Pelican, Carolina Beach

Pelican against a backdrop of storm clouds at Carolina Beach

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Guest Photographer: Michael Powell

My friend and neighbor, Michael, has really taken to photography this year and I’ve been working with him “in the field” to teach him macro and garden photography as well as composition. I had him shooting completely manual and with a tripod during his very first session (that’s it—throw Grasshopper into the fire from the start!). It’s been great to have him accompany me to Green Spring Gardens and Meadowlark when our schedules permit. I sometimes catch him in my front yard garden photographing things in bloom (making me feel somewhat guilty that I’m not out doing the same). I’ll be sharing some of his work from time to time. Who knows? Maybe I can convince him to start a photo blog of his very own!

Earlier this week, he shot this wonderful photo of green-eyes-glowing Foxy, my neighbor Eric’s persnickety cat, hiding in the canopy of fig leaves in my backyard garden. Foxy loves sitting on the fence and even burrowing under the flowers in the front yard. She won’t let anyone pet her (save for Eric, of course), and if you get too close to photograph her, she lets you know her displeasure. I think she should be a little bit more hospitable, considering I’ve created this little oasis for her to lounge, don’t you? (Note to Barbara—Foxy most certainly did not inherit the hospitality gene!)

© Michael Powell. All rights reserved.

In the studio: Hannah’s senior portrait

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Love-in-a-mist

Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Fairy Wings

Fairy Wings or Orion Epimedium (Epimedium grandiflorum ‘Orion’), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

(Spoonin’) Siberian iris and Foxglove

Siberian iris (Iris siberica) and Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Siberian iris

Siberian iris (Iris siberica)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Fleabane daisies

Thanks to my blog buddy and fellow photographer, Steve Schwartzman (Portraits of Wildflowers), I now know this is a type of Fleabane daisy. Each bloom is tiny—less than 1/2 inch in diameter.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Seen & Heard: Eloise Schwarz

Eloise Schwarz, a member of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), made her Seen & Heard profile debut in the May/June 2012 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which just arrived in member mailboxes. Seen & Heard is a new column I developed for the magazine in 2011 and we had 48 members get enthusiastically involved in our first outreach effort! We’ll be publishing one or two profiles (as space allows) in each issue of the bimonthly magazine. Other members previously profiled were Danielle Nicosia, John Kinstler, Judy Martin, Anne Taylor, Sam Spritzer and Jeff Bonnell.

Join the Hearing Loss Association of America!
Do you have a hearing loss or know someone who does? Consider membership in the Hearing Loss Association of America. Student annual dues are $20, individual annual dues are $35, and family/couple annual dues are $45. Fees outside the U.S. are slightly higher. All memberships include discounts on hearing-related products, convention and special event early bird discounts, AVIS and Alamo car rental, and the award-winning Hearing Loss Magazine. Sign up for membership here.

Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

ELOISE SCHWARZ Born 7.9.1952 in Quincy, IL / Resides in Wauwatosa, WI

MY HEARING LOSS… I’ve had a hearing loss since birth. Ten years ago I got hearing aids.

SAGE ADVICE… Think about, ask about and learn about hearing loss—
find others with it and join them!

WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I WANTED TO BE… teacher.

FIRST THING I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY… a house

THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE… was getting my MBA.

IN MY SPARE TIME, I… write.

HOBBIES? Sewing, playing piano, talking politics with family and friends

PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED THAT I… stutter.

MY LITTLE KNOWN TALENT IS… grant writing.

I HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR… chocolate.

I WOULD LOVE TO MEET… both President Bush’s.

I COLLECT… tiny cups and saucers.

WORKING NINE TO FIVE… housekeeping, nursing, laundry, nurse’s aide

I AM… organized, objective and dependable.

I HAVE A FEAR OF… uncleanliness.

I REALLY SHOULD STOP… worrying!

I REALLY SHOULD START… laughing!

I SIMPLY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT… my computer.

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE IS… my hearing loss and not being able to understand the technology and aids for it.

FAVORITE QUOTE… Life is a big canvas—throw all you can on it!

EVER MEET ANYONE FAMOUS? Yes, the governor of Wisconsin and one of the prisoners from The Rock.

MY THREE FAVORITE POSSESSIONS… my wedding rings and my car (a new VW)

KINDEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE FOR ME… My husband loves me, married me and cares for me!

MY LONG-TERM GOAL IS… to travel to all 50 states.

IF I RULED THE WORLD… We would all see and hear things through my ears and eyes!

MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT… getting ahead, living even though I’ve had so many life-death encounters in my life

I love the real-life articles about real-life people in Hearing Loss Magazine.

Seen & Heard: Jeff Bonnell

Jeff Bonnell, a member of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), made his Seen & Heard profile debut in the May/June 2012 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which just arrived in member mailboxes. Seen & Heard is a new column I developed for the magazine in 2011 and we had 48 members get enthusiastically involved in our first outreach effort! We’ll be publishing one or two profiles (as space allows) in each issue of the bimonthly magazine. Other members previously profiled were Danielle Nicosia, John Kinstler, Judy Martin, Anne Taylor and Sam Spritzer,

Join the Hearing Loss Association of America!
Do you have a hearing loss or know someone who does? Consider membership in the Hearing Loss Association of America. Student annual dues are $20, individual annual dues are $35, and family/couple annual dues are $45. Fees outside the U.S. are slightly higher. All memberships include discounts on hearing-related products, convention and special event early bird discounts, AVIS and Alamo car rental, and the award-winning Hearing Loss Magazine. Sign up for membership here.

My favorite response from Jeff? “I simply cannot live without… air.”

Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

JEFF BONNELL  Born 6.15.1948 in Worthington, OH / Resides in Atlanta, GA

MY HEARING LOSS… No one knew I was totally deaf in my right ear until my first grade teacher noticed I had to turn my head to hear when we were playing “Pass the Secret” game. She called my folks; I was tested right away. My left ear compensated for my hearing loss until a minor stroke 12 years ago left me with only 5 percent hearing in my “good” ear. My hearing aid restores my sanity!

SAGE ADVICE… Know you are not alone; more than 36 million Americans have a hearing loss, too. Hearing loss can certainly be frustrating, but advocate for yourself and your hearing loss. Help educate those who can hear how to best communicate with you (e.g., look directly at me, don’t cover your mouth when talking, etc.)

FUNNY HEARING LOSS MOMENT… I tried to get my 96-year-old mother to use closed captioning on her TV. She finally relented to using it when Victor, her soap opera star, was using a voiceover while he was ‘thinking’ instead of moving his lips. After just a short while, Mom exclaimed, “Do you know sometimes the words appear on the screen before the person actually says them?!” Go, Mom!

WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I WANTED TO BE… an English teacher.

FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY… I loved teaching neighborhood kids in our basement classroom, complete with a large blackboard!

FIRST THING I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY… A bright orange Plymouth Barracuda!

CRITTERS? I had two cats who lived to be 14 and 21. We had a coming-of-age party when Julya turned 21!

THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE… Console the family of a suicide victim (I work part time in a funeral home.)

I LOVE THE SOUNDS OF… birds chirping, clocks ticking, waves pounding the surf and chimes.

HOBBIES? Gardening, traveling, reading, hanging out

MULTILINGUAL? Je parle un peu de Français und Ich spreche Deutsch.

PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED THAT I… had open-heart surgery.

MY LITTLE KNOWN TALENT IS… singing in the shower.

I HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR… anything chocolate.

I COLLECT… airline memorabilia.

WORKING NINE TO FIVE… cleaned school houses, taught 7th and 8th grade English, and English as a Second Language, reservations sales agent and supervisor for Delta Air Lines, and funeral assistant in a funeral home

I AM… liberal, caring and outgoing.

BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD… Computers

I HAVE UNCANNY ABILITY TO… make people smile.

I SIMPLY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT… air.

THREE FAVORITE POSSESSIONS… My liberty, my family and my free time

LONG-TERM GOAL… peer mentor for hard of hearing folks

SHORT-TERM GOAL… Consoling families after they experience death in the family

I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED AS… loving, kind and thoughtful.

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT… Passing Algebra

I enjoy the variety of articles in Hearing Loss Magazine and wish it came out monthly! Encourage articles from frontline folks like us.

No Compromise: Richard Einhorn, Composer

Richard Einhorn, award-winning composer, wrote the cover feature for the May/June 2012 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which I design and produce bimonthly for the Hearing Loss Association of America. In his article, Einhorn writes about his sudden hearing loss and how, with his clever uses of existing technology, he continues to work and live well with hearing loss. For the full article, click on this link: Richard Einhorn

Learn more about Richard Einhorn on his website here and the fascinating details about how Voices of Light came to fruition here. To learn more about Joan of Arc, view his program notes here.

I found it especially moving that Einhorn recorded the church bells ringing in Joan’s birthplace and included them in the production. In his program notes, he writes: Just prior to writing Voices of Light, I traveled to France to visit some of the important Joan of Arc historical sites. I went to Orleans where she won her first battle and also to Rouen, where I was deeply moved by the ruins of the castles where Joan was held and the cross erected at the site of her martyrdom. I also traveled to the little village of Domremy, Joan’s birthplace in the southeast, where her house and church, much restored, still stand. I took along a portable DAT recorder and recorded the sound of the Domremy church bell and later incorporated it into my score. I felt that Joan, who so loved church bells, whose voices seemed to speak to her whenever they were ringing, would appreciate the effort.

Excerpted from his website: 

Einhorn has written opera, orchestral and chamber music, song cycles, film music, and dance scores. Among his many projects is the wildly popular Red Angels for New York City Ballet, set to Einhorn’s music with choreography by Ulysses Dove, which had its television premiere on Live From Lincoln Center (PBS) in May of 2002. His film credits include the Academy Award-winning documentary short, Educating Peter (HBO) and Arthur Penn’s thriller Dead of Winter (MGM), starring Mary Steenbugen; and Fire-Eater directed by Pirjo Honkasalo, for which Einhorn won the Jussi (Finnish Academy Award) for Best Musical Score.

Born in 1952, Richard Einhorn graduated summa cum laude in music from Columbia University. Before turning his attention exclusively to composition, Einhorn worked as a record producer for such artists as Meredith Monk and The New York Philharmonic. His production of the Bach Cello Suites with Yo-Yo Ma won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Performance.

Recent works include The Spires, The City, The Field, a 9/11 memorial premiered by the Albany Symphony. A Carnival of Miracles, a piece written for Anonymous 4, premiered to a sold-out crowd at New Sounds Live and broadcasted live over WNYC-FM. My Many Colored Days is an orchestral commission from the Minnesota Orchestra. He lives in New York City with his wife Amy Singer and their daughter Miranda.

________________________________________________________________________________

I had the honor and pleasure of photographing Richard for Hearing Loss Magazine (HLM) in March. Barbara Kelley (HLM’s editor-in-chief) and I met up with him at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. After a great photo session, we dropped Richard off at his hotel and picked him up later to take him to the Meyerhoff, where his work, Voices of Light, was being performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with Marin Alsop conducting. Einhorn composed the piece in 1994, inspired by the 1928 silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Live performances accompany a screening of the film. The libretto is based on excerpts from a variety of ancient writings, most of it from Medieval female mystics, and scored for a small orchestra, chorus and soloists. For me, the performance was a haunting, incredibly moving and very profound visual and aural experience. To get a feel for the combination of this powerful film and Einhorn’s remarkable composition, view the 10-minute video segment below. The film is captioned in both French and English.

Barbara interviewed Richard for a companion piece to his article. This interview is included in its entirety below.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Composer Richard Einhorn and Voices of Light

by Barbara Kelley

Richard Einhorn’s acclaimed Voices of Light has been called “a great masterpiece of contemporary music” and “a work of meticulous genius.” Voices of Light is an oratorio set to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc. Voices of Light has been performed more than 200 times by major orchestras all over the world, including two recent performances with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop conducting.

Einhorn, who has composed many film scores and concert works, had been interested in writing a large work on a religious subject. In 1988, he finally discovered what he would do. As he wrote in the liner notes for the Sony Classical recording of Voices of Light, “Imagine walking down an ordinary street in an ordinary city on an ordinary day. You turn the corner and suddenly without warning, you find yourself staring at the Taj Mahal. It was with that same sense of utter amazement and wonder that I watched Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc for the first time.

“That was back in January 1988. I was idly poking around the film archives of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, looking at short avant-garde films, when I happened across a still from Joan in the silent film catalog. …some 81 minutes later, I walked out of the screening room shattered, having unexpectedly seen one of the most extraordinary works of art that I know.”

The film is lauded as one of the top ten films of all time. Richard’s original score took six years to put together. He says about Voices, “[It] explores the patchwork of emotions and thoughts that get stitched together into the notion of a female hero.”

Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, said, “I don’t think anyone will be able to leave this performance unaffected.” Right: Richard Einhorn rehearses with soloists at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore; from left: Stephen Campbell, Phoenix, AZ; Rachel Grider, Modesto, CA; and Nola Richardson, Sydney, Australia

Another oratorio by Einhorn, The Origin, recently received audience and critical acclaim for its European premiere in Bremen, Germany. Richard also devotes his time to advocacy for people with hearing loss and has been featured in The New York Times and elsewhere. Read The New York Times article about Richard, “A Hearing Aid That Cuts Out All the Clatter,” by John Tierney at http://bit.ly/EinhornNYTimes. 

A Hearing Loop Installed for Voices of Light Performance
On March 2 this year, Einhorn’s Voices of Light was performed at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. This was a special event because Richard was able to hear his own composition. Thanks to Ampetronic and their U.S. distributor, Fred Palm of AssistiveAudio, Inc., as well as the Meyerhoff, a hearing loop was installed in the concert hall for the weekend performances.

Audience members with hearing loss using cochlear implants or telecoil-equipped hearing aids were able to enjoy the performance by accessing sound transmitted electromagnetically by a hearing loop—a wire that circles the room and is connected to the sound system.

After the performance, Barbara Kelley, editor-in-chief of Hearing Loss Magazine, interviewed Richard to learn more about his career.

You were 15 when you began composing. Did you play a musical instrument? I first learned to compose entirely on my own, by experimenting with tape recorders and improvising. I played drums in a rock band when I was a kid, but quickly became interested in writing my own music. I was involved with an avant-garde multimedia ensemble in high school and, as an experiment, wrote a piece for some friends of mine who were modern dancers. The moment I saw my friends dance to my music I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life except compose.

Above: Barbara Kelley, Richard Einhorn and Brenda Battat (Executive Director of Hearing Loss Association of America) after the performance of Voices of Light at the Meyerhoff 

After a year or so, I realized I needed to study formally and I went to Columbia University where I majored in music, studying ultimately with electronic music pioneer Vladimir Ussachevsky and opera composer Jack Beeson. I graduated in 1975 summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, then worked as a record producer for Columbia Masterworks for five years, before pursuing composition full time.

Do you come from a musical family? Nobody in my immediate family is musical. However, my great-aunt Hattie was a concert pianist in the early 20th century. My grandfather was an inventor and worked in East Orange, New Jersey when Thomas Edison was in West Orange. Somewhere in the family, there is correspondence between them! Probably, I got my interest in technology from my grandfather and my musicality from my great-great grandparents.

How did you know you had this aptitude at a young age? I don’t know if I have any aptitude. I have a lot of interest in composing music and I have a lot of ideas. I am also extremely persistent and won’t let go. I work very hard at composing but it’s enjoyable work and I love it. I am thrilled that other people often seem to enjoy it as much as I enjoy composing it.

What inspires you? Sound inspires me the most of all. I live for sound and my primary experience of the world, especially the world of emotions, is through sound, not sight or another sense. I am also inspired by great stories, such as Joan of Arc’s and Charles Darwin’s. I find them both amazing human beings in many different ways.

What projects are you working on now? I have a new piece for Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, a collaboration with the great filmmaker Bill Morrison. It will be an interactive piece called Shooting Gallery, with laser beams, six projectors and an hour of interactive music. I haven’t done anything like it since high school and I’m very excited!

I’m also writing a new piece for dance for two great musicians I’ve worked with quite a bit, violinist Mary Rowell and pianist Judith Gordon. The work will premiere in fall 2013. Further off is a large piece for orchestra and film, again with Bill Morrison. All I can say at the moment about it is that Bill, the conductor, the orchestra, and I are extremely excited about it.

Are there any projects you would like to work on? What is your dream project? I am a dramatic and lyrical composer. I’ve lived many of my dreams. I always wanted to work with Bill Morrison, and already have on the Darwin piece, The Origin. I have always wanted to work on an opera, and it looks like I will. I’ve composed scores for some truly wonderful movies and I’ve worked with some of my favorite musicians—and some of my favorite people.

I feel very lucky to have been able to do so and doubly lucky that my family has fully understood that this is an unusual life, but in many ways a rewarding one for all of us. I want to continue to compose the best music I can for the best musicians I can, for the most exciting projects I can find, and collaborate with artists from other disciplines whom I admire. I’ve met some amazing people along the way, and that has made the hard work and long hours it takes to compose all the more worthwhile!

Special thanks to the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for permitting us to take photographs of Richard Einhorn in the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

All photos © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Siberian iris

Siberian iris (Iris siberica)  © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Itsy bitsy

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Spider in Blue False Indigo

Unidentified spider in Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Intriguing at every stage: Love-in-a-mist

From that feathery foliage at the onset to those otherworldly blooms to the past-its-prime pods (as seen here), Love-in-a-mist is eye candy in every stage of its life.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Love-in-a-mist in blue and white

One of my favorite flowers to photograph—the ethereal, other-worldly Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Detail of Torch flower

Macro detail of a Torch flower (Kniphofia ‘Coral Glow’)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Siberian iris

Siberian iris (Iris siberica, unknown variety)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Oxalis ‘Charmed Wine’

Oxalis ‘Charmed Wine’ from Proven Winners; Common name: Shamrock

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Geranium ‘Sue Craig’

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Backlight

Unidentified leaf, backlighted by morning sunlight

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Jerusalem sage

Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa), a member of the Mint family; photographed against a backdrop of orange poppies

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Raindrops on Hosta leaf

Thanks to my friend (and new photo buddy), Michael P., for pointing out this photo op at Green Spring Gardens on Sunday afternoon!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Close Ranks, MARCH!

Siberian iris (Iris siberica), photographed (in formation, no less!) at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily

Daylily (Hermerocallis yezoensis), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Twins

Spiderwort (Tradescantia), photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Clematis ‘Mr. President’

Photographed at Green Spring Gardens © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Siberian iris

I think this might be the Siberian iris ‘Snow Queen’ (Iris siberica ‘Snow Queen’) variety; photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Ditto

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Spider on Spiderwort (how befitting!)

Unidentified spider on Spiderwort (Tradescantia); photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.