Battle Creek Symphony and Weekly Listening Update

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that I spent the greater part of this past week/weekend in Battle Creek doing a couple performances of Carmina Burana. In all honesty before I got the call to sub I had never heard more than the "O Fortuna" part of this work...and there is indeed A LOT more to it! I had such a blast getting to learn, rehearse and perform the piece and I really do hope that the Battle Creek Symphony calls me back again sometime! Amanda Sparfeld (whom I got the gig from) sounded gorgeous and it was so nice to be sitting near a powerful young flutist who is also just a really nice, genuine person.  Her sound has something very special about it almost like a frosted window at Christmas that holds within it a home full of love with a blazing fire in the fireplace keeping everyone warm and merry. I could honestly have listened to her play right hand pinky exercises for the entire rehearsal! Very inspiring. The music director, Anne Harrigan, reminded me a lot of my friend Chelsea. She was very knowledgeable about the piece and also was able to bring in elements from around the world as we worked through it together. I was really nervous to throw this work together in only TWO rehearsals but under her baton we not only did that but I think (specifically on Saturday) gave a compelling and polished performance that brought the piece across to the entire audience. 

This weekend marks the end of the National Orchestral Institute's audition season and now the REAL waiting game begins. I have my fingers and toes crossed and might even just hold my breath until I get the email from them. I really want to go! The deadline for Brevard is also coming up this week so hopefully in the next two weeks I will either know where I'm going this summer or will be able to plan on staying here and figuring out how to make enough money to keep paying off this flute.

Now for an update: I will no longer be doing weekly review videos. It's just a bit too much more work than I thought it would be so instead I will more than likely be doing a "recording of the month" video each month where I review/talk about my favorite classical recording, concerts, paraphernalia etc of the past month. I will still be listening though so there will be lists posted with each Sunday blog and every day you can see on my Facebok Page what I'm listening to that day. 

Have a good week and happy practicing everyone!!

Listening for this coming week:

Monday: Bach - Cello suite no. 2
     Recording - Yo-Yo Ma

          Edgar Meyer (still for fun)

Tuesday: Jennifer Higdon - Zaka for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano & Perc.

Recording - Higdon: Summer Shimmers, Zaka, Rapid Fire, Etc.

Wednesday: African Drum and Dance

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3D5Kt2nTEk

Thursday: Brahms - String Quartet #2 in a minor, Op. 51

Recording - Tokyo Quartet

Friday: Edwin York Bowen - Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 120

Recording - Jeffrey Khaner and Charles Abramovic

Saturday: Mahler - Symphony no. 2

Recording - Chicago Symphony & Claudio Abbado

Sunday: Stravinsky - Finishing of the Rakes Progress

Battle Creek

This week has been by far one of the best weeks I think I have had in months! I was told that I would have two more students starting up on Monday's at the store I teach at (which is literal music to my ears), 5 of the flute players at Jefferson High expressed interest in starting to take lessons from me once they get back from winter break and 9 of them are interested in being a part of the flute ensemble that I am going to be starting there! Add in that the Band Director (who is also the Choir Director) at Jefferson wants me to not only continue coaching the flutes but also start to coach the boys in the choir and that another middle school in the area would like me to start coaching and we FINALLY have ladies and gentlemen some form of viable work building up for me! The idea that I am going to have consistent income for almost every day of the week is making me so happy (especially with flute payments coming) and still none of this is the best part!

This week I was finally called for my first paid sub gig with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra performing Carmina Burana!!!! When I received the call that the piccolo player had a last minute emergency and they needed someone to fill in I almost starting crying on the phone from joy (although I do hope that it wasn't anything too serious that made their regular have to cancel). Two concerts in one month makes me feel like I'm really accomplishing something and not only that but I have not yet had the opportunity to perform Carmina so I cannot wait to add another major work to my repertoire list!

Friday saw me in East Lansing for the "Night at the Oscars" concert with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. The rehearsal went well and the concert did also except that in "Charade" I played one line pretty out of tune...I was not happy with myself and hopefully it doesn't come up at the end of the season when they discuss my tenure. I am still on probation and now definitely cannot afford another mistake like that if I want to keep the job for a while longer. One a better note the highlight of the concert for me was getting the opening solo to "My Heart Will Go On" (which redeemed my out of tunedness slightly I hope). The vocalists were ok. I was not a huge fan of the woman...she was a bit too into herself and overindulged way too much in my opinion on some of the tunes. She also was just a tad too sultry compared to the content of a few of the songs. The man was good! He had a really nice vocal quality when he was in his "comfort zone" but outside of that got a bit pitchy...after hearing that he played the Phantom on Broadway for over 100 performances though I can forgive him. Just to be that close to someone who has that kind of role under their belt is amazing.

Second Flute Bryan and I at intermission

Time to practice! Carmina won't learn itself. Look below for my ratings of last weeks "My Week In Music" and the new list!

Review:

Sonata in d minor - Scarlatti: 4 quarter notes

Petroushskates - Joan Tower: piece - 4 quarter notes

                                                          recording - 3 quarter 

Ehru - Chinese - 4 quarter and 1 eighth

Piano Trio K. 498 - Mozart: Piece - 4 quarter notes

                                                   recording - 3 quarter notes 1 eighth

Sonata Op. 36 - Pierne: Piece - 3 quarter notes one eighth note

                                             recording - 5 quarter notes

Symphony No. 1 - Ives: Piece - 4 quarter notes one eighth note

                                             recording 3 quarter notes one eighth note

Rakes Progress - Stravinsky: Act II

Next week's list:

Monday: Bach - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major

     Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach - The Cello Suites

     Edgar Meyer: Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites Performed on Double Bass

Tuesday: Charles Ruggiero - Fractured Mambos for Tuba and Tape

     Philip Sinder: Aerodynamics

Wednesday: Gamelan: Gamelan Cudamani

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGy1ANrWmY4

Thursday: Johannes Brahms - String Quartet No. 1 in c minor Op. 15

     Tokyo Quartet: Brahms; Shubert: String Quartets

Friday: Henri Busser - Prelude et Scherzo

     Ransom Wilson: Flute Music by French Composers

Saturday: Mahler Symphony No. 1

     Chicago Symphony led by Georg Solti

Sunday: Continuing with The Rakes Progress (Act II)

My Musical Week (in recordings)

First I need to brag (as all flutists do). I was featured on Muramatsu America's Facebook Page this week with my new purchase! Here's the photo they used:

Now on to the real reason you clicked on this posting:

When I'm making breakfast or generally starting my day I often like to listen to music as I cook, check my email etc and then start it all over again after either because I loved what I heard....or because I was so focused on whatever I was doing that I was unable to truly appreciate what was happening in the piece. As of late I have been really wanting to broaden my musical ear and listen/learn new works that I have either neglected or for some reason have never heard (cough Mahler cough). I also realized that there are more than likely many other musicians who want the same thing as I or listen to music actively throughout the day like I do to enhance whatever mundane task they're doing. So as follows below is my new "My Musical Week" which will be featured both in my blog and on my youtube channel (which I now feel I have enough content to go back to). After the list you will find a description of why I personally chose these themes so please feel free to change them to your own liking.

Monday - Breakfast with the Baroque

Tuesday - Twentieth Something

Wednesday - Not Western

Thursday - The Inner Chambers

Friday - Flute

Saturday - Symphonic

Sunday - Solely Opera

Why I chose what I chose:

Monday I'm calling "Breakfast with the Baroque". Throughout my undergraduate studies I shied away from anything baroque that wasn't Bach or a work written for flute that happened to be from this period. After living with my friend Josh in San Francisco (who is a wonderful traverso player) though, I realized how wonderful this music could be and how little I really know about it and its practices. I want that to change and so each week I will select something either that I know but have never heard on a period instrument or that I have never heard before to see what I do or don't like from this period.

Twentieth Something Tuesday came about because much like the music of the baroque I (and often many musicians) aren't always thrilled when we hear that we have to perform music from the 20th century to now. At SFCM I was Principal Flute of the New Music Ensemble and being a part of that group showed me that a) I can find music that I like from this period and b) Even the stuff I do not like can be interesting to learn about and hear at least for the reasoning and theory behind it.

Not Western Wednesday is inspired by my friend Chelsea. She has spent the last three years learning about cultural folk music from India in order to see how it has directly or indirectly influenced Western Classical Music. I admire very much the work she is doing and would like to hear more "world music" if you will from other cultures just to see what else is out there besides Mozart and Britney.

The Inner Chambers Thursday will feature chamber music. I am taking this a step further and defining (for the time being) chamber music as music written for one to ten players that could be performed un-conducted. Other than wind quintet repertoire (which will of course be selected from time to time) I feel there is a lot out there that I should hear like all the Beethoven string quartets or the Dvorak piano trio.

I am a flute player after all so Friday will be all about the Flute. I have so many pieces, recordings, players etc that I long to hear or do not know about and as a self-proclamed "Professional Flutist" I should have as much information as possible. With this segment I may also post what pedagogical book I might be reading at the time.

Symphonic Saturday will be limited to works that could be called or considered a Symphony. This may coincide with one of my other weekly goals to practice and prepare an entire orchestral concert each week to be performed Saturday afternoon by me in my living room along with my favorite recording.

Ongoing Opera Sunday is going to be the one category that carries over a bit from week to week. I will select (often at the beginning of each month) an opera and give a starting/stoping point for the week. I don't always have the time or energy to listen to an entire opera in one sitting and also do not often think of it when i do have free time but like many of the others this process is about introducing myself to things that I don't know about or understand.

When I post what I have decided on for the coming week I will also try to put links to scores and include what recording(s) I have selected for each work. Feel free listen to the same ones OR if you feel you have or know of a better recording I would love to hear about it!

As I said the above is just a guideline that I have decided to implement and follow. Feel free to change as you see fit and don't forget I wanna hear what you think as well!

First week:

Monday - Scarlatti Piano in d minor K. 1 (will analyze)

Score: http://sausage.whatbox.ca:15263/imglnks/usimg/5/55/IMSLP21370- PMLP11026-Scarlatti-SonatasK001-050.pdf

Album:Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas

Artist: Ivo Pogorelich

Tuesday - Petroushskates by Joan Tower

Album: The Composer-Performer

Artist: Joan Tower & Da Capo Chamber Players

Wednesday - Picking Flowers (Traditional Chinese Erhu)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSGVSJGahU4

Thursday - Piano Trio in E Flat Major K. 498 - Mozart

Album: Brahms; Beethoven; Mozart: Piano Trios

Aritst: Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Richard Stoltzman

Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/Trio_in_E-flat_major,_K.

498_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)

Friday - Sonata Op. 36 - Pierne

Album: Revolution

Artist: Marianne Gedigian

Saturday - Symphony no. 1 - Ives

Recording: Detroit Symphony and Neeme Jarvi

Album: Ives: Symphony No. 1/Barber: 3 Essays for Orchestra

Sunday - The Rakes Progress - Stravinsky

Duration: Act I

Recording - Works of Igor Stravinksy (20 disc set)