Malcesine Dawn, BCM MidEurope booth

Malcesine, Italy was just as wonderful as last year, and twice I witnessed a lovely sunrise moment over the mountains. The sky begins to lighten very early somewhere in the 5am range, but because of the tall mountains surrounding the lake (Lago di Garda), you don't actually see the sun until right at 8am, when it very abrupty pops over the mountain and sends intense rays of light down the mountain slopes into the water. The increase in heat in that moment is also palpable. Because of the time (I suppose), church bells somewhere nearby also begin to chime right at that moment...

Here are some pictures (though no pictures can capture this sort of thing - at least not my consumer-grade point-and-shoot camera):

Just as the sun is cresting the mountain:


A few moments later - intense beams of light (close-up):


The town itself, before being bathed in light:


For comparison, here's Malcesine in the afternoon:


And a rough panoramic shot I made of dawn:
External link because it's a really wide picture

And for good measure, here's a shot of the BCM booth at MidEurope. A little more spartan than at Midwest, but as you can see, Jim, Newm, and Eric got all dolled up to make up for it. I think this is our best group shot ever...

(Special thanks to Irene, Tina, and Andrea for standing in, and for playing so wonderfully in the WYWOP this year!)

Now, off to the southern coast of Spain for a week. Ok, that probably sounded pretentious, just like Italy did. I *really* don't mean to... :)

PS No internet access until August 2nd, in case you're trying to reach me...

Labels: BCM, Malcesine, MidEurope

John Corigliano @ Midwest 2006

I never got around to the Midwest recap post, and since I'm supposed to be doing my taxes right now, this is as good a time as any. Eric didn't make it out this year - first time he's missed in something like 11 years (or was it 13?). Definitely wasn't the same without him (for one, I went to sleep a lot earlier...), but we were joined by someone I just never would've expected to see at Midwest:



That's right, John Corigliano himself. And yes, that's a customized BCM International polo shirt he's proudly sporting. We have a few more of these (without John's name on them, of course), so if you're interested, contact us...

Another highlight was the premiere of Loose Id for Brass Ensemble and Drumset by SoundInn Brass on Saturday morning, conducted by Ray Cramer:



And of course, there's always Mackey taking pictures of his food. This was at lunch with Newm, Corigliano, Verena, and myself. Corigliano bought us all a couple bottles of wine. Hell yes.




Best way to finish out the week? Of course - a gathering of BCM Forumites at the booth!


L-R: Will Hays, Jamie Henderson, Newm, Jim, Montoya (our ever-faithful booth assistant), Matt Schoendorff, and me

That's all I have time for right now - perhaps a few more photos will surface on the BCM Blog at some point.

I love doing taxes. Ugh.

Labels: BCM, Corigliano, Forum, Midwest