The Discovery of Awe

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

~ Albert Einstein

Y

 esterday,  I stood gazing up at the sky with about a thousand other people on the National Mall, waiting for a glimpse of the Discovery.  It was a perfect day ~ sun-drenched, temperatures in the low 70s, and a flirty breeze.  I walked around with my smarty-pants phone at the ready, talking to chatty strangers and an occasional co-worker.  We were all excited, wondering when and where the shuttle would appear, and whether we would be able to see it without binoculars.



And then someone shouted, “There it is!”  And we turned as one towards the Washington Monument and saw it ~ this giant 747 with Discovery riding on its back like a large bug.  It quickly disappeared behind the trees; some people started running towards the Smithsonian Hirshorn Museum to see if they could catch another glimpse; others looked a little confused and disappointed. What that it?  That’s as much as we’re going to see?



The Discovery shuttle flies over Washington, DC (C) 2012, M D'Eigh



The seers in the group [those with short wave radios, or WTOP playing on their phones] assured us that it was just flying over National Harbor and would be back.  To just be patient.  Wait for it. It would appear again.



And then there it was ~ flying over the Capitol rotunda, over the White House, and back around the Washington Monument and over the Hirshorn.  It made this circle three times.  And each time, I snapped blindly away, the sun was in my eyes.  As well as tears.  Because Discovery was saying goodbye. 

And I hate goodbyes.

But the tears were also because of awe.  Awe that we, mankind, had gazed at the stars for a long time, and dreamed of reaching them.  And then we did.  How amazing is that?!  We imagined what it would be like and then we did it.

Last Saturday, I attended a lecture co-hosted by The Saint Cecilia Group and the John Paul II Fellowship.  It was the first in a series of talks that explores the relationship between art and faith.

During Saturday’s lecture titled The Healing Power of Art: The Role of Art in Reaching the Wounded, Dr. Andre Leyva, the President of Montgomery Clinical Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland, mentioned that we have become immune to beauty, even blind to it.  We walk around with our heads bent over our smarty-pants phones, and never see the beauty that surrounds us. 

We are unmoved.

And thinking about the exhilarating rush of seeing the Discovery fly overhead, the tears stinging my eyes as its retirement brought to mind loved ones who were also growing older, I wondered. Is it really as bad as that?  Have the majority of us lost the ability to lost our breath at brilliant sunrise or sunset?  Do we no longer feel anything when a parade goes by?  Does the thought of a Puccini opera make our eyes glaze over?

Have we forgotten how to be in awe?

There is no doubt that a crisis is brewing.  Certainly, it is a challenge to reach a generation who has never known what is like to live without the constant hum of technology. 

But standing amidst that crowd of excited Discovery watchers, and seeing all the subsequent Facebook statuses and tweets about it, I have reason to hope.  Yes, we had our smarty-pants phones out, but it was because we were aware of being part of something historic.  Something amazing.  Something awe-inspiring.

Beauty is not dead yet, and neither is our sensitivity to her.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Did you see Discovery with your own eyes yesterday?  How did it make you feel?  Do you think it is more difficult to be sensitive to beauty with all the technology we have?  Or does the technology put us more in touch with beauty?

Lecture Series Announced: Art in the Life of Faith

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. 

~ Henry Ward Beecher

 

T

he cobwebs in here are ginormous!  Goals, goals, goals.  Looks like they still ended up on the cutting room floor despite my best intentions.  The road to the hot place and all that, what?

But that does not mean I have been eating bon bons and watching the idiot box.  Oh no, my friends!  La Belle has been making truffles while the chocolate is hot.  So to speak.  Had a brilliant idea back in January, let it ferment for about a month and a half.  And then popped the cork on a new bottle of artful awesomeness at the end of March.  Behold!



Miranda, Sir Frank Dicksee

Painting a Path to Heaven: Art in the Life of Faith – a monthly series of lectures designed to explore how we are lifted up by art and beauty, how imagination allows us to perceive it, the vital effect that art and culture have upon our emotional, spiritual, and psychological life and what it means to live a life full of creativity and faith.   

The first lecture is on the healing power of art and it will be held on Saturday, April 14 at 7:30pm in Alexandria, Virginia.  You can find out more here.

If you are in the area, we would love to have you!  If you do attend, come and find me and introduce yourself.  Then you can tell me whether I look like I write.  Ha!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

The Eighth Annual Saint Cecilia Arts Festival: The War Between the States

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. 

~ Twyla Tharp

Well, we did it again.  Another November, another successful Saint Cecilia Arts Festival!  And by all accounts, it was the best one yet.

Once again we wooed and wowed the audience by turns with poetry, Broadway, original music, moving monologues, and side-splitting comedy.  But this year we added a twist: a theme.

2011 marked the 150^th Anniversary of the American Civil War, so that was our main theme.  To broaden it a little for our artists, we added four sub-themes: War, Tragedy, Honor, and Survival.  Both Sullivan and I wondered how the artists would interpret the theme.  They did not disappoint.



The Civil Strings



Civil Strings was our Featured Artist this year.  They performed four beautiful pieces, two of which are personal favorites: Theme from Schindler’s List and Ashokan Farewell, from Ken Burns’ Civil War series.  Over Farewell, Donald Maclean, one of the members of the quartet, read the Gettysburg Address.  It was a moving performance that ended the evening on a wonderful note (if you’ll pardon the pun).



Michelle Jacobeen, mezzo-soprano

Michelle Jacobeen returned and performed two numbers from Broadway musicals.  One was as a Civil War nurse – I Never Knew His Name and one from the musical Jekyll and Hyde – A New Life.  As she did last year, Michelle won the hearts of our audience with her lyricism and dramatic interpretation.


Janet Purdy, mezzo and Maria Bissex, sorprano

Maria Bissex, soprano, sang two songs not normally associated with a Civil War theme: an incredible version of Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, and a moving duet arragement of Into the West, where she was joined by mezzo Janet Purdy.  The latter was one of my personal favorites; believe me when I say that the Annie Lennox version does not do this piece justice.  You need to hear this duo’s harmonies!

Eric J. Kingsepp, Hannah DeRegibus,
Paul Dunlap, and Mikaela D'Eigh

I think it is safe to say that the highlight of the evening was the Went with the Wind skit by Carol Burnett.  I remember watching this skit back in the day, and laughing until my sides ached.  The drapes weren’t green velvet, but the red silk still got the desired response: Starlett [yours truly] had to wait a full minute and a half for the laughter to die down so she could say her next line! 

The menu this year matched the theme, with some stalwart favorites sticking around: Fried Chicken Bites [my mother’s receipe], Sausage Balls [Paula Deen’s recipe], Petite Ham Biscuits, Bacon-Wrapped Dates, Petite Pumpkin Pies, and Pecan Tassies. 

We also had a cheese board donated by Fields of Athenry, a sustainable and organic farm located in Purcellville, Virginia.  And this year’s  spotlighted winery, Breaux Vineyards, is located in Loudon County, not that far from Athenry.  The owners down at The Virginia Wine Experience in Fredericksburg were kind enough to give us a discount on a case of some of Breaux’s nicest vintages.

To see more pictures, read the event program, or simply to learn more about the great work these group is doing to renew culture in the local community, visit The Saint Cecilia Group at www.saintceciliagroup.org and click on Past Events.   I promise you’ll be marking your calendars for Saturday, 17 November 2012!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

The Eighth Annual Saint Cecilia Arts Festival

To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist. 

~ Schumann

Every November, an exciting event celebrating the beauty of Art and the art of Beauty takes place in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.  Now in its eighth year, the Annual Saint Cecilia Arts Festival has grown from a small group of friends gathered around a piano to almost two hundred attendees and over two hours of outstanding performances!

For the first time this year, The Saint Cecilia Group has chosen a theme for the festival: the commemoration of the 150^th Anniversary of the Civil War, with the sub-themes of war, tragedy, honor, and survival.  Although not all the works performed will deal directly with the Civil War, the heartbreak, pain, suffering, and acts of heroic sacrifice of war are recurring themes no matter if it’s 1865 Gettysburg, or 2011 Afghanistan.

The show will be at St. Mary’s Lyceum,

313 Duke Street

in Alexandria, Virginia and tickets are on sale now through November 12 at The Saint Cecilia Group.  But get them now; they sell out fast!

Thank you so much for supporting local and regional talent! Yours truly will be performing once again, in among other things, a skit with one English know-it-all and one with a very well known Southern rascal in a skit involving . . .a curtain. 

See you on the 19^th!

Oremus pro invicem,
~ Mikaela

The Seventh Annual St. Cecilia Arts Festival: The Party's Over





St. Cecilia, Matthew Alderman



For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

~ Romans 7:15
St. Paul was a smart cookie. The evil I did this morning that I did not want to do was wake up at 7am ~ after going to bed at 2:30am. How my exhausted body managed this feat, I have no earthly notion. Yet here I sit, a mug of spiced herbal tea in my hand, watching the sun pour his honeyed essence through the windows.

Last night was a great success. Over one hundred forty guests attended the Seventh Annual St. Cecilia Arts Festival in Old Towne Alexandria and we put on quite a show for them. Faure, Bach, Broadway show tunes, poetry readings, comedic monologues, Monty Python, even a couple of Polish nightclub art songs.

The highlight was our Featured Artist: Michelle Jacobeen. Not only does Michelle have an incredible voice -- strong, passionate, and lyrical -- but she has a wonderful stage presence and an engaging personality that reached out to the audience and won them over. My favorite was Taylor, The Latte Boy. While not a Broadway tune per se, it reminded me of Adelaide’s Lament from Guys and Dolls. "Bring me java, bring me joy!" Ah yes, young love. What a hoot!

Now, I see you tapping your foot and asking “That’s all very nice, Mikaela, but what food did you serve!?” Fair enough. Some of the recipes you are already familiar with: Bacon-Wrapped Dates, Rum, Whisky and Baileys Chocolate Truffles. They have become standards and I cannot escape from having to make them. I tried, but one of my volunteers refused to help out until I promised they would be attendance!

This year, we added chicken skewers. Every other event where I have had them the chicken was dry and almost always served with peanut sauce. Zzzzzzz. Oh, I am sorry ~ where was I? Oh yes, boring chicken. Well, this year I decided to make up my own recipe. I wanted to do a Southern Fried Chicken Skewers [with fried okra in between ~ mmmm!] but my Assistant Caterer laughed at me. Sigh ~ yankees will never understand the sweet siren call of okra!

Instead, I opted to cut up the chicken into bite-size chunks and marinate them in basil, tarragon and wine. In between I placed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Heaven on a bamboo stick!

This year, we served our now traditional Cranberry Punch, along with Warm Spiced Cider. A new addition were four wines from Loudon Valley Vineyards. A few close friends and I had made a day trip out to Virginia Horse and Wine Country. One of the wineries we stopped by was Loudon Valley. The 2009 Route 9 Red was fabulous, as were the 2008 Classic White and the 2008 Viognier. And the 2005 Legacy after dinner wine is a luxurious mix of musty oak and dark cherries.

For dessert, in addition to the tipsy truffles and miniature pumpkin pies, my friend Leslie, who is an incredible baker, brought three delectable type of cupcakes: Lavender Lemon Vanilla Crème, S’Mores and Salted Chocolate Caramel. And no, she doesn’t bake for a living, so your only hope is to either be her good friend or attend next year’s Arts Festival. Mark your calendars now for 19 November 2011!

Oremus pro invicem,
~ Mikaela

P.S. Seriously, I am going to make the Southern version just for myself this weekend! What do you suggest with the okra - hush puppies? Corn fritters? The possibilities are endless! Cheers!

The Seventh Annual St. Cecilia Arts Festival: Get Your Tickets Now!

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.
~ Stella Adler

Only 24 days until the Seventh Annual St. Cecilia’s Arts Festival!! Broadway show tunes, classical harp, opera, original music, poetry, and of course, everyone’s favorite – Monty Python skits!

Joining us this year as our Featured Artist is Michelle Jacobeen. Michelle performed the much acclaimed Girl in 14G at the St. Cecilia Arts Festival in 2009 and is a gifted and versatile mezzo-soprano. She received a Bachelor's in Music from The Catholic University of America and has also attended the London Dramatic Academy. She has performed in many musicals, operas, choirs, jazz bands, a cappella groups, weddings and as a featured soloist at the Kennedy Center.

Thanks to Father Klienmann and Marianne Skees of the Saint Mary’s Young Adults for allowing us to partner with them again so we can bring this popular cultural event back to the St. Mary’s Lyceum, 313 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia.

Tickets are on sale now through November 12 at The Saint Cecilia Group.

Please note: Doors open at 7:15pm and the show begins at 7:30pm. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis; no seating before 7:15pm.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email the Artistic Director of The Saint Cecilia Group at Director (at) saintceciliagroup (dot) org.

Thank you so much for supporting local and regional talent! Your truly will be performing with a couple of English blockes and a dead parrot.

Looking forward to seeing y’all on the 20th!

Oremus pro invicem,
~ Mikaela