Summer Solstice at the Columbarium

In the upscale section of the Oakland foothills, near the Claremont Country Club and three major cemeteries...



...a "new music" happening occurs annually on the evening of the Summer Solstice...



...in the Julia Morgan designed Chapel of the Chimes Columbariam...



...with its hothouse labyrinths...



...filled with the ashes of dead people...



...that looks straight out of a Harry Potter novel.



There were odd musical groups tucked away into strange corners...



...including a capella singing groups...



...and improvising musicians...



...using the great acoustics of the enclosed rooms with their vaulted ceilings...



...and marble walls.



The place was three stories tall and easy to get lost in...



...where you could turn a corner into a hallway filled with people...



...or turn another corner and find yourself at a literal dead end in front of a "Family Estate" alcove.



There were a couple of larger chapels being used for slightly more formal concerts...



...that included a great trio of composers/musicians called Oogog...



...along with the incomparable pianist Sarah Cahill who was rushing around the entire site helping to set up all the venues in between performing twenty-minute piano recitals.



Though the event proved to be the victim of its own success, with too many people showing up causing plenty of claustrophobic moments in small corridors, it was also fun to turn a corner and bump into celebrities such as my favorite living composer in the world, John Adams.