Thanks, Twenty Twenty-Two!
Winter Solstice and New Years is my favourite time of year. I love the dawning of the new light and the idea of starting again, refreshed and anew.
Here’s a little (edited!) look-back on my year and all the wonders I’m grateful for…so grab a cuppa and come with me on a little creative journey through 2022…
My studio continues to bloom and grow. Variously know as The Mishaverse, StudioM, The Laboratory, and Mission Control: my living-dining is now a full-on creative music and media studio with a big and unapologetic upgrade coming in the next months. Some snaps of the creative mayhem over the holidays:
I had the lovely fortune of meeting and befriending guitarist and media maven Anthony Garonne of Make Weird Music—he interviewed me about my My 3-music video EP, Radiant Poison (released in March 2023—check it all out here!)—and then I was invited into his annual Christmas song project which became an epic rock anthem version of O Come All Ye Faithful with my singing (in Latin!). Check it out!:
Anthony Garone: Guitars / producer / arrangement. Me: Vox. Rob Muller: Bass. Zach Miller: Percussion.
More transformations are afoot: I’m coaching with musician, touch guitarist, composer, and King Crimson alum, Trey Gunn. Never underestimate the power of bouncing ideas off of someone with oodles of experience and a valuable perspective. Our conversations and his insight into my work are changing my musical world and opening me to my unique compositional and performative voice. So, YAY there.
And in the same vein of assembling a team or board of directors to support my work, Stephanie Bianchi and Elisa Monti of Monti-Bianchi Performance Wellness provided a much needed and deep source of sustenance for me over the past year: something in-between expressive ears therapy and creative-mindset coaching, their work is stellar. I highly recommend assembling a support team to foster your creative work flow.
My music video WINGS was published in the multi-arts Synkroniciti Magazine (editor: Katherine McDaniel).
I released my Shakepeareian micro-opera WITCHES! for Halloween:
And my gratitudinous cup doth continue to overflow: for Dave, in whose garden I flourish, and the many pals near and far who inspire me and keep me afloat—some of whom I see more frequently than others…
Speaking of which, a new collaboration is taking shape with fellow singer and arts education maven, Shannon Holmes. In a jaunt to her faculty studios at Uni of Regina in Canada, we cooked up the beginnings of a series of experimental duets:
Dave and I travelled a bit this year to New England and Dave to the Dominican Republic, Africa and Bangladesh, plus many domestic points…
On the homefront, I’m proud to continue crushing fitness and health goals. And we painted the house at Beauchamp Ranch, put a fence in, and are planning our interior remodel—we even ordered a generator (#21CenturyGoals).
At Halloween!
I went from casual Astros fan to rabid Astros fan—and had SO MUCH fun going to a game, plus we won the World Series #likeyoudo
I’m finishing my second year as a Visiting Scholar at my doctoral alumna Bath Spa University where I stay connected via the experimental wonders of The Open Scores Lab.
What’s next?
A full-length concept album in 2023, a big StudioM upgrade, travels with Dave, more face time with my peeps near and far, and lots abundance and gratitude!
Enjoy one of the videos from Radiant Poison:
Lastly…
