Tag: jan kagarice

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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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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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Women’s History Month Profile: Jan Kagarice

March feature! Each week I will profile a different woman or women in music who are particular heroes or inspiration for me.

This week, please welcome to the stage

MS JAN KAGARICE!

Kagarice-Jan

The goal of music is communication, not perfection.

Musician, scholar, pedagogue, force of nature, Jan Kagarice is senior lecturer of trombone at the University of North Texas. She’s taught and lectured all over the world, and was a founding member of internationally acclaimed trombone quartet PRISMA.

Jan’s teaching method focuses on methods garnered from greats like Arnold Jacobs and John Marcellus. She studies nearly everything having to do with how we learn to create a comprehensive approach. It’s all about the music, and what we say with our unique skills. 99.9% of what I tell my students comes from her. 100% of who I am as a performer is thanks to my time studying with her. It’s hard to put into words what my time at UNT meant to me, because I’m still processing so much of it. Needless to say, I wouldn’t still be working as a trombone player without the things I learned from Jan.

In addition to instilling these traits in her students, she also works with musicians affected by focal dystonia, a disorder that in the past has prevented many brass musicians from continuing their careers.

While a first-class performer herself, there’s not a lot to be found of her own recordings on the internet. What we do have, though, is a long and continuing legacy of her students whose performances speak to her enormous influence. Please enjoy my favorite trombone quartet, Maniacal 4, performing a piece written for Ms Kagarice, “Janet”.