I think it’s interesting when you contrast careers. Often it’s very effective when contrasting how we teach musicians and artists versus other careers. This one is a very effective illustration on how we treat teachers. An amazing read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shaun-johnson/treating-doctors-like-teachers_b_812096.html

[ Published from Notes ( Read more... )

Some kind person uploaded the entirety of “An Evening with Danny Kaye” to youtube. It’s a benefit concert from 1981 where he was fooling around and conducting the New York Philharmonic. Among his many talents, he was a decent conductor.

Clicking on this link should start the full playlist and show the whole show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ( Read more... )

You know, usually when I talk about people on stage dancing around while pretending to be animals, folks think I’m talking about the latest convention and it’s masquerade. But in this case it was a little different.

I went to the ballet this weekend and watched Swan Lake.

First off, for those who are curious: a ballet is a type of artform where the ( Read more... )

Interested in brushing up on those piano lessons you had had as a kid? Live in the silicon valley area? This person is awesome:

http://takelessons.com/profile/linda-c

[ Published from Notes and accidentals. You can comment here or there. ]

For those of you who want to eventually end up in professional recording of music, here’s a nugget of advice you’ll probably never use:

When recording a funk sousaphone, have the player check the felts in the valves so you don’t hear them clicking on the solo passages:

Example tune: Dead Dog in the Street by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

[ Published ( Read more... )

So this weekend I played the Nutcracker. There were a lot of notes. And a lot of the time I got both the right pitch and played it in the right place. Playing the Nutcracker is somewhat of a major milestone for me, but for a reason that’s hard to explain. Let me first, tell you about the job that is impossible to get:

In every professional symphony ( Read more... )

Here are the upcoming concerts if you’d like to catch me playing some seasonal music:

What: The Ohlone Christmas Extravaganza
When: 2pm Sat, Dec 11
Where: Smith Center on the Ohlone College campus in Fremont, CA
Who: The Mission Peak Brass Band, the Ohlone Wind Orchestra, the Ohlone Community Band, and the Ohlone Tuba Ensemble.
Price: $15 for adults ( Read more... )

This year, I was invited to play the Nutcracker over in Livermore. I don’t get to play enough in orchestras, and I’ve never played the Nutcracker before, so I pounced on the opportunity.

Because it is a seasonal thing, and there are probably 20 or so performances, the various clarinet players opt to “rotate” parts to keep from getting bored. There ( Read more... )

I am always a little worried when I post my music on this journal. I tend to assume that most folks don’t care about it. In some ways it’s being that geeky kid back in school again: I assume that aside from the rest of the band geeks that no one else could possibly be interested in what I’m doing.

On the other hand, I am proud of what I do. So I ( Read more... )

The vacation out to Yosemite was abso-frikking-loot-ly awesome. For many, many reasons that will soon become a post of it’s own. Especially since it involves a sooooooper seeeeekrit project Sue and I have been working on. Anyway…

Part of the reason I have been a bit quiet here is well, I’ve been on the road for work. I’m not SUPPOSED to be on the ( Read more... )