Hard to believe, but another Consonance has come and gone. This year's Consonance was full of surprises, thrills, really great music, and phenomenal performances. We lost count of the number of standing ovations -- and no, we're not that easy an audience; the performances were that good. One new-to-Consonance attendee remarked about Vixy and Tony, "I can't believe they don't have a contract with a major record label."
The first scheduled event was a drum circle. This year it was an exercise in silliness that included rhythmic versions of nursery rhymes, Greek seven-beat cadences that left most of us in the dust, and Mary Bertke doing bizarre contortions with percussion implements while actually playing them competently.
Concert programming started off with a big surprise for our Toastperson, Erica Neely. A few years ago when Gretchen and Bill Roper were our GOHs, Erica flew out to surprise them. This year was payback. The first act Erica was to introduce, listed as "Dinner and a Movie," was actually Gretchen and Bill. (The look on Erica's face when they walked in was priceless!)/p>
They were followed by Erica herself, giving a fine solo concert in which "not everybody died" (okay, you knew that was coming...). Interfilk Guest Mary Bertke hosted a very well attended Classic Filk circle, and much music ensued.
The next day Tony Fabris held a "Reverse Engineering Songs" workshop where folks learned how to take a song and figure out how to play it. He also had helpful hints for guitarists on how to follow what other guitarists are doing. Saturday afternoon we had concerts by the lovely Moira Stern with her beautifully trained soprano voice and her really nifty and huge harp. The one-shots seemed to have an overtone set by Erica's concert; they included a perky parody of Graham Leather's song "Chocolate is a Vegetable" about Cyanide, a chorale singing a madrigal about eating brains, and a singalong called "Let's Get Miserable Together."
Margaret and Kristoph followed with their Celtic-inspired arrangements. We were hoping our Celtic-inspired Interfilk guest, Mary Bertke, was in the room to hear them. She was, and did traditional Irish dancing to their music. Mary's concert contained many original and some traditional tunes, well-chosen to highlight the purity and sweetness of her voice. After her antics in the drum circle, I was astonished to see that she stood still for the entire time she performed on stage!
The always-fabulous Interfilk auction was fun for all. The wenches rushed from bidder to bidder with gleeful abandon, driving prices to ridiculous heights for a very worthy cause. There was even a spontaneous dance with Mud choreographing things over by the mixing board to convince her to buy the Historic Bass (yes, she bought the bass!) Auctioneers included Bill and Gretchen Roper and Nick Smith, who kept the items moving and the audience in stitches.
After dinner we were treated to Playing Rapunzel, our International GOHs. Wow. At one point they brought up all of our guests and they performed together with breathtaking harmonies, creating a world-class "insta-band". Their rendition of a Greek version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", complete with audience participation, was a wonderful treat, as we watched Mich try to keep the cue cards straight.
GOHs Vixy and Tony gave a high-energy concert, often joined by Maya and Jeff "He Taught Me Everything I Know" Bohnhoff (Tony's words, not ours). Erica Neely earned the Consonance 2009 Purple Heart for her "performance" while introducing Vixy and Tony. She somehow tripped while exiting the stage, spraining her ankle in the process.
Afterwards we had the "Gently British Circle," moderated by Mich and Marilisa, where whoever was handed a mug performed next. The idea was to encourage "excessive politeness," and it worked. Lots of open filking followed, along with a time change we seem to have inherited from FilkONtario.
Sunday started out with a Greek Dancing Workshop with Playing Rapunzel, which was very well attended. In short order everyone was dancing and smiling and looking for all the world like they knew what they were doing. Not bad for only an hour's teaching! Our concerts for the afternoon were the entertaining Tres Gique, consisting of Steve Savitzky, Joyce Uggla, Callie Hills, and Jordan Uggla. They were followed by Naomi Rivkis, who was accompanied by Steve Savitzky and Callie Hills. Rebecca Newman then entertained us with her lovely soprano voice and flute stylings.
Leslie Fish gave us a high-energy performance, rousing the crowd. The concerts ended with Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, often joined by Vixy and Tony, and at one point also joined by Seanan McGuire and Brooke Lunderville, using pill bottles as rhythm instruments. Things capped off with a rock jam that was so good folks were reluctant to go to dinner.
Erica Neely wasn't the only person to go to the hospital this year. Our unfortunate Con Suite Goddess, Colleen Savitzky, was stuck in the hospital for the entire weekend, recovering from necessary surgery. Her influence was seen in the con suite, ably run by Riley and R.J. Ortega, along with newcomers Victor Stevko and Lara Ortiz y Montellano. We passed around a get-well card for her. Hopefully once all is said and done she'll be better than ever.
Consonance is run by what we proudly call "The World's Largest Filk Concom." Ravan and Datawolf returned to do Registration this year, Kitty Crowe staffed our Information Desk, Karl Maurer kept our Web site up-to-date, and John O'Halloran kept the mailing lists going and the spammers out.
Chris O'Halloran did an amazing job as Guest Liaison and, along with her husband John, coordinated logistics. Since the hotel had its business center open 24 hours a day for hotel guests, we opted not to do an Internet Lounge, and instead drafted its former coordinator, Heather Stern, into our Logistics Team. Filling out the logistics crew was Lynn Gold, who wrangled instruments, fetched stuff for the con suite, and coordinated our annual Sunday Night Salad Bar Run (including a discount for con attendees!). Mary and John Creasey anchored the Dealer's Room, creating an atmosphere of happy hucksters and satisfied customers.
Kristoph Klover, Mud, and Trob made our performers sound great. John O'Halloran made sure things ran on time. Maya Bohnhoff formatted our program book again this year, somehow managing to fit it in despite a busy writing schedule in "real life." Alison Stern and Devon Creasey ran children's programming, keeping the youngest filkers busy with music-related activities. As always, Seanan McGuire put together a dynamite program showcasing the diverse talents of all of our guests. Alan Thiesen made sure the bills were paid and that the hotel liked us, and Dr. James herded cats, moved the refrigerator, and made sure everyone got a full ration of praise for jobs well done.
Most of all, however, we thank you, our attendees, for without you there would be no Consonance!