Haven't written much lately, though a lot has gone on. Memorial Concert went well, I (and the Maestro) were very happy with how my movement of the Lutosławski went. Rest of the concert was awesome as well. This week is the pops concert, which is always a lot of fun. I've been happy with how the summer has turned out. When I came here his year, I was a little down on myself with my technique and just how I was conducting. But, I really feel like I progressed here this summer and bad a couple of "a-ha" moments that will help down the road. The...

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Week 4 in situ

It's been a bit of a rough week here for me. No particular reason, but I've been unhappy with how my conducting assignment has been going; many small affectations that I have been able to expunge from my technique have creeped back in, resulting in a rather disastrous dress rehearsal for today's concert. It really is quite frustrating and a little disheartening - it also feeds into my (rather severe) self doubt. What if this is my pinnacle? What...

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Children's Concert

Well, this morning our idyllic day off is cut short for a children's concert we give at the halfway mark. This year it's Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, and will be narrated by my wonderful wife Olivia. And, on the plus side - we get served breakfast by the school's associate board. Things have been going well, if not a bit stressful; more on that when I can find the right way to put it....

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Settling into a routine

The weather here has started to even out, although for the third year in a row it was super foggy and rainy on July 4th - so no fireworks. But we had a potluck picnic that day which ended up being a lot of fun; we also had our fair share of dime store sparklers. Earlier in the week, a group of us headed out to Acadia for the day off and did a little bit of hiking. It was quite pleasant and bolstered my confidence ever so slightly: I am in a bit...

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It has been a week...

I've slightly avoided writing this week; it's been a bit unusual and I'm still somewhat scratching my head over it. People have weirdly been on edge, partly because of this week's concert repertoire (Shostakovich 6, Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso, Elgar's Enigma Variations, and The Dance of Vengeance from Barber's Medea), which is proving to be most difficult. I've personally been a little off because of my reading piece (which went well, but I didn't get a ton of feedback) and because I've been stuck in the percussion section again. Oh well....

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Week one highlights

Concert went very well - the Hanson especially so. I've always been afraid of a letdown after a good dress rehearsal but the quality and focus was a bit higher on Sunday, which is always nice. In addition, I was drafted to play percussion on the Prokofiev Love of Three Oranges Suite; I guess it worked out well because I'm playing percussion again this week. I enjoy the change of pace, but I kind of hope that it doesn't necessarily become a normal...

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A hootenanny was had...

So, I guess I can add maypole dancer to the additional skills of my resume? It went well - it was a but like kitten herding, but really fun. Not necessarily something I'll do often (if ever again) but something I was glad that I produced. In rehearsals, we've gotten through the concert music twice and started on some readings; this year's batch of first year conductors is quite good. There's an evenness to them that I haven't seen for a while....

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Now for something a little different...

So, filed under something I never thought I would have to do: this week I had to build a maypole, arrange a tune, and choreograph a dance. In 36 hours. We'll see how it goes tonight....

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Day 1: let's start this again...

So, we got here yesterday and settled in; we were fortunate to get the same housing we've had for the past two years. The first week's concert rep has been set and I am conducting the last two movements of Howard Hanson's Merry Mount Suite - a piece I was interested in, so bully for me. The first week here is usually interesting (and terrifying if you're a first year conductor). Because the teacher has never seen them conduct before, he assigns...

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It has been nice to have time with family in the northeast before heading up to Maine and the Monteux School. For the first week (after the two day drive), Liv and I went camping with my parents, which is something neither of us has done in almost 15 years. It was nice - especially the opportunity to spend some real time with my parents. We stayed on Lake Eaton, which is just to the north east of Long Lake and pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was really relaxing - got a lot of reading, card playing, and canoeing accomplished. We also took...

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Rep list

Since I was making up some packing lists, for giggles - here's this summer's rep (the last one makes me laugh a little, it almost seems out of place): ADAMS, John Short Ride in a Fast Machine BARBER Medea’s Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a BARTOK Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta BARTOK Two Pictures [Két Kép], Op. 10 (Sz 46) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, Eroica BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 BERNSTEIN Divertimento...

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So want does 60 scores look like?

So, I've pulled together all the score for this summer's rep list (here's the complete list). For the first time since 2007 (my first year in Maine), I have more than 2/3 of the music without scanning/copying/downloading from IMSLP. The lower box is a case for 8.5x11" copy paper and it's overflowing, and the upper is the lid. I did the math, and a full set of scores (substituting Dover when possible) comes in at close to $1500; thus it's lucky...

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Monteux School 2012

Well, we're going to try this again. I'm headed up to Maine for my fourth summer at the Monteux School and I'm looking for a way to keep myself accountable for documenting my trip (something that I haven't done particularly well for the past three times). So, I've got this blog for pics, thoughts, happenings, and more. Don't like it? Blame Tyler. He gave me the idea (kind o...

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