A Restaurant Table in Picton, Ontario

-

 

Looking at this picture taken on August 15 , 2026, brings back warm memories of that day.  Taken in Picton, Ontario on the day of the concert, “From Picton to the World: Bringing Home the Music of Gena Branscombe,” I see the people who came together to celebrate Gena.   Fifteen minutes before this picture was taken, these people had finished the Gena Branscombe walking tour of Picton.  They gathered for lunch before attending the concert.

 

And, what a great group of people, some of whom had met each other during the walking tour and if they didn’t know one another, they became friends through their connection to Gena Branscombe.

 

From left to right going around the table.  Ryan Jeanfreau, of Houston, Texas, his girlfriend seated next to him is Dr. Lauren Koszyk.  Lauren is The Gena Branscombe Project’s 2025 Arts Administration Scholarship winner.  On their travels to Picton, Ryan and Lauren stopped in Ottawa making time for Lauren to study manuscripts of Gena’s unfinished opera, Bells of Circumstance, held at the National Library of Canada.  Lauren is creating a publishable score of the opera.

 

Next, Lauren Gordon and Jeannetta Bushey, who are former neighbors of Dan and me.  They are both therapists.  Jeannetta and I, pre-pandemic, began a project of analyzing the depths of who Gena was pulling from her letters and music.  That project has grown to include Laurine and Allison.

 

Seated next to Lauren and Jeannetta is Dr. Derek Strykowski.  Derek has recently completed the autobiography about Arthur P. Schmidt, Gena’s premiere publisher.  The book will be published hopefully some time in 2027 or early 2028.  To coincide with the book’s release, The Gena Branscombe Project is creating a concert that includes music by a number of the composers Schmidt published, both men and women.  Stay tuned for details.

 Next to Derek, are Dr. Laurine Marlow and her husband, Dr. Bill Marlow. Laurine and Bill taught at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.  Bill taught  in the Nuclear Engineering Department.  Laurine, well, dear Laurine, who I have waxed poetic about in several earlier blog entries. She worked with Gena Branscombe for 18 months before she died.  Laurine went on to write her dissertation on Gena having primary resource materials of conversations with the subject, letters, manuscript scores, diaries, Branscombe family member interviews and acetate recordings as well.  From her dissertation over quite a number of years has sprung two more Gena dissertations, the CD I recorded, a one-woman show, The Gena Branscombe Project, scholarships in Gena’s name, a number of people who were “chosen” and oh so much more.

 A table in a restaurant in Picton, Ontario,  a table filled with Gena fans, friends and one could say, a great deal of intellectual power sitting there!  What a joy this picture brings my heart. 




#BringingBackBranscombe

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Research

-
Image
Research.....that daunting word when you are a student knowing you have a paper due or a presentation to give.  Hours spent in the library going through materials and old books.  Or, research could be a scientist spending countless hours, days and years creating experiments that hopefully will lead to a breakthrough in medicine.  As researchers we gather all we have read and learned in the hours of reading and experimenting to create a paper, presentation and an announcement that will change the world. Life experience is research, also.   With knowledge and facts you have accumulated over your time on this earth, you can put yourself in a setting, observe your surroundings, imagine a by-gone era then try to connect the dots of facts, scrutinize details and come up with an actual retelling of a happening.  That may sound weird, yet, it works. Recently my colleague and friend, Dr. Laurine Elkins Marlow, along with her husband, Bill, and I made a trip...
Read more

Kathleen Lockhart Manning

-
Image
Kathleen Lockhart Manning (1890-1951). Born in Hollywood, California, Kathleen was fortunate to study piano and composition with Moritz Moszkowski in Paris.   Also a singer, she performed with the Hammerstein Opera Company in London during the 1911-1912 season.   As a composer she wrote mainly vocal works for which she penned her own words.   Her song cycles include, “Sketches of New York,” “Sketches of London,”   “Sketches of Paris,” “Chinese Impressions,” and “Songs of Egypt.”   A number of her individual songs were arranged for chorus. After the death of Miss Lockhart Manning’s husband in 1938, mental illness haunted her the remainder of her life.   She died in Los Angeles.   I am not sure if Kathleen Lockhart Manning and Gena Branscombe actually knew each other but there is a reference to Gena in one of Kathleen’s diary entries.   She noted that she must send Miss Branscombe a copy of her newest published song cyc...
Read more

New Work Expo - National Opera Association - Boston, January 2026

-
Image
  National Opera Association’s 2026 conference in Boston included a New Work Expo. Exhibiting their operas, composers and librettists with posters, business cards and excerpts shared with attendees the personal story behind their operas whether from the historical viewpoint, to multisensory operas, humor, women’s issues and current political commentary. The creativity and passion for their operas was obvious. Now, as opera lovers we must help promote these musical works. Here are a few of the presentations: The Gena Branscombe Project’s Composer scholarship winner, Emily Clements and her librettist Bonita Blunt showcased their opera, “Letters to Lily.” Iranian composer, Niloufar Nourbakhsh and librettist Lisa Flanagan have created operas about the oppression of women in Iran. Composer Stephen Eddins comic opera, “Why I Live at the P.O.” based upon a Eudora Welty story has had several productions. I shared with Stephen that my father had been a Postal Inspector. And, how about an ...
Read more