Recordings

Oh yeah...Go check out ye olde Myspace page (look to the right of this page for the link) for some live recordings. As always, comments are welcome...even from you Winchester, VA!

Some upcoming performances

So I'll be playing some concerts in NYC in June that (I assume) all the glitterati will be attending. They're all part of the Institute and Festival for Contemporary Performance.


Sunday, June 21st, 8pm - at Mannes Concert Hall, 150 West 85th Street, NYC
David Sanford's "Dogma '74"
I'm not sure exactly what the instrumentation is, but it's some good old contemporary chamber music.


Tuesday, June 23rd, 8pm - at Mannes Concert Hall, 150 West 85th Street, NYC
Gunther Schuller's "Episodes for Solo Clarinet"
Pretty sure I know the instrumentation for that one.


Tuesday, June 23rd or Wednesday, June 24th, 8pm - at Mannes Concert Hall, 150 West 85th Street, NYC
Pianist Carol Minor and I will be playing the Berg "4 Pieces" for clarinet and piano, but we haven't nailed down which date specifically yet. Also, I'll be doing several movements from Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" on one of those.

Although IFCP's calendar isn't completely up yet, keep an eye out HERE for more info. Pianist Marc Ponthus and cellist Joel Krosnick will both be giving solo recitals during the festival, so it should be a welcome addition to your summer.

After that, I'll be serving up traditional Pops faire with the Glens Falls Symphony on

Saturday June 27 8:00pm West Mountain Ski Area
Saturday July 4 8:00pm Crandall Park, Glens Falls
Thursday July 9 8:00pm Lake George

These last three are in upstate NY. If you want to go, but can't figure out how to get there, let me know.

Lurkers

It appears that I have a number of lurkers. Some of you I know, others...not so much. What's odd is that none of them leave comments. Well, I guess that it's better than leaving the wrong type of comments.

I've not really much to say as far as the clarinet and music go. Sorry about that. I made some guacamole, though. That was artistic.

Sorry, fresh out of useful blatherings...

A reed

I have this reed. It's kind of amazing, this one. I played it for a concert with Clarinet and electronics in March. Since then, whenever I've been a little out of shape due to other duties, this reed has been genius. For some reason, if every other reed is truly awful, this reed comes through. It never plays exactly the same way, but it'll let me articulate, play in tune, and vary my tone. Very strange. When I'm really in shape and my chops feel good, however, this reed is not so hot.

I think that I may bronze the reed like baby shoes and just keep it on my desk as a paperweight. Or I may just play it for the next 20 years.

Anyone still awake after reading that?

Soapbox?

In this day and age....(Ha ha...you thought I'd say "In this economy..." right? Fooled you...) So, in this economy...damn...day and age, music presenters have to pay special attention to quality programming. Now, I'm not just talking about programming quality music, but also about booking an interesting balance of compositions. If you're programming all music with blue-hairs in mind, you're probably just asking for trouble. Well, perhaps not trouble...maybe a nap instead.

There are plenty of great symphonies out there, but programming something like...hm...Haydn 104 and the Mozart Oboe Concerto is a huge mistake. Why? Yes, you have fewer players to pay (especially if you use a smaller orchestra), but who will be interested enough in the program to fork out the cash? Hell, I'm a performing musician and I sure as hell wouldn't give up my money for that. I'd rather see Star Trek.

Star Trek, that's right. That's exactly who we're competing with now. Our 60 year old patrons were born in 1949. These concert-goers came of age during the 60's and have a long relationship with the movies, television, and a shorter one with computers and the internet. Until we can provide an experience that can convince someone to skip Star Trek for the night and spend time with a few hundred people packed like sardines into a large hall, we're sunk.

That does NOT mean that every show needs to turn into an eye/ear candy free-for-all. It just means that some artistic planning committees need to get off their asses and earn their paychecks.

That is all.