Christmas morning as we have for over a decade,we arrived at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. it was so great to see Bishop John Chane he is truly family to us and Katherine & Russell Klingenmeier are always there with a smile on Christmas morning… We presented the miniature Resurrected Christ made from the reconstituted remains of Ground Zero to Bishop Chane and the National Cathedral of Peter and Paul normally the highlight of a lifetime but this Christmas Day it was only beginning…

alone  to relax and work at Mount Vernon Christmas Day..

We arrived to a homecoming at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home and in a way ours… John Marshal and the staff had a Christmas feast for these three wary travelers as they made sure we knew we were home for the holidays… we enjoyed the company of friends and early in the afternoon Otis and I took to the stage in the theater at Mount Vernon to perform a sneak peak of The Washington Symphony this moment was the end of a ten year journey in my life… I could scarcely believe we were here at Washington’s home bringing the commission of a life time to reality…

This was the Moment…

I held a vision and Idea for a decade,and I decide recently to scale down the production so that it could be preformed proffessionally by school and chuch groups across the country and bring otis on board as a protige; his talent is original and his ideas with fine tuning bring a fresh youthful flow to my vision. This christmas day we presented a sneak peak and were warmly received …James Resee once again found a way to make my vision and now our dream a reality…and Sue Keeler was there as she has always been with strenght and encouragement enough to make me believe in myself…

A once in a life time moment I’ll never forget as Otis sang and Brian took pictures I felt as though George and Martha were watching over us…

a Christmas to remember…

Christmas night, Otis,Brian and Joseph at the White House…

The Mount Vernon Story

The Philharmonic Orchestra, and Mount Vernon, are awaiting the first Orchestrations of Landry’s  Washington Synphony.  

Landry is as  fully involved in the Orchestra’s activities as any Composer in Residence could hope to be. Landry is seen as a valuable addition to the organisation’s resources, and a world-leading multi award-winning one at that.

Landry is that rare thing:  a contemporary composer of conspicuous originality and integrity who is also a hit with audiences. His orchestral scores are as at home in FUNharmonics family concerts as they are in evening concerts alongside Elgar and Tchaikovsky. They are often audio-visual, great to watch being played, beautifully orchestrated and seasoned with wistful, lyrical tunes that meet their assigned instruments with a touching respect. One of the composer J.B.’s greatest achievements is his anchoring of the medium; his orchestra is a musical organism that is every bit contemporary.

Like Benjamin Britten’s before him, Landrys music for singers seems to match perfectly the contours of the English language and human voice, whilst Landry’s lifelong love Mount Vernon is seen in works including “When I say I Love you”,to be premièred by the Orchestra in 2008, and in “flight of the eagle” for clarinet and orchestra, of which Michael Collins gave the London première on 14 February 2007.
Since his year as Composer in Focus in the Orchestra’s 2004/05 season, which brought with it an enthusiasm and readiness to be involved in projects outside the ‘norm’ of straight commissioning and his subsequent appointment as Composer in Residence, Landry has been a regular face at concerts, a regular feature in programmes.

J.B.is a regular part of the Mount Vernon and White House Historical Association ;community programme. Future plans include the performance of a new concerto commissioned For Mount Vernon and the White House and planned for the 2008/09 season, and more recording work.

The Team of Landry and Smith has captured the heart of the Mount Vernon Family; their talent and love flows with the music of their soul. The story of Landry, Gazeley is as much a part of the history of Mount Veron as George and Martha, this Property has change their lives and found them returning home for the Holidays. Those fortunate enough to meet this trio are touching Their ecitement for the living history of our Nation and a Family that represents the future.

“Lafayette’s visit was not for public consumption. His secretary did not take notes, and at the tomb Lafayette asked everyone to leave him, including George. He stayed inside [the Tomb] for an hour. Virtually nothing was written about the visit, although someone who looked through a crack in the door said he was kneeling…..it is said that at the time Lafayette visited the grave of Washington, in 1825,an eagle, one which might have been a fit model for our country’s emblem, kept hovering over the spot as long as [he] remained there. On his departure, the noble bird rose proudly into the air, then swept downward and disappeared in the thick covert of woods which skirt the shore.”

Pages446-447 (The Insperation for flight of the eagle)

For Liberty and GloryWashington,Lafatette,and their Revolutions

Published by W.W. Norton 

James R. Gaines

Author of several books and former managing editor of Time, Life, and People magazines