Singapore. That’s a melodious name. And that’s where I’m going in a couple of days to meet up with the Seven Seas Voyager. I will speaking on behalf of the Smithsonian as we cruise from Singapore to Dubai.

Getting everything in order for a lengthy trip is not my strongest skill, so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Instead of blogging I’m preparing a series of new lectures for the cruise (Bollywood, anyone?). And no, I don’t expect you to feel any sympathy. I’m well aware how blessed I am to have these opportunities.

The learning curve on this opportunity, though, will be steep! Once I get past the most challenging talks and start to unwind a little, I will try to share some thoughts with you from parts of the world that I don’t know well.

In the meantime, I ran across this Ted Talk that I want to share. It’s always nice when science confirms what we know instinctively, and it’s just one more reason to think about the value of studying music.