In the Form of A Shell

On Sept. 11, I wrote about a piece of music that that Claremont Concert Orchestra was going to perform. Here is a short clip from the dress rehearsal highlighting some of the diverse musical techniques of the piece. I wondered what the audience would think of it, and the applause sounded genuine and I asked some of my friends who heard it, and they said they liked it. So, it is possible to stretch our definition of music!

Busking

So, the school year is off and galloping, and music runs much of my life, so maybe I should get back to blogging about it.

Last night our Celtic Group, Drowsy Maggie, had a busking gig in the Claremont Village. I have put up a little video and some pics from the evening on the Drowsy Maggie Facebook page.

Recorder Haiku

A week ago the Village Pipers performed the recorder haiku that I composed at the North America Haiku Conference. Although I have videos of the six pieces, we will be performing them again this coming Sunday in Claremont, and I would like to have another chance to record them to choose the best of each. Then I plan to make a little movie (or several movies) and put them on youtube.

Stay tuned.

Drowsy Maggie on St. Paddy's Eve

Drowsy Maggie, our Celtic duo, had a last-minute gig at Dale Brothers Brewery last night. We were invited by the Sons of Claremont to join them in playing Irish music for Shameless Saturday which was also a fund-raiser for the Claremont Folk Music Festival which will be June 15. 

I've never played in a brewery before, but with our pay being free Pomona Queen beer and food from Hillbilly Tacos, I would consider doing it again. After all, our audience could only get happier the more we played and the more beer they drank.

I rarely smile when I play, even when I'm having fun....

Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Celtic

Lynn and I have been playing Celtic music for violin and cello for about 4 1/2 years now. We love listening to and trying to emulate Natalie Haas and Alasdair Fraser. After the Bluegrass concert last week, Lynn and I are thinking about expanding our repertoire to include Bluegrass and Old-Time music and perhaps see if we can add some vocals, too.

This has got me working on an arrangement for us of The Storms Are On the Ocean, an old Carter Family tune, performed in this youtube video with Raymond McLain.

Unexpected Intermission

Yesterday the Claremont Concert Orchestra performed our final concert for the semester. We knew from Saturday night's first incarnation of the concert that we would be done in 50 minutes. I was going to blog about how 50 minutes almost doesn't even seem like a concert, even though we played the fabulous Dvorak's 8th. To make the concert a slight bit longer we also played the Farandole from Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite #1.

Anyway, something happened in yesterday's performance that I have never seen in all my many years of orchestral playing. One of the students was not there at the end of the Bizet, and I believe he was the timpani player. We cannot perform the Dvorak without timpani, so we begged the audience's patience and waited for 20 minutes for this student to appear on stage and ready to play. I do not know the story behind this event, but I'm sure I'll hear the details at some point.

The one funny thing that happened during our intermission was that one of the horn players started playing Joy to the World, and after a phrase, the rest of the orchestra joined in and played an impromptu rendition for two verses of the carol, much to the audience's delight.

Student Recital

I have not held a recital for my private students in several years.  I think I only had about 3 private students last spring, and my partners in crime (other string teachers) had no students for various reasons.  This year my studio has 1 viola and 4 violin students, and with two more students (a violin and a cello), we had a critical mass for a recital.

Despite the fact that many people do not plan anything for Memorial Day weekend because they think everyone will be out of town, every one of our students could make it this Memorial weekend afternoon, and we had a lovely recital.  At the end the three teachers played a trio of Scott Joplin's rag, The Entertainer.  What a great excuse to get together to play some fun music.

CUSD Concert

Last night our district string students, 4th-12th Grades, performed our final concert of the year, so now it's time to clean-up, regroup, rest, and think about next year.

I am constantly amazed at how well-behaved string students are.  They sat for a little over an hour, performing and then listening to the other groups play and adults make all kinds of announcements.  We had absolutely no issues (just some students who have no idea how to play their instruments and sit in the back row looking completely lost).

Claremont Youth Symphony

It's always great to see the students who started with me in the CUSD strings program continue their music, and today I saw 11 of my former (and one current) student perform with the Claremont Youth Symphony.  The students played nearly one hour's worth of music which requires a great deal of concentration, and I was proud of them all.

The End of the School Year

It's the end of the school year.  You can tell because of the concerts that pop up on the calendar.  I have discovered that student persistence wanes in May, so it's good to end on a high note.  On Wednesday we had our (3rd or 4th?) annual Vista Orchestra and Recorders Concert.  I really enjoy this one.  It lasts about 30 minutes, the MP room at Vista is standing room only, and the set-up is really easy.

This year we played 10 pieces, about 4 of them new arrangements for this year.  I am always pleased with how everything comes together, and I am always happy when it is over.

Two more concerts on the docket - the district strings concert and a recital for my private students.  Then it's summer (and time to think about composing in earnest).

Jingle Bell Waltz

Tonight the Village Pipers performed my arrangement of Jingle Bells which I made into a waltz.  You can see the performance here on youtube.

Beethoven's 5th

In December, the Claremont Concert Orchestra will perform Beethoven's 5th Symphony.  While I can play the music, getting better at the few tricky viola parts, we are working very hard in rehearsals on interpretation.  Beethoven has written some very particular instructions with notation and dynamics and such, and our conductor keeps telling us that this is "not normal music."  We are taking some very exciting tempos, and I now have a different idea in my mind about this symphony, as well-known as it is.

So today I thought I ought, maybe, to buy a good mp3 version of this work (my CD is not so great), and the ones I am finding in the iTunes store buy famous ensembles and famous conductors don't seem to have the fire in them that I am hearing in my head.

Anyone have a good recording they can recommend?

Bridezilla Followup

I just found this album on iTunes.  Love the title!

A Word For Brides

It seems to be wedding season, and the trio/quartet that I play in has been asked by brides to play certain popular tunes for their weddings.  We have a number of Classical/Baroque pieces in our repertoire which we use not only for the wedding ceremony, but also for the background music to set the atmosphere as the guests arrive.

But sometimes a bride gets an idea in her head that a song she just loves would be perfect for the ceremony.  Here are some things to keep in mind about special requests.

- Most popular music is not arranged for string quartet (or string trio).  One can buy piano/guitar/vocal music, but it can take an arranger several hours or more to put it into the correct scoring for the chamber group at hand.

- The ensemble must put in some extra practice time to work out a new piece.

- Some popular music does not translate well to string ensembles. (Some does.)

- Some music is not appropriate for specific parts of the ceremony.  Many brides love a slow piece and think that they would like to process with that piece.  It is my personal thought that the entrance of the bride should be a joyous, triumphant moment, and the accompanying music should reflect that.

- Pachelbel's Canon is overrated and overused.  (Okay, if you love Pachelbel, we are happy to play it for your wedding, and we won't make any disparaging remarks about it!)

So, if your heart is set on that certain song, don't hesitate to pay extra money for it since it will take extra time to prepare.

(Someone told me that when asked why it costs so much for a string quartet to play, they say, "Just call up four plumbers and ask them how much they would charge per hour on a Saturday afternoon." A string quartet will look reasonable in that comparison.)

Zip Code Boogie Video

Here is the link to the performance (not perfect) of my Zip Code Boogie performed this morning.  But you get the idea.

Gigs Galore!

After a two-week summer vacation, where I did not play any instrument, I am back with a vengeance!  I have four gigs coming up in the next month and a half, so I'm practicing violin, viola, and soprano recorder.

First up is a wedding next weekend - playing viola in a trio.
Second is a church gig - playing viola in a quartet.
Third is a recorder gig.
Fourth is our Celtic Duet gig for Friday Nights Live! in Claremont (violin).

I'm feeling very much like a musician these days!

Alexander Technique

(Repost from my daily life blog):

This week I attended a workshop featuring the Alexander Technique.  Never heard of it?  Neither had I until my friend, Wendy, got interested and involved in it. From the website:

The Alexander Technique has a long history of helping instrumentalists and singers to perform with less stress and likelihood of injury.

By helping musicians release undue tension in their bodies, the Alexander Technique makes possible a performance which is more fluid and lively, less tense and rigid.

With a few new ways of thinking about muscles in my body, I was able to notice an immediate difference in the way that the viola sounded when I played it.  One of the things that happens at a workshop is the manipulation of ones body to feel the release of tension by the practitioner's hands.  One of the funny parts was after my left side had a work-over, I felt very lopsided, and apparently I looked lopsided, too until my right side got the magic hands application.

Time will tell if I can continue these new good habits, but I think I will be able to.

Celtic Gig

Lynn and I have a gig to play our Celtic Duets in public!  This fall, we will be part of an Art Walk night in the Claremont Village, playing for 3 hours on a Friday night (date to be pinned down soon).  Our spot will be at City Hall.  We have started plotting what music we will play for a hour (then repeat twice).  I know what I will be practicing this summer in earnest!

Sunday in the Life of a Musician

Traditionally musicians have worked Sundays.  The church was probably the original employer of composers and performers.  This morning a quartet played my arrangement of What Wondrous Love is This for our Lenten church service.  I felt that it went very well, and people were especially complimentary about the arrangement.

This afternoon I donned my recorder-player hat and joined the Village Pipers for a church fundraiser by providing background music for a garden tour.  We were stationed at one house and played our Renaissance music for several hours before we were given leave to tour the other four gardens.  For this performance I had decided to actually purchase a decent plastic recorder, so I gave it a good inaugural concert, remembering how to play B-flats and G-sharps.

Tchaikovsky

This weekend the Claremont Concert Orchestra is performing Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. I was pretty sure that I had blogged about how this piece was difficult, and that I didn't particularly like it, but hoped that it would grow on me as we practiced it. Well, I couldn't find a blog post about that, but the work has grown on me. Some passages are still quite difficult for me to play, but with practice, I have improved, especially the parts that are exposed for the viola.

Our conductor is quite passionate about Tchaikovsky and really wants us all to be as enthusiastic. While I am not a total convert (and prefer Mahler), I am certainly glad that we are playing this symphony and not any Bruckner.