This short summer sabbatical has been fruitful in many ways: energizing, relaxing, challenging and restorative. Highlights have been hearing my colleague Weicheng Zhao play brilliantly at the June National A.G.O. finals in Houston and a two-week trip to Costa Rica in July.
Language immersion experiences are intense. Sometimes it feels like hitting >
I am excited that I will be taking a short sabbatical this summer. Postponed from 2015 because of the sudden vacancy in the associate organist-position and the resulting national search last May-June, I will be on sabbatical and vacation this summer, Monday, June 6 through Monday, September 5.
With Weicheng Zhao competing >
Sabbatical. I need one. Dealing with the complexities of all All Saints ā trying to hold it all together ā is very challenging work, all the while trying to be a musician.
And that is precisely the focus of my sabbatical: reclaiming my being a musician.
I need to learn some Bach fugues. Iām going to practice >
Oregon Bach Festival, Paris, South Africa
On sabbatical, James Walker visits Dallas, Chicago, New York City, Boston, London, Paris, Taize, Cape Town and Johannesburg. And is selected to spend June and July with Helmuth Rilling in a Conducting Masterclass at Oregon Bach Festival.
