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May 5, 2008
The Toxicologist and Her Coronet
This time of year concerts at colleges come in bunches and bands, and choirs and orchestras too. During the semester, these concerts come at a rate of two or three a month but at the end of the semester and particularly at the end of the year, they come at the rate of several a week. Each group seeks to show off the fruits of its labor. Last night Shirley and I went to hear the Pomona College Band. The only down side was that the audience was small, not much larger than the band. Too bad! Wonderful music and free. A very high value. Like most concert band performances of this type, the program was extremely varied in content and style. It ranged from two Bach Chorales to a 2003 work, Sunday Scherzo, by Philip Sparke.
Even though it is hard to put Sousa's Washington Post March in second place to anything, I think we enjoyed the Sparke piece best of all. The program told us that Sparke wrote Sunday Scherzo for Sergeant Major Woodrow English, solo trumpeter and bugler for the United States Army Band. Sparke's desire was to "demonstrate both the lyrical and technical abilities of this outstanding player." In other words, the piece is extremely challenging. While we didn't hear Sergeant Major English last night, the Pomona band did have a guest cornetist who played the solo part.
Here's what the program (slightly edited) said about guest soloist, Christine Moore.
Christine Moore, PhD, grew up playing the cornet in the British brass band tradition . . . she has performed in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Luxembourg and Norway, predominantly with the Young Ambassadors and the Scottish Brass Band Champions, CWS Glasgow. She has played at the National Brass Band Championships in the Royal Albert Hall in London, England and at the European Band Championships in Cardiff, Wales. In 1989 Christine was the guest soloist with the Tokyo Brass Concorde and in 1990 performed with the Nagoya Directors Band at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan.After moving to the USA she became Assistant Principal cornet with Prairie Brass, competing in the North American Brass Band Association contests for several years, and toured the United Kingdom with the North American Champion Band, Illinois Brass. She has played with the Pomona College Band since moving to Southern California in 2004.
Since music is only a hobby, Christine is currently the Vice President of Toxicology Research and Development for Immunalysis Corporation in Pomona. Dr. Moore has a Ph.D. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland and is Board Certified in Toxicological Chemistry by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry (DABCC). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences; is currently President of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists and Vice-President of the Society of Hair Testing. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology and has over 80 scientific publications.
So how did the forensic toxicologist do? It was a virtuosa performance. Wow, can that hair tester ever play the cornet.
When I read a biography like hers its hard to know how she spends her spare time.
Posted by Duane Smith at May 5, 2008 3:13 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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