I’m getting lots of hits via something called newsgator. Anyone reading this using that service? Just curious if those are “for real” or if it’s something I should be blocking. I’m thinking it might be some sort of RSS thing … but I’m a computer idiot so this is just a pattyguess™.
… for me anyway.
Tonight was the dress rehearsal. Everything was more difficult. Counting. Note attacks. Intonation. I hate when this happens, and yet it seems to happen frequently to yours truly. I’m not sure what it is about the dress, but I tend to have difficulties with things that shouldn’t be difficult, and of course [...]
… well, unless you count a body as an instrument case!
Yeah, I”m talkin’ singers here. (And sorry, this is going to be a disjointed ramble … I feel it coming on and I can’t stop it.)
Singers and instrumentalists have sometimes had a bit of a “thing” going on … there’s occasionally (?) a rub [...]
I was shocked by how few opportunities there were for students to hear genuine oboe-laden country music.
-Maggie Ronan, Pomona student
Read more here.
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Orchestra musicians must be mighty dangerous. Dangerous enough that some can’t come to the US on scheduled tours I guess.
I wish our government would get a clue.
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The English horn (or “anguished horn” as my husband has been known to call it) is home. I took reeds with me to Mark Chudnow’s, of course, so I could give it a go while there, and it plays beautifully! I’m so glad—relieved, really—to have it back in my possession. I didn’t like being without [...]
Maestro Boughton mentioned the Sibelius quote I posted yesterday. How ’bout that?
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Artists like Bach and Beethoven erected churches and temples on the heights. I only wanted… to build dwellings for men in which they might feel happy and at home.
-Edvard Grieg
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… from two symphony rehearsals.
I am truly enjoying William Boughton; he’s a fine conductor and is, I think, causing us to listen more and pay attention to the little things we sometimes manage to ignore. I like his rehearsal technique, and I think this weekend’s concerts will be mighty fine.
Having rehearsed the entire [...]
The first picture here cracks me up.
Yeah, I know it explains that it’s the women’s clothing crate right below the picture. But it doesn’t say women’s clothing on the box now, does it? So it is funny. To me anyway.
It would be funny to you, too, if you had my (non)sense of humor.
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While others were engaged in manufacturing cocktails, I offered the public pure cold water.
-Jean Sibelius
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Being an oboist is my job. This includes both playing and teaching. I love my jobs, and I look forward to rehearsing, performing and working with students. Of course when I don’t have playing jobs with the various groups of which I’m a member, I make no income from them. Some months are very good. [...]
Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.
-Ludwig Van Beethoven
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… cartoon.
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Does this oboe sound make you laugh as much as it made me laugh? (Be sure and have your sound on.)
Oh dear, oh dear.
If you don’t know why this is funny, please contact me and I’ll explain. Really.
I can’t say for sure, but it looks like maybe a Loree oboe being sold on eBay is a scam. Be warned! I’d post a link here, but I’m not sure how that all works lawsuit wise, and I can’t afford being sued. And, of course, the IDRS folks who are all writing about this [...]
The Baseball Music Project, started in 2004 by a group of professional musicians united by their love of baseball and music, aims to increase awareness of both. Sunday’s performance by the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra was the first in a nationwide tour of symphony orchestras and concert halls.
I’m not the only musician who loves baseball, you [...]
“Jason Sudduth (English horn) shone in the Barber,”
Seen here. Jason was second oboist in San Jose Symphony (RIP) before its demise. Great guy, great musician!
It is the responsibility of the musician to create heaven on earth and to create balance, peace and harmony in the environment.
-East Indian saying
(Whew, no pressure here!)
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She makes you want to play better than you ever played in your life, and then she makes it impossible.
-an unidentified musician, commenting on Sarah Caldwell, who died this past Thursday
Some of the most creative work that many of us artists have done has been with Sarah. Some of the most aggravating, as well. She [...]
When you play music you discover a part of yourself that you never knew existed.
-Bill Evans
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After dropping Jameson off at school (at about 7:20 AM) I left for the exciting city of Irvine a fun visit with Kelsey.
Of course a drive of between seven and one thousand (in LA traffic you never know) hours demands music. So here’s the playlist. You may be unimpressed if you like—I can handle it!
Philip [...]
Sugar is not so sweet to the palate as sound to the healthy ear.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Read this:
Website Warnings
Spending a lot of time lately doing phone interviews with prospective interns for the summer. Especially with phone interviews, I tend to google applicants first. A word to the wise: Be careful what you put on the internet.
And know that it was written by Kim Pesinger Witman, who is with Wolf Trap Opera.
You [...]
Zachary Lewis, of
