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Weekly Round-up 4/25/16

Performances: Metro Brass 5/1/2016 Live at the Capri Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!

I’ve got upcoming masterclasses and performances with Mill City Five and The Satellites in May coming up quick!

Rehearsals: Satellites horns met on Saturday- it was killer! Thanks to the guys for helping me make edits on charts so they are tip-top for our May gigs. Metro has our dress for Sunday’s concert this upcoming Friday night.

Practicing: Minnesota Orchestra audition repertoire. This was today! I felt I presented myself well, but I was not asked to play all of the excerpts. Mozart Tuba Mirum, Mahler 5, and Ride of the Valkyries went really well! But I botched the opening of Bolero, an excerpt I generally feel very confident on. Oh well. That’s auditions for you!

Listening: Prince all day every day. This was a sad and magical weekend in Minneapolis.

Teaching: “Darts” and “Straws”. Darts for air and tone. Straws for higher register and airflow. “Blocks”- consistent air across longer notes- moving the air toward your goal.

Studying: New things to start looking at: grant preparation, doctoral recital repertoire, UMN entrance exams.

Relaxing: Enjoyed Saturday’s weather. Yesterday it rained and rained, so I sat and read and pet kitties.

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Weekly Round-up 4/18/16

Performances: Metro Brass 5/1/2016 Live at the Capri Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!

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.

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Weekly Round-up 4/11/16

Performances: Metro Brass 5/1/2016 Live at the Capri Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!

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.

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Weekly Round-up 4/4/16

Performances: Metro Brass 5/1/2016 Live at the Capri Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!

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.

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Weekly Round-up 3/28/16

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.

 

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Weekly Round-up 3/21/16

Happy Spring!

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!

 

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Weekly Round-up 3/14/16

Happy Pi Day!

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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)

Teaching: Tunes!

Studying: Focus and anxiety release.

Relaxing: I took naps yesterday. It felt nice.

 

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Weekly Round-up 3/7/16

 

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.

 

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Weekly Round-up 2/29/16

Happy Leap Day!

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.

 

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Weekly Round-up 2/22/16

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.