Music Meets Drama

Hunting for Gena Branscombe’s published music has become a hobby for me. In my first blog post I wrote about an original three-measure manuscript that I found online. Searching E-bay and other internet sites countless times for Gena’s sheet music has made me lucky enough to buy many of her compositions. Along the way I communicated with sellers asking if they had any of Gena’s other works or if they would be so kind as to remember me if they found additional songs or piano works. I have made E-bay/internet vintage sheet music friends! Many of the sellers went to my website and read about my project and commented what a remarkable story I have told over the past 10 years. Of all these transactions and communications the most recent one touches my heart deeply. Listed on E-bay was a book of piano pieces Gena had published in the early 1900’s. I quickly put a bid on it then waited for the days to pass, all the while hoping I won the auction, and, of course, I did. The seller notifie...

Nearly three and a half years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Barbara Dana, wonderful actor and author. Our friendship began as we lost our mutual friend, Tim, and as we were both dealing with our deep sense of loss. I soon learned that Barbara was writing a young adult book about Emily Dickinson, "A Voice of Her Own." Now published and for sale at AMAZON.com. Her author's journey included years of researching Emily, her life, her poetry and her very essence as a person. At the time of our meeting Barbara was finishing her writing and close to submitting the manuscript to her publisher. What an act of love and admiration for one of our nation's most beloved poets. Barbara's passion for Emily Dickinson was infectious. Once her book was published her dream was to create an Emily one-woman show with text taken from her book. I asked Barbara if she would be open to collaborating on this project by adding song settings of Emily’s poetry. She quickly responded, “Ye...