And I earned it! WOW! For the first time in several months, I can completely relax. No more projects, concerts, or lectures for a while. The VPO and State Opera are closed for three weeks. All I have to do is enjoy the rest of our time in the USA.
The trip has already been a roller-coaster of emotion and experience. It began early in the month with the sad news of my grandmother's passing, which triggered a very hasty packing job and flight home for the funeral. The silver lining to this tragedy was that because we were already planning on being here for all my trombone-related events, it became simply a matter of moving our flights up three days. Kristi and Eli were able to come with me so the whole family was together during that difficult time. At any other time, I most likely would've come alone, and probably for just a day or two.
After saying goodbye to Granny, I found it actually quite therapeutic to dive into my music for all the events leading up to the International Trombone Festival in Nashville. I traveled to Texas and back again, performing 5 concerts and 4 lectures in a little over a week, and I had the absolute best experience I could've hoped for! I learned alot, had fun, and got to make music with some friends old and new. There will be posts on each concert individually once I can collect the pertinent photos and recordings to share with you.
But until that point, I hope it suffices to say that the past two weeks have changed me as a person and as a performer, and definitely for the better. I have met some unbelievable people that I'm sure will prove to be great friends in the future, and I have now discovered a new and interesting (and sometimes frightening) aspect of my career: the solo artist. I have learned lessons and felt emotions recently that I could only experience by 'getting out there and doing it', so I'm really glad I did.
Anyway, here are a couple YouTube videos to whet your appetite. They both come from my recital on June 17th at the University of Texas, Arlington. Enjoy! I know I did!
Joseph Spaniola - CrossroadsThe trip has already been a roller-coaster of emotion and experience. It began early in the month with the sad news of my grandmother's passing, which triggered a very hasty packing job and flight home for the funeral. The silver lining to this tragedy was that because we were already planning on being here for all my trombone-related events, it became simply a matter of moving our flights up three days. Kristi and Eli were able to come with me so the whole family was together during that difficult time. At any other time, I most likely would've come alone, and probably for just a day or two.
After saying goodbye to Granny, I found it actually quite therapeutic to dive into my music for all the events leading up to the International Trombone Festival in Nashville. I traveled to Texas and back again, performing 5 concerts and 4 lectures in a little over a week, and I had the absolute best experience I could've hoped for! I learned alot, had fun, and got to make music with some friends old and new. There will be posts on each concert individually once I can collect the pertinent photos and recordings to share with you.
But until that point, I hope it suffices to say that the past two weeks have changed me as a person and as a performer, and definitely for the better. I have met some unbelievable people that I'm sure will prove to be great friends in the future, and I have now discovered a new and interesting (and sometimes frightening) aspect of my career: the solo artist. I have learned lessons and felt emotions recently that I could only experience by 'getting out there and doing it', so I'm really glad I did.
Anyway, here are a couple YouTube videos to whet your appetite. They both come from my recital on June 17th at the University of Texas, Arlington. Enjoy! I know I did!
Jacques Casterede - Sonatine
i was searching casterede on youtube, which led me to your account and blog. i feel it's a lovely coincident, i mean my husband and i attended your concert in ITA festival. We enjoyed your performance sooo much! Just wanna say your are an amazing musician (=
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