Category Archives: Performing

Performing

The Masters! Chamber Project St. Louis

We’ve been rehearsing like mad men this week (yes, just like Don Draper 😉 ), and tonight’s the concert!  Tickets are $10 at the door and include two drinks.

Chamber Project St. Louis

Friday, November 5 at 8:00 pm

Location:  The Chapel

THE MASTERS
with guests
Megan Stout, harp
Valentina Takova, cello
Kyle Lombard, violin
Hannah Frey, violin

Serenade Op. 25 (1800)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
flute, violin, viola

Introduction and Allegro (1907)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
harp, flute, clarinet, string quartet

Clarinet Quintet in A Major (1789)
W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
clarinet, string quartet

Performing, Teaching

Busy week ahead!

Okay, after a fairly relaxing week, this upcoming week will be nuts!  It’s all due to my upcoming performance with Chamber Project St Louis.  Well, not all–but the extra busy is.  I also have another new student this week (that makes one each week for about four weeks), and that fills up my home teaching schedule until something changes.  I can’t believe how many students I’ve added at home in the past month!  Usually I add more in August, but this year has been different.

I had a great lunch today with my friend Melissa.  We went to Bar Italia and sat outside (it was a bit cool, but nothing we couldn’t handle).  I hadn’t been before, but will definitely go again!  I was starving after my “long run” in the morning (ran 1 hour 10 minutes doing a 8 minutes run/2 minutes walk ratio, nice, slow and easy) and really enjoyed my lunch–food and company.

After that we had rehearsal for the Chamber Project concert.  We’ve been working hard and are down to our last few rehearsals.  It should be a great concert, but I am getting pretty stressed–it’s a big program!  I haven’t played at the venue “The Chapel” before, but people say it’s really great.  If you are local and free Friday night, come to our concert!

What else this week?  Two weddings, lots of running/working out, TONS of teaching as usual (no days off this week) and of course Election Day.  Yes, I’ll be voting.  Will you?

 

 

Performing

Winter Opera Masquerade Ball

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Tomorrow night I am performing for the Winter Opera St. Louis “Masquerade Ball”.  I’m concertmaster of the orchestra (we had three performances last year), and Gina Galati (artistic director) asked if I would play a couple of pieces for the program.  The dinner takes place at Dominic’s Trattoria in Clayton.  I haven’t been there but I am told it is delicious (I get paid plus dinner 😉 ).  I am also excited to wear one of my cocktail dresses versus the usual “all black”.  I don’t have a mask to wear, nor would that work well for violin playing, unfortunately.

Speaking of Italian food, I am excited to go visit Chris’s family in Long Island and the Bronx over Christmas.  We recently purchased our plane tickets to visit for a few days.  The food will be fantastic, I’m sure!  I realize it’s just the end of October, but nonetheless the stores are practically in full Christmas spirit, so it’s hard to not be excited already.  I purchased some lotion at Bath & Body Works yesterday, Twisted Peppermint Flavor.  The saleslady said the whole store would be holiday-ready by November 1.

Performing

Andre Watts Concert

Just got home from a wonderful concert with the SLSO (or should I say, St. Louis Symphony, as they are “rebranded”).  Grieg Piano Concerto with Andre Watts, Dvorak Symphony #8 and Steven Mackey “Turn the Key”.  Gilbert Varga was conducting.

The first piece (Mackey) was cool, especially the beginning where the audience was clapping.  At first, I just thought some crazy guy on the main floor was clapping (stranger things have happened) but then the conductor seemed to be encouraging it.  Suddenly people were clapping in rhythm (well, somewhat) and then we joined in from the balcony.  Finally I saw that Will James (principal percussion and a friend of mine) was leading the clapping from the main floor.  The conductor encouraged us to clap louder, and then cut us off abruptly as the orchestra started.  A great beginning!

The Grieg was full of colors.  Andre Watts was fantastic.  I know I have played with him somewhere, but I just can’t remember where.  I DO remember when I used to play with the Youngstown Symphony he canceled at the last minute two different times. We in the audience really wanted to hear an encore, but he didn’t seem to be up to it.

Last but not least was the Dvorak Symphony.  I have loved this piece since I played it as a member of WYSO at Interlochen Arts Camp in high school.  The orchestra sounded better than they have in a long time.  There was wonderful dynamic contrast, lyrical string playing, and some really lovely wind parts as well.  I think the last movement is just so much fun!

All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable concert, much better than I have seen the orchestra play in recent history.  BRAVO!

 

Performing, Weddings

Spassfest

Today I played a wedding in a delightful town called Germantown, Illinois.  Now that I am far away from the small town I grew up in (no offense, Mom and Dad) I am better able to appreciate the charms of visiting a small town (rather than living in one for 18 years…it’s not quite like Sarah Palin makes it out to be on tv).  Anyway, the church I played at was really beautiful inside–I wish I had been able to take a photo, but I thought I would have needed a flash and only had my phone.

On my way there I drove by several of these banners and had to stop to take a picture.  I want to go to this festival!  When I got home I looked it up online.  Here’s the link to the one in August…next year perhaps.

Spassfest!

I was thinking about all the little towns and churches at which I have played weddings (I had three hours of driving today, lots of thinking time).  I wonder if it would be interesting to try to keep track of all the ones I play, take pictures, learn something about each community?  Maybe that will be my blog focus for 2011…wedding season is almost over for this year, but next year is wide open!  Unless I am running late I generally enjoy my drives–east of St. Louis the landscape is gorgeous.  West of St. Louis is farmland which is nice in itself (calming at least!).

I am listening to the SLSO concert tonight online–it’s streaming from the St. Louis Public Radio website, and will be every Saturday at 8 pm (CST).  I was running around all day and wanted to relax tonight rather than attend, so here I am.

Performing, Teaching

Technique first

It’s been a long two and half days so far here in Ottawa.  Here’s the main thing I have learned with Susan Kempter (who is just WONDERFUL and brilliant!).  Teach technique first–the songs are merely a means to an end.  We want to be able to teach the music, but without what she refers to as the “basic six,” the child is not going to be able to progress properly.

Basic six:

1. Feet

2. Trunk

3. Neck

4. Right Hand

5. Left Hand

6. Eyes

I would expand upon those more, but I’m exhausted after a 14 hour day!  I will try to do so later, but mainly that those aspects of the body must be in alignment and free of tension.

14 hour day you say?  Well, breakfast, 2 1/2 hours of teacher trainer class, followed by 1 hour observation, 1 hour lecture, lunch, 1 hour recital, 2 hours observation, 1 hour of an enrichment class about how to motivate various personality types (by Ruth Meints of Omaha, NE), dinner, evening concert…wow!  I also tried to get in a bit of a walk so the day wasn’t totally sedentary, though today I only managed 30 minutes.  I’ve got my alarm set for up so I can get that out of the way first tomorrow.

Three more long days to go.  Much more scribbling on note paper ahead of me.  Must sleep.