Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Quick Update and a video TREAT!

Hey everyone,

As the preparations for my week at the University of Tennessee intensify, I'm not taking too much time out to blog. It's only a week until I fly out! But here's a quick update on what I've been working on:

- I really want to memorize the two concertos I'm doing. I've been working pretty hard on that the past couple of days, but it's been more difficult than I expected. I've historically been pretty good at memorizing things, even intricate or complex things, which makes me wonder why it's not going faster. I guess it's the sheer amount of stuff I have going on besides the Grøndahl and the Ewazen that makes it all run together in my mind

- A big part of my practice routine is strengthening my chops so I can make it through full days of heavy playing, including rehearsal during the day and performances at night. I've been toying with the order of my recital repertoire to see what works the best. Right now it seems to be working well to open up with something moderately strenuous (Bozza
Ballade followed by Ropartz), then cool it a bit, then bring the level back up after intermission.

- I'm also excited about getting back into some jazz playing and some quartet playing. On Tuesday evening, the 8th, I'll be performing some quartet stuff with the Tennessee Trombone Project, who are great players (and all UT students & alumni) and also great guys! The TTP will also join me on my recital on the 11th.

- I'm scheduled to give 4 masterclasses/lectures, and I've been feverishly trying to organize my ideas for those. I've got a Word document on my USB drive that I carry around with me at all times, so when I think of another idea I can open it up and jot it down. I'm interested to see which ideas land and which ones bomb... but that's how you learn, right?

As a treat this week, I'll share with you all the following video which was shot from my new iPhone. It's a 'behind-the-scenes' view of the Richard Strauss
Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare that we play every year to open the Wiener Philharmoniker Ball. You can read about my first experience at the ball here, and I'm sure Kristi will post about this year's experience soon over at The Vienna Wilsons.

Anyway, enjoy the video, and watch all the way through to see some photos! It was a great time, and I always get chill bumps when we play this thing:



PS: I'll be posting this and all subsequent videos on my new VIDEOS page. Check it out!

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