I Googled “vibrato”, cus I thought I didn’t know how to do that, but then when I saw what it was, I picked up my oboe and played a note with vibrato. I feel stupid…
More Barber of Seville tonight … I’m fairly sure you won’t hear an ocarina in our performance, though!
One of the oboe players is doing the strawberry equivalent of a Violet Beauregard. Bit concerned about her blood pressure
I named the speaker last time, and nearly got my head chopped off, so instead I’ll just share the quote without naming names … safer that way!
If [the classical composer] Beethoven were alive today, he’d be a video game composer.
Thoughts?
Justin Bieber Film Extended; Detroit Suspends Orchestra
I read it here.
… AND, if you are anywhere near Chicago on March 24, you could attend the concert!
From Jennet Ingel’s blog:
Chroma!
I could not be more excited about this video. My amazing pianist, Paul Hamilton, and his partner in crime, Caleb Vinson, did an amazing job shooting it and putting it together. The program, Chroma, will be performed in Valparaiso on March 27 and in South Bend on April 2 in addition to the Chicago date referenced here. Not to be missed!
Chroma from Caleb Vinson on Vimeo.
I charge by the lesson, because my schedule isn’t easy to work with and if I have to cancel a student I don’t want to “owe” the student anything. Many music instructors, though, charge by the month or by the quarter. I so appreciated a blog entry by a parent of a violin student.
I’m a parent of children enrolled in Suzuki music lessons. I’d like to explain to other parents why I feel – quite strongly, actually – that it is unreasonable of we parents to expect our teachers to make up lessons we miss, even if I know as well as they do just how expensive lessons are, and, equally importantly, how important that weekly contact is with the teacher to keeping practicing ticking along smoothly. I think that it is natural for we parents to share the point of view that students should have their missed lessons rescheduled, but if we were to ‘walk a mile’ in our teachers’ shoes, we might change our minds about what it is reasonable for us to expect of our teachers.
Like many parents, I pay in advance for lessons each term. In my mind, what this means is that I have reserved a regular spot in the busy schedules of my sons’ teachers. I understand – fully – that if I can’t make it to the lesson one week (perhaps my son is sick, or we are away on holiday, or there is some other major event at school) then we will pay for the lesson, but that my teacher is under no obligation to find another spot for me that week, or to refund me for the untaught lesson. And this is the way it should be.
Please read the whole thing!
I first blogged about Calefax on August 19, 2008. I have enjoyed them ever since then. They are a really incredible group of reeds: oboe/English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone and bassoon. Watch as they “introduce” the instruments!
Man, i can’t wait to embarrass myself in front of everyone and fail this oboe test at 8:30 in the morning…
Double Recorder Player Michael – Walking in The Air
This is a free-reed mouth organ from Sabah Borneo
I’m gonna start a band with me on guitar, and a few people on instruments like a keyboard, an oboe and a cymbal.
I’m not sure if it’s legal to put the photo up at my site, so I’ll just link to it for now. It just make me laugh a little. Not that I like smoking at all … but still ….
I’m so thankful to have positions in both Opera San José and Symphony Silicon Valley. Should my playing falter, there are ways they can go about getting rid of me, but they can’t, on a whim, require me to re-apply for my positions.
It is a confrontation as passionate as anything seen between Javert and Jean Valjean, pitting Cameron Mackintosh against the orchestra of Les Misérables, one of the theatre impresario’s biggest successes.
Mackintosh confirmed yesterday that the members of the show’s current orchestra – some of whom have played with Les Misérables since it opened 25 years ago – were being forced to reapply for their jobs. The move follows plans for an expanded orchestra with three additional members to accommodate new arrangements for the musical’s score.
“This does require us to look again at the make-up of the orchestra to ensure we do credit to the score,” said Mackintosh. “I hope that as many of them as possible will be able to remain with us for the next stage of the show’s life. However, should personnel changes be required I must continue, as always, to put the show and audience first.”
Mackintosh’s assurance that he wanted to keep the Les Misérables’ London show “the world’s premiere production” have done little to appease its musicians. “I don’t think what they’ve done is the right thing to do,” said the oboist Adrian Rowlands, when contacted by The Independent. A flautist who has played on a Les Misérables national tour also confirmed the news, but declined to go on the record as he intended to apply for one of the jobs.
