I'll Have My Bourbon With Richard Burchard

It might not surprise you to hear me brag about a family member. "Everybody does that," you'll say, and go on about your business. But this time I'll keep bugging you because my bragging rights have their basis in reality, even if my claim to my relative is a bit tenuous.

My cousin Richard Burchard is, if I may say, a brilliant composer. Of this I have proof, even if I'm not sure we're related. Yesterday morning I heard the 2012 California All-State High School choir rehearse Richard's new a cappella choral piece, "Ubi Caritas," at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena. So many beautiful voices united to sing such gorgeous music made my eyes water, for some odd reason. (Full disclosure: I heard them sing "Ubi Caritas" in a basement choir room, but the sanctuary makes a more impressive photo.)

Richard is Associate Professor of Music and Department Chair at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. He teaches a study abroad program in Salzburg, Austria and recently taught one in South Africa. He and I did not meet at a family reunion. We met online several years ago when Richard was--I'm not sure what he was doing--Googling Burchards, I guess. Yesterday was our third in-person meeting, but we hit it off from the beginning. I've even got pictures of him on my Facebook. We felt like family immediately and we're pretty sure, somewhere back in our history, there's a connection. If there isn't, we don't want to know.

During the rehearsal, Richard had a chance to take questions from the kids in the choir. What an opportunity for everyone, when you think about it. It was great for Richard because he got to tell them about his process, let them know why he wrote what he wrote. They got to ask why he chose a particular chord progression or why he didn't use super low bass tones (so choirs without super-low bass singers could perform it). One young man asked which classical composer Richard would most like to have a beer with. ("I'm from Kentucky, can it be bourbon?") If I remember correctly, he chose Handel. You don't get to have a conversation like that with Bach or Mendelssohn. I'll bet they'd have loved to have taken the microphone to talk to those talented kids but they wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining.

Richard heads back to Louisville today. "I can always be at a premiere," he says. Considering his works have premiered in places like Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal, I don't blame him for wanting to make the trip. But I'm hoping for more premieres around here, too. That way he'll be back soon.

Recession Religion

Lake Avenue Church is reflected here in the empty storefront across the road.

That's literal, not figurative. Though the stores may be empty these days, Lake Avenue Church seems full.

I wondered if the same is true of all churches. It's easy to make the assumption that, during a recession, church attendance would rise. So you know me. I Google.

The only thing I found was a Gallup Poll from March of 2009. It says no, attendance is the same as it was in 3/08. But last March people hadn't been unemployed for eight, nine, ten months yet. Stores weren't closed up and down the street. Prices hadn't been so high for so long.

This slump won't last forever. (I promise!) But while it's going on, let's take a completely unscientific poll. Have you been attending your house of worship more in the past year than before? If so, is it helping? In what way?