This Summer... so far

This summer is going great so far, I have had time to really relax and enjoy teaching my students (all of whom are taking lessons throughout the summer). I have been teaching for an entire day on Tuesdays this summer to save on mileage and energy that the drive into Vegas consumes during the regular school year. Sure, it is tiring to teach from 10am to 6pm, but I really have been looking forward to it every week and it is always a day that ends with zero energy but a rewarding feeling of satisfaction with all of my kiddos.

I have been really working to streamline my lesson curriculum to help not only myself by staying more organized but by becoming more efficient for the kids as well. I don't like the idea of an oboe lesson "formula" because every kid is really different and I want them playing different music and focusing on their different strengths and weaknesses, especially the kids that attend LVA together. I want them to all feel like they have their own individual music and are on their own path (it gets competitive enough at a performing arts high school!).

Lately, it seems like I have taken a group of my upper middle schoolers into the highest range of the instrument, as it becomes necessary and I have noticed that I have been drawing WAY too many messy and perhaps unclear "drawings" of the oboe fingerings. Oboe fingering charts are crazy, I have been unable to find any two that are alike in my recent search, and there are many variances on the high E and F fingerings. I came to a great solution: This stamp from Midwest Musical Imports. Now I can just fill in the blanks without having to draw my sketchy gross version every single time (it takes awhile!).

I was recently asked how I feel when I am playing music, if it was "motivational"? It was an interesting question and got me thinking about how I feel when I am "working". I can only describe it very simply; my heart feels full when I play music on oboe and English horn. I don't know how many different jobs that can be said about, although come to think about it, isn't that how you would want to feel if you were spending so much of your time doing something? I love playing, it is that simple- it just fills me up to the brim with happiness. I consider myself very lucky to spend so much of my time doing something that I love so much.

More Deals!

So the pickings on EBAY are good right now-- really good! Could be that other musicians out there are strapped for summer cash (I usually am). Not as many gigs during the summer + oboe students traveling out of town = less $.

Anyway, their trash can be your treasure. Here is a great BAM case (same one I rely on) for a steal.

EBAY!

If anyone is looking to snap up some English horn bocals at a possibly great price, go to ebay and search "English horn bocal".

There are four on there for sale, here is only one of them.

Or this is you have an extra $8000 and feel like taking a gamble!

Come Down In Time - Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection 2 of 10)

A few days ago I was talking to my Mom on the phone, telling her about my idea to start a group of some type this year. I was trying to describe to her the style of music I had in mind, and she right away said "OOooo I remember a song of Elton John's with oboe or English horn in it" (it is oboe :) ).

Here it is, the song has a a good feel and I like the use of oboe in it!

Summer time and the living is... oboe.

I am getting back into my "usual" routine here in the desert after last week's IDRS excitement. I can't begin to say how truly amazing it is for so many double reeders to converge on a common locale. It is something that I would recommend to everyone, a great place to meet up with friend you may not have seen in awhile (mine couldn't make it this year :( ) and also to meet new ones. I was so happy to get to meet my friend Cooper Wright after a lot of talking on the web and even a phone conversation it was great to have an oboe hang!

The first day of the conference was great, one of the very first performances I saw was from Madera Vox, and I loved it. The musicians were so relaxed and obviously really enjoying themselves. I will be the first to admit that when I chose the oboe I didn't exactly have designs of being a classical musician at age 11. I gravitated more toward something like Madera Vox, or the idea of being a studio musician- just unconventional stuff.

One of my other favorites that first day, and a real crowd pleaser and standout over the course of the entire conference seemed to be THREEDS. They are an unconventional oboe trio, and they aren't playing your typical Beethoven Trio! They played arrangements of pop tunes by Kathy Halvorsen their lead oboist. It was so fun to hear a lively, non-classical performance. To see that oboe CAN break out of it's baroque based history into other realms like rock and jazz was so inspiring.

That day I also heard an interesting lecture by Anne Lemke about nurturing "Very Young Oboists". Of course I went because I have a ton of "very young oboists" pretty much all of my students are "very young", little did I know that she was talking VERY young... like 4-6 year olds playing oboe. This is a concept that while it was very interesting to hear about, is not something that I would be very quick to take up. While she addressed many of the aspects that can be tamed through child sized instruments and specifications, the main issue I have in teaching kids that small are- they are LITTLE KIDS. They don't have the attention span, not to mention the nervous system development to really be going into this stuff. I don't know... thats just me. Still, an interesting lecture and some good information on instruments in case I have some 5 year old come in for oboe lessons one day. :)

One of the great aspects of the conference were the nightly recitals which were mainly reserved for the double reed superstars. Big names like Gordon Hunt (he was a-mazing) Richard Woodhams, Katherine Needleman, Nick Daniel, Peter Cooper, etc etc. I just think that it is an amazing thing in this modern time to be able to walk into a concert hall and see these treasured performers. With the digital music scene being IT for the younger generation, heck even MY generation partially, some people will never experience the art of live performance just like I did in ONE single evening of hearing these artists. It is really a shame, and I pretty much try not to think about it. The price of the conference is well paying for itself in the incredible experience of seeing live music mastered by true artists like these. So great!

I won't go on and on, but my most favorite conference experience was on my last day there (Thursday) seeing my oboe grandpa Nick Daniel put on a masterclass. He focused on British works, Benjamin Britten Temporal Variations, Goosens Concerto, and Benjamin Britten Six Metamorphoses After Ovid. The energy and passion for MUSIC alone that he brought to the class was so exceptional. He cared so much about not just the individual playing but the audience and how they were about to receive what was being presented to them. He nurtured each performer rather than presiding over them, and within minutes had them playing more confidently and more expressively. One of the things he really focused on was the body, and how it affects everything we are doing as musicians. This is something that I am constantly thinking about, as I have had some real issues with pain in my right shoulder and arm over the years. It was great to watch him work on someone's body for only a moment and have their sound totally change, and watch their "instrument" really work to it's fullest ability. I loved watching him teach!

Of course I can't talk about the conference without talking about the SHOPPING! I LOVE going into the vendor area of the conference, while it is always initially a little stressful because there is SO much, it is so cool to see what new things the oboe "diagon alley" has to offer. One of the great things I will tell you to watch out for is a new English horn staple designed by the one and only Mark Chudnow. It has a tiny rubber O-ring embedded in the end of the staple so it won't come off of the bocal- buh bye old stinky shrink tubing!

I was really interested in trying out some oboes while there, because lets face it- these days people are playing what THEY like, not just Lorees anymore and I really want to be able to tell my students ages 10-21 with good working knowledge what is WHAT out there in the world of oboes.

Several friends have made the switch from Loree to Yamaha, I have posted about this a lot- so again I had to try some. While the ones that I tried were so responsive and easy to play especially in the low register- the thing that bothered me sooo much was a weird buzzy brightness to the sound starting on our favorite middle C and going upward. That is just me, and that was just those oboes on the Yamaha dealer table.

I tried out some new Loree AKs and a Buffet Greenline which was really a nice oboe. I had tried it in April at a gig when Steve Caplan let me play his, and liked it. I am definitely recommending it to my upper level students. One of the nicest oboes I played was the cocobolo Howarth XL oboe. I loved it, it played so velvety and smooth with a very consistent dark sound AND it is 10% lighter than grenadilla. AND ..... it is $9200 hahaha. Just like purse shopping, I magically pick up the MOST expensive oboe in the room. Of course it is awesome it is $9200 it had BETTER be! Still, it will be at the top of my list when I have the $ and the need to be oboe shopping.

My little old Loree is still chugging along, I am going to have the old girl repadded and adjusted this summer so that should help things a ton.

I am so looking forward to the rest of the summer with all of my students taking lessons and a syllabus to write for Dixie State College in the fall along with reed making and composing exercises for studio materials- I should have plenty to keep me busy for a little bit!

Oboemania!

May has been so crazy! Not only have I had performances every week but also I have been in the Phantom pit way more than usual-- which I absolutely love. Some people might think that it would be tiring to play the same music night after night, but I just love it there (probably because I am not the one actually doing it ALL the time ;)), in all serious though-- I would love to do it full time. It is a fabulous group of musicians who get to hang out night after night and make the show sound amazing. Then there is just the atmosphere of a show-- so fun.

Students, gigs, shows, it has definitely been a really fun, and really busy month. I am so looking forward to regrouping a little bit this summer and getting ready for my college oboe kids at Dixie.

On Monday the 30th I am taking off on my solo road trip extraordinaire to Tempe, AZ for IDRS 2011. I haven't been to a conference since I graduated from college, so I am really looking forward to it. As my husband teased me earlier in the week- going as a "real professional" now. I am ready to soak up some inspiration and new ideas!

May hasn't been totally sunshine and rainbows: on Saturday I received word about my resume as it was being reviewed for the Utah Symphony English horn audition. I should have probably known by the size of the envelope (normal sized business envelope) that kind of like college applications, if you get the little one- it is bad news. The big one probably would have had a cover letter telling me that they were pleased to accept me as a candidate, blah blah etc and then the rep list and more audition details.

Not so. They decided that my resume when considered against the stature of the orchestra was not stacking up. I imagine that they want someone who has had a job before, or someone who isn't 26 (could it be??). For whatever reason, I got rejected and told that I couldn't even try. That is kind of a sucky thing. To be told that you can't even try, which is what an audition is; a tryout.

It just goes to show, you never know what an orchestra is looking for and whatever it is, that is their prerogative. This biz is pretty subjective that way, but the payoffs always far outweigh the times like this. I'll just keep going :)

Rite of Spring for Wind Quintet (Part 1, 1/2)

Yay! This would be so fun to do-- now I just need to round up 4 friends :)