An Evening Listening to Joseph Gaines Sing!

On Friday, 02 March 07, we had the great opportunity to hear our old friend, Joseph Gaines, sing as part of the Choir of St. Thomas Church of New York City. They were performing here in Ft. Worth, as part of a national tour. Here is more about Joseph:

Joseph Gaines, tenor

Joe Gaines ('96) graduated from the University of Houston in 2001 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. He then studied singing for a year at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Drama in Leipzig, Germany under the auspices of a Rotary Foundation fellowship. This season Joe is singing as an apprentice artist at Sarasota Opera (Florida) and Central City Opera (Colorado), and is a featured soloist in Houston with the Mercury Baroque Ensemble, the Houston Chamber Choir, the Houston Bach Society, and in Washington, D.C. with the Washington Bach Consort. This past fall in New York City he was singing with the choirs of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, and the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. He is also the founder of a gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender outreach program of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Houston.

The Water Gardens Reopen

Mary Lynne and I took AJ down to the Fort Worth Water Gardens, which officially reopened today with a special ceremony. A plaque was unveiled commemorating the four Chicago visitors who drowned in 2004 and two men killed in a 1991 accident. Mayor Mike Moncrief spoke, along with Bob Pence, president of the engineering firm that designed the changes.

"This park was designed by Phillip Johnson from New York. It was constructed by Thos. S. Byrne General Contractors in Fort Worth. The water park is an oasis in the concrete jungle of the center of town. The park features three pools of water: the aerating pool, the quiet pool, and the active pool with water tumbling down a series of terraces down to a small pit. Recently, the gardens have been modified to allow direct access from the Convention Center expansion. This includes a new north entrance to the park and restoration of the multiple sprays in the aerating pool. Portions of the movie Logan's Run were filmed at the active pool."

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/water.htm