Quite by chance, these past six months featured productions of three of my operas: “A Visit to the Country” (Part Two of A CHEKHOV TRILOGY) at University of Georgia, “Losers,” Part Two of BALLYMORE at Illinois Wesleyan University and “Winners,” Part One of BALLYMORE at Westminster Choir College.

While the autumn season in recent years has become a time for me to travel, most notably, to Eastern Europe, to visit musical colleagues in Poland and Ukraine, this year, quite by chance, the travel focus has turned to colleges and universities here in the US, to hear performances of some of my works.

Like last season, my winter-time travel this year was minimal, due to the ongoing pandemic. But an unexpected opportunity arrived with the mid-March Canadian premiere of my opera THE MUSIC SHOP, a virtual production presented by Vancouver Opera…