I guess I've really been on an early music kick lately. I really got into the Renaissance music survey over the summer, and especially the late-Renaissance English stuff. Partially inspired by that, though also partially inspired by how badly rehearsals were run in the choir I was in last year, I auditioned for the early music choir (Pro Arte) and just found out today that I got in! That's very exciting, and I can't wait to start. First, it's probably going to be the best choir (talent-wise) I'll ever be in. But more than that, the repertoire is incredible: our concert plans so far are 1. music by Henry Purcell, 2. music of Mexican and Spanish composers of the Colonial period (tends toward intensity of expression), 3. the annual big oratorio (last year was Haydn's The Seasons), performed both here and in Chicago, and 4. some other piece with orchestra. So that's very cool. And I just noticed that there's an early music group giving a master class here on Sunday, and I've been having lots of fun listening to their sample recordings on their website: http://www.liberunusualis.com/cds.html. (Try listening to the Sanctus under the "Flyleaves" CD: it's pretty wild. Also, members of my family may wish to listen to Gabriel fram heven-king, because it's basically a piece we sing at St. Paul's some Christmasses.)