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Weekly Round-up 1/25/16

Performances: Lots upcoming in January. As always I keep a calendar updated on this site.

Monday, 2/8 12pm- Hamline University Lunch Recital. More info to come! These are short, informal half-hour recitals and I am happy to be the featured artist for February. I’ll be playing the David Concertino, selections from Bach Cello Suite No 2, and the first movement of Red Dragonfly by Amy Mills.

Rehearsals: Mill City Five is getting back together on Wed night to kick off a new year, our fourth year together! We hope to fill it with gigs and music. Stay tuned .

Metro meets Sunday night. Looks like I’ll be playing a solo feature on “Stardust”. Put March 17th in your brain; we may have a concert date to announce soon.

Practicing: Less than two weeks to perfect my UMN audition materials- but I’m feeling strong! I had a really inspiring lesson with Professor Ashworth last Friday and am feeling the motivation to go into the audition swinging.

Listening: Charlie Parr’s album Stumpjumper has been making me dance lately.

Teaching: My seminar at Brass Chix was all about getting to the heart of your sound- feeling the air move, imagining the shape of your tone. We made some really nice music yesterday.

Studying: Doing what pleases me.

Relaxing: Crosswords and tea.

 

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Weekly Round-up 1/18/16

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Performances: Lots upcoming in January. As always I keep a calendar updated on this site.

Sunday, 1/24, 11-4 – BrassChix Annual Forum for women and girls who play brass instruments! I’m so excited to be a part of this again. I’ll be giving a trombone seminar in the morning and performing a movement of Red Dragonfly by Amy Mills in the afternoon.

Monday, 2/8 12pm- Hamline University Lunch Recital. More info to come! These are short, informal half-hour recitals and I am happy to be the featured artist for February.

Rehearsals: Working with my pianist, Rebecca, on the Mills for Sunday.

Practicing: So there’s a lot on my plate this month. On top of the above performances I am also preparing for my audition to enter doctoral study at the U in the fall. That audition is February 6th. Luckily, I can recycle much of the material from other gigs.

Listening: John Luther Adams, like, all of it.

Teaching: Short, quick notes to find the heart of your sound. Making the motion of the horn coming to your face, the inhalation, and the sound all a part of one unit, effortless.

Studying: Balance.

Relaxing: Visits to Como Conservatory, walks, good long talks with friends.

 

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Weekly Round-up 1/11/16

Hello all and welcome to 2016! This is the first weekly post of the year and I’m excited to share some new performances, information, and materials with you. Here goes!

Performances: Lots upcoming in January. As always I keep a calendar updated on this site.

Next Sunday, 1/17, 2pm- Winona Chamber Winds. One of my bucket list pieces, the Stravinsky Octet for Winds, is on this concert. If you can make the drive or will be in the area, I would love to see you!

Sunday, 1/24, 11-4 – BrassChix Annual Forum for women and girls who play brass instruments! I’m so excited to be a part of this again. I’ll be giving a trombone seminar in the morning and performing a movement of Red Dragonfly by Amy Mills in the afternoon.

Monday, 2/8 12pm- Hamline University Lunch Recital. More info to come! These are short, informal half-hour recitals and I am happy to be the featured artist for February.

Rehearsals: Prepping for WCW next weekend. Metro meets on Sunday the 17th.

Practicing: So there’s a lot on my plate this month. On top of the above performances I am also preparing for my audition to enter doctoral study at the U in the fall. That audition is February 6th. Luckily, I can recycle much of the material from other gigs.

Listening: Recently I’ve been sharing favorite recordings and performances of classical and art music with a friend. It’s taken me down a rabbit hole of orchestral music that has been refreshing.

But, also, David Bowie, thank you, Starman, for blowing our minds.

Teaching: Air is all you need. Let your line do the work.

Studying: Aspects of zen and Buddhist meditation.

Relaxing: Not going to be a lot of that this month, but I made a few New Year’s Resolutions, many of them focusing on getting out into the world more, and experiencing. Less screen time, more art, dance, music, friends, and life.

 

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Weekly Roundup 12/14/15

Reading: n/a

Arranging: n/a at the moment!

Practicing: My lesson with Mr Sundstrom was this afternoon. It was phenomenal. He had great wisdom and advice to share, but honestly, the best part was hearing him play (and playing Tannhauser with him). Now: barreling toward my doctoral audition full force: some woodshedding to do but it’s time to enjoy the music.

Rehearsing: Metro Brass on Sunday night.

Performing: Last week’s performances were so much fun! I’ll have video to share of my trio recital very soon. And Gabe put on such a good recital. It was beyond exciting to listen to her perform again.

Listening: The new Punch Brothers album Phosphorescent Blues, so gorgeous and ethereal.

Teaching: What do you want the horn to do? Are you telling it or following its lead?

Relaxing:  My trip to STL was really nice- lots of good conversation and warm dinners. I’d like to carry that back into my social life at home.

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Weekly Roundup 12/7/15

Reading: n/a (Well, for fun I’m reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, so…)

Arranging: n/a at the moment!

Practicing: I have a lesson with Kari Sundstrom, trombonist with the Minnesota Orchestra, in two weeks, to go over my doctoral audition materials and anything else we have time for! I’m also hard at work on the Trombone a Trois recital pieces and the two pieces I’ll be performing with my friend Gabe on her recital in St Louis this weekend.

Which reminds me: TOMORROW:

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Rehearsing: TaT dress tonight. Metro Brass last night tried out some new members- it was awesome! It’s always sad to see folks go- but it’s also great to meet new players? The music world is bittersweet.

Thursday I’m out to St Louis to rehearse and perform with Gabe.

Performing: Trombone a Trois. See above. Gabe’s recital, see link above,

Listening: HAMILTON (yes, still)

Teaching: Following the phrase- what instructions are you giving yourself/the horn? They should be simple: “sound like this”. Relinquish control and it’ll be easier.

Relaxing: I went for a walk around Lake Harriet yesterday and saw a FOX! In the city! Amazing.

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Weekly Roundup 11/30/15

Reading: n/a (Well, for fun I’m reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, so…)

Arranging: n/a at the moment!

Practicing: I have a lesson with Kari Sundstrom, trombonist with the Minnesota Orchestra, in two weeks, to go over my doctoral audition materials and anything else we have time for! I’m also hard at work on the Trombone a Trois recital pieces and the two pieces I’ll be performing with my friend Gabe on her recital in St Louis next weekend.

Rehearsing: Trombone a Trois is hard at work preparing for our December 8th show at Hamline! Hope you can make it- check out the Facebook page for more details.

AND! A new 7-piece jazz ‘big band’ style group is in the works! Some marvelous players, and an all lady horn section, which, while not our schtick, is almost unheard of, so I’m happy to get that representation out there!

Performing: Trombone a Trois. See above. Gabe’s recital, see link above,

Listening: HAMILTON (yes, still)

Teaching: Week two of the Jan treatment is going strong! I’m figuring out how to expand on the concept with individual folks and help them grow their sound and musicality.

I visited with the middle and high schoolers in Zimmerman, MN this morning, and it was a blast! We talked concept and made some gorgeous low brass sounds.

Relaxing: UGH I’ll rest when I’m dead

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Weekly Roundup 11/23/15

Reading: Too busy! But ordered a few things to check out over the holidays.

Arranging: Satellites charts.

Practicing: WR had a week off last week as I traveled to St Louis and Springfield, MO, to see friends from North Texas. My teacher, Jan Kagarice, gave a masterclass and clinic at Missouri State. It was incredible to see her do her work again, and that energy gave new life to my practicing and teaching this week. I’ve been utilized those things to work on my trio music as well as the numerous pieces I’m preparing for different performances in January.

Rehearsing: Trombone a Trois is hard at work preparing for our December 8th show at Hamline! Hope you can make it- check out the Facebook page for more details.

Performing: Mill City Five is at the Nicollet this Wednesday, 8pm! Free! Come relax before you get to cooking for Thanksgiving!

Listening: HAMILTON

Teaching: Everyone gets the Jan treatment this week and from here on out. Let the air do its thing and put your focus on the music. Less is more. Nothing is everything.

Relaxing: A friend in town this week, a roommate’s birthday, lots going on- looking forward to a few days off over the holiday weekend.

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Trombone á Trois in concert!

Dear friends,

Please attend a recital featuring my trombone trio, Trombone á Trois, on Tuesday, December 8th, at 7pm- Sundin Hall, Hamline University!

Featuring works by Moulaert, Bach, Corelli, Hidas, and Britten. Come hear the diverse music available to trombone trio- a infrequently seen chamber group- as played by John Maddox, Derek Crosier, and myself.

The concert is free and will be recorded.

Facebook invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/1645104842412177/

See you there!

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Weekly Roundup 11/8/15

Reading: Nothing for work

Arranging: Satellites charts as the new lead sheets get to me.

Practicing: I had a PHENOMENAL lesson with Scott Moore, professor at Gustavus Aldophus, on Friday. We talked a lot about breath control and the art of breathing in- to end a note out- which is not something I’d thought about before. Letting that sink in this week.

Rehearsing: My trombone trio has reunited with a new tenor player joining us, John Maddox! We are preparing a recital on December 8th, our ‘one night only’ chance to say goodbye to Derek before he moves to Maryland in January. 😦

Performing: Played a concert with M’haha yesterday: Hanson Symphony No 2 and Faust Ballet Music. Super fun to perform with that orchestra. The Hanson is new to me and it may go into heavy rotation in my orchestral listening.

Listening: That is, once I stop listening to Hamilton, which will be NEVER

Teaching: Thinks I picked up from Dr Moore regarding breath control. Also high range practice using tunes.

Relaxing: Whenever I can. This weekend I travel to St Louis to see my friend Gabe, and then we are heading to Springfield, MO to see our former UNT classmate Jason Hausback. He now teaches at MSU- and is having our professor, Jan Kagarice, give a clinic to his students. It’s going to be a mini-UNT reunion with some of my favorite Eagles.

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Weekly Roundup 10/26/15

Weekly Roundup is moving to Mondays! My Tuesdays have filled up and it makes more sense to do this at the beginning of the week, anyway. 🙂

Reading: Work Hard, Be Nice put aside a for a little bit, about halfway done, while I get control of some other tasks.

Arranging: New Satellites charts! Today’s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkClyHdKTzE

Practicing: Taking things down a volume level or two to focus on a steady, consistent tone- bricks of sound- in Tannhauser. My fortes have suffered from a lack of attention lately and are a little wobbly. Also working up La Gazza Ladra, to speed.

By the way, do you know about TromboneExcerpts.org? What a phenomenal resource. use it. Love it. Support them on Patreon. Do it.

Rehearsing: Mill City Five meets this week to make up new gig books and create a setlist for our gig November 25th at the Nicollet.

Trombone a Trois, my long-defunct trio, is regrouping for a potential recital in December. Stay tuned!

Performing: Nothing on the books until late November.

Listening: THIS (redux)

Teaching: How to be crispy. Keep your shorts short!

Relaxing: What. Is. That.