Clarinet lessons via Skype

It's come to my attention that there are some students who would like to take lessons with me, but I don't live near them. As a result, I'm offering lessons via Skype, which has turned out to be a fantastic way to learn to play the clarinet. All you need is the free Skype software, a microphone, webcam, and a fast internet connection.

If you'd like to know a bit more about my teaching and performance background, take a look at my NYU faculty page here.

If you're interested in taking some lessons with me or are even considering studying clarinet at NYU, send me an email (ctb267@nyu.edu).

Ah, technology! When I was a kid, we had monochrome screens and ASCII art.

Yearly update

I guess I've been a little busy, what with teaching, playing, and helping to run a chamber series.

Here are a few upcoming concerts:


Sunday, August 7, 2011 - 730 pm
Carnegie Room Concerts - Schubertiade VI

The Nyack Library

59 S. Broadway

Nyack, NY

All-Schubert Program

Shepherd on the Rock, D.965
Sonata in A minor, D.821 ‘Arpeggione’
Selected Lieder

Sally Neff-Greenberg, soprano
Christopher Bush, clarinet; Carol Minor, piano

Tickets
General: $25
Senior: $20
Soiree Society Member: $18
Young Adult (under 35): $15
Child (12 & under): $5

Available at the door or reserve in advance at www.carnegieroom.org

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Saturday, August 27, 2011 - 730pm
Summerland Music Society - Trios and Tango

Hudson River Music Hall

122 Main Street

Hudson Falls, NY

Charlie Powers, cello
Anastasia Robinson, soprano
Christopher Bush, clarinet
Carol Minor, piano

Music of Schubert, Piazzolla, Previn, Beach and Brahms
Tickets: $15 floor, $17.50 balcony, $10 students/seniors
Available at the door

For more information, visit our website at www.summerlandmusicsociety.com

Missed a bunch

Sorry about that. I got so busy that I didn't even post concert listings. Now THAT is the height of laziness. The neatest and most recent was a performance of Elliott Carter's "Pastoral" in its incarnation as a solo work with accompanying marimba and string orchestra. That was pretty neat.

Since I'm in a "gettin' stuff done" kind of mood, I'll throw up a couple more concert listings:

8pm Tues. Nov. 9, 2010 Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Fierce Singleness: Music of Pozzi Escot and Robert Cogan

Works:
Robert Cogan - Fierce Singleness for solo clarinet
Pozzi Escot - VIRELAI for Chris and Carol (a commission from last year getting its Boston debut)
Pozzi Escot - Thy Kindled Valors Bend

Christopher Bush, clarinet
Carol Minor, piano
Christie Finn, soprano

[There will be other works on this program, but these will be the ones that Carol and I are playing. Should be fun to be back in Boston and taking Jordan Hall's acoustics for a spin again.]

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Fri. Nov. 19, 2010 [not quite sure where! Somewhere in a school in the North Country.] NY
Glens Falls Symphony

Prokofiev - Peter and the Wolf

(kids concert at a school...these are always fun!)

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4pm Sun Nov. 21 Glens Falls, NY
Glens Falls Symphony

Barber Symphony No. 1
Barber Knoxville Summer of 1915
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

[Here's the really neat thing about this program. This is the first orchestral concert in a LONG time that consists of entirely new-to-me repertoire. It's nice to approach some pieces from the canon for the first time. Score study, listening to recordings, learning lots of notes (especially the Barber)...the whole nine yards. Awesome...]

July Concerts

Back from the undead with a few concerts you should hit:

Sunday July 4 730pm
Glens Falls Symphony Summer Pops Concert
Crandall Park
Glens Falls, NY

Thursday July 8 730pm
Glens Falls Symphony Summer Pops Concert (followed by fireworks!)
Shepard Park
Lake George, NY

Friday July 9 730pm
Summerland Music Society
1st Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls
Glens Falls, NY
Chamber music of Bach, Beethoven, Carter, Ravel, Webern, and Saint-Saens.
Carol Minor, piano
Jameson Platte, cello
Christopher Bush, clarinet

Sunday July 25 730pm
Summerland Music Society
1st Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls
Glens Falls, NY
Chamber music of Brahms, Piazzolla, Milhaud, and Still.
Carol Minor, piano
Marc Szammer, violin
Christopher Bush, clarinet


I have to throw in a special plug for these last two concerts as they are the first concerts in a new series for us. Please come support us as we bring the best music to Glens Falls this summer!

And then...

Bernstein done. Next, another concert of Guy Barash's "Proteus". This is the large piece of which "Talkback" is a small part. The rest of the parts include a rock band, a percussionist, a "classical" singer, and a violinist. Pretty interesting and only about an hour. It'll be at Galapagos in Brooklyn on Feb. 17. Here's the link: http://galapagosartspace.com/

Earlier that day, I have a three hour recording session where I'll be sight reading short film scores with a group of about half a dozen of New York's finest...musicians, not cops. What a long birthday!

The Gandolfi solo piece and The Stone concerts are fast approaching!

Upcoming Concert

Here's a special concert coming up. I've been asked to perform as a guest on a piano recital in Glens Falls, NY. Pianist Carol Minor will be performing works by Beethoven, Debussy, and Finnissy while we will end the concert with Leonard Bernstein's Clarinet Sonata. It'll be good, I promise. Details below:

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010 3pm
First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls
400 Glen St.
Glens Falls, NY
suggested donation: $10

Let me know if you're coming!

Workin' that last bit o' vacation

On the desk (fancy term for music stand):

Carter Pastoral
Hughes Wingtones
Schubert Octet
Mozart Serenade (don't know which number, sorry)
Escot Virelai
Barash Talkback
Mozart Concerto
Rimsky Korsakov Scheherezade
Cawkwell 6 Flowers
Bernstein Sonata

Am kind of liking the Legeres, but they're too soft. It seems that I got pre-adjusted reeds. Ewww. Did use them, with some success in a rehearsal. Had to use cane for the recording. I didn't want to go overboard.

Fake reeds, real sound

So, for the holidays, I received both some scales and a complete screw-over from Delta Airlines. They've managed to be completely incompetent at every step of the way. They even managed to somehow screw up when I flew on USAir. That's a special kind of incompetent. It took USAir 33 minutes to untangle the mess.

On a much better note: Reeds. I've started testing some of the Legere plastic reeds as I've started hearing wonderful things about them. Although I don't think that I've settled on a strength yet, it looks good. At the very least, I may have a reliable backup reed for times when nothing else will work. So far, I've also only tried the Quebec cut, but I'll try the Signature line soon. I'm confident enough in one of them that I may use them for a recording on Tuesday. It'll be like those instant coffee commercials "Let's switch the reed for Legere and see if they notice."

Er...should I not have posted it on the internet if I'm supposed to be keeping it a blind experiment? Nobody reads this anyway.