The village of Pyla in the United Nations Buffer Zone on the island of Cyprus is the site of the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project (PKAP). My little brother, Ian Ragsdale, is producing and directing a documentary on this archeological survey, and I have a large part to play in this film’s music.

Above is the trailer shown at an event this past weekend to what the website terms as “rave reviews”.

Just before the event this past weekend, Ian had this to say to me: “I’ve just uploaded the final version of the video to the exhibitors at UND [University of North Dakota]. Bill, the co-director of the archaeological project and the host professor at UND, called me because he wanted to personally tell me that he and everyone else were very excited and very happy with how this video turned out. He specifically wanted me to pass on the kudos and thank you for your music–in his words, your tracks ‘hold it all together.’”

The music on the credits plus the like music played for a little bit in the main body of the video is Ian’s. The rest is mine - the first time my composing has been used in any film of any sort.

Jeff

My niece (by little brother Ian and Randi), Ruby Renee Ragsdale, was born 2 October 2009, healthy and happy.   She is Ian and Randi’s first child and the photographer, Wendi Schoffstall, is quite remarkable.

More Ruby (and more of Wendi’s work) here…

And yes, sexual violence is not an easy thing to speak out about, but speaking out about it needs to happen.  And by way of letters and calls to our federal legislators and president, yes we can — make things happen.  It’s our country.  It’s our world.  And I will be writing my letters today. 

Jeff

www.transposemysong.com

The Cabildo in New Orleans was built in 1799 and served as the place’s town council building up to and after annexation by the United States, ceasing in that function in the 1850s.  This place stands at the center of the history of Louisiana and was the location of the ceremony marking the Louisiana Purchase.

The American composer Amy Beach wrote Cabildo, her only opera in 1932.  Set inside the Cabildo itself, it was never performed in her lifetime, receiving its premiere in 1947.  The only fully-professional production was staged in 1995, and as far as I know, it was not performed again until this past week when Houston-based Opera Vista gave the work’s New Orleans premiere inside the Cabildo itself to rave reception.

For this production, Opera Vista’s Co-Founder and Artistic Director Viswa Subbaraman needed a new score and orchestral parts transcribed from the original manuscript which was nigh-on-illegible.  Yes, it was legible enough (barely) for a transcription to be made, but certainly not for performance, and no orchestral parts could be found.  And while Viswa was the brains behind the editing and final decisions with the new score and parts, he did not have the time to do the grunt-work of transcribing the hundred-page full score or to make the needed parts.

This is where Transpose My Song came in.  Using industry-standard software, I was able to do the many hours of grunt-work Viswa needed to have done.  He then was free to do other things and had more freedom to make the changes and edits necessary to make Cabildo come alive for the audiences of New Orleans.  The performances were a triumph, and I am proud Transpose My Song was able to play a part.

Frankfurt am Main, February 6, 1965
original found here

Come Sunday — The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington

Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
purchase a season subscription | purchase individual tickets

Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 3:30pm
purchase a season subscription | purchase individual tickets

Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
3826 Wheeler Avenue
Houston, Texas 77004

Continuing a tradition begun with Dave Brubeck and his quartet in 2006, the Houston Chamber Choir turns its talents to jazz. Duke Ellington, like Brubeck, wrote sacred music throughout his career. The Chamber Choir and guest singers join forces with a stellar big band lead by Barrie Lee Hall, Ellington’s long-time trumpeter and pianist Paul English in this rare glimpse into sacred side of The Duke.

Portrait of Mendelssohn by the English miniaturist James Warren Childe (1778-1862), 1839

After Bach

Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Click here to purchase individual tickets through Da Camera of Houston

Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center
500 Texas Ave.
Houston, Texas 77002

Da Camera of Houston and the Houston Chamber Choir collaborate once again, this time to trace the influences of J. S. Bach into the 19th century. Franz Liszt’s “Via Crucis,” a late work scored for two pianos and chorus, will be featured along with a cappella settings by Felix Mendelssohn commemorating the 200th anniversary of his birth.

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Liszt’s “Via Crucis” is not done all that often, but I can tell you that it’s very, very cool.  The Mendelssohn will be an exciting contrast and complement to the Liszt and will be a lovely way to spend a Saturday evening.

Sunday, March 29, 2009, at 3:30 p.m.
purchase a season subscription | purchase individual tickets

St. Philip Presbyterian Church
4807 San Felipe St.
Houston, Texas 77056

2009 marks the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death. In tribute, the Houston Chamber Choir, soloists and period instrumentalists present “Esther,” Handel’s first English oratorio. Tuneful and heroic, “Esther’s” immediate success signaled a new direction in Handel’s career that eventually led to his masterpiece, Messiah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_(Handel)

As well as singing in the choir, I will be singing a bit role in this: one of the Isrealites in one of the scenes.

The Houston Chamber Choir
Hear the Future — 11th Annual Invitational School Choral Festival

Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
FREE Concert

South Main Baptist Church (directions)
4100 Main Street
Houston, Texas 77002

Co-sponsored by AMC Music, Hear the Future pays tribute to the essential work done by outstanding choral music educators in our region and their excellent choirs. Enjoy this afternoon of music and show your support of arts education in our schools. You will come away convinced that the future has never sounded brighter.

Gian Carlo Menotti’s
AMAHL & THE NIGHT VISITORS
A holiday story about a young boy’s encounter
with the Three Kings

Sunday January 4 at 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm,
Monday January 5 at 6:30 pm
Tuesday January 6 at 6:30 pm

Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church
6221 Main Street

Tickets are $5 children (12-) and seniors (55+)
$10 adults. Available at the door or in advance
by calling 713-328-0778.

For directions, click here.

Palmer Church is located across from Rice University and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Park in lots off of Fannin and Main Streets and along Main Street. Childcare available for children 5 and under in the church nursery.
For more information, call 713-328-0778.

Wikipedia article chock full of information about the opera
Amahl on YouTube

Oh my!  An update!

Save for some shingles and all from Mother’s roof in Indiana (yes, Indiana), my family got through Hurricane Ike unscathed, thanks be to God.  That and a bunch of other things have prevented my posting here since Willy Wonka-knows-when.  My new Dell Inspiron 530 (Apple still too expensive) is doing quite well, and we shall see how things with www.transposemysong.com fare in 2009.

Has my life gone as I had originally planned?  Not quite.  But could my life had gone far worse than it has?  Yes.   Has it gone that worse?  Definitely not.  Am I thankful?  You bet I am.  Do I feel for those who have not been so lucky as I?  If I don’t, there is with me something very, very wrong.

I am thankful that God has seen fit to keep me out of a lot of the ’stuff’ of life good Pastor Turner used to speak of at South Main Baptist Church.  And I am quite thankful for the huge bevy of friends I’ve found and kept up with on Facebook: Marion, Kurt, Dan (look forward to meeting him in-person at some point), Harry Potter/Snapecast people, yelp.com buds, Palmer and South Main pals, Alief school friends, HBU friends, etc., etc., etc. as well as the good number of cousins I’ve found.  Indeed on 27 December, some school chums and I will be putting on a reunion in Houston.  Should be quite fun - while it’s no substitute for in-person interaction, internet social networking is very, very cool.

As for the Great and Profound Thing to come out of my spiritual journey this year, that’s an easy one: I’ve learned more and more to separate Jesus from ‘religion’ (don’t get me started on the doctrine of the Trinity - we worship one God and one God only — don’t worry).  And I’ve also come to empathize (if that’s a good term) with those who one might call “Cresters”: those who show up at church only at Christmas and Easter.  These good souls are also derisively called “hatch-match-dispatch” — why is it the best socials are always at weddings, funerals, and (to a lesser extent) baptisms?

I’ve come more and more to realize most “Cresters” have not rejected God or his love.  Some have simply rejected to one degree or another the idea that the conventional and traditional institutions (aka church) are good messengers and that regular attendance on Sundays (or whenever) can lead to a better walk with the Divine.  Others still look to those institutions as good messengers, but have lost connection or never had a real connection with what church life is or at least what it should be: a community of faith and love rooted in Divine grace. These good folks, it seems to me, have a lot to teach us: how to indeed separate the Divine from ‘religion’.

And what, pray tell, is “Divine”?  It’s the one proof I have that there is a Man upstairs: in my own life, it showed up most clearly some years ago in the grocery store during a somewhat tumultuous time in my life.  As I’m shopping for apple juice, a quiet feeling came over me, as though my late grandmother were tucking me in bed, that everything was going to be all-right.  I felt as though I were bathing in a shower of light.  Sounds new-agey and dorky, eh?  Sure does!  But I have felt that sort of presence more than the once, but not nearly often enough.

Most likely because I have all-too-often been too obstinate to let God come in the door…Happily, he is a being of grace and mercy who became a baby, child, and then a man and who walked alongside us.  God-with-us.

Merry Christmas!

Jeff