Diana Abigail Photography

Nature Preserve

2011-10-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Double Rainbow Over New York City

2011-07-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

A faint second rainbow is visible.

Before the second rainbow.

:)

2011-03-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

As Close as She Wants to Be

2011-02-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

This is as close Olive wants to be to snow.

Finding Color in the Dark of Winter

2011-02-18T22:12:00.001-08:00

My Wicked Sense of Humor

2011-02-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

Through Beveled Glass

2011-02-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

It's Not Sandal Weather Anymore

2011-02-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

Well I can't wear these right now

Nature's Method of Lighting Up the Sky

2010-09-23T18:49:00.001-07:00

With the help of a Meade telescope I've captured the moon!

Strange State between lightning sessions

Cats Can Do Tricks Too

2010-09-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

My talented cats.

Purffect Kitties

2010-07-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

Photos for clients and for a local animal shelter. All have been adopted.

Equestrian Show

2010-07-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

Dog Paws' for Photo- Woof!

2010-07-15T17:39:00.001-07:00

You've asked for it! Here are some photos of some perfect K9s I've captured for my clients. And how can I feature these pups without showing you Cesar Millan. Now I need to meet Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar, and Victoria Stillwell to chat about positive reinforcement training then I will be happy.

You've asked for it! Here are some photos of some perfect K9s I've captured for my clients. And how can I feature these pups without showing you Cesar Millan. Now I need to meet Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar, and Victoria Stillwell to chat about positive reinforcement training then I will be happy.

Pets Brought to Scale- Bearded Dragon

2010-07-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

A Starry Night

2009-08-26T18:17:00.001-07:00

August 18

2009-08-26T18:08:00.001-07:00

August 3

2009-08-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Imogen Heap...Ellipse

2009-08-26T02:10:00.001-07:00

Album release appearance in New York City. August 25, 2009.

Sakura Matsuri

2009-05-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

Sakura Matsuri: Rite of Spring in Brooklyn, NY

East Hampton Sans Crowd

2009-05-18T23:35:00.000-07:00

Endangered Piping Plover

Tourist in My Own Hometown

2009-03-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Venice at Night

2009-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Chinese Lunar New Year

2009-02-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

Four and already using an iPhone.

Cub Dance (Lion Dance)

Woodside, NY

2009-02-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

D's Photograph in the NY Times!

2008-12-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

New York Times

Music

Lighthouse Singers Teach Chorus a Lesson
12/14/08

Diana Abigail Chou

By Roberta Hershenson
Published December 12, 2008

“WATCH me!” is the choral conductor’s mantra, aimed at a harmonious blend. But what if a singer cannot watch the conductor? What if a singer is blind?

Students in the chorus at the Harvey School in Katonah, a private school for grades 6 through 12, recently learned first-hand how blind singers manage when they cannot see the hand motions or facial expressions of their conductor — the standard tools of a vocal director. What they discovered was that the experience is not so different from their own.

“There are no secrets to teaching the visually impaired,” said Dalia Sakas, conductor of the Lighthouse Vocal Ensemble at the Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School of Lighthouse International in Manhattan. “If you’re a musician, you’re a musician.”

She spoke in an interview after a concert that her chorus of blind and visually impaired adults had performed at the Lighthouse with the students from the Harvey School. The concert featured the New York premiere of “Lines From ‘Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,’ ” a contemporary work by Elam Ray Sprenkle based on a poem by Walt Whitman. The concert will be repeated free and by candlelight on Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Harvey School’s Black Box Theater. Admission is free, but attendees are asked to donate a gift to the annual toy drive. For more information call (914) 232-3161, extension 42, or go to harveyschool.org (activities/black box theater/calendar).

The real challenge in conducting her chorus, Ms. Sakas said, was finding musical aids appropriate to the needs of each visually impaired singer. While some singers can read music printed large, she said, others rely on Braille music, or listen to MP3 players to learn works. Braille music is based on the same six-dot system as literary Braille.

During a rehearsal before the Lighthouse concert, time was devoted to the usual choral housekeeping of arranging singers by size onstage. Harvey School singers helped the Lighthouse singers negotiate the steps of the risers, guiding them to their places. Then Ms. Sakas and Kathryn Cushman, the director of music at the Harvey School’s upper school, alternated as conductor, using techniques like taking sharp intakes of breath to indicate an entrance at unaccompanied passages, or softly counting to three as a rhythm prompt.

“We prearrange all our details,” Ms. Sakas said. “I can’t work on a whim.”

At one point during the rehearsal a Lighthouse singer called out, “This is the hardest listening I’ve ever done!”

The result was what both conductors called a satisfying experience for both groups. Not only did several generations of sighted and unsighted singers meet under special circumstances, but also everyone had a chance to meet the composer, who was present to discuss the work with the audience. “The level of musicianship was very high,” Ms. Cushman said afterward in a phone interview.

“We were talking a lot about issues of visual impairment, but there was some pretty intense music-making going on.”