques. This typically involves inserting small microphones in the ears of a dummy head (in this case, mine) to produce a realistic image of the sound, especially when played on headphones. Try it and send comments!

Keith's Tour Photos

Keith Copenhagen posted some great photos from the tour today. Check out Keith's Northeast Tour '07 Photos and enjoy!

Zeroing In

A trip to New York City these days is not complete without a visit to Ground Zero to pay your respects and try to grasp the enormity of what happened there. Being Crowden, of course, we didn't just visit, we paid tribute in the form of a mid-day concert at St. Pauls Chapel, an amazing little church that has been around since the days of George Washington and miraculously escaped unscathed when the twin towers collapsed right across the street on 9/11. The chapel has become a well adorned memorial to 9/11 and was an extraordinary venue for our early afternoon concert, which was performed wonderfully and captivated many an unsuspecting visitor. The highlight of the performance was the premiere of two movements of Laurence Rosenthal's Vienna: Sweet and Sour, which was attended by none other than the composer himself. The waltz movement was particularly well played, moving some listeners close to dancing in the chapel!

Following the performance, we walked back through the weathered gravestones of the churchyard to Ground Zero, just a hundred yards or so away, where we met with our tour guide to explore a few historic parts of lower Manhattan. Ground Zero is one of those things that you can't really explain and we walked over to the site and just stared into the great, grinding construction pit, not quite sure what to make of it, wondering what they've been doing down there for the past 6 years and what will appear there in the future. So we just stood there, with hundreds of others, presumably sorting through the blur of the thousands of images that have filled our heads since that tragic day. Ultimately, it's just impossible to fathom what makes human beings so want to annihilate one another.

We moved on, in our giant tour bus, weaving chaotically through bicycles, cars and pedestrians, usually with only inches to spare, accompanied by occasional gasps from the front passengers, to Little Italy, where we took to the streets and walked through what is probably still one of the most Italian neighborhoods outside of Italy itself, streets closed, endless shops overflowing with jewelry, handbags and sunglasses, and every inch of sidewalk blanketed with outdoor cafes and restaurants, packed with people, many of whom appear to be families out having their weekend lunch at the same family-standard restaurant they've been attending for decades without thought or question, taking a break from work and life in general to enjoy the company, food and atmosphere.

We boarded the bus for our next destination, for what some thought was going to be a simple drive-by or walk-through tour of the Lower East Side tenements, but this, in fact, turned out to be much more intriguing when we arrived at the Tenement Museum for an interactive immigrant experience. Our museum guides began by thrusting us into a discussion about the question of what makes Americans American... Diverse, free, tolerant, inventive, hard-working and wealthy? Or are we really obnoxious, self-centered, obese, over-achievers? No easy answers, but it got us to talk and think about the shift that immigrants make from foreigner to American, and what that meant then compared to what it means now, in this day and age. We proceeded by moving into an authentic, tiny, claustrophobic tenement apartment where we played the role of an immigrant family just off the boat, and asked questions of a more experienced tenement inhabitant–an actor in full character, including eastern European dress and heavy, yiddish accent–who gave us tips on life in the tenements, including finding jobs, food and doctors and how to survive and stay out of trouble. Hard to complain about the size and condition of your own house or bedroom after this experience.

The evening was spent at the South Seaport (Manhattan's version of San Francisco's Pier 39), complete with questionable food, kitschy souvenirs of all kinds and spectacular views of world famous bridges including the fabled Brooklyn Bridge across the East River. What a day!

Tuning Up

After a brief pause to sleep, the group continued with the giddy energy of the previous day, and participated in a joint performance with the Special Music School at Kaufman Center, a New York City public school with some intriguing similarities and differences from Crowden.

The highlight of the evening was dinner at Ellen's Startdust Diner on Times Square, which features singing waiters and waitresses (struggling New York actors working their way up) who roam the tables singing '50's tunes, Broadway numbers and other popular songs, hamming it up with the patrons, while old musicals (Singing in the Rain tonight) play on a drive-in like screen in the back. Afterwards, we took a little bus ride around mid-town, battling taxi cabs on 5th Avenue and trying to see the Empire State Building without a glass roof. We then headed back to Kennedy Center and a little swing dancing at the outdoor band that offers free music and dance lessons to hundreds who show up every Friday here. Finally a little time to chill back at the dorms here at Juilliard, catching some great views of the city at sunset from our rooms on the 26 & 27th floors.

We hit the road!

They say that Mozart starting touring at the age of 5... ahh, well, we have little catching up to do. But finally, all the planning, emailing, calling, meeting, practicing, driving, playing and paying is behind us and we're on our way for the big Crowden tour of the East Coast. OK, so one kid forgot his music and was a little late to the start. And another shed tears of home sickness an hour into the flight. But the energy level (and noise level) stayed high throughout the day as we cruised across the mountains, deserts, plains and lakes of this amazing country to be greated by lightning and thunder and cars that have the right of way (and take it.) Tired and hungry but still buzzed, we made our way to the Upper West Side, finally stopping to get off this ride at Juilliard. No matter that we have miserable little jail-cell-like dorm rooms... we're in New York CIty and ready to start shlepping our instruments around like pros!