During this season when so many are thinking of the love of family and friends, I continue my annual tradition of posting family photographs on More to Come. This practice first began in 2008* but has grown through the years so that the entire family participates in the curation of this particular entry.
As is often the case, we begin with our Thanksgiving dinner in Staunton at the home of dear friends Margaret and Oakley Pearson. At this past year’s celebration, we captured a great picture of Andrew with his “honorary godmother” Bizzy Lane.
On December 18th, Candice and David traveled to beautiful Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington, Delaware to hear Andrew perform as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with members of Philadelphia’s Tempesta di Mare; the professional Christ Church Choir; and other nationally acclaimed Baroque vocalists.
In 2022 Claire and Andrew took their 30th trip around the sun. As their December birthdays approached, some of Claire’s wonderful friends from Pomona College celebrated the occasion over a scrumptious tea in Alameda, California.
Because Andrew always sings on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning (last year and this at The Church of the Advent in Boston), we postponed our celebration of Christmas until Boxing Day — the 26th of December. Here Claire, Andrew, and Candice prepare our breakfast biscuits, a family tradition.
Living on opposite coasts, Andrew and Claire experience different types of winter weather.
Of course, the Bay Area can get chilly, so Claire and her good Pomona College friend Jackie Tran took off for some days in Cabo, Mexico in February, just to ensure they could soak up the sunshine.
We celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary in 2023, traveling once again to the magical Mohonk Mountain House for some restful and celebratory time together.
In 2023, Andrew sang in three vocal competitions, receiving Second Prize at the Handel Aria Competition, the William Grogan Award at the Oratorio Society of New York’s Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition, and first prize at the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra Collegiate Vocal Competition.
For the New York competition, Andrew joined six other aspiring soloists to perform major arias with piano accompaniment in the competition finals on April 15th at Carnegie Hall. We were in New York to support him as he gave a very moving and well-received performance.
April also found us back in Washington, where David moderated a panel on Shaping Policy to Promote Food Justice for St. Alban’s 2023 Memorial Lecture Series focused on Faith and Food: A Christian Ethical Response to Food Injustice.
April was a busy month, as we also took the train to Boston to see Andrew perform as Oronte in the Handel opera Alcina. As is our custom, we took in a few other sites along the way.
May is a month of celebration — for Mother’s Day and Candice’s birthday.
Claire and her friend Susan Nussbaum spent a delightful May weekend in Southern California celebrating the wedding of Vicky Gyorffy, a classmate at Pomona College.
After months of intensive online and in-person study, Claire stepped forward in 2023 to launch The Sky Speaks to You, a unique coaching model that blends together astrology with psychology to support women on their journey of self-discovery.
Claire also worked in a wonderful two-week early summer European adventure in 2023, first stopping in Boston to catch up with Andrew before heading to see The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.
Claire and her study-abroad friend Sylvie Abookire had a great time visiting sites across the continent.
This summer also found Andrew in Europe for a wedding, visits with friends from his Royal College of Music days, and more.
In July, Candice and David made a stop for a few days in Alameda to visit with Claire, before heading north to Alaska.
Also in July, Claire flew to San Diego to visit Andrew and to see him as Marzio in the Opera Neo production of Mozart’s Mitridate.
July and August were times for David and Candice to get together with friends over a meal. Bill and Sara Overby have recently moved to the DC area from North Carolina, and we’ve enjoyed catching up with them. David and Sara were childhood friends in Murfreesboro, and this summer we introduced them to a Maryland crab feast on our back porch.
Our Staunton friends Margaret and Oakley Pearson stopped by in August during a long east coast trip for a couple of days of rest, good food, and conversation.
August and September were months for David to catch some baseball with friends . . . and to travel to Cincinnati to knock another ballpark off his bucket list.
In mid-August, Andrew traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to sing in the 2023 Handel Aria Competition. Claire and David had spent a few delightful hours in Madison on a 2014 cross-country trip, so they encouraged a visit to the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Company. You can see Andrew took our advice . . . and perhaps he even found the Serious $&@! — yes, that’s the name of one of their flavors! As I noted in the earlier post, they have a sign up that says, “If you want nutrition, eat carrots!”
Oh, and he did a fabulous job in the competition, taking second prize.
Claire and Andrew have also been hitting the road this fall to see some stars. Claire was able to catch the year’s most anticipated event: The Eras Tour!
Andrew came to visit us in Silver Spring in October . . . but only so he could see one of his favorite divas of the moment, Jessie Ware.
Andrew and Claire also made visits to Florida in 2023 to see their grandmother — Candice’s mom, Irene Colando — who celebrated her 92nd birthday in September. During his visit, Andrew caught up with Mark Duvall, brother of our late sister-in-law Kerry Brown (Joe’s wife). Mark was a former singing colleague of David’s back in his Canticum Novum days.
Candice and David took a fall trip to Durham to hear Andrew perform as the tenor soloist in the Duke University Chapel’s performance of Handel’s Cantatas BWV 60 and 95.
In 2023, the entire family explored more of this amazing world — a snow-covered mountain in Alaska, Swiss mountain tops, an iconic performance venue in New York City, and so many other places that brought joy and wonder.
We remain grateful for each of you and the friendships we share. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
More to come…
DJB
*For previous year’s posts, click here for:
MORE TO COME... 
Thank you, David. You are truly blessed with a wonderful family. Sharing your travels, the amazing places Andrew goes to share his
fabulous talent, the adventures of Clair and the whole family, the ice cream and other good times. It’s a wonderful life!!
May 2024 be more of the same.
Deedy
Thank you so much for writing, Deedy. It truly is a wonderful life. We were blessed with curious and talented children who have grown into thoughtful and engaging adults. It is fun to see where they go . . . and to tag along on occasion. Plus, Candice and I get to have great adventures of our own in this stage of life. Take care, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. DJB
Thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Brown round-up 2023 adventures .
Thanks, Nancy. You’ve been one of my followers since just about the beginning. Always good to hear from you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your entire family. DJB
Candice, it is obvious that you are the loving force and glue behind all these wonderful accomplishments and adventures! You and your family are blessed to have each other and to inspire the world with all your talents. Happy Thanksgiving and love to each of you for 2024, Lolo
Lolo, I couldn’t agree with you more about Candice being the loving force and glue in our family. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! DJB
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