… or maybe I’ll exercise it out. I should go to AVAC to exercise today, and perhaps that would cause the Les Mis soundtrack to switch off.
It’s the same every morning; I wake with a Les Mis tune in my head. It’s not the same one each time. Today it was a Gavroche one. I [...]
I’ve been receiving a larger number of hits than usual, and I suspect it’s because of the IDRS list; someone there posted my audition page URL. So hello to all of you who have dropped by … hope you visit again, and feel free to drop me a line if you have any additions, corrections [...]
I just took an MIT survey.
Does that make me smart?
Hmmm. I guess if I have to ask that question the answer is NO, eh?
Since I used this URL as my primary blog, I figured I’d paste the link here. I suppose I could have easily have chosen to use the pattyo as the [...]
Sometimes things don’t work out quite as planned. But that’s life. I didn’t sleep well at my hotel. Not at all. Then I felt ill in the morning so I just had to sit around.
Last night … no, this morning … I got home at 1:05 because my commuting friend’s oldest daughter, her sister, [...]
It’s 9:15 AM. I’m in my hotel room. (Yay for Hotwire.com!) I like to do this once a run if I’m able; this time it made sense because we have two doubles (meaning two shows in one day) in a row, and San Francisco will be a bit crowded this weekend so I didn’t have [...]
I’ve now done two weeks of Les Mis. We’ve done “only” fifteen shows so far, rather than the usual eight per week, since we began a bit later in the week that first week.
I have iTunes radio on right now. If I don’t put something on I have Les Mis tunes running through my [...]
Any musician who says he is playing better either on tea, the needle, or when he is juiced, is a plain straight liar . . . You can miss the most important years of your life, the years of possible creation.
Charlie Parker (1903 - 1992) US singer, In “Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya,” by Nat [...]
I knew a book was coming out about the classical music scene. I knew it would be full of sex and drugs (I don’t know about rock and roll, but there will be plenty of classical music). Yesterday I read a newspaper article about the book here. I found it troubling. Extremely so. (If you [...]
Les Mis will not be doing the originally planned three-week extension. I have mixed feelings. Playing 80 Les Mis performances would have been even more taxing than the 55 I’ll now do. But the income! I will miss the three weeks of work. The family will too. But this is life and there you go. [...]
… I bought a new oboe (well, new for me), and I ordered (finally) some music glasses, along with a new pair of regular glasses. It was a very expensive day. And I need my Les Mis paycheck!
The oboe was a good deal, and it will be nice to have a second instrument in case [...]
I have a solo in Les Mis. It’s a beautiful solo. It is played while some stage action is going on, but it is after a very tense moment and is very moving.
And once that first note sounds I’m just fine. I’m an expressive player and I know I do what is necessary to [...]
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come
back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because
then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance… a
lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.
-Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
—–
My cold seems to be improving more rapidly than I could have possibly imagined! (Thanks, those of you who are pray-ers.) I’m so happy to not be coughing wildly, or putting my box of kleenex, which sits there on the floor of the pit right in front of me, to much use. Whew! I’d been [...]
I’ve not been able to blog recently. First I was sick … feeling so rotten, in fact, that I wasn’t sure how I was going to play the seven hours of rehearsal for Les Mis on Wednesday. And then, of course, I did play both yesterday and today (and yes, I did fine and I’m [...]
Everyone says “practice makes perfect” but they’re wrong, they should say “practice makes permanent” because whatever you do over and over again is what you’ll do over and over again.
-Drew McManus
—–
I just watched the Van Cliburn competition at its end; the awards were being announced, but prior to that there was a lot of speaking. I wish I could have recorded the speeches, some of which had some nice things to ponder.
But anyway, when it got to the “drum roll” point my heart was pounding.
Isn’t [...]
To serve is a performer’s inheritance, plus our obligation.
-Van Cliburn
—–
To tie in with my practice blog, I thought I’d post some quotes. One writer, one musician and three golfers! (Hmmm. Maybe that’s why so many brass players read golf magazines during their measures of rest? Maybe they are merely reading about practice techniques? Or not.)
I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But [...]
Here’s a quote for you:
The only other thing she might have devoted her life to: Music. “If I could have been a classical pianist or an opera singer,” she says, “I might have thrown conscience to the wind.”
-Helen Woodson (61 year old imprisoned anti-violence activist)
Now didn’t that get your attention? Of course.
This is from [...]
While exercising today I was watching the National Spelling Bee. Man, can those kids spell! (But I would have nailed “dolcissimo” so I felt fine about that word. I could also spell “jabot”. I think those were the only two I knew I could have done accurately. Sigh.)
The ads during the show were frequently educational [...]
I received a message from this blogger and while the site has the (unreadable for me) white type on black background, it now also includes an option to switch to the opposite! So I select “lighten” (look on the right side) and all is well.
Now isn’t that nice? Yes. It is.
—–
