I can hear people say, “Well there certainly is a country called America!  What are you talking about?  There’s the US.”

But America is not the legal name of the United States of (North) America.  “America” is a nickname for a country — the United States — that never had the intelligence to come up with a legitimate name for their country like all other countries did.  So the US essentially arrogantly — like they do everything else! — stole the name of the entire continent.  Just like they arrogantly stole the tune of the British national anthem (“God Save The Queen/King”) and came up with that tacky piece of music called “My country tis of thee,” whatever the fuck that means.  Pompous arrogance is the only thing that the US knows, along with stealing from other nations, whilst they pretend to be Christians.  Fake.

And rather than saying “US,” many people say “America” which takes longer to say than US I should point out.  Saying America can sometimes cause confusion or debate with speakers from other nations in the Western Hemisphere.

My choral friend told me that years ago his sister used to lecture him about not calling the US “America.”  This was when she pretended to be “progressive.”  Here in 2026, “America” is all she uses.  She’s done a complete 180.  As have many (if not most) so-called “progressives.”  I’ve heard them using the same language as the far-right “maga” trash, including the word “America.”

It is true that there is no country on the Earth that has the legal name “America.”  And that’s because the continent itself is called America and it consists of three Americas:  North America, Central America and South America.

The “maga” trash and their US dictator — the draft dodger, the guy who loves to now play military and fake patriotism, the village idiot and 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert/rapist of The Epstein Class — would not understand any of this because he wants everything to be called “America” or named his surname.  It’s surprising he hasn’t tried to add the name “America” to the John F Kennedy Memorial Center For the Performing Arts.

The “maga” trash have been brainwashed by their dictator that there’s only one America because their dictator — the fake Christian and the fake patriot — is obsessed with renaming things using the word America.  He pretends to be “patriotic,” but is as shallow and superficial about it as he’s always been.  He’s absolute trash.  There is nothing authentic about that fraud, Mr Bone Spurs.  He’s a horrible human being and the same goes for JD.  That guy is a blank slate, and stands for nothing other than what will benefit him in the moment.

I realise I’m doing some repetition here and that’s intentional, because there are so many thick, dense and stupid people out there who need repetition to understand basic things.

I’m also well aware that most people reading this will disagree with this article and that’s because the United States of (North) America is nicknamed “America” by sloppy language people.

I never use the word “America” other than when I’m referring to Latinos and América Latina because they live in América too.  I’m referring to people in Colombia, México, Argentina, Uruguay, Perú, Venezuela and and other Latin countries.

Some people might wonder:  Why are you always so concerned about language?  Well, it’s part of my training and the Dean of the Conservatory where I trained instilled in us music students — as future music educators — the importance of language, using correct language and diction as intelligent and articulate music educators.  Her language was perfect with the clearest of diction.  Sloppiness — which is what many people use — has no place in good language skills.  The Chorus Directors I had the privilege of working with in the Orchestra Choruses did the same thing with diction.  I remember Dr. Paul Traver telling the University of Maryland Chorus in a rehearsal, “If you can’t sound good, you can at least have good diction.”  We all laughed but he was absolutely correct, and we understood his point.

After I graduated from the Conservatory and moved to the District of Columbia, I found that most District residents were really no different than the Conservatory Dean.  I was given a friendly lecture on what to call my new home, even though I already knew.  (See top of the site and my statement about the District of Columbia, the US nation’s capital).

And most USans probably don’t know that there have been and are other countries with the words “United States” (Estados Unidos) — Estados Unidos Mexicanos (one example) — as part of the name of their country.  [Source].  The US is not the only country with the words United States as part of their country’s name.

I read online that someone met a person who said, “I’m from America” and they were from Colombia.  Most USans don’t know how to spell Colombia; they put u’s in it).  Yes, Los Colombianos are Americans because they are from América de Sur (South America).

Then, there are the hateful people who are still living in the Cold War era who use the archaic and outdated language, “Third World Country.”  There is only one world that we all live on so how can there possibly be a “third world?”  Doh.  Out of their ignorance, they refer to Colombia as a “Third World Country” on one site.  Below is a picture of Medellín, Colombia.  Does this look like “Third World” to you with its population of 2 million in the City proper?

The City of Medellín, Colombia, with its “Eternal Spring” weather:

Bogotá, the capital of Colombia:

Does Bogotá look like “Third World” to you?  Those who have been to Bogotá recently compared the city to New York City.

Since the US is going backwards decades under the fascist US dictator, I live under no illusions that anyone will stop using Cold War language and scape-goating others, such as migrants and immigrants.

But using their septic language back at them, if there is a “Third World Country,” at this point in time it is the United States of North America under this fascist dictator residing in the white house.  That piece of nazi/fascist trash.  He and his fascist regime are the scum of the Earth and the same for the trash in the congress and the far-right gutter trash on the corrupt supreme court.  Every damned one of them.  Absolute scum and Christian Frauds.  And they deserve no respect or support of any kind from any sane human being.

Speaking of the trash in this regime, you have that JD lecturing the Pope on theology.  Who the fuck does that arrogant piece of fascist trash think he is?

G**gle finally got up off their knee pads and stood up to the US dictator.  The village idiot/dictator called the head of that tech company and said he wanted to change the name of the Atlantic Ocean to tr*mp Ocean.  The guy who is the head of G**gle said, “No, no, no, I’m not doing that.”  It’s about fucking time that someone stands up to this piece of fascist-nazi trash who is obsessed with putting his name on things — the guy is a fucking mental case — in this case one of the major oceans of the world.

AI brought this up:

Quote:  Google CEO Sundar Pichai declined a request from president [sic] Donald Trump to rename the Atlantic Ocean to the “Trump Ocean” or “Ocean of the Americas” on Google Maps, telling the president, “Oceans are different, sir. They cover a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.”  End Quote

This nut in the white house is insane.  When are his cultists going to realise that and members of the Republican cult/party in congress who allowed this nut to take over their party?

 

 

 

Update 19 October 2026:  I posted a brief summary of this article on a well-known political website.  My comment wasn’t deleted as I wrote it in NPR style.  But especially at this time of year, the Democratic Cultists commenters want lockstep blind allegiance to their cult/party.  It’s what I can’t stand about partisans, their blind allegiance to their political cult/party.  Most voters will support them (the Dead Democratic Party) no matter what they do (because they have a D next to their name), or in this case, what they haven’t done with most of them having been absolutely silent since the dictator took office.  They’ve done nothing.  Why reward a do-nothing?  That doesn’t happen in any other job.  Why is this job of Representative or Senator an exception?  Dummies.  It is so silly and immature but a certain level of immaturity is required for being brainwashed partisan and blind allegiance.  Then you have the idiots who write, “Vote Blue” meaning go down the ballot and vote for all Democrats, even the Democrats who are really not Democrats but Democrats in name only and who vote with the Republicans.  This is Insanity.  The “Vote Blue” mentality is mindless voting involving no critical thinking skills what-so-ever.  It involves no research into the candidate and the candidate’s current record.  It’s cookie-cutter voting.  It’s for shallow and simple people with simple minds.

The majority on that political website only wanted to read the D-partisan script.  So myself (objective) and another person (she was also objective) were not well-received at all.  All the others, the cultists, wanted nothing but cheer-leading for the Dead Democratic Party.  Yes, they were going to support them for doing nothing — this cannot be overstated — since the dictator took up residency in the white house.  I reminded them that some of the Democrats have voted with the Republicans under the dictator.  Their response?  Silence, as usual, because they have been brainwashed that “one must not be critical of one’s own team.”  Oh fuck off, ya trash!  I can’t stand people like that.  These brainwashed cultists of the Dead Democratic Party act just like fundamentalist Christians.  Then there were those who disputed that we are in fascism (jesus fucking christ they still haven’t figured that out!) and that this is a fascist regime.  Someone responded to me, “But Biden…, But Obama.”  That’s the cookie-cutter response from the “maga” trash.   They always drag out Biden rather than address the topic.  Why don’t they go all the way back to George Washington?  As usual, that “maga” commenter was making baseless assumptions about me that I supported Biden and Obama when that was not the case at all.  But this is nothing new; this is the mentality that shows up every election cycle.  Again, most of the commenters on that site are cultists of the Dead Democratic Party and want no criticism of their party/cult.  To them, there will be a “blue wave” and things will change overnight.  Delusional.  The dictator will lose his “stay out of jail” card, according to them.  (roll eyes, sigh).  Theses cultists engaged in immense wishful-thinking as to what their politicos will do.

Unfortunately, many people learn nothing from the past and keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results — that’s the definition of insanity — and that was made obvious in the “blue wave” commenters who — after the midterms, if there are midterms — expect the “Democratic” House to vote to impeach the dictator (what about the rest of this despicable regime?) and the “Democratic” Senate to vote to remove.  Yes, that’s going to happen alright…Insanity.  One wonders:  What hallucinating drugs are these people on?  Do they take these drugs on a regular basis, or is just this time of year?

I try to remember that one can’t fix stupid.  At least there was one other person there who is a realist and doesn’t engage in delusional wishful-thinking and brainwashed cult lockstep politics.  Ugh.

Now on to the original article:

Overheard in the halls of the Conservatory from both students and Faculty:

I haven’t heard much politics in the Conservatory lately.  Instead it’s been about performances coming up, such as the Conservatory’s Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Chorus and their performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s  A Sea Symphony.  They gave a stellar performance of that.  The Symphony Chorus was glorious.

But the other day, I did hear political discussions and they were about the following:

If there are midterms in the United States of North America under this fascist, dictatorial regime — and with Nazi E*on M*sk now involved in them — I’m sure the elections will be legitimate, aren’t you?  Sarcasm intended.  If one believes that the elections will be legit, I have to ask:  What drugs is one on to think that? Or is this a case of the usual wishful-thinking that takes place at election time?

Even if the mostly silent, mouths glued shut, feet-shuffling and terrified of the US dictator Democrats in the US congress were to become the majority in one or both houses — which they don’t deserve at all because they’ve done very little/nothing; so why reward them for that?  That doesn’t happen in any other job — little to nothing will change in the big scheme of things. 

Some of the Dead Democrats have even voted with the Republicans!  The status quo will continue. 

Some people are also saying that should the Dead Democratic Party take the House and/or the Senate that the election results will not be verified/honoured by that piece of “maga” trash who serves as speaker of the house, and who also pretends to be a Southern Baptist.  In reality, he’s another Christian Fraud.  He’s no Christian.  This regime is full of trash like that, these Christian Frauds who don’t at all live their lives or have policies that follow the teachings of Jesus.  Quite the contrary in fact. 

I’ve known lots of Southern Baptists having been an Organist in churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, and none of these trash in this despicable regime are anything remotely like the Southern Baptists I’ve known who were good people and very nice to me.  The Christian Frauds in this regime are Basura.  The speaker permanently resides in the upper colon of the dictator.

Being terrified of the dictator — just like the Republican cult is — the Democrats will take the Obama approach of, “We must look forward and not backward.” That’s what Obama told his cultists when he took up residency in the white house.  The Obama cultists had thought — in their delusional, wishful thinking minds — that their saviour Obama was going to “go after Bush and Cheney” when Obama took office.  In fact, Obama did just the opposite. He gradually expanded the Bush/Cheney agenda and Obama’s cultists kept saying, “You have to give him tiiiiiiiiiime,” meaning he needed time to do the things his cultists were wishing for him to do in their delusional minds.  

When it was pointed out to them that their messiah Obama was going along with the Bush agenda and expanding it, they became absolutely silent because they had been brainwashed with the cult thinking that one must not be critical of one’s own cult/team/party.

These days, the Bush and Obama families are best of friends and George and Michelle share candies during state ceremonies at Washington National Cathedral.  They also share hugs and hand-holding as you can see at that link.

Therefore, why wouldn’t the same thing happen should the Democrats take anything in the midterms, if there are midterms. The feet-shuffling and mostly silent Democrats are as terrified of this scum of the Earth piece of trash in la casa blanca/the white house — this 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert/rapist assaulter of The Epstein Class — as are the Republican cultists. 

The Republican cultists — who allowed this know-nothing village idiot, this cancer to take over their party –are just as terrified of this 80 year old world bully. Therefore, nothing will change. 

And the nazis/fascists on the US supreme court will continue to give their fascist dictator most of what he wants.

My dense partisan neighbour who is a cultist of the Dead Democratic Party has to be reminded constantly about this.  She’s a nut to begin with, and lives under delusions that “the world is going change” if her Dead Democratic Party wins some seats in a rigged midterm election.  She’s so far gone that she still believes in the election process being fair and legitimate.  Well, one can’t fix stupid so I don’t waste my time with her.  One either gets this or they don’t.  Period.

I was told that independent Bernie Sanders recently accurately described this regime as a fascist regime.  I can’t find anything about that from my research.  If he said that, he is correct and in fascism one has a dictator.  Most people are still erroneously using the word “administration” to describe this fascism.  The word “administration” sanitises this entire fascist situation and what this dictator is doing.  The word “administration” is used for a democracy.  The US is no longer a democracy.  The “maga” trash hate democracy and so does their dictator.  They want fascism and their dictator.  The US government is a rogue, fascist regime with an authoritarian, completely out-of-control, insane dictator who thinks he can do whatever he wants, including pardoning himself and anyone else he chooses.  He thinks he’s above all laws.  He has no respect for the judicial system and has even vented his bile to the people on the US supreme court who didn’t rule in his favour.

There was another one of those “No kings” protests on 17 October 2026.  Again, this is a fascist regime, and the word dictator applies under fascism, not “King.”   Fascism = dictator. King is not the correct word because there is no hereditary lineage here.  The 34 count convicted felon/dictator is the first member of his family to hold public office. Also, the word King sanitises this fascist agenda.

Apparently the people who started the “No Kings” movement did no research on any of this before coming up with the name of their protests.  As an authoritarian dictator, this scum of the Earth guy claims he can do anything. He relegates himself to being above the law as a dictator would do.  One either understand this or they don’t.  One cannot fix stupid so don’t waste your time trying.

In order to stay sane, other than writing this article, I spend very little time thinking about any of this stuff because I see that as a futile effort.  And one is not going to vote their way out of this rogue regime or any of this cesspool corruption.  I suggest one go watch the Choral Evensong from the Church of England, specifically at Westminster Abbey (that’s down the page) or go watch the performance from Amsterdam of RVW’s Toward the Unknown Region.  That is an excellent performance from both Orchestra and Chorus.  Both are very enjoyable.  I especially enjoyed the Christopher Robinson Westminster Service which reminded me of some of the canticle settings of Herbert Howells.

Oh by the way, my choral friend asked me to add this:  if one thinks that the Democrats are going to do anything with The Epstein files, you are wrong.  Too many Democrats are implicated in the Epstein files, so the Dead Democratic Party will not do anything about it.  Why didn’t they do anything about these files during the Biden years?

As for a blue wave?  It won’t make any difference, even if there were a blue wave.  It will be no different than a red wave.  And by that I mean that the status quo will continue.

The world is very fortunate that Westminster Abbey now streams their Choral Evensong Liturgies.  And if I lived in London, I’d go to Westminster Abbey.

Even though to some people Westminster Abbey looks like a Cathedral, it is not.  It is not the seat of a Bishop.

Westminster Abbey is — what’s known as — a Royal Peculiar, meaning it is a church of the established Church of England/Anglican Church (the State Church), that belongs directly  to The Crown/the British Monarch, rather than under the jurisdiction of a local bishop or diocese.  The Abbey is run by a Dean and Chapter and it is they who report only to The Sovereign, King Charles III.

The Abbey has hosts major state ceremonies, including the coronations of British Monarchs since 1066 — except for Edward V and VIII — as well as numerous Royal Weddings.  The Abbey is also the burial site for over 30 monarchs, although Queen Elizabeth II was buried inside King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle.   St George’s Chapel is another Royal Peculiar, directly under the jurisdiction of the British Sovereign rather than a local diocese.  It shares this status with Westminster Abbey.

The Anglican composer Herbert Howells is buried in Westminster Abbey, which seems appropriate to me.

I mention Howells because I had not heard the Christopher Robinson Westminster Service before, but the first thing I said about it was:  It sounds like Howells.  My choral friend said the same.  I did some research and Robinson did not study with Howells, but he and Howells had a deep musical connection and Robinson is considered a master interpreter of the Anglican Church music of Howells.  So maybe that explains why his Westminster Service canticle setting sounds so much like some of the Anglican canticle settings of Howells.

The Robinson Westminster Service begins with the Magnificat at 21.55 in the video above.  And the Nunc Dimittis begins at 30.18.  The Choir of Westminster Abbey performed it beautifully.  They have excellent trebles/boys.

The camera work at Westminster Abbey is excellent.  I especially liked the shot from high above at the end of the Westminster Service and that glorious ending.

Any new readers are probably asking, “So what does Howells sound like?”  Well, you can hear Howells’s St Paul’s Service — which he composed for the Cathedral Choir and acoustics of Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in this performance from Oxbridge:  The superb Choir of Trinity College Cambridge performed the St Paul’s Service for Choral Evensong on 16 March 2025, which you can hear at  33.05 (Magnificat) and 42.45 (Nunc Dimittis) in the video below.

They also performed the St Paul’s Service for the final Choral Evensong of the Trinity College term, but the Chapel was packed for that Liturgy and because of that it changed the choral sound a bit and I prefer the performance below.  As my choral friend said about the performance at the end of term, “The packed Chapel had the effect of carpet having been installed in the Chapel with all those people there and they absorbed some of the sound.”  Yes, the choristers also seemed to have to work harder in that performance because of it.

On another topic, I read that the Senior Organ Scholar who graduated last term at Trinity College Chapel is now at Westminster Cathedral in London.  He’s really qualified to be anywhere he wants, but I was surprised that he left the Church of England and went to the Roman Catholic Church, considering some of their backward dogma and policies.  He was probably offered more money there.

The Anglican Church music of Howells has been described as “smokey” (think incense).

Some information about the Abbey’s Pipe Organ:

At Westminster Abbey, the camera shows the organist from time to time from a distance in his red cassock.

For those who are not Anglican/Church of England/Episcopal (it’s all the same thing depending upon where one lives in the world; it’s all part of the worldwide Anglican Communion), unlike Protestant churches, the organ console in Anglican parishes, chapels and cathedral churches is usually out of view, since the High Altar is the centre of attention.  Often the organ console is on the second story of the building, as is the case at Westminster Abbey, and also at St Paul’s Cathedral in London:

The main organ console at Westminster Abbey sits on top of the organ screen (that’s the large stone screen separating the Nave from the Quire area), facing the north pipe case.

The organ console was built directly on top of the central screen, high above the ground level between the nave and the Quire.  The organist sits facing the north pipe case.

They have symphonic-style organ built by Harrison & Harrison with four (and later expanded) manuals/keyboards and around 7,000 pipes.  The Abbey also has a smaller Queen’s Organ in the Lady Chapel, built by Mander Organs.

Note:  I’m aware that some people consider the Anglican Church to be Protestant.  They’re usually bottom basement Low Church people who don’t follow any of the suggested Anglican protocol; they don’t do anything and can easily be mistaken for Southern Baptists.  One wonders why they are even Anglican!

This thinking that the Anglican Church is “Protestant” is not helped by the conservative BBC’s black and white thinking of referring to “the Protestants and Catholics” in their news reports.  As a former Anglican Church musician, I’ve known lots of Anglicans and I never heard any of them refer to themselves as Protestant, especially the High Church Anglo-Catholics (which is my background).  There was a time in the US where the word Protestant was printed on The Hymnal and The Book of Common Prayer, but upon the revision of both books in the late 1970s, the word Protestant was deleted, removed.  There are other religious groups that do not fall into the narrow Protestant/Catholic mindset, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  They are not Protestant either.  They are a Christian restorationist church.  And there are others who are not Protestant as well, not the impression the BBC like to give.  The BBC should be using the language:  Anglicans and Catholics.  Dump the word “Protestant.”

Updated 21 October 2026:  I did a little bit of research on why this piece is so rarely performed.  What AI brought up about that was interesting but didn’t necessarily apply to my performance experience in the Orchestra Choruses.  The shortness of the piece (15-20 minutes) and the expense was mostly the concern.  AI said that the Chorus would have to sit with nothing to do for 70 or so minutes if only a symphonic work was on the programme with “Toward the Unknown Region.”  Yes, that’s true, but it would be wise to programme a symphonic choral work with it.  If one were performing a symphonic choral work, well, the Orchestra and Chorus are already there.  So this piece could begin the concert and then follow that by RVW’s A Sea Symphony, for example.  AI said that the piece is expensive to perform because it requires such a large orchestra, pipe organ and a large Chorus.  So for example, before the dictator closed the Kennedy Center, the National Symphony Orchestra could have easily programmed this piece followed by RVW’s A Sea Symphony with one of the three Orchestra Choruses performing it:  the Choral Art Society of Washington, The Washington Chorus or the University of Maryland Concert Choir.  In that instance, it would be no big deal at all to perform.  Or the San Francisco Symphony and Symphony Chorus could easily perform it in Davies Symphony Hall.  There just has to be the want, the desire to perform it, and for conductors to remember that the piece even exists.  End of Update.

This piece is rarely performed for some reason.  Why is that?  It’s a beautiful piece.

This performance by Radio Filharmonisch Orkest & the Nederland Radio Choir is from Amsterdam, which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  My choral friend says he definitely likes it, especially the ending.  He said, “It has a really nice ending.”

The Nederland Radio Choir (known in Dutch as the Groot Omroepkoor) is the primary and regular Chorus that performs with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest (Radio Philharmonic Orchestra).

Something I noticed in this performance — and I’m probably the only person to notice it because I look at the orchestral musicians when they’re performing — is that there’s a chord in the piece — it’s a dissonance chord — and the camera showed one of the cellists really getting into that chord and smiling.  Part of the Chorus (the Men of the Chorus) are singing the dissonance as well as the Orchestra playing it, and perhaps the cellos. You can see this cellist at 11.29 in the video, and at 11.35 he looks up smiling because of what he’s just heard and/or played.  He’s also in the far right lower corner of your screen where he’s seated.  He’s the guy with the beard and glasses and brown hair.  The violin section is right next to him to his right.

Mark Elder is the conductor for this performance.

Update:  15 October 2026:  Someone in the comments on the above video claimed that this performance from Amsterdam lacked rubato and something else.  I think it was the person’s way of promoting a performance by another Chorus from the UK.  I disagreed with the comment and I scanned through the video of the performance that person was promoting.  This performance from Amsterdam is the superior performance, especially in a choral sense.  As my choral friend said, “How can you beat that?!”  I heard some — well I don’t want to call them “ugly” sounds from the Men of the other Chorus — but they did not sound like the Men of the Nederland Radio Choir. And conductor Mark Elder only invites the best.

From their website:

“Het Groot Omroepkoor, opgericht kort na de Tweede Wereldoorlog, is het enige koor in Nederland dat het grote koor-symfonische repertoire op professionele wijze uitvoert. Het koor is nauw verbonden met de Nederlandse Publieke Omroep. Het merendeel van de concerten vindt plaats in de omroepseries NTR ZaterdagMatinee, AVROTROS Vrijdagconcert en Het Zondagochtend Concert.”

English Translation:  The Great Broadcasting Choir, founded shortly after World War II, is the only Choir in the Netherlands that performs the large choral-symphonic repertoire professionally. The Choir is closely connected to the Dutch Public Broadcasting. Most of their concerts take place in the broadcasting series NTR Saturday Matinee, AVROTROS Friday Concert, and The Sunday Morning Concert.

 

 

 

In the past two days, the world’s biggest loser of an excuse for a human being, the white house resident, 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated rapist of the Epstein Class (also known as the US dictator) has referenced “loser Carnegie Hall” in the same breath with the “loser Kennedy Center.”

Does he plan to destroy Carnegie Hall as well?  If so, how does that make this country so-called “great again?”  What about Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and The Juilliard School which is in Lincoln Center? Doesn’t he consider Juilliard “woke?” Or maybe the LOSER has never heard of The Juilliard School.

Being from New York City, sometime ago I had wondered why he wasn’t trying to destroy the performing arts venues there.  Why is it just the District’s Kennedy Center?

A judge has told this piece of fascist/nazi trash that he must give 30 days’ notice before demolishing the Kennedy Center.  Yeah, good luck with that.  But since the dictator doesn’t care what judges say or order, I would assume he would ignore the 30 days’ notice as well. There were no consequences at all for him destroying the East Wing of the white house. Why won’t he do the same to the Kennedy Center?

My choral friend said he saw pictures of the inside of the Kennedy Center and it’s beautiful inside.  Yes it is.  It looks the same to me as when we performed there — with the Choral Arts Society of Washington (2 seasons) and the University of Maryland Chorus (1 season) with the National Symphony Orchestra and guest national and international touring orchestras — I used to walk through the Hall of Nations and the Hall of States to get to the room where the Chorus was there for the dress rehearsal.  It looks just like it did when I performed there for three seasons, other than the hole in the ceiling they manufactured/hammered out to try to give the impression that the building is falling apart with their fake “ceiling collapse.” They claimed water damaged, yet there was no sign of water damage on that ceiling.

When I lived in the District, some people referred to the Kennedy Center as “the tissue box” because of the design of the building.  Being a flat roof building, the Kennedy Center has always had water problems — but there are now permanent fixes for that according to my construction friend — and in the original Concert Hall, the Filene Center Pipe Organ ultimately suffered from water damage to the point where they could no longer use the organ for performances.  So after they renovated the Concert Hall awhile back, the former Chair gave them a pipe organ, which I assume will be destroyed when the US dictator demolishes the building, assuming he does.

I was on San Francisco’s MUNI, our public transit, and started thinking about the Kennedy Center and I had to stop tears from coming to my eyes, thinking about my years of performing there.

Even though I ultimately burned out due to the rehearsal and performance schedule both in the District and in San Francisco with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, it was all a very rewarding experience and something I’ll never forget.  And to think that some damned fool, some village idiot that the Republican Party Cult allowed to hijack their party and treat him as a messiah wants to demolish the building is something I can’t think about.  Insanity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repost:  I first heard the original piano solo version of the Schubert Wanderer Fantasy at the Conservatory where I trained.  My piano professor in my freshman year played it on her Faculty Recital.  Then a bit later, one of the piano majors had won a regional piano competition and her reward was to play the Schubert-Liszt Wanderer Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra with the Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.  At that time, the piano score was pretty much unavailable because I was interested in working on it myself.  I eventually got a copy of the score through her piano professor, but that took a lot of work.  These days, the score seems to be readily available, finally.  I prefer the Liszt transcription of the piece over the original, I think.  Liszt took part of the piano texture and gave it to the orchestra but kept his transcription very true to the original musically.

The Schubert-Liszt is rarely played these days from what I can tell and the same for the original solo piano Schubert Wanderer Fantasy.  The original is more difficult than the “concerto version” because, as I said, the Orchestra helps the pianist out a bit by Liszt giving some of the piano texture to the Orchestra as part of their accompaniment.

Is there more than one version of this piece?  Perhaps, there may be.  Some years ago I heard a pianist play this and I don’t remember the name of the orchestra who accompanied the pianist, but in one of the last measures of the piece, the pianist played a C major scale (in both hands, an octave apart) all the way up the keyboard.  It worked and I liked it, but it’s not in the score like that and Teo doesn’t play it like that.  So maybe the pianist I heard years ago was using a Version B or something, and not Version A.  With some of these rarely performed pieces, there can be two versions of the piece.  I think that’s true for the Bruch Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra.  There were a couple of minor places in Teo’s version that were different than what I’ve heard.  I assume he’s playing the definitive version.

In this performance, Teo’s playing is extremely clean with very light pedal.  He plays the piece beautifully, without any needless theatrics which are all too common unfortunately these days with the younger generation of pianists who seem intent on trying to make their music, their pieces seem more difficult than they really are to try to impress (shallow) audiences.  Even when Teo is playing the thick chords it looks like he’s playing them lightly rather than digging in.

Also, the placement of the piano in this performance is perfect and exactly as it should be. It’s “inside” the Orchestra, so to speak, right up against the podium so that the pianist and conductor can have close contact and with the First and Second Concertmasters directly behind the pianist.

I suspect the piano is a Steinway & Sons Model D which is widely used in the EU, even though the UK is no longer in the EU.

This performance is with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko conducting.

Update 6 September 2026:  A major political website in the District of Columbia carried this story.  I scanned their comments and interestingly nearly all of the commenters said the same thing I wrote in this article.  They all thought this was staged as an act of desperation for the dictator’s fascist regime’s agenda of demolishing the Kennedy Center.  “Get rid of it!”  Someone asked, “Where did they get the dirt that’s on the floor?” (lol)  Yeah, where did that come from?  One of the planters outside?  Someone said, “One of the bricks fell out of my chimney so I guess I’m supposed to tear the house down now.”  Yes, that’s their sick mentality.  End of Update.

It looks staged to me by the “maga” trash cult now ruining/running the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in the District.

I wouldn’t at all put it past the chronically lying “maga” trash — including that “maga” cult Board that the dictator appointed — to knock a hole in the ceiling in an attempt to prove their point that the building is supposedly falling apart and needs renovations requiring a 2 year closure.  Or the dictator will demolish it.  That’s the threat.

My construction friend said the stuff/debris they put on the carpet that allegedly fell down from the ceiling can be cleaned up easily in less than 30 minutes.  And new sheet rock can be installed in the ceiling that they allegedly knocked out in the ceiling.  That would take at the most 2 days.  You certainly don’t bulldoze a building because of these minor things that they themselves allegedly caused.

Now let’s talk about the stuff on the floor:  sheet rock is white in colour and light grey.  If it is plaster that fell from the ceiling, that is white to light grey.  It is not black.  The building was built between 1966 and 1971 with no building materials made from a black colour.  So this is phony.  He said if there were water damage that there would be brown stains on the ceiling.  I don’t see any water damage indications on the ceiling.  He said:  The stuff on the carpet looks like it came out of someone’s vacuum cleaner — with pieces of white paper in it — and then they took some dirt from outside and threw it on the floor.  Phony.  He also said that if it were legit the stuff on the carpet would not be scattered all over the place, but would have fallen straight down in more of a pile.  And he thinks the hole in the ceiling (about the size of a plate) was hammered out as well.

But these “maga” trash cultist are so desperate to get their dictator’s name on the plaza outside the Kennedy Center which is why I put nothing past them at all.  My source is DC News:

I would hope that the judge handling this case will see this for what it is.  Staged.

I am aware that the Kennedy Center has long had water problems because of the building’s flat roof, although I don’t see this hole in the ceiling that they knocked out at all related to water.  In my opinion, one of the “maga” trash cultist made the hole in the ceiling deliberately with a hammer.

In the past, the rain water from the roof leaked into the original Filene Center Pipe Organ  in the Concert Hall and ultimately ruined the organ, causing notes to stick on the organ during performances — the organist had to turn the organ off and on during performances to see if that would correct the sticking notes — but ultimately the organ became unusable for performances.  That’s why the former Chair — that the dictator fired — donated the current pipe organ after he found an organ he felt was appropriate for the Concert Hall.  I think I have that story correct from the article I read about the new pipe organ after it was installed.

Of course the “maga” trash cultist who released a statement about this from the Kennedy Center, exaggerated and called that small hole in the ceiling, “a ceiling collapse.’  No, it wasn’t a ceiling collapse, you lying useless bitch.  But lying is all that you “maga” trash cultist know how to do following your dictator’s example.  That, as well as call everything “fake news,” “a hoax” and “a witch hunt.”  Is that also what you teach your kids to do?  And I suppose you pretend to be a Christian too?

I wouldn’t bet on it, at the rate things are going.

This insane nut, the US dictator in the white house, obviously hates the Kennedy Center.  He’s obsessed with it.

I’ll be surprised if the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts is still standing by the end of September (2026).

The dictator has taken out all of the memorial weeping willow trees which were symbolic of the nation grieving President Kennedy’s death.  Infuriating.  Who gave him the right to do that?  Nobody.  But as he has said many times, “I can do anything I want.”  Apparently he can, and nobody stops him because they are terrified of some 80 year old bully slob dictator.  Unconscionable.  It’s incredible how many people — supposed adults — never learned how to deal with your insecure, thin-skinned, it’s-all-about-me schoolyard bully.

His agenda includes trying to make the Kennedy Center look as bad as possible.

Where are the Democrats of the Dead Democratic Party?  Oh they’re as silent as usual, useless, except for Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH), a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, who has the lawsuit going against all of this.

And the dictator has taken out the “Blue” art piece which was on the grounds.

Even though a bulldozer could take out the trees I’ve been told, the dictator appears to be “clearing the grounds”  so that bulldozers will have easy access to come in and take out the building?

What about the pipe organ in the Concert Hall? That will be destroyed too.

Everything will be destroyed by this nut in the white house.  What a disgusting piece of fascist-racist/nazi trash he is.

The dictator’s appointed Kennedy Center Board — they are all his cultists — described the Kennedy Center as “an embarrassment to the nation’s capital.”  Hardly!  The embarrassment to the nation’s capital, the District of Columbia, is this trashy, sick and septic “maga” cult regime in the white house, in the congress, the “maga” trash on the supreme court and his unqualified-for-their-job cabinet, where this dictator is allowed to do anything he wants because he is seen as the “maga” messiah.  It’s insanity.

One of the people on this Board is JD’s wife who previously worked for a progressive law firm in San Francisco before JD was chosen by the dictator to be his sidekick.  She could have chosen to work for a conservative law firm, but no.  Just like JD, apparently his wife stands for nothing either. They’re both an empty slate and only do what will advance them in the moment.  Related:  Sleeping with the Enemy: Is Usha Vance a Hypocrite or a Survivor?

Related:  The “maga” cult in the NSO.  The End of the Kennedy Center.

 

 

 

Update 2 September 2026:

The Supreme Court is a Disgrace:

I can see the same illogic that the corrupt supreme court used to justify the dictator’s gaudy and tacky ballroom — as Kyle (Secular Talk) explains in his video above — will be the same illogical/go-ahead that this corrupt court will use to justify the dictator’s bulldozing of the Kennedy Center.

Scanning Kyle’s comments, some people are calling the US dictator a king, to which I respond:

The white house resident/occupant is a fascist dictator, not a king. This is a fascist regime and the word dictator is used with fascist regimes, not king. He is the opposite of Britain’s King Charles III, who seems to be a very nice guy. A King or Queen involves a family monarchy. For there to be a king, that requires family hereditary lineage. That does not exist here. This fascist dictator is the only person from his family holding political office.  Get it right, people.  No, I suppose you won’t because of the idiots of that “No Kings” movement brainwashing people with the wrong word, just because the willfully-ignorant US dictator referred to himself a few times as a “king.”  The dunce wouldn’t know the difference either (between a king and a dictator), and apparently the movement did no research on this before naming their movemnet.

End of Update

Update 28 August 2026:  Regarding the Kennedy Center:  How can a building made of steel, granite and concrete be falling apart?  The regime keeps lying — as usual; they’re chronic liars — about how the Kennedy Center will need to be demolished if the fascist dictator can’t slap his name on the building, and that the building is falling apart.  Rubbish.  I think his name is still on the building; I don’t think it was removed and I’m not aware that anyone has confirmed that his name has been removed because one can’t get to the building due to the barricades/tarp.  It’s just been assumed that his name has been removed.  FACE FACTS:  According to AI:  The Kennedy Center is primarily constructed of steel, concrete, granite and white marble.  The structural materials were provided by Bethlehem Steel and an extensive gift of 3,700 tons of Italian marble were from Carrara for its aesthetic finishes.  Concrete: Used extensively for the Kennedy Center foundation, base infrastructure, and load-bearing elements.  Granite:  Exterior slabs complement the overall stonework and structural design.  How can a building made of steel, granite and concrete be falling apart?  There are some places in the garage area that need repair, but the building is not falling apart as this septic lying regime would have one believe.  The regime talks/lies as if the Kennedy Center is some wooden shack.  These childish lying “maga” trash of this despicable regime will say and do anything to get their way.  And now the commerce secretary has stuck his puss into the matter — what does he have to do with it? — in an act of desperation for the dictator.  Fuck off all of you, you lying scum!  Don’t all of you lying trash pretend to be Christians?  Yeah, you’re lying about that too to play your “maga” base.

Take the 102-story Empire State Building in NYC for example:   The Empire State Building is made of 60,000 tons of steel, 200,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone and granite, 10 million bricks, and 730 tons of aluminum and stainless steel.  The Empire State Building was built between 1930 and 1931, and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts was built between 1964 and 1971.  The Empire State Building is still standing and will stand for probably a thousand years, just like the Kennedy Center, unless some insane, lawless lunatic who is seen as above the law with some lofty title is allowed to demolish it for petty, childish reason.  Isn’t it miserable when the dictator has to FACE FACTS and he ain’t going anywhere unless he dies, and trash like that don’t die.  I was asked the other day after we heard about the death of Dolly Parton, which I was very sorry to hear about:  “Why is it that good people die and the bad people keep going on and on?”  We both knew who she was talking about even though no one’s name was mentioned.   Being from New York City, one would think that the dictator would be obsessed with the Empire State Building and want that building renamed with his name and puss on it.  The dictator’s ultimate goal:

Quote:  Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years,” Mayers wrote in the filing.  End Quote.  [Source:  NBC News]

Related:  What will happen to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall’s Pipe Organ?

End of Update.

I read the following on a credible classical music website before posting this article:

I’m paraphrasing except for the direct quote below:

The plans to close the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts and re-vandalise the fascist/nazi’s dictator’s name to the building remain in the courts.  That’s assuming his name has been removed to begin with.  I’m not one who believes his name has been removed.  That’s why the tarp is up to begin with — to hide his name — and will remain up “indefinitely.”  The confusion had delayed the approval of a NSO season (2026-27) that will be performed entirely outside the Kennedy Center with performances in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

The National Symphony Orchestra will now expand its regional reach, for which it credits the “strategic direction of the Chairman of the Center, [the dictator’s full name and middle initial in initial caps:  Name Redacted].”  End Paraphrase

Oh brother!  WTF?  Why on Earth is the National Symphony Orchestra crediting this lawless, belligerent, dysfunctional, rude, crude, sexist, misogynistic, lowlife, LOSER, void of any social skills, void of any decorum, bullying, chronic lying, 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert assaulter (rapist) and fascist dictator piece of trash of The Epstein Class with anything?  What is wrong with the NSO?  They don’t stand for anything?  Why would they credit a horrible person, a fascist dictator who kicked them out of the Kennedy Center?  He kicked them out of their home, the Concert Hall, which they’ve played in since the Kennedy Center opened.  Now they have no other choice but to tour and they have decided to credit the dictator/eat his big ass for them choosing to tour (in order for the NSO to survive) and they’re crediting — what they call — the “strategic direction of the Chairman…”   jesus fucking christ.  Have they gone fucking insane like much of the world?

I have to say that after reading that quote, I am done with the National Symphony Orchestra.  I don’t care what happens to them at this point.

This cannot be overstated:  The National Symphony Orchestra is now eating the ass of the despicable fascist regime dictator who closed their performance venue.  They’re giving him credit for — what they call — the “strategic direction of the Chairman” (what “strategic direction?”) by causing them to perform elsewhere in the DMV (District, Maryland and Virginia).  The despicable US dictator who thinks he’s above all laws and owns the world shut down their performance venue and they proceed to eat his ass for doing so — have they gone insane? — and by applauding the “strategic direction of the Chairman of the Center, [His full name redacted].”  I’m surprised they didn’t add, “Thank you so much you petty, lawless, chronically lying, war criminal, (outdated) ballroom-obsessed, military draft-dodger claiming ‘bone spurs’ who now loves to play military/GI Joe and give salutes, this 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert assaulter/rapist of the Epstein Class.

Despicable.

This piece of fascist/nazi, racist trash in the white house deserves credit for nothing other than for ruining everything he touches.  He and his incompetent fascist “maga” cultist regime are the scum of the Earth.

The reality is that the dictator in the white house doesn’t give a fuck about the National Symphony Orchestra.  Has he even heard of them?  I doubt it.

World “leaders” have been eating the ass of the 34-count convicted felon and rapist of the Epstein Class ever since this chronically lying piece of shit and world bully became white house resident.  And their ass eating of him has gotten them no where.   That’s especially the case with the “leaders” in the EU, such as French president Emmanuel Macron.  World “leaders” still haven’t learned that endless compliments and ass-eating of the dictator gets them nowhere in the end.  He’ll fuck them right over.

So what does the NSO think their ass-eating of this fascist dictator in the white house will get them in the long run?

Or was that paragraph above written by the “maga” cult musicians in the NSO?  The reader is aware of the “maga” cultists in the NSO, correct?  I suspect not.

Some of the NSO musicians have talked briefly and anonymously about the “maga” cultists in the Orchestra.  They didn’t say much about them other than they exist in the NSO.  I had no idea that was the case.  I sensed it is a rather sizeable group since it’s been mentioned multiple times by members of the Orchestra speaking anonymously.

What some of the other musicians said (in my words) was that:  the “maga” cult in the NSO was delighted when their messiah cult-leader dictator took over the Kennedy Center and appointed himself Chair and named other “maga” cultist to the Board, after he fired the previously Board.  But that excitement didn’t last.  The “maga” cultists in the NSO were disgusted when their messiah dictator vandalised the building by graffiti’ing his name on it because they saw that as having very negative consequences, which has been the case.  No one has written about how many “maga” cultists comprise the membership of the NSO.

After reading the quoted text in bold at the top of this page, in my opinion the NSO deserve what they get.  It’s clearly not the same Orchestra I performed with in the Orchestra Choruses.

At this point, I don’t give a damn what happens to the NSO.

But I’ll go ahead and post this article since I had already written it.  It was written before I found that information above about the NSO licking the dictator’s ass.  Otherwise I’d say no more about them.

Doesn’t the Music Director/Conductor of the NSO know the history of the Orchestra, since he’s been their conductor since the 2017 season?  He seemed to be implying that touring would be new for them, especially touring around the States.  The reality is that the NSO has been touring for a long time.

From AI:

The National Symphony Orchestra has a long history of touring across US cities and States since 1940, alongside international travels.  They continue to schedule domestic regional and national tours, including a Florida tour and upcoming multi-state U.S. tour date

Will the NSO disband?

Paraphased from another source:

Things are so bad that Jean Davidson, who resigned from her role as Executive Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in early 2026 (she went to an arts organisation in Beverly Hills), told The New York Times that “it’s very possible” that the Orchestra might fold entirely, calling such an outcome “an international embarrassment.”  End Paraphase

I have to say that before I did the research for writing this article, I felt differently in a positive way about the National Symphony Orchestra than I do now.  And that feeling was based on the good feelings I felt about them when we — the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the University of Maryland Chorus — were performing with them upon invitation.  We performed with the NSO often, both the Choral Arts Society and The Maryland Chorus.  In fact, the University of Maryland Chorus had quite a legacy with the NSO during the Antal Doráti years as they were his favourite Chorus.  But now, years later, after learning what I’ve learned, as I wrote above, again, I don’t care what happens to the NSO.  The US dictator kicked them out of the Kennedy Center and then they eat his ass and credit him for what they plan to do in the future, even though they had no other choice to do what they plan to do.  The convicted felon had nothing to do with what they plan to do in the future.  This insanity cannot be overstated.

The End of the Kennedy Center?

That’s the way it feels to me at this point in time, and I have pretty much accepted that, and even expecting that, especially after the dictator on 25 August 2026 talked about demolishing the Kennedy Center if he didn’t get his way.

The end of the Kennedy Center is because of that piece of thin-skinned LOSER bully trash — he loves bullying others by calling them “LOSER” in all caps so I thought I’d use that to describe him — in the white house destroys everything he touches.  And it’s because of this mentally-ill, lawless, insane, petty, 34-count convicted felon and rapist of The Epstein Class, narcissistic child in an oversized bloated adult body who is seen as a god by many, including “maga” trash John Roberts on the supreme court (who BTW has allowed the dictator to continue building his gaudy and tacky ballroom) .

The US dictator thinks he owns and runs the world — and the world belongs to him — and he’s above all laws and he demands his name on as many things as possible, including other people’s tombstones.

The Kennedy Center is a Memorial Center to assassinated/dead President Kennedy.  Apparently the US dictator doesn’t know what the word “memorial” means because by vandalising the Kennedy Center with his name implies that he, the dictator, is dead too.  The world is indeed waiting for this piece of trash to die, and will celebrate accordingly when he’s dead, but unfortunately often trash like that don’t die. They just keep going on and on.  Of course there will be a group that will engage in revisionist history about him when he dies and make him out to be a saint.  That’s what usually happens with political trash.

The Kennedy Center was a wonderful and special place for decades. The striking thing about this is that other than one Democrat, the congress and the “maga” trash on the supreme court have done nothing to stop this village idiot/dictator.

The Dead Democratic Party by its silence is complicit.  With only a few exceptions, most Democrats have remained silent the entire time about the dictator’s lawlessness/actions, as usual.  Silence is equal to complicity.  The Dead Democratic Party also obviously doesn’t care if he ruins the District of Columbia just as he is ruining the white house.  Have you seen the oval office with that gaudy and tacky gold everywhere?  This piece of trash has no taste in anything.  But both political cults — the Republicans and Democrats — are so afraid of this world bully that they’ve allowed him to ruin whatever he chooses to ruin.  So why would the Democrats “go after” the dictator and the unqualified/incompetent “maga” trash in this extremely incompetent and embarrassing regime, should the Democrats ever become the majority in the congress?  That’s what was said about Obama by the wishful-thinking Democratic Party cultists.  They assured people that Obama would “go after” Bush.  He did just the opposite.  Instead, Obama said, “We must look forward and not back,” (translation:  I’m not going after anybody) as he greatly expanded the Bush/Cheney regime’s right-wing agenda.  The Obama and Bush families became best friends.  We saw Bush and Michelle Obama sharing candies and kisses in Washington National Cathedral.  Check that out at that link.  Just like the Republican Cult, as terrified as most of the Democrats are of this fascisdt dictator, I see a repeat of Obama:  “We must look forward and not back.”  Related:  What midterms?  And what fool would expect them to be legitimate under this despicable regime considering his executive orders related to elections?

As for being afraid of him, why are supposed adults afraid of this despicable piece of lying and corrupt trash?  These politicians are adults.  These politicians who are afraid of the dictator act like terrified children.  I still don’t understand why anyone is afraid of this corrupt, criminal piece of fascist/nazi trash.  I had mistakenly thought that most adult were experienced in dealing with bullies/trash like him, but it seems that most people are instead easily intimidated by others.  I cannot at all relate to that.  As my choral friend says about me, “You’re not intimidated by anyone,” which is true, and neither is he.  As he said, “You write to Deans, Chancellors, and anybody else you have a problem with or something to thank them for that most people wouldn’t ever consider writing to because they would feel intimidated by them.”  Some people are easily intimidated by others.  A relative told me she was intimidated by my Conservatory training.  I don’t know why, but I showed her my résumé and that was her response.

Reflecting on my performance experience in the Kennedy Center:

Upon reflection, I’m very glad that I came along at a time that I did where I had the opportunity to perform in the John F Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts’s Concert Hall for three seasons with two of the three outstanding Orchestra Choruses I wanted to perform with (Norman Scribner’s Choral Arts Society of Washington and Dr. Paul Traver’s University of Maryland Chorus) who were invited to perform each season in the Kennedy Center with the resident National Symphony Orchestra and other (inter)national touring orchestras.  Even though I eventually burned out on the demanding rehearsal/performance schedule, it was a very rewarding experience and the height of the symphonic choral music movement particularly in the District.  A lot of symphonic choral works were being performed at that time.  The engagements with the NSO were the main attraction that choristers had for performing with the Orchestra Choruses.  That’s long gone, and things started changing in that regard after I moved to San Francisco.  Before the closure of the Kennedy Center, each Orchestra Chorus had approximately one set of performances with the NSO.  In one recent season, the Choral Arts Society surprisingly had no performances with the NSO.

But after I graduated from the Conservatory, I finally got to do something that I realised I wanted to do with two superb Orchestra Choruses in the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra.  And then after I moved to San Francisco, I was fortunate to be a chorister with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus (Margaret Hillis/Vance George Chorus Directors).  Ms Hillis flew back and forth from Chicago each week as Interim Chorus Director, since she had to continue to prepare the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus for performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

If you’ve been following the latest in the news about the Kennedy Center and the Center’s dictator-“maga” cult appointed Board, and because the petty and insane US fascist/nazi dictator in the white house always gets what he wants even when he ignores a judge’s/a court’s ruling, I have no doubt that he will get the Kennedy Center as well, and ultimately destroy it.  Then he’ll build his own “Entertainment Complex” in the same place with his name saturated all over the building in gold and call it “the greatest in the world.”

I talked with a contractor friend of mine who is now retired but has decades of experience as a very successful building contractor in San Francisco.  I asked him:  From what has been talked about and what you’ve seen that “they say” is wrong with the Kennedy Center building, how long would it take to repair that?  My friend said:  Well it wouldn’t take two years.  For any honest, experienced contractor who is not corrupt or trying to abuse/”milk” the situation, it would take probably a couple of months at the most.  For example, the tan staining on the marble on the façade of the Center can easily be cleaned.

I read whilst writing this that the marble was also damaged by putting the 34-count convicted felon/rapist and dictator’s name on the building and by allegedly removing the dictator’s name, although, again, I’m not convinced that his name has been removed.  No one has confirmed that his name is gone; people are just assuming it’s gone because a judge ordered that.  Well when has this piece of trash ever given a fuck what judges order or say?  In my opinion, that’s why the tarp is still up as of this writing to hide his name which has supposedly been removed, but hasn’t.  Has anyone seen the building to confirm that his name is gone?  Not to my knowledge because no one can get to that area because of the barricades and the guards.  I’ve read the chronic lies from the Kennedy Center so-called “management” on why the tarp needs to be up “indefinitely.”  My contractor friend said that any marks on the marble would be easy to fix and/or simply replace that piece of marble and stick it in.

But I think the dictator will tear down the Kennedy Center — I won’t be at all surprised if he does — and start over with a new building and rename it in his long name and of course call it “the greatest Entertainment Complex in the world.”  There’s no one to stop him from doing that, which is the part I find unconscionable.  If it were anybody else, that person or group would be stopped immediately and thrown in jail.  But because it’s this overweight bully in a blue suit with white shirt and red tie and a black sharpie in hand, he will gut the building just as he ripped down the east wing of the white house, which currently looks like a junk yard. There were no consequences for that, because the “maga” trash on the supreme court granted him complete immunity.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned about this “complete immunity” rubbish and “maga” cultist John Roberts said she was overreacting and being extreme.

The Kennedy Center Concert Hall was extensively renovated in 1997 (with the reopening in October 1997) to improve acoustics, the layout, and ADA accessibility.  The Concert Hall later received a new pipe organ installation in 2012.   I much preferred the original stage that we performed on, and Filene Center Pipe Organ installation. The renovation cost was approximately USD$10 MILLION.  They added a high-tech acoustical canopy and side reverberation chambers. Accessibility & seating was added, updated to meet the Disabilities Act standards, they added chorister seats, and onstage boxes. The pipe organ is a Casavant Frères pipe organ.

I don’t like the new stage area they put in because the Chorus seating looks cramped around the organ pipes and the acoustical canopy hides part of the pipes.  The original stage was much more open, and the installation of the original organ pipes looked much more majestic.  The pipes were also behind an architectural wall when the pipe organ was not being used, very much like the Concert Hall in Dresden, in Deutschland.

When the dictator begins gutting the Concert Hall, I would assume that the pipe organ will be destroyed since this piece of racist/nazi trash wouldn’t care about that or even know the pipe organ is there.

The End of the Concert Hall’s resident National Symphony Orchestra?

The “maga management” of the Kennedy Center has talked about pausing the NSO for two years, which will likely lead to the end of the NSO.

Well, at least two musicians have already left the NSO:  I read that the Principal Trombonist is going to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the second chair trombonist is going into a teaching position.   I would assume that other NSO musicians are not sitting around waiting to see what happens to the Orchestra, but are rather applying/auditioning with other orchestras nationally and perhaps internationally.

They have a 2026-27 schedule of touring performances listed for venues around the District, Maryland and Virginia.  Händel‘s Messiah was listed for performances in December 2026, but the name of the Chorus was not listed.  Since some of those performances will be at The Clarice Performing Arts Centre at the University of Maryland in College Park, I’m assuming the University of Maryland Concert Choir will be the choral ensemble invited for the Messiah performances.  Maryland usually “does Messiah” with the NSO every December.  But if the University of Maryland Concert Choir perform anything else all year on the campus, you’d never know about it since they don’t upload any performances to YT, including any with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra.  They don’t seem to use that “state of the art” facility to its fullest.  Then why have it?  I guess they’re not interested in exposure, unlike Dr. Paul Traver who was all about exposure with his superb and renowned University of Maryland Chorus.

The NSO’s Music Director/conductor will also take the NSO out of the District for his presumably first multi-state US tour with the Orchestra, between 20 April and 30 April 2027.  He said the NSO will make good on the “National” part of its name by performing in venues in California, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, and Oklahoma.

The conductor doesn’t seem to know why the Orchestra is called the National Symphony Orchestra.  The reason the Orchestra is called the “National” Symphony Orchestra is because the Orchestra is based in the District of Columbia, the US nation’s capital city.  Just like other organisations in DC with the word “National” as part of their name, such as:  National Public Radio, the National Academy of Sciences (where I used to work), the National Theatre, the National Archives and Records Administration, National Park Service, Washington National Cathedral, National Institutes of Health, Washington National Opera, National Security Council, the Washington Nationals (baseball team), National Action Network, Washington National Airport (which is in Arlington VA across the Potomac River), National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Education Association, and others.  Using the Music Director’s thinking, are all of these organisations supposed to go on some type of tour of the US because “National” is part of their name?   (roll eyes)  My choral friend said he didn’t know all of that.  Well, I know from living there in the District of Columbia that many things in the District are called “National”  and have “National” as part of their name because it’s the nation’s capital city, the Federal District, the seat of the Federal government.

So, after the dictator demolishes the Kennedy Center, the Kennedy name will be removed and it will be his full name on the building followed by “Entertainment Complex” or some such nonsense.

On one of the political websites I read, one commenter said the dictator would rename the Lincoln Memorial and call it “the Lincoln/tr*mp Memorial.  That person was corrected and told, “you’re dead wrong.  It would have to be “the tr*mp/Lincoln Memorial.”  This petty man’s name must be first. Another person said:  He will also rename DC.  I wouldn’t put it past him and he’ll call it, “the District of Columbia tr*mp.”

Because the now-thoroughly corrupt US supreme court and the “maga” cult therein gave the dictator complete immunity — more insanity — it looks like he’s allowed to do anything he wants including demolishing the Kennedy Center because there’s no one to stop him.  My choral friend said, “I have trouble comprehending that; that there’s no one to stop him, including the supreme court and that so-called “chief justice.”  Oh him!  No, the “chief [in]justice” is one of the many residents in the dictator’s upper colon — there’s a whole pile of people up there — and will give him anything he wants.

————————————

[Note:  I never type the fascist/nazi racist US dictator’s name, and I don’t want it on this site.  But everyone else online types his name in full, complete with middle initial — including those sites pretending to be “progressive” and claiming they can’t stand him — yet they type his full name in initial caps giving him absolute respect.  It’s disgusting.  Respect must be earned — not automatically granted — and this chronically lying piece of fascist trash has done nothing to earn anyone’s respect.  He’s the only one from his corrupt crime family holding political office, so he’s not going to be confused with anybody else in his family, yet people refuse to type just his surname.  Yes, they seem to enjoy typing his long full name with middle initial.  They also continue to refer to this despicable fascist regime as an “administration,” as if we were still living in a democracy.  We’re not.  Other than myself, the only person I know who consistently and constantly uses the fascist term regime is Attorney Ben Meiselas of MeidasTouch.  But his status-quo commenters continue to use the word “administration” as if they don’t listen to what Ben says.  All others online and at microphones try to sanitise this despicable lawless fascist regime by calling it an “administration” as if we were still a democracy.  People in their denial refuse to understand that this is no longer a time of “business as usual and things are fine” which seems to be what most people want to believe.  This immature, fist-pumping, rude finger-pointing world-bully dictator likes to present this phony image of being all big and tough but is really one of the most thin-skinned of people.  To him and his thin-skinned regime, anything they disagree with (including facts) they call “fake news” and/or a “witch hunt.”  Lawlessness, going after the media, not having the maturity to take ownership and responsibility for the problems one creates and blaming them on others and so-called “vandals,” ignoring judge’s order, ignoring court orders and one being above all laws is fascism and a dictatorship.  Fascism is what the US is now living in, and having ramifications around the world.  In addition, I’ve never been convinced that the 2024 election was legitimate, in part, because of the speed of it.  It went too fast based on other national elections historically which were much slower where there were big gaps in the results coming in.  Election experts saw problems.  They urged mealy-mouthed Harris to demand a (hand) recount in the swing states where they saw election problems/”anomalies,” but she couldn’t be bothered and instead went on holiday to Hawaii.

From AI:

Quote (with my slight edits):  The term “34-count convicted felon” used within this article refers to the current white house occupant [name redacted] who became the first former U.S. white house resident to be convicted of a felony. On May 30, 2024, a Manhattan Supreme Court jury found him guilty on all 34 felony counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proved that the dictator falsified these records to hide a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film worker Stormy Daniels.  Prosecutors successfully argued that the records were falsified to conceal an illegal scheme to influence and protect his 2016 presidential election campaign.  End Quote.

Dictator or King?

The US dictator has erroneously referred to himself as “king” on several  occasion, and then there’s that “No Kings” movement nonsense.  The people who started that movement apparently did no research on this topic and what’s required to be a king before coming up with the word king.  Under fascism, one has a dictator.  Under a monarchy, a hereditary family lineage, one has a king.  The village idiot would not know that he can’t be a king because a hereditary family lineage is required for him to be a king with a monarchy.  That does not exist in this case.  Instead, he’s a fascist, authoritarian dictator which he wants to be and he has installed fascism with the complicity of his “maga” cultists enablers in the US congress and the majority of the US supreme court.  (I use lower case because of my lack of respect for both institutions).  The dictator tries to sanitise being a dictator by using the wrong word:  king.  Or because he’s a dummy, and doesn’t know any better.  He doesn’t know the difference between king (and its requirements) and dictator.  And many others in the US who don’t know — and have done no research on this — use the wrong word “king” as well.   They don’t know the difference and do not know what I’ve stated here about a hereditary linage being required for one to be a monarch/king/sovereign.  Think King Charles III and the Windsor Family Monarchy in Britain.  King Charles III is the Sovereign, the Monarch, the Head of State and the Supreme Governor of the established Church of England/the Anglican Church, the State Church.  King Charles acts/behaves very maturely, the opposite of this piece of childish and petty village idiot. King Charles seems to be a very nice guy and a very nice person.  He doesn’t demand constant attention and it’s not all about him every day.  Whereas the US dictator is a septic, absolutely horrible person.  He’s the lowest of lows; “the bottom of the barrel.”  He’s gutter trash.  Muchas Gracias to you for your attention to this matter.]

 

Article Updated (15 August 2026):

[Disclosure: In my past, I worked at a local Suicide Prevention Network, so I found this especially troubling/fucked up]. Apparently the word suicide is taboo in the UK. I had no idea. The word can’t even be spoken or printed apparently. Therefore, if Harrison died by suicide in the River Cam, that would never be said or printed. It has to be kept “hush, hush.” So silly. So it’s just implied by using the code language “nothing suspicious found?” (Roll eyes/sigh). How did people get this far? I thought we were all adults here, no? Apparently not. Another example of this insanity is that Jason Arday, a former/resigned Cambridge University professor accused of “widely publicised allegations that he plagiarised and falsified parts of his research, as well as claims of fabrication in his autobiographical accounts. He was found dead at his home in South London on 14 August 2026, nine days after his resignation.” His death is described in the same way as Harrison’s: Found dead but “nothing suspicious found.” Translation: Suicide. So that is code language for: He took his own life or he died by suicide, because one can’t or is not supposed to say the taboo “s” word (suicide) in the UK. That is fucked up. Strange. Weird. I didn’t know that was the case in the UK. And this taboo is not new. Where does one begin with this insanity? And what nut started this insane “tradition?” I found an article from 2014 addressing this topic:

I Didn’t Realise the Word ‘Suicide’ Was so Taboo in the UK

Also:

Breaking the taboo of suicide – we need to talk

End of Update

This is a strange one and apparently no one wants to talk about what really happened.

The authorities found Harrison’s body the next morning in the river.  He died 7 June 2026 but his funeral wasn’t held in the King’s College Chapel until almost 4 weeks later on 3 July 2026.

Celebrated Cambridge University organist who played in world famous carol service dies after ‘falling in the River Cam’

How did he do that?

“Emergency services raced to the scene the following morning after a report was received of a body in the water at an area known as the Backs, as several colleges back onto the river there.  He was pulled from the shallow river, which is usually packed with punts during the day, but was declared dead at the scene.”

I asked:  How does one accidentally fall into this particular mostly shallow river?  And why the snap judgment from the emergency services/authorities that he fell into the river and that “nothing suspicious is suspected?” (read down the page).

According to AI:

Quote:  It is generally not easy to accidentally fall into the River Cam by King’s College Bridge.  The banks along The Backs are well-defined, the paved paths are separated from the water, and the commercial flat-bottomed punts are wide and stable.

Controlled Banks: The edges near the college grounds feature structured stone walls or flat lawns rather than slippery, unexpected drop-offs.

End Quote from AI

So sorry to hear about the unexpected and very mysterious death of musician Harrison Cole.  He was 25 at the time of his death (June 2026) and held the position of Assisting Organist at the renowned King’s College, Cambridge (Oxbridge).

“Nothing suspicious is suspected” is what I’ve read in each article about this.  Well, if “nothing suspicious is suspected,” why hasn’t anyone said what happened to Harrison, in detail?  It all seems very hush-hush.

My choral friend said, “Why doesn’t Luke, his partner, say something?  You’d think that he would make a statement explaining where he himself was at the time and how Harrison happened to get into the river and how he drowned, to clear things up, rather than having this ongoing, dangling mystery.

On one site, someone wrote that “apparently he committed suicide.”  When “nothing suspicious is suspected,” suicide can be the case from my research.

Someone asked “how did this happen?”   That person was heavily attacked just for writing that and wanting to know some details.  What’s wrong with people wanting to know how this esteemed musician — who had accomplished so much and was at the top of his field — could have drowned in the river outside the King’s College Chapel and how he got in the river in the first place?  What’s wrong with people wanting to know that?  What is wrong with people?  Have they “all” gone insane?  They have so many hangups.

Unfortunately, many people brainwashed in outdated traditions can’t talk about death at all.  There’s a whole crowd like that.  And they refuse to understand that death is part of life.  So there is no reason what-so-ever why people should not talk about why and how someone died.  Period.

I will talk about it, period.  I think about Margaret Hillis, Robert Shaw, Dr. Paul Traver, Norman Scribner and other stellar Chorus Directors who have died, and of course other outstanding musicians, including Harrison.  I also think about the many talented actors of the past generation who died of cancer of one type or another from tobacco smoking.  What a waste.  It starts to bring tears to my eyes.  They are all gone forever.  That is hard to think about; I try not to think about that.  I think death is a complete waste of a human being, and I don’t believe in all that scare-tactic heaven and hell nonsense.  I think that when one dies it’s like being under permanent general anesthesia.  That’s it.  Or as I’ve heard some people refer to death, “It’s lights out.”  I know many people say about the deceased person, “He’s/She’s gone to be with the Lord.”  Yeah right.  Well don’t count on it!   And no, that’s not the case at all — it’s just that most people want to believe that as a way of comforting their grief — but the fact is we haven’t had Judgment Day yet (where the brass/the trumpets sound and all…not that we ever will have Judgment Day).  Judgment Day has to come first before anyone goes to heaven or hell.  So there’s a big hole in one’s theology regarding death and going to heaven or hell.  I remember getting into an argument with my dad over this.  I challenged him on Judgment Day and all he could say was, “Well you’re right, they do say that.”  I know they do.  So he asked me, “So you think [name of person] is just lying up there in the ground?”  I said:  Yes.  Where do you think [name of person] is, in some holding tank with billions of other people waiting for Judgment Day to arrive?  He couldn’t answer the question.

In Harrison’s case, the coroner has offered no details of how he died.  His obituary reads that “He died suddenly.”  How?  How did he get in the Cam River (shown below).  Was he thrown off that cement bridge down there by one of his friends playing around or what?

Or was his death by suicide?  Did he jump off that bridge and — being a shallow river — broke his back, neck or his legs and (if he couldn’t walk) drowned that way.  I suppose that could explain how “he died suddenly.”

My choral friend brought this up:  Was this a hate crime?  Was Harrison drowned/killed because he was queer?

From AI:  “The University of Cambridge is generally very queer-friendly, boasting a large and visible queer student population, active advocacy groups, and supportive institutional policies, though individual experiences across its historic collegiate system can still vary… Student surveys and demographic snapshots indicate a remarkably high percentage of queer and non-heterosexual students relative to national averages.”

I just think this is all so very tragic for Harrison himself, his mother and father, his brother Josh, and his partner Luke.  If it were a suicide, were there no visible or obvious signs that his family noticed?  Maybe he and Luke were having problems? — Luke wasn’t with Harrison at the time? — or he and his other family members?, and Harrison felt there was no way out, were it a suicide.  I hadn’t considered it might be a suicide, but since someone mentioned it back in June at the time of his death, that makes more sense at this point.  Even if one is at the top of their field, that doesn’t mean that one can’t be depressed and/or suicidal, and the depression may have nothing to do with one’s career.

About the Cam River:  AI says that this mostly shallow river is approximately 91cm-122cm deep / 3-4 feet deep or 304cm / 10 feet at its deepest but that is only in spots in the mud areas of the river.  But one can drown in very shallow water, especially if one can’t walk, as I mentioned above.

The story goes that he drowned in what’s known as “The Backs” of the River Cam (shown above) — which is in back of some of the Colleges of Cambridge University — which runs in back of the  King’s College Chapel shown over on the right in the above image, where he was Assisting Organist.

Reading his bio, at age 25, Harrison had already accomplished a lot in the Church of England, including serving as Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral (Anglican) and previously Organ Scholar at Trinity College Cambridge.  He was also Assistant Organist at Gonville and Caius College.  He spent three years as a student at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music.  He was planning to go to St. Michael’s Cornhill in London and begin focusing on freelancing.  I assume he wasn’t interested in a permanent position as a parish, chapel or Cathedral Organist or Choirmaster.

Some commenters wrote that they’d never heard of Harrison.  Well, that’s their problem.  That’s not surprising though.  I doubt that most people know the names of the Organist and Choirmaster at their church — and they don’t care! — even if their names and degrees (if they have degrees) are printed on the service leaflet.  That’s because many (most?) people don’t care about the music, in part, because they don’t know anything about music and they’re there for what they call “the spoken word.”  I had a relative like that.  She complained about me being all into the music.  My choral friend told her:   Well he’s a Conservatory-trained musician (she found that to be intimidating she said) and his experience is in the Anglican Church.  She said, “But he should be into the spoken word — just because she was into it — that’s what it’s all about.  He told her:  Not to him it’s not.  She claimed to be Episcopalian, but her attitude about “the spoken word” is right out of the Roman Catholic Church, from my experience.  She had no ear for music.  She could hear the same piece over and over and not know it was the same piece being played or performed over and over.  Only a small group of people would have heard of Harrison Cole.  It’s a special niche.

Well, there’s a lot about this story that is being deliberately left out.  Excluding suicide, how did Harrison get into the shallow river to begin with at night.  I read he was leaving an event on campus at the end of term.  Was he all there mentally?  Was he sober or intoxicated at the time?

From my research with AI, it is not easy to “accidentally fall” into the River Cam, and then drown.  Looking at the image above, that makes sense, because it’s a rather shallow river.   Was he with anyone at the time?  If so, what did they do?

I have found no report or response from the coroner online, probably from the family’s request.

Again, in the online comment responses to his death, no one is questioning anything (other than that one person I mentioned who got reprimanded for doing so), such as how he happened to get in this shallow river to begin with and how he happened to “die suddenly” and whether he was alone or with other people?  Apparently most people don’t want to know how he died, which I find to be damn odd.  If it were a relative, wouldn’t they want to know how their relative died?  Or would they prefer to live in Denial about that too?  “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know!”

As for his music, one thing Harrison is being remembered for is his organ accompaniment for The Trinity Chapel Choir’s superb performance of the Duruflé – Requiem (below).  He was the Senior Organ Scholar at Trinity College Chapel at the time.  Here is a Tribute to Harrison by the Former Director of Music, Stephen Layton.

 

The Harrison Cole Fund

The Harrison Cole Fund has been established in memory of the late Harrison Cole, Assisting Organist at King’s College, to help aspiring musicians who have ambition to come to Cambridge in the future.