In this performance:
With the WDR Rundfunkchor ∙
Michael Alber, Einstudierung/Chorus Director ∙
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Dirigent ∙
Clara Andrada, Principal Flautist

In this performance:
With the Collegium Vocale Gent ∙
Philippe Herreweghe, Dirigent ∙
Clara Andrada, Principal Flautist

Conservatory training:

As I’ve said before, in my opinion, Deutschland has the finest Orchestra Choruses these days highly trained in choral excellence and they are part of Deutschland’s public broadcasting media, and I’m featuring one of them in a comparison between two performances of the same piece by Brahms. The other Chorus is from Belgium. Both Choruses performed the same piece with the hr-S (Frankfurt Radio Symphony).

By the way and this is mostly for the benefit and education of most US readers who predictably and consistently say Frankfurt incorrectly every time: The first syllable is not pronounced like the guy’s name Frank.

The correct pronunciation: Deutsche/Germans say Frankfurt as Frahnk-foort (sounding out each syllable evenly, rather than the English “Frank-fert”. Cringe. The ‘a’ is short, the ‘u’ is sounded out like the ‘oo’ in “book,” and the ‘t’ at the end is hard and crisp. Hope this helps. I’m so sick of hearing the first syllable “Frank” spoken as if they’re talking about some guy named Frank. Sigh.

I know that most people in the US unfortunately only speak one language (US English), if that, as opposed to people elsewhere in the world who speak multiple world languages fluently. I know a woman who is fluent in 5 international languages. And some people in the so-called “greatest country” can’t even get through US English, such as the lawless white house resident/the 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert assaulter (“grab ’em by the pussy”) piece of trash.

In this article, I’ve compared these two performances from a choral perspective and they are so close in excellence. I concluded that the WDR Rundfunkchor (one of the paid Choruses of the Deutschland public broadcasting media) might be slightly better — or better recorded — than the performance by the Collegium Vocale Gent, but they’re so close in their level of excellence. If I were a jurist in a choral competition and listening to the two Choruses perform this piece, I’d vote for both of them to share the same award, that’s how close they are in choral excellence, at least to my ear.

The US — and its septic politicians who live under grandiose delusions of being “the greatest country in the history of the world” — has nothing like this. In fact, under the current fascist regime in the US all federal funding for the public broadcasting media have been gutted/ended.

Some people think that choral excellence only applies to larger choral ensembles such as a Symphony Chorus or an Orchestra Chorus.  Wrong. Choral excellence applies to all choral ensembles, regardless of their size.  It’s part of the job of the Chorus Director, which some lazy or incompetent (or both) Chorus Directors fail to do.  For them, they take the easy way out and let their choristers sing as they want.

The fact is: Perfect intonation — the perfect blending of voices in each voice section (SATB) and good diction take work to achieve, and some Chorus Directors just can’t be bothered.  With that attitude, they don’t deserve to be hired. Those podunk Choruses don’t sound anything like the Choruses I feature.  They don’t sing with perfect intonation, for example.

My choral friend says about me:  You only listen to the best, because that’s part of your experience having been in three of the finest Orchestra Choruses anywhere. Well, he has no patience for podunk choral ensembles either, and he has zero patience for vocal soloists/screamers.  He can’t stand them.  Neither can I, with their fluttering/wobbling obnoxious vibrato where their voice/screaming can be heard in the next city over. 

Quite often, noticeable wobbling vibrato is used by singers to cover up pitch and vocal technique problems.  And usually vocal screamers (called “soloists”) don’t even attempt to try to match their voice to the velvety sound of the superb, well-trained Symphony Chorus behind them.  So you have this stellar, polished sound coming from the Chorus and then the vocal soloists open his/her mouth, and it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I’ve never seen any conductor do anything about it — in dress rehearsals on stage — because the soloists/screamers are apparently seen as above reproach because they come from artist management agencies. I can’t remember ever hearing a conductor correcting a vocal soloist from an artist management agency. The conductor has no problem correcting the Chorus or members of the Orchestra though. But the soloists? They’re off limits.

My choral friend frequently asks:  Why did the composer have to put solo parts in the piece? It’s so much better without them. I agree with him. I don’t have an answer for that since I’ve never understood that either.  Was it for variety or to give the Chorus a break, even though the Chorus doesn’t need a break?  “The Chorus sounds so beautiful and then the vocal soloist/screamer is wailing over them; completely ruins it, completely ruins the sound” he says. That’s true.

Probably because of my training, I have a slightly wider range of choral ensembles I can listen to or put up with than he does, but not by much. When I start hearing wobbling, that’s when I click off.

In YT video performances of symphonic choral works, commenters who obviously know nothing about music — but pretend they do by using words such as “sublime” and “maestro” over and over — begin gushing over the vocal screamers as if they were the “star” of the performance.  The Orchestra and Chorus were the stars. Also, most commenters on YT who comment below symphonic choral works clearly have no trained ear for choral excellence. To them, one Chorus sounds just like the other. But many commenters give all the credit for the performance to the conductor (conductor worshipping) who didn’t play or sing a note. Nigel Kennedy said that conductors are so over-rated.

I have to be in the mood to read comments on YT under symphonic choral performances because of the musical ignorance. Many commenters seem to think that the conductor is the only musician on stage. Some commenters give all the praise for the Chorus to the conductor, rather than to the Chorus, even though in most cases, the conductor had nothing to do with the Chorus and their preparation. That credit goes to the Chorus Director, who is rarely the conductor. Usually the conductor doesn’t see the Chorus until the dress rehearsal on stage. Simon Rattle being an exception to that. In some cases, Simon prepared the Chorus and also conducted the performance.

Some commenters seem to have no problem listening to obnoxious screamers wobbling and fluttering. Commenters seem to think that’s what they’re supposed to do and confuse symphonic choral works with opera. They are two separate and different genres. Opera involves costuming and scenery (and I’ll add: screaming to be heard in the next city over). Whereas symphonic choral works do not have any costuming or scenery, although when opera divas are brought in from artist management agencies to scream out the vocal solo passages, there is indeed screaming. This confuses some of the audience into thinking that rather than hearing a symphonic choral work they’re hearing opera because of the screamers. Most screamers don’t make any attempt to match their obnoxious voice with that of the well-trained Orchestra Chorus.

Dr. Paul Traver said to the University of Maryland Chorus, “If you can’t sound good, you can at least have good diction.”  That’s very true.  Although Traver’s Maryland Chorus sounded exquisite and were known for their diction.  The Chorus Directors for the Choruses I feature do their job superbly and responsibly and achieve choral excellence.

There is a difference between a Symphony Chorus and an Orchestra Chorus:

A Symphony Chorus is an Orchestra’s own Chorus and the Symphony Chorus performs with the Orchestra any time a symphonic choral work is programmed.

An Orchestra Chorus is a Chorus independent of the Orchestra. An Orchestra Chorus is also called a Symphonic Chorus by some people, in some instances.

From my experience, a Symphonic Chorus or an Orchestra Chorus is a Chorus that performs with a major symphony orchestra by invitation only. In other words, they are not part of or attached to a major symphony orchestra. The Choral Arts Society of Washington, The Washington Chorus and the University of Maryland Concert Choir are three that come to mind, from my experience. And the same goes for the disband/”retired” University of Maryland Chorus.

Boston University’s School of Music has a Symphonic Chorus which performs with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra. I’m not sure how they ended up with the name Symphonic Chorus. They really should/could be called the Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

So choral excellence applies to smaller choral ensembles just as it applies to an Orchestra Chorus. The superb Collegium Vocale Gent (from Brussels) is an example of choral excellence.

We sang the Brahms’s Schickslslied when I was in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. I especially enjoyed the first part, but the second part not as much.

There’s a lovely flute solo after the second choral section that begins near 12.53 in the performance conducted by Andrés. The Principal Flautist of the hr-S, Clara Andrada de la Calle, plays the solo beautifully. She plays the solo in both performances.

In the Herreweghe performance, the camera shows her playing it beginning at 14.00.

The hr-S have several, rotating First and Second Concertmasters. In the performance conducted by
Andrés above, the First Concertmaster is Florin Iliescu. The Second Concertmaster sitting next to him is Maximilian Junghanns.

Updated: 27 July 2026: The University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra and UMD Concert Choir performed Beethoven’s Ninth in The Clarice earlier this year (in May 2026). It was their own performance so there should not have been any copyright issues, yet they did not record the performance, or if they did, they did not upload it to YT or anywhere else that I can find. Strange. They have this state-of-the-art Dekelboum Concert Hall facility but act like they’re back in the 1970s or 80s with no recording capabilities. Damn odd. The Clarice opened in 2001 on the College Park campus, and 25 years later they only have 53 videos listed and no major performances of any works. So clearly, they’re not using their state-of-the-art technology to its fullest or at all. And at this point, some of their technology is probably becoming outdated since it’s 26 years old. I read that the Smith Family just gave the University USD$10 MILLION more dollars. They could use that money to update their recording capabilities in The Clarice, but since they’ve rarely used what technology they already have — and not used it at all for featuring full performances online — I’m not too hopeful that will happen. FYI: Clarice Smith and her husband, Robert H. Smith, contributed $15 million to help build the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (known as The Clarice) at the University of Maryland.

I’ve thoroughly researched this both on YT and on Vimeo (which the UMD sparsely uses) and nothing comes up for performances of the UMD Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir. If Dr. Paul Traver (Founder and Director of the University of Maryland Chorus, and my choral mentor) were still alive and part of the School of Music Faculty, things would be different. I talked with him about this topic and he was all about exposure. Well, the UMD Symphony Orchestra and UMD Concert Choir are getting no exposure online. None. So how does this encourage prospective students to want to study at the UMD School of Music (which is housed in The Clarice) and have the desire to be a part of either ensemble? Whereas other University Schools of Music and Conservatories do feature their full performances On Demand online. What is wrong with the University of Maryland?

So what does the UMD Concert Choir do all year? Just thought I would ask.

Not much, from what I can tell.  It certainly doesn’t take two semesters to re-prepare Messiah for performances with the National Symphony Orchestra when they’ve done that several times already. And going forward (into 2027) I don’t know that they will even have that performance engagement since the US dictator and 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert pedophile assaulter has shut down the Kennedy Center. The tarp is still up as of this writing. I’m not convinced his name has been removed from the building, despite news reports. And I read a credible article that said that the National Symphony Orchestra might end up disbanding. The dictator would call that, “Making ‘America’ Great Again” as he continues his destruction of the District of Columbia. Can the NSO exist as a “touring” Orchestra, meaning touring around the District, Maryland and Virginia? Or maybe they could move to Constitution Hall or GW University’s Lisner Auditorium, although The Washington National Opera is there, I think, after they chose to vacate the Kennedy Center. The NSO will likely be performing some (maybe, if there are any openings) at Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia, and at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. From what I read, the NSO was paid directly through the Kennedy Center. Well, when they have no performances, there’s no income for them.

As I remember, the Concert Choir is a one credit course and an easy one since they certainly don’t do anything or have anywhere near the performance opportunities that the superb and renowned University of Maryland Chorus had when they were around, not even close, even though the University would have one believe otherwise.

The University says on their website:

Quote:  The UMD Concert Choir is a symphonic Choir that frequently collaborates with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to perform at top venues including the Kennedy Center…   End Quote

Frequently collaborates?  Nah. That’s a stretch too, because no choral ensemble “frequently collaborates” these days with the NSO or the BSO because neither Orchestra programmes symphonic choral works often.

“Frequently collaborates” would apply to the University of Maryland Chorus when they were around.

The University also wrote:

Quote:  The UMD Concert Choir is a distinguished 100-voice symphonic ensemble, recognized as the choir of choice for both the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO).

End Quote

Nah, I wouldn’t call them the “Choir of choice” either since it depends upon the season.  In recent seasons, The Washington Chorus seemed to be the choral ensemble receiving the most invitations, what few choral works were programmed to begin with.  The same goes for Baltimore.  And the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra also invite the Baltimore Choral Arts Society to perform with them.  The Choral Arts Society of Washington has been having some problems in recent years.  Related:  The last days of the Choral Arts Society of Washington?

The works the UMD Concert Choir have performed have included the following, since they became the Symphonic Choir on campus:

Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Britten’s War Requiem, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, and Orff’s Carmina Burana.  As well as John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Liszt’s Dante Symphony.  Also Bach’s Magnificat and Weihnachtsoratorium, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Verdi’s Requiem, and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri. This coming season, they will present Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Dett’s Chariot Jubilee in collaboration with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra.

Well that’s all well and good but unfortunately we can’t hear any of those pieces because no one had the intelligence to record any of them in The Clarice with its state-of-the-art recording capabilities (both audio and video, and live streaming – have they used that feature at all?) and upload them to YT or Vimeo. Why is that?   They were all their own performances so no copyright issues. May I assume that the vocal soloists for all performances (when applicable) came from the UMD School of Music Voice Department Faculty and not some artist management? Even the pieces they performed with the NSO or Baltimore SO on the odd occasion, the UMD Concert Choir could have asked the UMD Symphony Orchestra to perform with them in the Dekelboum Concert Hall, such as once a semester or so.  But, nada. “No, we can’t do that.”

End of Update

When the University of Maryland at College Park disbanded/liquidated the University of Maryland Chorus (also known as The Maryland Chorus), the University designated the all-student University of Maryland Concert Choir as the symphonic choral ensemble on campus.

The term, “Town and Gown”

The Maryland Chorus was what’s known as a “town and gown” Chorus, meaning auditioned University students and auditioned choristers from the Washington Metropolitan Area (also known as the DMV:  District, Maryland and Virginia). Although, when I was in the Chorus, from what I remember it was mostly students from the School of Music, or it seemed to be.

On one occasion in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall before I sang with the Chorus, I heard an audience member say about The Maryland Chorus, “that old guy up there can’t possibly be a student at the University of Maryland.”  His ageism was noted, as well as his ignorance about older people working on a degree programme at the UMD.  All University students are not in their 20s.  Or, the chorister that the audience member was talking about was an auditioned member of the community.

The term “town and gown” was not limited to the University of Maryland.  The University Singers at the University of Virginia School of Music in Charlottesville was also a “town and gown” choral ensemble. I don’t know if that’s still the case. I don’t think “town and gown” was that unusual at that time. The non-student choristers were required to pay a nominal fee to the University to sing in the Chorus.

I remember reading that many people on the Maryland College Park campus — including Faculty and non-music students — were very angered by the University of Maryland disbanding/liquidating their University Chorus. I still don’t know why they did that (I have a few thoughts why that was done), and I’ve not read anywhere why the University did that.

I think most universities have a University Chorus, so to not have a Chorus by that name is unusual.  When the Chorus was disband, some students wrote about how they used to go out of their way to go into the School of Music and walk by the rehearsal hall where the University Chorus was rehearsing just to hear them. Many students and Faculty felt very proud that they had a superb University Chorus on campus that performed regularly in the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra and other (inter)national orchestras, especially under conductor Antal Doráti. How many University Choruses do that or can say that?

The Maryland Chorus was Antal Doráti’s favourite Chorus and he invited them to perform as often as possible with the NSO. He and Dr. Paul Traver had a very special rapport. I remember Dr. Traver saying in rehearsal on occasion when Doráti’s name was mentioned, “There’s only one conductor” and he was referring affectionally to Doráti.

Fast-forward to the present (2026):

The University of Maryland Concert Choir performed Beethoven’s Ninth with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra on 2 May 2026 in The Clarice. Was the performance recorded? No, not that I can find anywhere. And why not?  I thought that The Clarice was this state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center with high-tech recording capabilities.  If so, they really didn’t need all that when the building was built since they’re not using it to the fullest.

Last month, I read about this upcoming May performance of Beethoven’s Ninth and I was wondering if the School of Music planned to record it. The bio I read talked about how the University Symphony Orchestra and the UMD Concert Choir had performed many symphonic choral works together in The Clarice. The repertoire they had performed together included many of the same works that the University of Maryland Chorus performed over the years with the National Symphony Orchestra.

But again, unfortunately, the UMD Concert Choir had recorded none of them in The Clarice with the University Symphony Orchestra. And again, why is that?  To me, this makes absolutely no sense at all. Don’t they have a production crew in this state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center? If so, this production crew never have anything to do to refine their production skills.

So, I wasn’t very hopeful that this May 2026 Beethoven’s Ninth was going to be recorded and uploaded to YouTube. And it wasn’t. And this was one of The Big Three.

As of this writing, there is not one performance video on YT featuring the UMD Concert Choir. Not one.  I don’t understand that. It can’t be a copyright issue because it’s their own performances.

As a comparison, the New England Conservatory upload their performances to YT. The same for Boston University’s School of Music (which is a Conservatory environment).

They have this on YT:

2025–26 UMD School of Music Ensemble:

“Recordings from UMD School of Music large ensembles, including the UMD Symphony Orchestra, the UMD Wind Orchestra, UMD Choral Activities, UMD Jazz Studies, the UMD Wind Ensemble and the Maryland Opera Studio.”

Most videos there are from 9, 10, 14, 15 years ago.

Then there’s this:

2025–26 UMD School of Music Ensemble

Recordings from UMD School of Music large ensembles, including the UMD Symphony Orchestra, the UMD Wind Orchestra, UMD Choral Activities, UMD Jazz Studies, the UMD Wind Ensemble and the Maryland Opera Studio.

Even though that description says, “UMD Choral Activities” there are no (full) performances featuring the UMD Concert Choir.

Didn’t the Concert Choir perform any symphonic choral works in 2025?  Where are they?

I should think that the UMD Concert Choir would perform symphonic choral works with the UMD Symphony Orchestra on a regular basis, at least one a semester, since they only have Messiah to do with the NSO during the first semester.  As I said, they don’t seem to do much.  It’s only a one credit course per semester, an easy credit when you don’t do anything.  You have Messiah in December which (you) performed last December and the December before that.

So again, why doesn’t the University of Maryland School of Music do the same as New England Conservatory and Boston University’s School of Music (and there are others)? I have asked this question umpteen times and still nothing changes at Maryland. Not that anyone at UMD would read what I write, or care about what I write.

I have asked if anyone on the campus remembers the University of Maryland Chorus and their legacy, and is Dr. Paul Traver’s name ever mentioned or talked about on the campus?

The sense I have is that the University hoped that both the Maryland Chorus and Traver would be forgotten about as quickly as possible.

The choral programme being what it is today at Maryland is because of the legacy of Dr. Traver, but the University attributes it entirely to the guy who came after Traver, which is unfortunate and an insult to Dr. Traver.

Knowing Dr. Paul Traver as I did (he’s one of my choral mentors) — I’m not trying to channel Dr. Traver from the grave — if he were alive, things would be different regarding recording.  Dr. Traver would be recording and using The Clarice to its full capability to heavily promote and give exposure to his choral ensembles.

I talked with Dr. Traver on the phone about recording and he favoured recording, but in a realistic sense.  I asked him why the University of Maryland Chorus had not recorded Beethoven’s Ninth, for example. He said, “Have you seen the number of Beethoven Ninths in the catalog? He continued,”People will come into the Kennedy Center and ‘ooooh and aaaaaah’ over our Beethoven’s Ninth, but the catalogue is full of performances of it.” Then I asked him about recording Messiah. He said: The same goes for Messiah. I said: But Maryland does Messiah differently with the Chorus adding Baroque ornamentation to the choral writing. He said: But most people don’t know that, and the catalogue is full of Messiah performances and people will buy those based on the conductor most likely, and not the Chorus.” Of course he was correct.

It’s about exposure.

But Traver was all about exposure and that’s what recording performances on the campus and putting them on YT would do. It would give the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir exposure.  I told Dr. Traver that on occasion the Chorus I was performing with at the time in the District was not always quite prepared, in my opinion, because we had too much repertoire to prepare for the season at the Kennedy Center (we were in demand) and there was only so much time to prepare it all. He said, “That doesn’t matter. You got the exposure anyway.” He was correct.

And featuring one’s performances on YT is a way of exposing/promoting the University’s School of Music and their level of excellence. It could encourage viewers to want to be a part of what they see and want to apply to the School of Music. Does the University not understand that?  Apparently someone there doesn’t!

Perhaps that’s not something the College Park campus is not interested in doing. That’s the perception I have, otherwise things would be different, no?

As I wrote up above, the NSO rarely programmes any symphonic choral works — other than The Big Three — and there may be a total of 3 works each season and that gives each of the three Orchestra Chorus one piece to perform for the season (1. Choral Arts Society of Washington, 2. The Washington Chorus (formerly the Oratorio Society of Washington) and 3. the University of Maryland Concert Choir).

The UMD Concert Choir might perform once a season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Baltimore also invites the Baltimore Choral Arts Society or the UMD Concert Choir to perform with them when they programme a symphonic choral work.

Baltimore did have their own Symphony Chorus at one time. I never heard them, but I read that they weren’t that good, so the Symphony Chorus was disbanded. Then, they started inviting one of the best Choruses around: the University of Maryland Chorus to perform with them. It’s as if someone in the administration there said at a meeting: Why do we have our own Symphony Chorus (and they’re not that good), when we could be inviting the best one, University of Maryland Chorus, to perform with us instead. Then they all agreed: Well let’s do that!

The reality is that it doesn’t take an entire semester or two to prepare pieces that — in some cases — the Concert Choir has already performed in the past and they just need to re-prepare them with any new choristers. That’s why I began with: What does the UMD Concert Choir do all year? Not much, it seems. They certainly don’t upload what they do perform — whatever that is! — to YT. Sigh.

Also, as I said earlier, the UMD Concert Choir does not have the performance opportunities that the renowned and superb University of Maryland Chorus had with the NSO and (inter)national orchestras, such as performances with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam comes to mind. Although admittedly that was a different time.

What about oratorios? Ha! Oratorios were performed in those days, especially by Robert Shafer’s excellent Oratorio Society of Washington, which later became The Washington Chorus. Other than the perfunctory annual oratorio Messiah every December on cue, all oratorios are collecting dust on book shelves these days.

Even Israel in Egypt for Double Chorus is collecting dust, all those Editions Novello. That oratorio was surviving until some time ago, and now that’s gone. Here’s one of the last performances I’m aware of (from Early Music Vancouver):

In a symphonic choral sense, with few exceptions, we’re down to The Big Three, and Maryland just performed one of them: Beethoven’s Ninth. But if you were not there at the performance — which their website says was “SOLD OUT” — you’re not going to hear it, which is a shame.

After extensive legal research on his part and that of his team in New York City, Mamdani doesn’t have the legal authority to arrest that barbaric war criminal from Israel. When did this piece of trash from Israel have a lobotomy? Or was he just born without a conscience or any ethics to guide him on what is right and what is wrong? Of course the 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert predator residing in the white house, war criminal and now dictator is the same way. He, too, is void of any conscience of what is the right thing to do and what is wrong, as he pretends to be a Christian. For him, it’s always about him and his crime family of The Epstein Class.

Talked about in the Conservatory: The students and Faculty agree that war criminal netanyahu should be arrested per the warrant out for his arrest by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But they all agree — in the Conservatory — that war criminals are apparently above reproach and above the law. Just as the lawless US dictator in the white house is above the law. He was granted complete immunity by the “maga” trash on the US supreme court. He can do anything he wants with very few exceptions, including ignoring judges orders and political rulings by his “maga” friends on the supreme court.

A month ago, I knew nothing really about the International Criminal Court. After considerable research on the ICC, I now know quite a bit about them and signatories to the Roman Statute. The Rome Statute is the international treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), defining core international crimes like genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has 125 member countries (known as States Parties to the Rome Statute), distributed across five official UN regions. As expected, the two terrorist nations, the US and Israel, are not member signatories.

Region and Number of Member Countries:

African States 33
Latin American and Caribbean States 28
Western European and Other States 25
Eastern European States 20
Asia-Pacific States 19

My choral friend said: The ICC should have their own police force so they, the Court, could arrest (war) criminals for which an arrest warrant has been issued by the ICC. I agree.

The 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert (“grab ’em by the pussy”) assaulter, dictator and war criminal residing in the white house should also be arrested.

(I’m not holding my breath that either of these pieces of fascist trash scum will ever see the inside of a jail or prison).

By the way, the following is for any people who intend to protest the US congress or any of their congressional hearings:

1. Dress as they do in the US congress in their boring cookie-cutter, stuffy, conservative get up, the perfunctory suit and tie routine:

Wear a (blue) suit with a white shirt and a red tie, and the ubiquitous US flag lapel pin (you gotta have that; that’s supposed to prove something!). The point being: You might be less likely of being dragged out of there as a protester when you’re wearing a suit and tie, and you resemble the war criminal/US fascist dictator, since that suit and tie get up is what he’s usually seen in. Does he ever wash the thing/have the thing dry-cleaned?

FYI:

The size of the Chorus is irrelevant.

Conservatory Training:

And the Bavarian Radio Choir is certainly one of them with their level of choral perfection.

“Any Chorus can sing loudly.”  That’s what a soprano chorister in the Choral Arts Society of Washington told me one night in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall when I was complimenting the superb University of Maryland Chorus (also known locally as The Maryland Chorus) on stage.  This chorister couldn’t find anything what-so-ever positive to say about The Maryland Chorus, even though they gave a memorable and outstanding performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, with Claudio Abbado conducting. I think she thought that the Choral Arts Society should have been on stage. Whereas The Washington Post music critic wrote about the performance, “The University of Maryland Chorus was glorious throughout.”

In hindsight, I should have told her in response to her, “Any Chorus can sing loudly” comment:  Yes, including your Choral Arts Society, but only the finest Choruses can sing loudly and beautifully, as the University of Maryland Chorus did.  But unfortunately, she was a cultist of the Choral Arts Society.  To be clear, both the Choral Arts Society and the Oratorio Society sang beautifully when they sang loudly.

I say that because I liked all three Orchestra Choruses — 1) the Choral Arts Society of Washington, 2) the University of Maryland Chorus and 3) the Oratorio Society of Washington (which later changed their name to The Washington Chorus). I was not a cultist of any.  I had my preference — which was for the University of Maryland Chorus — but I liked all three. I thought they were all excellent, which is why they got engagements with the NSO. 

At that time, I did notice that The Maryland Chorus was getting some pretty hot engagements. Dr. Paul Traver later told me that The Maryland Chorus got the engagements with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam through Margaret Hillis (Founder and Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus). Claudio Abbado had contacted her in Chicago and asked her to recommend an Orchestra Chorus in the DC area, and she recommended the University of Maryland Chorus. She had previously worked with them during a choral workshop on the College Park campus.

But my immature chorister friend didn’t have the maturity to say anything positive about The Maryland Chorus. Unfortunately, there were choristers in the Choral Arts Society who were jealous of the engagements that The Maryland Chorus was receiving — I think they thought Choral Arts should have had those engagements — so there was resentment of the University of Maryland Chorus by some of the Choral Arts people and some made snide remarks about The Maryland Chorus. 

Dr. Traver accepted the engagements he was offered. He didn’t “storm into the Kennedy Center and demand that his Maryland Chorus perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam” as some basses in the Choral Arts Society said/lied about during our break. Dr. Traver would never have done something like that because he would have known that doing so would end the University of Maryland Chorus ever being invited back again. Also, the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at that time was Antal Doráti, and the University of Maryland Chorus had quite a legacy under Doráti. That’s because they were his favourite Chorus, and he invited them to perform with the NSO as often as possible.

On my first visit to the Kennedy Center from the Conservatory where I was training, I noticed the performance schedule for the Concert Hall’s resident National Symphony Orchestra and I also noticed that it appeared that the University of Maryland Chorus was practically the Official Chorus of the National Symphony Orchestra. This is what I remember seeing on the NSO’s schedule, and I think they had a couple of other engagements that season:

VERDI/REQUIEM
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CHORUS
Paul Traver director
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Antal Doráti, Music Director

MAHLER/SYMPHONY NO 2 (The Resurrection)
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CHORUS
Paul Traver director
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Antal Doráti, Music Director

BEETHOVEN/SYMPHONY NO 9 (Choral)
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CHORUS
Paul Traver director
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Antal Doráti, Music Director

There were a couple of performances listed for Norman Scribner’s Choral Arts Society of Washington (they were excellent as well) and Robert Shafer’s Oratorio Society of Washington (also excellent), but the University of Maryland Chorus was the most featured Chorus.

Speaking of Beethoven/Symphony No 9 (the last piece above I remember seeing on the NSO’s season subscription when I went to the Kennedy Center), during their tenure, The Maryland Chorus performed Beethoven’s Ninth over 38 times with various (inter)national orchestras upon invitation. On one of those occasions, below is what was written about their performance at Wolf Trap:

National Symphony Orchestra & University of Maryland Chorus

“…an excellent performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was presented to an overflow audience Saturday night at Wolf Trap. This excellence, however, was a last-minute development, and primary credit goes not to the National Symphony, which was the orchestra for the occasion, but to the University of Maryland Chorus, which came to the orchestra’s rescue. The Chorus—one of the best—celebrated its 20th anniversary and its 36th Beethoven Ninth by singing the final movement as well as I have ever heard it sung, live or on records.”
Source: National Symphony Orchestra & University of Maryland Chorus (Joseph McLellan)

In the performance above from Deutschland, you can hear the superb Bavarian Radio Choir — which is the official Chorus of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra — sing quietly and beautifully beginning at 1.07.50 and 1.11.11.  This is choral excellence at its highest level.

You can also hear them sing quietly and beautifully in the Schumann piece below, Nachtlied.

From AI:

“Peter Dijkstra is the Artistic and Chorus Director for the Bavarian Radio Choir. He has held this title since the 2022-2023 season. He also led the Choir from 2005 to 2016. Sir Simon Rattle has served as the Choir’s Chief Conductor since 2023.”

My choral friend said: “Considering the state the US is in, how can anyone claim that ‘the US is the greatest country in the history of the world?'” Insanity.

The US federal government has ended funding for the public broadcasting media in the US under the dictator’s regime.

In Deutschland, their public broadcasting media is just the opposite:

Deutschland’s public broadcasting network (ARD) and its associated broadcasting entities officially operate 11 Radio Orchestras. In addition to these symphonic and radio ensembles, the network manages multiple professional big bands and 7 Radio Orchestra Choruses across the country:

The 11 radio orchestras include::

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO)

Munich Radio Orchestra (Münchner Rundfunkorchester)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

NDR Radiophilharmonie

WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne

WDR Funkhausorchester

Frankfurt Radio Symphony (hr-Sinfonieorchester)

SWR Symphony Orchestra

German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (SR/SWR)

Deutschland officially has seven paid Radio Choruses, all of which are publicly funded and associated with the country’s public broadcasting networks (ARD) and Deutschlandradio:

Rundfunkchor Berlin (Berlin Radio Choir)

RIAS Kammerchor (Berlin)

MDR Rundfunkchor (Leipzig)

WDR Rundfunkchor (Cologne)

NDR Chor (Hamburg)

SWR Vokalensemble (Stuttgart)

BR-Chor (Bavarian Radio Chorus in Munich)

Whereas, the so-called “greatest country in the history of the world (the US)” has nothing like this. There is no National Public Radio Symphony Orchestra and Radio Chorus, for example, and there never has been.

There are a couple other performances of the Mahler 2nd that come close to this level of choral excellence, but these performances above are the finest and the best recorded. In the other performances, I didn’t like where the Chorus was seated — they were practically up at the ceiling!…not really but you get the point — or the camera work on the Chorus, and the audio wasn’t quite as good, but I think part of the problem was the Concert Hall they were performing in and the acoustic shells or canopies above the stage.

At the end of the Schumann (video above), the First Concertmaster took his bow and applauded the Chorus for their outstanding performance. My choral friend said: “I wouldn’t have even noticed that if you hadn’t pointed in out, and I think only another musician would have noticed that.” Perhaps.

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra apparently wanted their Chorus to have an encore, so they sang this piece by Purcell, another example of singing beautifully quietly:

Revisited.

I’ve been watching this performance quite a bit lately and thoroughly getting into the choral parts.  I think one had to perform this piece as I did — with Norman Scribner’s Choral Arts Society of Washington (CASW) and the National Symphony Orchestra in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall — in order to get into it the way I do and with the same enthusiasm.  This performance from Deutschland reminds me very much of our performance, at least from a choral perspective.  Then a year or so later when I was with the University of Maryland Chorus, the CASW performed the piece again and I remember hearing someone backstage in the Kennedy Center say, “Did you hear the CASW’s A Sea Symphony last night?  Best choral performance I’ve ever heard here.”  I thought:  Really?  That’s usually what is said about Dr Paul Traver’s University of Maryland Chorus, even though the Choral Arts Society was also superb.

I don’t think I paid much attention to the soloists when we performed it.  In this performance, I can put up with the bass soloist, but the soprano soloist, well, I just can’t take her and her harsh voice and her screaming.  Near the end of the piece (if not before), she literally screams over the entire Orchestra and Chorus.   Screaming is not musical.  It takes no talent to scream.  Any fool can scream. So who chose her?  Well, either orchestral management and or the conductor.  I noticed that they mic’d both soloist.  That woman did not need a mic.  Her voice could be heard in the next city over.  I suspect that the audience went home and talked about “the opera they had just seen” even though this piece has nothing to do with opera.  It’s a symphonic choral work, but because of her screaming (such as at 1.06.25 and from there on in the video where she with her bright, wobbling voice overpowers both Orchestra and Chorus) from the soprano “soloist,” that can confuse the audience who may not know much about music into thinking that they’re hearing opera.  That’s the problem with bringing in opera screamers/divas into symphonic choral performances.  What nut started that tradition?  But opera has costuming and scenery, unlike symphonic choral works.  And I’ve never heard an Opera Chorus that sings with perfect intonation as this superb Chorus does in this performance. The soprano soloist does not even attempt to match the sound of the Chorus.

This Chorus is outstanding in all voice sections, but I’m partial to their stellar tenor section.  Those guys are good!  But so is the rest of the Chorus.  As I have said before, Deutschland seems to have the finest Orchestra Choruses of anywhere I’ve heard, and this superb Chorus is one of them.  And the SWR Symphonie Orchester is superb as well.  The performance is conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.

Because of the length of this piece, there can be some weak places for the Chorus, but that’s not at all the case for this Chorus.   They are solidly trained throughout and their English diction is excellent, although that’s not at all surprising.  I’ve found that many people in the EU — whose speak multiple world languages and their first language may be Deutsch, for example — speak much better English than many people in the US.  With few exceptions, most people in the US only speak one world language.  The current White House resident has trouble completing a single thought in US English, if that’s the language he pretends to be speaking.  One never knows!

As for the Chorus, they are the Gächinger Kantorei Concert Choir (founded in 1954 by Helmuth Rilling), and their current Director is Hans-Christoph Rademann of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart.  They sing with absolute perfect intonation.  I find them thoroughly enjoyable to listen to and to watch.

Which leads back to the question I keep asking:  With few exceptions, what is wrong with US Choruses today that they can’t sound like this example of choral excellence and the other Choruses I feature?

For example:  Why can’t the wobbling and fluttering — and in some cases — cackling Choruses of “Fluttering and Wobbling Vibrato Boston” sound like this?  I’m thinking of the cackling and screechy soprano section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus under John Oliver.  Are they still sounding like that?  I’m also speaking specifically about the New England Conservatory choral ensembles and Boston University’s Symphonic Chorus, and other Choruses in the US.  Perfect intonation doesn’t seem to be a musical term that they know well in Boston, except for the BSO, Boston Pops and NEC Symphony Orchestra of course.  But unfortunately, the choral ensembles at NEC do not match the level of excellence of the NEC Symphony Orchestra.  The Boston Choruses certainly don’t sound like the Choruses I feature in the Conservatory, including the superb Orchestra Choruses from Deutschland and the Anglican Collegiate Chapel Choirs of the Church of England, such as The Trinity Chapel Choir of the University of Cambridge (UK).

The Chorus Directors in Deutschland are doing their job.  That woman at New England Conservatory (NEC) is not.  NEC is not getting their monies’ worth from her as she rides on the coattails of Westminster Choir College.  The TFC’s James Burton is doing his job but he can only do so much with what he has to work with, poor guy.  Does he feel like going back to the UK?

We — Norman Scribner’s Choral Arts Society of Washington and the National Symphony Orchestra — performed RVW’s A Sea Symphony in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall during my first season with the Choral Arts Society.  Our performance sounded very much like the performance above from Deutschland.  I enjoyed performing the Vaughan Williams.  I remember when Norman had us begin rehearsal on the piece.  The Choral Arts Society had such good sight-readers that I remember that our sight-reading of the piece sounded practically performance-ready.  It was a glorious sound in the rehearsal hall, and really thrilled and inspired me since it was my first season with them.  I was finally doing what I really wanted to do, to be in one of the finest Orchestra Choruses around.

With A Sea Symphony, in the choral writing you should hear the stormy sea with the waves of the ocean, turbulence, ocean spray, and so forth.

I haven’t heard this piece in years and I don’t remember it having so many vocal solo passages in it.  Way too many, in my opinion, but that’s the way RVW wrote it.  Even when we performed it, I must not have paid that much attention to the vocal soloists because I don’t remember thinking — when we performed it — about all the solo passages.  As I remember, Norman conducted our performance.  He must have been the guest conductor since, as I remember, it was with the National Symphony Orchestra.  As opposed to a “pick up” orchestra (meaning members of the NSO, but not officially the NSO).  Then the Choral Arts Society performed the piece again when I was with the University of Maryland Chorus.

As I said, the Chorus is superb in this performance.  I wish I could say the same about the vocal soloist.  Neither one of them do anything for me, especially the soprano when she belts out and mistakes screaming for singing beautifully.  This piece is not opera, woman, but you wouldn’t know that when having to endure the soprano soloist with her screaming and wobbling vibrato.  She makes absolutely no attempt to try to match her bright voice with the Chorus.  No, it’s as if she thinks she’s on the Metropolitan Opera stage where they’ve never heard the phrase “blend your voice with the other voices.”  The bass isn’t much better but I can somewhat put up with him.

It seems that most people have been brainwashed to think that screaming is music and they can’t tell the difference between screaming and a beautiful singing tone.  Unfortunately, some people mistake symphonic choral works for opera because opera divas are hired to perform the solo passages in symphonic choral works, so when the audience hears that, they mistake what they’re hearing for opera.  But opera and symphonic choral works are two very different things.  A symphonic choral work has no costuming or scenery, unlike opera. Hopefully, the Chorus is singing with perfect intonation and choral excellence in a symphonic choral performance.  Whereas, I’ve never, ever heard an Opera Chorus sing with perfect intonation.  Someone online was saying the same about the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.  It’s as if Opera Chorus Directors have never heard the term “perfect intonation.”  Or, they think that wobbling, fluttering, cackling and screaming sounds good.  I suppose a jet engine sounds good to them too.  If so, one wonders where they trained?

Then there’s the 200-voice Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus performance below:

In the performance below from Atlanta — for comparison purposes — I enjoyed Brett Polegato’s (baritone) voice which you can hear with the outstandingly superb Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.  The Chorus Director was/is Norman Mackenzie who became Director of Choral Activities for the ASO after the death of Robert Shaw.  Robert Spano is the conductor for the performance below.

Norman Mackenzie worked closely with Robert Shaw; he was the piano accompanist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus under Shaw.  As an aside, my choral friend trained his “choral ear” on Robert Shaw’s stellar ASOC.  By the way, listen to their tenor section.  Those tenors!…the envy of all credible Chorus Directors.

 

That’s how I read it, reading between the lines.  Well what did people expect — that his name would be removed? — from this 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert assaulter (“grab ’em by the pussy”) and war criminal?  This guy is absolute trash, as well as a chronic liar.  The same for the lying scum around him in his fascist regime.

That’s why those guys on the scaffolding back in June looked like they were just fucking around as some people pointed out online.  They were certainly not rushing and didn’t look like they were in any rush.  It looked like they were just stalling to conveniently miss the court-ordered deadline — they did miss the deadline — for when the dictator’s name was ordered to be off the Kennedy Center.

This article from National Public Radio.

8 July 2026:

Appeals court denies tr*mp’s request to halt removal of his name from the Kennedy Center

“In their decision, three judges from the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that the president [sic] had failed to prove that the arts center would be “irreparably injured” without [Redacted] name attached to it.”

The US dictator claims that the Kennedy Center can’t exist (financially) without him (and his big head).  That’s another lie, considering the Kennedy Center has been doing just fine for decades without him.

During his first term, he didn’t attend one performance there.  He claimed there was nothing there he wanted to see, despite the Kennedy Center’s variety of programming before he showed up.  I thought maybe he didn’t go to the Kennedy Center during his first term because his bone spurs were acting up.  Sarcasm intended.  Well, his lie of bone spurs helped keep him from serving in the US military.  Now, he likes to play “military” at every opportunity.  Fraud.  Just like he’s a Christian fraud.

“Everyone” seems to have believed the lie that his name has been removed.  Why would anyone believe that?  I wrote somewhere that I won’t believe his name is gone until I see it gone and as of this writing that tarp is still up.  Reading between the lines:  The tarp is hiding his name that has not been removed.

Even judges — for whom the US dictator has zero respect — believe his name is gone.  What gullible judges!  Judges don’t need proof that his name is gone?  They just believe what they’re told by this chronic liar and his scum of the Earth, trashy regime?  Judges don’t do that at their bench.

I’d also like to point out this part from the article:

“The center’s current executive director, Matt Floca, specializes in physical plant management.”

As expected by the people that the US dictator hires; people with no experience for the position he’s hiring them for.  Matt Floca has zero experience with the arts, the performing arts or a performing arts centre.  And he knows nothing about music or the arts.  It’s always appropriate and good to have someone like that in the position of Executive Director of a world-renowned performing arts centre.  [sarcasm intended of course]

So he’s ruined the Kennedy Center and the Reflecting Pool.  Anything he touches he ruins.  How’s that Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool doing about now?

 

Hola a todos.  Well, I saw the Stanford Service in G listed for this Choral Evensong on 10 July 2026, and I know that canticle setting to have a treble solo during the Magnificat so I wanted to hear the treble singing his treble solo.  He was splendid.  I’ve seen him before with the rest of the Choir of course, and he has a lovely, marvelous voice.  Very well trained in the Westminster Abbey Choir School.

I linked to the Service Leaflet up above, but I don’t know how long Westminster Abbey keeps those.

I mentioned this elsewhere, somewhere:  Westminster Abbey is not a Cathedral — even though some people would say it looks like a Cathedral — but it’s not, because it’s not the seat of a Bishop.  It’s one of the Royal Peculiars (there are about 15-17 of those), meaning that it is a specific Church of England Abbey that falls under the jurisdiction of the Crown, King Charles III, the British Monarch, and not a Diocesan Bishop.

My choral friend said, “That’s not the voice I would have expected to come from him.”  Really?  I said:  That’s one of the reasons for a renowned Choir School.  The chorister had the voice I expected to hear from him, but my experience is different than that of my choral friend who doesn’t have my Anglican Church experience.  He (the treble) seemed comfortable singing the solo and he should feel very good about himself.   I found his solo very moving for me, and almost brought tears to my eyes because of that level of excellence at such a young age.  Rather amazing actually, and I don’t usually use the word “amazing” because it’s so overused these days in pop culture to describe the most mundane things; that along with the overused word “awesome” to describe things that are not the least bit awesome.   But my use of the word “amazing” is in its original sense.

The Stanford Magnificat begins at around 22.10 in the video above. The Nunc Dimittis begins at around 28.50.

There’s a bass-baritone solo in that, and I enjoyed the Lay Vicar who sang that.  He’s excellent as well.  He had a slight amount of noticeable vibrato but I think it was really slight nervousness — and a slight bit of nervousness is always good in a performance, and I was trained the same way he was trained vocally, so I’d probably sound the same way.   (For those who don’t know:  The Lay Vicars consists of the altos/countertenors, tenors, and basses).

I think the Choir School closes for the Summer on Sunday 12 July 2026.  I also see that for the Choral Evensong for 11 July they sang Howells’s Gloucester Service.

The trebles sang a descant on the final hymn, “Love Divine, All Love Excelling” (Tune: Blaenwern 408i NEH) which is a hymn I enjoy.  If you listen closely, you’ll hear the descant on the last verse.  As for that hymn, I think there are about three different tunes for that particular hymn, and in the Anglo-Catholic parish where I was Organist/Choirmaster we didn’t sing Blaenwern, although I wish we had.  We used the tune Hyfrydol.  The boys changed the descant — well it was really the Choirmaster — from the way I’ve heard it sung in the past — such as at William and Kate’s wedding.  It’s essentially the same descant but they changed the sections that are sung in their upper register (at the wedding).  The congregation did a good job of singing this hymn as opposed to the “stand and mumble” congregations one hears elsewhere.

 

The pathetic “leaders” in the EU

Nearly all of the performances I feature are from the EU, particularly from Deutschland.  I have written in the past that Deutschland seems to have the finest Orchestra Choruses anywhere these days.  The same cannot be said about the so-called “greatest country in the history of the world.”  What a bunch of chest-beating and delusional wishful-thinking bunk that is.

And another ‘greatest country in the history of the world’ (Belgium) defeated the fake “greatest country” (US) in FIFA 2026.  Who’s “the greatest country” now, arrogant US?  Have I told you how much I can’t stand these “the US is the greatest country in the history of the world” ignorant trash?

As for the politicians in the EU, there was a time where I had some respect for most (or should that be some?) of the political “leaders” in the EU until I saw them take up residency in the upper colon of the 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert assaulter and now US dictator.

One exception: Pedro Sánchez of España.

A comment someone wrote online:  “Viva España!  tr*mp is a bully, convicted criminal and narcissistic conman. The only way to beat a bully is to stand up to him. Be strong Europe, take note that Denmark and España are leading the way.”

The US dictator — the 34 count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert assault (“grab ’em by the pussy”) — went to the G7 to, as usual, go ape at them to make his pathetic self feel important and bullying,  which is something he enjoys doing.  At the first meeting of the G7, this piece of trash from the oval office blasted the EU “leaders.” He particularly went ape at Pedro Sánchez.

Then, at the second meeting, the dictator was a completely different person.  Multiple personalities?  Or was it his drugs kicking in?  That person was just the opposite of the person at the first meeting that went ape.   After the second meeting, the US dictator talked about “there was so much love in the room.”  (Eye rolls)  jesus fucking christ.

Insanity.

It has been clear for some time that the so-called “leaders” in the EU are terrified of this piece of fat trash from the white house.  Except for Pedro, none of them have ever learned how to deal with a schoolyard bully, so they remain residing in the dictator’s upper colon, close to the entrance to the lower stomach.  This was the case at the second meeting.  The EU “leaders” ate his ass and believed every word he said, apparently.  Why would they do that?  Don’t they know he’s a chronic liar?  One can’t believe anything he says.  They have learned nothing from the past.  Don’t they expect him to say just the opposite the next time they see him or hear him go ape on them?  They haven’t learned that he does that?  WTF?

Insanity.

They’re like my dense neighbour who learns nothing from the past.  These EU “leaders” don’t learn from the past in how the US dictator behaves.  Again, he goes ape with them and bullies them one moment and then is a different person the next.

In that sense, he’s just like Hypocrite JD, who stands for nothing other than what will serve him well in the moment going forward.  JD has no principles and is a Christian fraud, like all of these septic trash of this criminal regime.  There’s nothing “Christian” about any of them based on their despicable and criminal actions and behaviour, and ugly language.

I was disgusted that the EU “leaders” are still falling for the US dictator.  They’re still terrified of him.  What pathetic people.  I don’t understand that.  Again, with the exception of Pedro Sánchez of España, as of this writing.

And why was another piece of trash Keir Starmer there when he’s already resigned as Prime Minister of the UK?  I guess he went to eat the US dictator’s ass one last time.

These are pathetic people.  I wouldn’t walk across the room to see any of them, other than Pedro.  Although I wouldn’t talk politics with him.  I’d instead ask him questions about España.  He seems like a very nice guy.

A brief aside:  Someone might be asking:  You wouldn’t want to meet all of these “celebrity” politicians?  Absolutely not.   (I’m not “wow’ed” by celebrities).  And that may be because I lived in the District of Columbia for a number of years and worked across the street from the white house.  I got very tired of the intense, snotty political atmosphere.  I also worked in some of the government offices, including near the US capitol building.  To me as a former District resident, they’re just like any other place and I don’t have any respect for most politicians, with few exceptions regardless of their cult/party affiliation.

I did like Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, at one time, until I saw her sitting next to the dictator, and she did this grand over-exaggerated, ass-eating handshake with the convicted felon and US dictator.  That did it for me with her.  I thought:  Doesn’t the woman have any self-respect?  You’re shaking hands with a war criminal and a 34-count convicted felon who has no respect for the law or for anything else.  Don’t you know that he can’t stand the EU?  Your ass-eating of him is never going to change his mind about anything, even though that’s what you all think, it appears.  You don’t learn from the past.

It seems that one goes into politics when one realises one can’t do anything else in life.

 

 

Overheard in the Conservatory:

It should be the US’s 250th.  Not “America’s 250th” because the entire hemisphere called America is not having a birthday to celebrate independence from the Crown, nor are the three Americas.  It’s just the United States of North America that is celebrating 250 years of independence from the Crown.

But as is usually the case in the US, many things have the wrong name. And since the US never had the intelligence to choose a name for their country like all other countries did, this is what can happen when the US steals the name “America.”

Also the US dictator who is currently the white house resident is using the event to make it all about himself, as expected. The guy needs constant attention.

As for “America’s 250th,” I read on National Public Radio’s site that half of the people in the US have no idea what this “America’s 250th” is about, and I had wondered if that were the case.

Each year I wonder:  Do most people even know what the 4th of July commemorates?  I think not. To most people, it’s just a day off in the early part of July.   Most would have no idea this holiday means 250 years of independence from the British Crown.

The US dictator is currently having the “Great American State Fair” in the District of Columbia, which is not a state. But I wouldn’t expect that to ever occur to the dummy.

How can one have a “State Fair” on land that is not a state?  Doh.

 

Evensong of the Birth of John the Baptist at Westminster Abbey

I deliberately indicated in the title that Westminster Abbey (Church of England/Anglican) is not to be confused with nearby Westminster Cathedral, which is Roman Catholic.  The latter is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales and serves as the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.

Whereas Canterbury Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Church of England and the symbolic centre of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Spiritual Head of the Anglican Church.

The music for this Choral Evensong includes:

Palestrina: Fuit homo missus a Deo

Clucas: Responses

Canticles:  Sumsion: Evening Service in A

Farrington: Rejoice

Andrew Nethsingha is the current Organist and Master of the Choristers, and Sub-Organist: Matthew Jorys.  Assistant Organist: Paul Greally.

The Farrington anthem “Rejoice” — which begins around 39.30 in the above video — is quite difficult and quite a sassy anthem for both the choristers and the organist.  These trebles/boys didn’t seem to have any problem with it, even though I think most adult choristers would find the piece a challenge to perform.  The organ accompaniment is just as difficult.

The boys are trained at the Westminster Abbey Choir School which is located beside the Abbey in Dean’s Yard.

The Organ Voluntary is the Toccata in G, Johann Adam Reincken (1643–1722)

I think most people who see Westminster Abbey would erroneously refer to it as a Cathedral.  But it is not a Cathedral because it’s not the seat of a Bishop.

Westminster Abbey is one of 15-16 Royal Peculiars, meaning they are under the jurisdiction of  the Sovereign, King Charles III,  the Head of State and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

There are roughly 15-16 active Royal Peculiars in the Church of England. Because they are governed directly by the Monarch rather than a local diocesan Bishop, the exact list can fluctuate. The most famous are Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Other Royal Peculiars include:

• Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace and The Queen’s Chapel
• Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace
• [King’s Chapel of the Savoy] (duchyoflancaster.co.uk estates/the-savoy-estate/the-queens-chapel-of-the-savoy/)
• The Queen’s Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park
• Royal Foundation of St Katharine
• The Temple Church in London
  

The City of Westminster is home to the United Kingdom’s government and houses some of the world’s most famous landmarks, including the Abbey of Westminster.  Westminster takes up a large area of London’s West End.

Maybe at some point the Abbey will install a camera by the organ console.  The cameras show the Organist at a distance in his red cassock.  As with many/some Anglican Churches the organ console is high up on the Quire screen (often called the Organ Screen).  The pipe cases are built on top of this screen on either side.