Franz Schubert's Impromptu Op.90, No.3 by Carlos Avila

Lets end this year 2017 with some piano Music of Carlos Avila

I received the following e-mail a couple of months ago after I introduce Carlos piano works to Philippine-American Academy of Science & Engineering (PAASE). I hope this will inspire Carlos to continue with vigor his career in classical piano music.

Carlos, your Aunt Macrine and I are proud of your musical accomplishments. Keep up with good work.

(http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2017/11/carlos-avila-with-california-symphony.html)

*************************************************************************************************
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la6fKbTrtLU

Dear David,

I am grateful to you for introducing to us Carlos Avila and a sampling of his superlative work.

I also came across the link below to his interpretation of Franz Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90 No. 3, and the sonorous tone with which he imbued the piece is simply remarkable.

He allows the piece to be tender and tremulous, yet ably controls it so that it remains far from mawkishness.

Carlos Avila is a revelation.

Best regards, Joel

Joel L. Cuello, Ph.D.
Professor of Biosystems Engineering
Director, Global Institute for Strategic Agriculture in Drylands (GISAD)
Department of Agricultural and
Biosystems Engineering
507 Shantz Building
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
U.S.A.

Currently Joel is PAASE ( Philippine- American Academy of Science & Engineering-President-Elect

David III and Dinah Professional Careers-My Other Two Children

David III and Mom, Christmas 2017

I have four adult children. My youngest daughter ( Ditas) and oldest son ( Dodie) careers are well publicized. I have two other professional children whose professional careers are not well-known or are not in the News and/or Television- Dinah ( Banking) and David III( TSA ).

http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2017/11/dodie-and-ditas-katague-were-in-news.html

Ditas is Director of Census 2020 for the State of California.(https://www.census.gov/newsroom/bios/katague-ditas.html)and
(http://www.governing.com/…/gov-census-2020-population-count…).

Dodie is Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Contra Costa County.(https://www.amazon.com/Dodie-Katague/e/B003HI3GJO)and
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/11/02/24-hour-fitness-hit-with-1-2-million-penalty-over-shady-sales-tactics/

Today, I am posting both Dinah's and David LinkedIn Profiles for your information. I am very, very proud of my four children accomplishments-known or unknown.

The Three David's-Dave my nephew from Australia, Me and David III.

My youngest son David Katague III is a Transportation Security Officer, TSA in Sacramento. He had this job since 2005. His former employment was at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Senior Information Technology Consultant. Before that he was a Policy Analyst at the Executive Office of the President from Aug 1992 to Sept 1995 (Washington, DC).

He has two degrees as follows: From Carnegie Mellon University with a Masters Degree in Public Policy & Public Management(1986 - 1988) and from University of California, Davis with a Bachelor Science degree in Agricultural & Managerial Economics(1982 - 1986). He does not have a Face Book page.

David is my assistant in the primary care of Macrine ( my spouse) suffering from the ravage of Parkinson Disease. Without David's help my duty as a primary care giver would be unbearable. David, your mother and I love you so much and most grateful for your help.

Experience and Work Profile of Dinah from LinkedIn:

1. CDD/EDD Manager for the Financial Investigation Department, Umpqua Bank, July 2017 – Present

2. Team Manager of High Risk Customer Unit, Bank of the West December 2014 – June 2017

Responsibilities: Leading a team of Investigators (Full Time Employees & Contract Employees) charged with the responsibility of doing Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) KYA and KYC on the Bank’s High Risk Customers, Subject Matter Expert on AML/BSA questions to Investigators, hiring and training new staff, Internship supervisor, Monitoring and administers the daily and weekly reporting MIS that reflects team and individual performances, Communicating directly with branch personnel, department managers, internal audit, FDIC representatives and Line of Business managers, special projects and other duties as assigned.

3. HRBU Investigator, Bank of the West, July 2013 – November 2014

Responsibilities: Research, review, analyzes and interpret financial data and information to determine risk ranking of potential clients and present clients, individuals as well as businesses; complete Risk Assessments & EDD Reviews; make determinations for the Political Exposed Persons (PEP), Special Interest Persons (SIP), Relatively Close Associates (RCA), Non Resident Aliens (NRA), Money Services Business (MSB), and Third Party Payment Processors (TPPP); daily review of the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) alerts created by IRIS, determine which clients to monitor on a yearly basis; maintaining lists and monitoring spreadsheets of high score CDD form and unusual behavior cased individuals and businesses; create and prepare monthly NRA, MSB, PEP clients for their annual and bi-annual EDD Reviews

4. HRBU Investigations Assistant, Bank of the West, December 2012 – July 2013

5. BSA/AML High Risk Business Unit (HRBU) Investigations Assistant

Responsibilities: Review; assign and distribution of incoming email from the HRBU Inbox; creation of new cases for review; updating, maintaining spreadsheets for TPPP/RCCD clients; analyze and review monthly Potential TPPP BLU Alerts; FACTIVA alerts; triage incoming TPPP/RCCD and MSB alerts; create and prepare monthly NRA, MSB, PEP clients for their annual and bi-annual EDD Reviews

6. Suspicious Activity Analyst, Bank of the West September 2011 – December 2012

7. Compliance Analyst, Irwin Home Equity 2006 – 2007

Education

California State University-Sacramento
Bachelor of Arts, Liberal Studies
1979 – 1984

St Mary's College, Moraga, CA
Paralegal Certificate, Corporate Law/Law Office Management

The Day After Christmas-Binging on TV Series-This is Us

While millions of Americans went shopping for bargains or returning gifts the day after Christmas, Macrine and I are binging on Season and 1 and 2 of the award-winning TV series, This is US at NBC. It made us laugh, cry, and think at the same time. In case you have not seen this TV dramatic series, here's a brief summary from Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia: This Is Us is an American television series created by Dan Fogelman that premiered on NBC on September 20, 2016. The series stars an ensemble cast featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Ron Cephas Jones, Jon Huertas, Alexandra Breckenridge, Niles Fitch, Logan Shroyer, Hannah Zeile, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Parker Bates, Lonnie Chavis, Eris Baker, and Faithe Herman. It is about the family lives and connections of several people who all share the same birthday and the ways in which they are similar and different.

The series has received positive reviews since its premiere, receiving nominations for Best Television Series – Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and Best Drama Series at the 7th Critics' Choice Awards, as well as being chosen as a Top Television Program by the American Film Institute. The cast has received accolades, with Mandy Moore and Chrissy Metz receiving Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and Sterling K. Brown receiving a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. In 2017, the series received ten Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, with Brown winning for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

On September 27, 2016, NBC picked up the series for a full season of 18 episodes. In January 2017, NBC renewed the series for two additional seasons of 18 episodes each. The second season premiered on September 26, 2017.

The series follows siblings Kate, Kevin and Randall as their lives intertwine. Kate and Kevin were originally part of a triplet pregnancy, conceived in the bathroom of Froggy's, a bar, during Super Bowl XIV. Their due date was October 12, 1980, but they were born six weeks early on August 31; their biological brother was stillborn. Their parents, Jack and Rebecca, having expected to bring home three babies, decide to adopt another newborn: Randall, a black child born the same day and brought to the same hospital after his biological father abandoned him at a fire station.

Episodes weave through the stories of the past and present of the characters, with most scenes taking place in 1980, 1989–1995, and the present day (2016–2017). Flashback scenes take place in Pittsburgh, while current scenes are typically split between Los Angeles, New Jersey, and New York City.

Reference: www.nbc.com/this-is-us

Say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in your Own Language/Dialect

Christmas 2017 is here. Dodie's Family, Ditas and Carenna, David III, Macrine and I enjoyed a pot luck party with HoneyBaked Ham, Pancit, Chicken-Macaroni salad and other dishes.

Christmas 2017-The David B Katague clan-absent are Dinah, Elaine and Ian

To all my Ilonggo friends and relatives: Malipayong Paskwa kag Masinadyahong Bag-ong Tuig. And to all my other Blog readers all over the World, friends and relatives say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in your own language/dialect:

http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/search?q=merry+christmas

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 -Anna Fedorova

Three weeks ago, I posted Rachmaninoff Concerto #3 as played by Olga Kern. Today I like to share with you Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 as played by Anna Fedorova, a Ukrainian world famous pianist. Enjoy!

This piece is one of Rachmaninoff's most enduringly popular pieces and established his fame as a concerto composer. It is also my favorite since a number of segments in the first and second movements have been popularized as follows:

The second theme of Allegro scherzando provides the basis for Frank Sinatra's 1945 "Full Moon and Empty Arms".

The Adagio sostenuto theme appears in Eric Carmen's 1975 ballad "All by Myself". Carmen first composed the song's interlude, then took the bridge from Rachmaninoff and the chorus from his own "Let's Pretend". Carmen explained that Rachmaninoff was his "favorite music".

The Moderato theme appears in Muse's 2001 song "Space Dementia". The lyric line "And tear us apart and make us meaningless again" follows exactly Rachmaninoff's melody in the first movement, which is first played by string instruments in the beginning of the movement, and then again by the piano toward the movement's finale. The 1941 Sinatra song "I Think of You" is also based on the Rachmaninoff first movement.

Anna Fedorova was born on February 27, 1990. She is a Ukrainian concert pianist. Fedorova performs as soloist, chamber musician and with symphony orchestras in the major concert halls of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine, US, Mexico, Argentina, and Asia. Fedorova is a David Young Piano Prize Holder supported by a Soiree d’Or Award and Keyboard Trust.

*The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 composed in 1909 by Sergei Rachmaninoff has the reputation of being one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.

Olga Kern, the striking young Russian Gold Medal winner of the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition - whose performance of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 made her the first woman to achieve this distinction in over 30 years - made her New York City debut in Carnegie's Zankel Hall in May, 2004. Eleven days later she returned to New York to play at Carnegie again, this time on the stage of the Isaac Stern Auditorium at the invitation of Carnegie Hall. Olga Kern is a magnetic performer with one of the most prodigious piano techniques of any young pianist.

For more details on Kern's biography read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Kern

Ditas Katague Art Show- Grieving Thru Glee

Ditas Katague, my youngest daughter has been Chair of National Advisory Committee On Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations at U.S. Census Bureau since August 1, 2015 and its member of National Advisory Committee since 2012. She has more than 20 years of experience at federal, state and local government agencies. She serves as Chief of staff to California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval. She served as California's 2010 Census director as well as the 2000 Census Chief Deputy Director, overseeing and directing the statewide outreach and coordination.

Besides her regular job at the Governor's office in the State of California as Director of Census, 2020, Ditas other activities are her art work (http://www.grievingthruglee.com/) as well as her Yoga teachings (http://www.solfirejstreet.com/teachers/).

The video below was taken during her 2014 art show at the Penthouse Floor of Capitol Towers Condominium in Downtown Sacramento. I am really proud of Ditas (and Carenna also) accomplishments. During this show Carenna also sold a couple of her award-winning photographs.

These are the reviews from from two of our guests published at the Trip Adviser web site. Visit the Trip Adviser website for additional details. 1.What a peaceful place to spend relaxing time in Marinduque! The cottage is very comfortable, and right on the beach, with a large deck for watching the sunset. The location in Boac (and not too far from Gasan) is well placed for a home base for day trips around Marinduque. But the best part of our stay here was the graciousness of the hosts, David and Macrine. They are warm-hearted, know the island well, and truly made us feel at home. Although we were there to explore the island and relax, the property has a great conference/meeting facility as well. Highly recommended. 2. Nestled against the beach, this cottage on stilts was a great place to spend a week away from all the insanity of urban life. With a spacious deck, two bedrooms, a living room and a full kitchen, my entire family truly enjoyed their stay. The hosts, Dave and Macrine do everything possible to make you feel like family, while still giving you space and privacy. The beach is all of 25 feet away and early morning walks on the beach are what I remember most. My kids were fascinated with the bamboo flooring. A reef is just off shore and filled with beautiful fish to enjoy while snorkeling. I would go back in a minute if I could.