I’ve got upcoming masterclasses and performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites in May coming up quick!
Rehearsals: Metro this past Sunday had a killer rehearsal. Really nice work accomplished. Looking forward to this concert! Hoping to get Satellites horn section together before our May gigs.
Practicing: Minnesota Orchestra audition repertoire. Rinse, repeat. I had a lesson on Friday with Doug Wright and it was so helpful. My lesson with Prof Ashworth today at the U was equally helpful. Lots of different ears on what you are working on is really key.
Listening: Podcasts: 2 Dope Queens, Mortified, This American Life.
Teaching: “Darts” and “Straws”. Darts for air and tone. Straws for higher register and airflow.
Studying: On hiatus from study while I prepare my MnOrch audition.
Relaxing: A 15 mile bike ride yesterday with good bike companions. All the sunshine I can take in. Yoga.
I’ve got upcoming masterclasses and performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites in May coming up quick!
Rehearsals: Metro on Sunday.
Practicing: Minnesota Orchestra audition repertoire. A lesson with Doug Wright on Friday. Yipe!
Listening: Anat Cohen. Omg.
Teaching: I had a re-epiphany this morning in a lesson about the importance of hearing the whole phrase, not just individual notes. How much easier it is to hear a tricky set of intervals when they have meaning and direction. You’ll be hearing lots of that from me this week.
Studying: “SuperTeaching” by Eric Jensen. Feeling like I need to up my game for my lovely students. Trying to get my hands on a copy of Attention and Motor Skill Learning by Gabriele Wulf.
Relaxing: Spent the weekend in St Louis with good people. Ate well, heard amazing music, saw a live show, hiked the Missouri woods.
I’ve got upcoming masterclasses and performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites in May coming up quick!
Rehearsals: No rehearsals this week.
Practicing: Minnesota Orchestra opened up a substitute low brass audition! It’s April 25th and I’m hard at work preparing Valkyries, William Tell, Mahler 5, Bolero, Mozart, all the old chestnuts.
Listening: Phosphorescent Blues by The Punch Brothers came back up in my rotation this week. Such a gorgeous album.
Teaching: It’s been a light week for teaching as many of my students were on spring break. I’m hoping to take that rest into this week’s lessons and give some new energy to my talented students.
Studying: “SuperTeaching” by Eric Jensen. Feeling like I need to up my game for my lovely students. Trying to get my hands on a copy of Attention and Motor Skill Learning by Gabriele Wulf.
Relaxing: Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, my favorite place in Minneapolis, opened on Friday! I rode my bike over today and enjoyed the sunshine.
In celebration of tonight’s premiere Swing Sisterhood concert, the final WHM2016 post today is dedicated to those female musicians throughout jazz history who deserve their due, even if history obscured them.
Last year I covered Melba Liston‘s incredible influence on jazz trombone. But she wasn’t the only female musician making waves in the jazz era. Groups like The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Lil-Hardin’s All Girl Band, Lena Kidd Quartet, and Ivy Benson and Her All Girl Orchestra played with skill and swing.
While it may have been seen or imagined as a publicity schtick, all-girl orchestras provided (and continue to provide) a place for talented musicians to come together and perform in an industry that shunned them otherwise. If they weren’t singers or pianists, women musicians didn’t have much of a shot in the jazz world. On top of that, female musicians playing in male majority bands faced harassment, discrimination, and worse.
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm have been widely considered one of the highest quality all-female bands in jazz history. They broke racial barriers, set jazz sales records, and helped celebrate the end of World War II in Paris with the troops. They were largely erased from history until the 1970s, when their contributions to women at work in traditional male fields became a source of study for women’s history departments.
One of my responses to ‘it’s not every day you come across a working female trombone player’ is ‘it’s not every day we get the recognition we deserve’. History is written by the victors, and for millennia, patriarchy has been winning. Because we don’t see women working in certain fields does not mean they do not exist. Representation and recognition are key to giving women, people of color, and non-binary and transgender folks their due in a world often hostile to their success. Next time you see a hard-working female musician out at a gig, consider that she may not want to be singled out for her gender alone. Give her a compliment on her musicianship. Thank her for her example. Give the girls in the band their due.
Performances: Saturday: Hamline Winds in concert at Sundin Hall! 7:30pm on Hamline University Campus. I’m sitting in as player-coach this semester and enjoying every minute.
I’ve got upcoming masterclasses, performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites, and a big concert planned with Metro Brass upcoming in April and May.
Rehearsals: MC5 meets Wednesday night, Metro meets Sunday- we’re gearing up for spring and summer gigs!
Practicing: Now that Easter is over and spring break has begun for many of my students, I’m looking forward to diving into some new music this week. I’ll start the 3rd movement of Red Dragonfly and I hope to learn most of the 1st movement of the Bourgeois Concerto.
Listening: Podcasts. Still lots and lots of podcasts.
Teaching: I’m refining my method for teaching the natural approach every day. This week, with a little more free time, I’m hoping to deepen my understanding of how our focus controls our product. I’m also making efforts to listen more carefully to what my students are telling me, both explicitly and implicitly.
Studying: “SuperTeaching” by Eric Jensen. Feeling like I need to up my game for my lovely students. Trying to get my hands on a copy of Attention and Motor Skill Learning by Gabriele Wulf.
Relaxing: It’s (mostly) spring break! Bike rides, walks, talks with friends, naps all on the list.
Performances: Easter Services at Bethlehem Lutheran in S Mpls on March 27th are the next thing up for now! I’ve got upcoming masterclasses, performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites, and a big concert planned with Metro Brass upcoming in April and May.
Rehearsals: Metro meets twice this week in preparation for our May 1st concert at the Capri Theatre in North Minneapolis. Stay tuned for more details on that- we were sounding great last night and this should be an exciting program!
Practicing: All the tunes (and new potentials) on my Tune Library!
Easter gig music has some doozies in it (including an arrangement for BQ of the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah). Should be fun, but it’s going to be a long morning and I need to make sure I’m in shape for it!
Listening: Podcasts (Radiolab, You Made It Weird, 99% Invisible, My Brother, My Brother, and Me)
Teaching: Tunes, continued. Plus, a new approach to our normal breath warm-up/exercise. If you haven’t gotten that from me yet, you will soon!
Studying: “SuperTeaching” by Eric Jensen. Feeling like I need to up my game for my lovely students.
Relaxing: A little weekend trip to Cedar Rapids, IA, for fun and maple syrup. It was a whim and a good one!
Performances: Easter Services at Bethlehem Lutheran in S Mpls on March 27th are the next thing up for now! I’ve got upcoming masterclasses, performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites, and a big concert planned with Metro Brass upcoming in April and May.
Rehearsals: Mill City Five is jamming on Wednesday night. Metro meets Sunday.
Practicing: All the tunes (and new potentials) on my Tune Library!
Listening: Podcasts (Radiolab, You Made It Weird, 99% Invisible)
Performances: Easter Services at Bethlehem Lutheran in S Mpls on March 27th are the next thing up for now!
Rehearsals: nothing this week.
Practicing: Starting to make a plan for how I want to be best prepared for doctoral work in the fall. Collaborating with my future professor on the best course to take!
Listening: Blackstar, David Bowie.
Teaching: Healthy practice habits- this includes posture!
Studying: Flow. Plus, looking deeper into our physiology to find how our body moves and works and how we can let it learn naturally.
Relaxing: Doing crossword puzzles, having tea with friends.
Performances: As always I keep a calendar updated on this site.
This weekend I’ll be performing with Exultate Choir and Orchestra on their series “Emmanuel”- a performance of the best of the best oratorios we know and love. Check out their website or my calendar for dates and locations.
Rehearsals: A dress rehearsal for ECC is the only thing planned, although I am beginning my stint as player-coach for Hamline U’s Wind Ensemble brass this afternoon!
Practicing: I’m getting back into the groove of tunes by adding a few new simple ones to my roster: He’s a Jolly Good Fellow, Camptown Races, Zipadeedoodah.
Listening: Elliot Smith took up my Sunday.
Teaching: Accessing the music- how do we hear each phrase? Are we directing it or waiting for the phrase to guide itself (spoiler alert: we steer this ship)
Studying: Flow. And, I’ll make this official in this section, because I’ll have to start studying some theory and history soon- I was accept to UMN’s music doctoral program! I begin my program in September on track to receive a Doctorate of Music Arts in trombone performance. Ee!
Relaxing: Enjoyed the lovely weather Saturday on a bike ride. Yesterday I took a short class on working live sound and understanding sound boards. It was amazing and I’d love to try it in the field someday soon.
Performances: As always I keep a calendar updated on this site.
Nothing happening for the rest of February- phew- but first weekend of March I’ll be performing with Exultate Choir and Orchestra on their series “Emmanuel”- a performance of the best of the best oratorios we know and love. Check out their website or my calendar for dates and locations.
Rehearsals: As noted above, Exultate rehearsals start this week.
Practicing: I took a nice little weekend off- a bit of self-care after a busy and somewhat stressful start to the music year. It always takes a little bit to get back to fighting weight, but the perspective gained is worth it.
Listening: Nick Drake, Bruckner 4, Hamilton OCR.
Teaching: Practical theory and ear training high on my list today.
Studying: Flow is here! Can’t wait to dive into it.
Relaxing: A friend visited me this weekend, hence my opportunity to take some time off and have a mini homebound vacation. We did touristy Minneapolis things and ate good food- it was wonderful! It’s tough to go back to work but I feel refreshed and happy.
Lauren Husting, trombone 