Meira Warshauer was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and graduated from Harvard University (magna cum laude), New England Conservatory of Music (with honors), and the University of South Carolina. She studied composition with Mario Davidovsky, Jacob Druckman, William Thomas McKinley, and Gordon Goodwin. Her works have been performed and recorded to critical acclaim throughout the United States and in Israel, Europe, South America, and Asia. She has received numerous awards from ASCAP as well as the American Music Center, Meet the Composer, and the South Carolina Arts Commission. Warshauer was awarded the Artist Fellowship in Music by the South Carolina Arts Commission in 1994, and in 2000, received the first Art and Cultural Achievement Award from the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina.
Warshauer has received commissions from the Dayton (Ohio) Philharmonic, the South Carolina Philharmonic (three orchestra works), the Zamir Chorale of Boston with the Rottenberg Chorale (New York City), Zemer Chai (Washington, DC), Gratz College (Philadelphia), Kol Dodi (New Jersey); the Cantors Assembly, clarinetist Richard Nunemaker, violinist Daniel Heifetz, and flutist Paula Robison. Her CDs include the soundtrack to the documentary Land of Promise: The Jews of South Carolina and Spirals of Light, chamber music and poetry (by Ani Tuzman) on themes of enlightenment, on the Kol Meira label, and Revelation for orchestra, included on Robert Black Conducts (MMC). YES! for clarinet and orchestra, written for and recorded by Richard Stoltzman and the Warsaw Philharmonic, is scheduled for release by MMC in 2004.
Warshauer is on the faculty of Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina, where she teaches an innovative cross-cultural, multidisciplinary course on the experience of music as a source of healing. Warshauer has devoted much of her work to Jewish themes. In spring 2002, Kol Israel National Radio broadcast an hour-long program to her music. For more information about Meira Warshauer, visit her website at Meira Warshauer.
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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
We did it!
We did it! We recorded all three pieces, "Shacharit," "Ahavah," and "Like Streams in the Desert." You're probably thinking, of course you did--isn't that why you went to Slovakia?? Well, yes, but like everything in life, there were some suprises.
You already know I got sick with a major cold on Monday. It wasn't a great feeling, but at least I didn't have to sing, and with enough food and medicine and hot drinks, could keep myself awake and alert for the sessions. I really didn't see how I could make it through the day Tuesday, with 3 sessions scheduled and almost no break for food in between. But Timi called in the morning to see if I needed anything, and I said "Yes!!" She brought me some food from the vegetarian restaurant, oranges, and cold remedies that really helped. I also remembered that my water bottle could hold hot liquids, so I made green tea in it and drank constantly.
My job in the recording booth was to listen for errors, balance, interpretation, and to answer questions about the music. Emile, the producer, was also listening for accuracy, balance and interpretation, and Blanka, the choral director, made sure the chorus was doing its best. Hubert arranged that the sound production was working optimally, adjusting balance as needed. So I wasn't alone, but I did need to be actively involved. More important was that the singers stayed healthy....
On Tuesday, the day we were to record "Ahavah," the cold latched onto Jennifer Hines, the soloist for "Ahavah." Jenn felt miserable, but she could still sing--actually, her voice sounded great. As Timi reported, Jennifer heroically managed to make her recording Tuesday night in a session that went from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. The next morning she felt a little better, and we completed the recording of the third movement. Jenn later said she thought the congestion in her sinuses made it easier to project her high register! By the time we got the the concert on Thursday, though, Jenn's cold had moved into her chest. She still sang beautifully, but with more breaths than usual. Luckily, her recording was already "in the can," and she flew home Friday morning, with promises to rest and make sure she didn't get any complications from the cold. We were sad to see her go--Jenn was so much fun to have on the project. Her sense of humor kept us all feeling happy.
Thursday morning, the day of the concert, Stehpnie Gregory, the soprano soloist for "Shacharit," woke up feeling dizzy and not well. She wanted to skip the dress rehearsal and sleep, but Kirk needed her for the engineers to get the levels set for the concert. That afternoon, she slept and felt much better for the concert where she sang beautifully. There were two recording sessions scheduled for Shacharit--Friday morning and Saturday night. Stephanie asked if she could record her solo part, "Or Chadash," Friday morning, in case she developed something like what Jenn had, but we didn't get to it because Kirk wanted to record the parts with marimba--the marimba player wouldn't be available for future sessions. Friday night, Stephanie started feeling bad again. Timi came over to stay with her for a while. The next day, Timi consulted with her mother who has medical training, and it was decided Stephanie should see a doctor. We didn't know quite how that would work, but Timi arranged for the hotel clerk to call for the doctor. We needed to figure out payment (and pooled our dollars to help cover the bill), and to our surprise, the doctor came to the hotel! Not only the doctor, but also two assistants, in an ambulance. They set up an IV for Stephanie right in the hotel room. Then they recommended she be taken to the hospital for tests. By this time it was around 3:30 p.m., and the last recording session for Shacharit was scheduled for 6 p.m. That would be Stephanie's only chance to record, so she was quite concerned about going to the hospital and not getting back in time. Timi reassured us the hospital was nearby. All we could think of was emergency rooms in the States, and the hours that one waits to be seen...! But she had to go--health comes before anything else. By 4:30, Stephanie was back at the hotel! She had been examined, diagnosed, and treated, all within the hour. She felt much better, and got ready for the 6:00 session where she sang beautifully!
Meanwhile, Kirk had come down with a cold on Friday, too. He really didn't feel well, but managed to get through the morning session and slept the rest of the day, I think. Michael was the only one of us who escaped physical maladies in Slovakia. He had been sick the week before leaving for Bratislava, which had me worried, but he recovered fully, and stayed healthy the whole time.
Michael and Stephanie left Sunday morning in good health. We had no problems with recording "Like Streams in the Desert" Sunday, and finished with an hour to spare.
In peripheral excitement, Dinah Spritzer, an American journalist living in Prague, who wanted to attend the concert to cover it for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, got on the train to come to Bratislava Thursday morning. Her purse was stolen--the theif actually grabbed it and she struggled unsuccessfully to get it back from him. So her boyfriend, Jan, called me at 9 a.m. to tell me she woldn't be coming because inside the purse was her passport which she needed to cross the border from the Czech Republic into Slovakia. I had been looking forward to meeting Dinah because she is the niece of my Aunt Lucile "on the other side." I canceled her hotel reservation and went to the 10 a.,m. dress rehearsal. Around 11 a.m., my cell phone rang in the studio--Jan reported the police had recovered Dinah's passport and she was coming on a later train!
Dinah brought Maros Borsky to the concert. Maros is Curator for Slovak Jewish Heritage at the Slovak National Museum-Museum of Jewish Culture. I'll report more about meeting Maros, visiting the Jewish Museum, and other reflections on my visit to Slovakia and the experience of making the recording and the concert in a later post.
The main thing now is, we did it! I felt God kept us in the light, and blessed the whole venture. The only way I could get through it was to remember to trust that the whole project was ultimately in God's hands. I am happy and grateful that this very time-sensitive part of the CD project--the recording, with so many coordinated performers-- has been completed.
Now I think I'll start to unpack, wash clothes, answer e-mail....from home in SC.
Love,
Meira
posted by Meira Warshauer
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