Every new season finds Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay residents exploring fresh ways to create. In Spring, 2013, while new life gets ready to burst colorfully from the gardens that surround us, we’re able to choose from a menu of classes, forums and demonstrations celebrating creativity in all its diverse forms.
On a recently held “Thursday Evenings with the Professors,” music lovers settled into the Anderson Bayview Room to hear Michael John Trotta, Director of Choral Activities at Virginia Wesleyan College, in a lively discourse on the creative dynamics of composing a new musical work. Dr. Trotta, both a conductor and composer, illustrated his talk with demonstrations at the piano. He also offered an audiovisual performance of the completed work, an award-winning choral anthem entitled “I Shall See.” To experience what residents heard, click below for a performance of it at King's College, Cambridge.
"Thursday Evenings with the Professors" feature guest lecturers from all Hampton Roads colleges and universities. Topics and speakers are selected by a residents' committee. Among the featured topics have been The World of Jazz, The Future of Medicine, Early American Theatre, The Ethics of Mindfulness,The Brain, Religion in Pop Culture, and The History of the Eastern Shore Watermen.
On his website, Dr. Trotta noted, "“Taking part in choral music, whether as an audience member, singer, conductor, or composer, is an opportunity to slow down time long enough to allow the beauty of life to catch up with you.”
It can also be said that the learning experiences at Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay are designed to let in the beauty of life in a multitude of ways.
Reflections of a Resident
