Sol Maria Halleck Plays Bach, 2002

This was filmed in 2002, before Sol's parents were divorced. Sol's mother was in Spain with her new friend at the time of this concert, so her grandmother from Nicaragua was there. You can see Sol go up to her grandmother Violetta right after the concert. At the time she had already become quite hostile to both myself and her father, a continuing tragedy for us and all her US family and friends.

Portrait of Ezra Last Summer

The Magical Eucalyptus Groves of UCSD

This "net" is by Robert Irwin, and is one of the art installations of the "Stuart Collection" at UCSD.

Sol and I would often walk through these trees, sloshing through the detritus of the fallen leaves and flowers-- an exercise in olfactory pleasure as the aromas of the eucalyptus oils wafted up as we walked. Once I saw a huge flock of Monarch butterflies resting in the grove on their way to Mexico. Once the university took down dozens of the trees to make way for a new building and the students placed crosses on each stump.
I wonder if Sol remembers the campus and the many groves and arroyos that we often walked through.I wonder if she remembers the cool, cleansing smell of those magical trees.

In another part of the grove were two talking and singing trees made by Terry Allen. Sort of a radio station. Allen would send tapes to be broadcast over speakers in the trees. The texture of their trunks was a metal version of the scales of the Eucalyptus trees themselves.

By the library, the Stuart Collection had a snake mosaic twining around a desert garden by Alexis Smith. They had just put it in around the time Sol and her family left, so the garden hadn't really grown that much. But Sol liked the mosaic and the benches where one could sit and get a view of the campus and the library.

Ezra's Concert

Concert Part I

Concert and Feast Part II
Program Notes by Ezra Halleck: Living in their small country bordered on the west by the Black Sea and in the north and south
by the Caucasus Mountains, the Georgians are one of the world's ancient peoples. Their culture virtually revolves around music. Georgian polyphonic folk song is one of the most remarkable musical forms in the world, counting Igor Stravinsky among its admirers.

Although Georgia has recently been in the news due to its strategic importance to the world's two largest military powers, few people are acquainted with its distinct culture. The Georgian language is related to no other in the world and has its own unique alphabet. The Georgians have managed to preserve their extraordinary ancient vocal tradition, which is believed to predate Christianity. There has been a growing appreciation of Georgian singing in the West and several groups sing this music regionally.

This benefit performance is an opportunity to hear some of these regional Georgian singing groups. On the program are The Kartuli Ensemble, a choir from the Mid-Hudson Valley and 3 trios: The Other Georgia (Boston), Dzmoba (Philadelphia) and Brevalo (Williamstown, MA). Rounding out the program are soloist Aurelia Shrenker and two choirs from Princeton University:
Dedebi (a women's group) and Gaumarjos (a men's group).