Wow, it's been a long time ....

Dordt's Concert Choir sang this for the Christmas Concert in December, then several times on tour in early January ... I am still enthralled by it; just gorgeous.



More about this great composer and this work is available at http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/07/belarus_to_minnesota_composer/

Netherlands Tour Videos

Videos taken of the Dordt College Concert Choir in The Netherlands. Those shot at an angle are in the Grote Kerk in Dordrecht, from which our college derives its name; those shot straight on (from the balcony) are in the Hobbe van Baerdt Kerk in Joure, Friesland, the church my grandfather attended.

The Fabulous Dordt College Concert Choir

frump (frŭmp) n. 1. A girl or woman regarded as dull, plain, or unfashionable.

I love it when the underdog triumphs, at least when it's for real, and not some Hollywood cliché. Some may remember Paul Potts from a couple years ago -- bad teeth and all, the guy sang "Nessun Dorma" to peel the paint. This is just as delightful, and the "Britain's Got Talent" panel's reactions are priceless. YouTube won't let me embed this, so you'll just have to follow the link -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg

Sheer Exuberance

I absolutely love this. If only the bass player looked like he was having a good time ...

Digging Around the Old Family Tree

In May, the Dordt College Concert Choir will be touring in the Netherlands, about which I'm very excited. One stop, especially, is exciting to me -- Joure in Friesland is the home of virtually the entire Kornelis clan, at least as far back as Jacob Kornelis (1799-1890), who farmed near Joure. Jacob was the middle son of Wieberen Kornelis (1756-1822) and Wiegertje Halbes Kornelis; according to family lore, stubborn Frisian (redundant, I know) Wieberen,when forced under Napoleonic law in 1811 to choose a surname, said that "Kornelis was good enough" ... and so took it twice, becoming Wieberen Kornelis Kornelis, the first of a few "Dubbele" Kornelises. With thanks to my brother Ray, I've been exploring my roots a little bit. On paper it doesn't look all that impressive; then I consider that I'll be in the Netherlands with my own son, who can go back to his great-great-great-great-Grandfather Wieberen -- pretty cool.

View more of Benjamin's tree  |  Get your own family tree at Geni.com

Milli Vanilli at the Obamanauguration

OK, so by now we all know that the great musicians selected to perform at the Obama inauguration were forced to "lip-sync" (and "bow-sync" and "hand-sync") because the extreme temperatures would have made their temperamental instruments ill-tempered (ie, out of tune). But now we can also know what they were really playing! Interesting that it's 4'33" -- John Cage would be so proud.