| THE NEWS FROM BRUNER'S BROOD-APRIL 19, 2020 |
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Hello everyone!
It has been a while since I wrote an article for my artist page on Facebook and www.trentbruner.com, but like others around the world, the Corona virus has meant a many changes in music activities, work and family life for the moment. Here is an overview since my September 2019 article.
After
the 2019 Canadian summer fiddle tour and family visits, work continued
as normal as an organist with the Norwegian Lutheran Church and as a
conductor and piano accompanist for amateur choirs in the Bergen area
through the fall. When I was not practicing or conducting, I was
composing, and it has turned out to be a varied amount of material as
ideas have come to me, regardless of how busy or relaxed life has been.
Firstly,
I have written three country gospel songs that will eventually go in a
third gospel music book in the future. More on these songs will come
when this “long term” project comes to completion, whenever that will
be.
Secondly,
one new piano piece was written and debuted in December 2019 for a new
pastor serving the Norwegian Lutheran Church on the island of Osterøy.
His name is Jørgen Grimelid, a former Jeager fighter pilot in the
Norwegian Air Force, health administrator and psychologist. He began in
lay ministry with the Bergen hospitals and became more active in this
field in Bergen over time. As a man in his 60s, he took seminary courses
through the Tromsø Theological Seminary and became an ordained Lutheran
minister last year. His ordination celebration on December 14th and
15th in Bergen was the first time I had attended such an occasion and he
invited me to play piano for this celebration. I was honoured to do so
and composed my latest piano piece inspired by Isaiah 6:8, where Isaiah
said to The Lord, “Here am I. Send me!” The piece is called “The Man of
God” (på norsk, “Guds mann”) and the sheet music is available for sale
through my web shop under piano solos. This piece will be recorded for
video posting on YouTube and my Facebook artist page in the coming days.
Jørgen has been working at Osterøy since the fall of 2019 and has been a
valuable asset for the parish staff, especially with the Corona virus
situation, for which the staff have been truly thankful.
But
my largest composing project to date has been what was not originally
planned. Since releasing my latest fiddle tune book All of Mine - Volume
1 in July 2019, I have kept checking my composing archive for new
fiddle melodies and ideas I could keep or revise since September 2019. I
got caught up on new ideas I had recorded over the summer on my iPhone
over time, and as notation work progressed, new fiddle melodies came
into my head and I notated them as quickly as possible. What was
originally planned as catch up work became a new collection of 60 new
fiddle tunes to release in one new fiddle music book this summer. More
information will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.
Over
the Christmas holidays, my wife caught a severe flu and was unable to
go to work for two months, which meant cancellations and delays on many
things. In fact, our daughters had a better Christmas with family and
friends than Hilde and I did when she was hospitalized over the
holidays. In the midst of this, I also lost an uncle in January 2020,
the late Alf Healey (age 78) of Saskatoon due to pneumonia. I returned
to Saskatchewan for the funeral and shared time with family as my short
travel schedule allowed. Thankfully, I am getting caught up now, but
family needed to come first.
For
all of us, the Corona virus outbreak has changed work plans and family
activities. My wife is teaching nursing classes online from home. Our
daughters are presently taking school and music lessons online from
home, with their fiddle group and orchestra rehearsals suspended by the
Norwegian government until the fall. My choir activities are also on
forced suspension since March 12th with suspensions for all fine arts
activities extended from March 26th to April 30th and now up to June
15th. This has meant that Norway’s choral, band and orchestral seasons
have been stopped.
With
my organist position, all regular church services in Norway are
cancelled until after June 15th. Funerals, baptisms and weddings are now
being held in private as small gatherings and are not being publicly
announced. Our church staff has recorded six mini church services on
video for Easter postings on Facebook and more will be recorded in the
coming weeks. We have also held drive-in church services over Easter in a
format approved by the Osterøy municipal medical officer and the local
detachment of the Norwegian Police Service.
Norwegian
government plans as of this article are to resume all fine arts
activities in September after I return from the Pembroke Fiddle and Step
Dance Contest should all return to normal sooner than later. I just
received word today that the 2020 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling
Competition in Winnipeg, Manitoba has been cancelled and the Winnipeg
committee will host the contest on August 26-27, 2022 instead. A 2020
CGM online activity is now in the works to replace it with more details
forthcoming. How my 2020 Canadian summer schedule holds up or develops
as of today is anybody’s guess right now.
In
closing, this article is a part of my catch up work because of the
Corona virus outbreak. One other project happening behind the scenes is
the building of a new trentbruner.com website to be posted in the coming
weeks. My present site has been up since 2003, but it’s time for an
updated site and a fresh look. Work continues behind the scenes on this
project.
On
behalf of my family in Norway and Canada, stay safe, be physically
distant to stay healthy, wash your hands, clean yourself and every
object more often than you think, and talk/write to/entertain yourselves
and each other as best you can. Always support live musicians as best
as you can by remembering artists who can’t travel at this time to
perform, record or teach as would usually happen and remember all the
items at the webshop (sheet music, music books in PDF, instructional
materials, CDs, etc.) are available for sale. We don’t know when this
virus will end, but remember that we will come out of this together. See
you all somewhere down the musical trail.
Musically yours, Trent
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