2003 - Retired in the city

We moved back to Pittsburgh, Shaler Township, in 2003. I had to
quit my gig with the Lutherans because the trip to Kittanning was
just too far to deal with. Instead, Mariann and I went church
shopping for a good choir and director. We eventually found one
at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland. It was nice, and still is, to just sit
back and sing and not worry about the responsibility of it all. It is
so nice to have the option of not getting out of bed or fighting the ice
and snow! Living back in the city, we took advantage of all the culture we had missed while on the farm. We do the Pgh. Symphony, the Pgh. Ballet, and the Pgh. Public Theater. By the way, few probably know this, but the ballet orchestra has no less than three EA alumni that regularly perform there: Bob Skravonsky, Karen Sloneker, and Keith Jackson (now Dean of Music at WVU), and sometimes his cousin, Carl (Kalvin) Jackson...not to mention itinerant percussion instructor at EA..Jan Fung. We sure had our share of talented students at EA over the years.
Some have asked if I am still writing music. I do, but mostly for the choir and organists at St. Paul's. They perform several of my choral works throughout the year, and our organist, Ken Danchik performs some of my preludes for organ. I now have over 20 works published by various publishers. Another project of mine is to create a "Prelude/Anthem of the Month" for around 200 organists around the country. I email them a timely prelude each month in hopes that they will perform it during or before worship. I get so many beautiful emails thanking me for the music and telling me of how the performance went. At any given Sunday morning, I can safely assume that someone, somewhere is performing one of my preludes or anthems. In case you are interested, the list of my preludes is on another blog site at: www.sacredsoundworks.blogspot.com
Next post I'll talk about my grandkids!

More about the farm

I wish I had a picture of our farm house, but I didn't have a digital camera then. Nevertheless, I forgot to mention that during that time we ran a Bed & Breakfast at the farm. Here is some information that was on our brochure:.....Pumpkin Hollow Farm, a most unique bed and breakfast guest farm. Visit our working farm. Enjoy the privacy of 73 acres nestled in the Kittanning Highlands of Armstrong county. Leave the hectic city life behind, and enjoy a weekend of country living. Our 75 year old farm house has all the comforts of home. Arrive early so we can acquaint you with the grounds. Our rooster, Chanticleer, will awaken you to a hearty, country breakfast, prepared with our own bacon, sausage, eggs and potatoes!
We had many guests over the years and met lots of interesting people. Several people had the good fortune of witnessing lambs being born! Some people wanted to go to the barn in the morning and pick their own eggs. There was a pond filled with fish on the property, and more than once we had guests try their hand at catching a bass. The only dangerous thing on the farm was the ram. If he caught you in the pasture he would try to butt you! This farm was a great place to have parties. We had many family reunions here, choir picnics, etc. The most rewarding thing about living there was the satisfaction of sitting down to a dinner with my family, knowing practically everything on the table was grown on the farm by way of our own efforts. The main course would be leg-of-lamb, or chicken, or ham, or fish and sometimes duck or goose. We had all the veggies you could name, fresh or preserved, and I made my own wine to boot! Being self-sustaining was one of my goals when we bought the place. It was quite rewarding to be able to do that not long after moving there.
Another interesting development was created from a lack of culture up there in the boondocks! We created an evening of parlor music where we would invite music loving friends and neighbors to an evening of classical music. Some performed, and most listened...and drank my wine! We have kept up this tradition and host a party every two months. Visit: www.parlormusic.blogspot.com If any of you would like to partake of any future event just give me a call. Remember how we used to have a recital series at EA way back when? It was mostly the instrumental kids, but we did a madrigal, or a piano solo every now and then. If any of you know of the wear-a-bouts of any of our accompanaists, let me know. So, in addition to a possible party in the fall, you are invited to an evening of parlor music if you enjoy classical music. I think the first one will be in October. More about those events later.

1989 to 2003

Greetings Alum,
This is the 2nd installment in the up-date of Mr. Farrell since
you knew him way back when. Remember, with blogs, if you
want to read chronologically you have to go back to the oldest
post and read backwards! Anyway, in the Summer of '89' Mr.
DeLorenzzo retired, which opened the position to me to jump
down to Westinghouse and teach 3-6 grade gen. music. It was
also an opportunity for me to make another life change, and
that was to move North to live on a farm just like Keith Bertoluzzi
did the year before. We bought a 73 acre farm near Kittanning and spent the next 14 years raising
sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks. It was a one-hour commute each way to get to Wilmerding, but it was worth it. I loved every year I spent there. Not having to do the musical or after-school rehearsals left me the time to deal with the commute. Also during that time in the country I was the organist at St. Patrick's church in Brady's Bend, and my wife directed the choir there. Then I created a community choir in Kittanning and directed that for 5 or 6 years. But then I had to get a real (paying) gig and took a post at St. John's Lutheran church as Senoir Choir Director. I did that for 8 years, until we sold the farm and moved back to Pgh. I retired in 1998 after 30 years at EA. During that time on the farm I learned so much about that stuff that I could have, and should have written a book on homesteading. If any of you do such a thing, just call me for advice! I love to talk about how you can provide for your family with your own two hands; working with the land and with animals. But all good things always come to and end, and so did our farm living. Both our mothers were getting up in age back in Pgh, and our kids grew up and moved out on their own. The time was right to move back to the "burgh." We did miss going to the symphony, ballet, and plays. We sold the farm for three times what we bought it for, and bought a lovely home in Shaler Township. No animals here except our dog, Maggie. But we have a beautiful veggie garden. So now, what do we do for fun? That's in the next blog.

What I'm up to these days....

Greetings EA choir alumni,
I just created this blog as a place where you can check in on the old man
and see just what he's us up to these days. Today is July 9th and I spent the morning golfing with my son, Cullen. Many of you know him from
joining in on the musicals. Now he's got 15 years into his own teaching
career. Not music, but World Cultures. A little more about him later. As
for me, I probably gained another 50 lbs. since you saw me last. Too
much time tasting my own cooking and drinking my home-made wine!
Since getting on Facebook, I've contacted quite a few old students who
would like to get together sometime. I'm thinking about having a party
at my house sometime in the Fall for those who are still living around
the Pgh. area. I live in Shaler Township, which is only 5 minutes from
down town Pgh. I'll use this blog for directions once I decide about the party, rather than try
to email everyone. I"ll also use it to up-date you as to what I've been doing since jumping down
to Westinghouse in 1989. Bookmark this site and check in often for more pictures and stories. Don't hesitate to email me or comment on Facebook. If you don't have it, my email is: robertgfarrell@gmail.com
By the way, the above is my daughter Erin's first baby. She is two months old, and her name is Ellimere, Elli for short. Cullen has three children, and I"ll show them at a future post. In the meantime, you can visit his blog where he is showing pictures of his recent visit to Italy and Greece at: www.2009italygreece.blogspot.com