BBC Knowledge profiled me in this 60-second spot, airing worldwide to promote the Lonely Planet TV series, Roads Less Travelled. The question put forth: Why do we travel? The conclusion I drew: If you can’t laugh, there’s a problem. That’s me on the camel.
(This piece is part of a package that won Gold for Best Television, at the Global PromaxBDA Awards, June 2013. Hats off to Elizabeth Jensen.)
The view from stage on a sold-out night at Davies Symphony Hall, in San Francisco, always blows my mind. Here’s how it looked last weekend, right before Semyon Bychkov walked on stage to conduct us in Benjamin Britten’s 1962 War Requiem—a death mass for war itself. Tears were shed. Joshua Kosman, in his SF Chronicle review, called us “sensational.” Next week, I’m performing Handel’s Messiah. Music is humankind’s highest achievement; it goes where words cannot, and transforms souls. Come, if you like Baroque, and we’ll share a moment. I’ll wink hello from stage.
The view from stage, Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco (©John Vlahides 2013)