The word itself drips with trendiness: Google. Plus, “hangout” doesn’t really make you think of scholarly pursuits, does it? But there it is. “Google Hangouts” is the new place to go! And we’re going. Starting with our Spring 2014 courses, we’ve added Google Hangouts to … Read more
I continue to enjoy Suzanne Massie’s Land of the Firebird, especially when I’m teaching a Russian course or leading a tour to Russia, because it has so much useful information and is a delight to read. In preparing for our new course in Early Sacred Music, I … Read more
I’m purging my closets and drawers. It’s a hard process as I seem to form an attachment to every plastic spoon, receipt, or sock that comes into my life. Still, the hardest thing, for me, is throwing away newspaper clippings. I have boxes of old … Read more
The Liberal Arts can be your best educational path to achievement in a specialized field, according to Robert Twigger in his article “Anyone Can Learn To Be a Polymath.” Polymath refers to one who has learned much, people like Da Vinci, Goethe, and Benjamin Franklin. … Read more
It might seem silly, particularly when we honor our US Veterans on the same day, but serious things were happening today on Weimar’s Market Square. Even if people were wearing Fools’ Hats. The official beginning of Fasching, known as Carnival most places, was triggered by … Read more
WEIMAR, Nov. 9, 2013 – Bathed in the quiet of early evening, we were snug at our computers when the bell went “klingel.” Our dearest Weimar friends, Gudrun and Jochen, rushed in and said, “Get your coats on and come.” After 12 years of friendship, … Read more
It has been a while since we interviewed Groucho the singing parrot, and it’s about time for a reprise. Some things just get better with age. Groucho was not very happy the day of this interview. He bit a chunk out of the microphone windscreen … Read more
We will have missed the Onion Market when we get to Weimar next week. Now in its 360th year, the ultra German Onion Festival (Zweibelmarkt) will be a memory. A scent in the air, you might say. Yup, onions. You should see the weeks of … Read more
Why do I love singers so much? The memory hit me yesterday as I drove in to deliver the pre-concert talk for Deborah Voigt’s concert for the Van Cliburn Series. It goes back to a Miss Virginia pageant in 1967. No, I wasn’t in it (I wish). … Read more
Leading a Russian Waterways trip from St. Petersburg to Moscow for Smithsonian Journeys, I eagerly awaited our stop at the Island of Kizhi in the northern Republic known as Karelia. The most famous structure, the Church of the Transfiguration, has 22 domes built by of … Read more