Sing, play, improvise, make music!

PMAC's adult ensembles begin next week. New to the lineup is the Monday night Portsmouth Men's Chorus. Tuesday is the Saxophone Ensemble and New Horizons Band. Wednesday night features the Flute Choir and Blues Band. And on Thursdays you can play in the String Ensemble or Jazz Band. All are fun and will perform together on one concert in November. Check them out!

Fall Semester - Day One

Our fall semester began today. It was great to see several students who were away for the summer. But even for those who studied through the summer, today felt like a fresh start. Summer is a time for fun, and I teach accordingly. Now we're all back to business, which is still fun, but more intense - in a good way.

I've been working on organizing my office today. The installation of new carpet forced me to box everything up and move it, and now I need to move back in. I've taken this opportunity to go through absolutely everything and it's amazing the stuff I have packed away. I found some cherished CDs that I thought had long disappeared, and even some old photos, including one of me and my prom date, in full prom dress and tux, taken in June 1984. Wow. But such discoveries do nothing but slow my progress. I'll get it done, though. And I'll feel better about my "stuff", much of which has been disorganized in random storage boxes. Time to really deal with the clutter and find a proper place for everying.

I love September!

September

I've always viewed September as the start of the new year. It's because I've either been a student or a teacher my whole life, and the academic world begins anew each September. January 1st always feels like it is interupting me in the middle of something, a break from my world. September 1 is the fresh start.

Recently I've been reading a few blogs where people commit to doing something every day for a year. Composing a new piece every day for 365 straight days (yes, someone actually did this and blogged about it). Cooking a new recipe every day for a year. There's a whole bunch of stuff like this out there. I've often thought about doing something like this. But is it worth the committment? And would I get bored? So I thought I might try a variation on this concept. Pick a daily challenge for each month for a year. 12 different daily challenges that I only have to follow through for a month at a time. Here are some ideas:

1) Compose a piece of music every day for a month (the obvious one)
2) Work on a specific aspect of my saxophone playing every day for a month (even as a professional, it is difficult to find time to play EVERY day)
3) Write a blog entry everyday for a month (I'd need to find a month where I'd have access to a computer and internet every day - no unusual traveling allowed!)
4) Write a poem every day
5) Take on and finish a different PMAC marketing project every day (an area I could use some work on)
6) Run at least a mile every day (wouldn't attempt this one between December and April!)
7) Write 3 pages of a new book every day (I'd end up with 90 page in a month)

That's only seven. I'd need to come up with twelve. Any ideas?

And I'd need to start September today. I'll need to think hard and quick, so I can get started without compromise. More later...
7)

August

This month flew by in a whirlwind of work, transition, and craziness. I just felt the need to sit down and get one blog entry in before September reared its (ugly) head. No, I don't hate September. In fact, it is historically one of my most artistically productive months. I plan on beginning a new composition project this month - most likely something for solo piano to get writing again after a long PMAC-induced hiatus. I have a massive composition project on the horizon - more about that later. But for now, my apologies to everyone I ignored in August. The renovations at PMAC are complete (thanks to our generous landlord!) and we are almost fully unpacked and put back together. And a super happy birthday to my baby sister, Ruth, who turns 31 today.

Peace.

Bad Move

Manny Ramirez must have really gotten under someone's skin in Red Sox management. But today's trade that sent Manny to the Dodgers and brought Jason Bay to the Sox from the Pirates was a bad move on the part of the Sox. I, among many, will miss Manny's spectacular play at Fenway. In my opinion, he was the most consistent, productive player on the team in the last decade and certainly hasn't shown any sign of slowing up.

And I was hoping for another championship this fall. I don't know what to say but UGH!

Surreal Rush

Katie took the boys and I to see Rush at Manchester Verizon Wireless Arena a few weeks ago. It was the boys' first ever stadium rock concert and a great time was had by all. Now check out Rush playing the boys' favorite video game - "Rock Band".

Ben Zander Speaks

Thanks to Jerry Bowles at Sequenza21 for posting this talk by Ben Zander. Zander is a captivating speaker. A long video, but well worth watching.

Amanda Palmer at The Pops

Last Thursday night Katie and I took the rare opportunity to see Amanda Palmer perform in Boston with with Boston Pops.

Her Set List:
Missed Me
Astronaut
The Point of It All
Cain't Say No (from Oklahoma)
Brick (Ben Folds Cover)
Strength Through Music
Had to Drive
Coin-Operated Boy
Wonderful World (with Brian Viglione)

ENCORES:
Don't Tell Mama (from Caberet)
Sing (with Brian Viglione)

I am a big fan of Amanda. I am a big fan of The Dresden Dolls. That alone was enough for me to really enjoy this show, part of a series The Boston Pops calls its "Edgefest". It was great to hear Amanda's songs backed by the Pops orchestra. The arrangements were o.k. Not exactly how I would have written them, but they were solid. Maybe "safe" is the best word. The music of the Dresden Dolls and Palmer's solo work (both of which are mostly written by her) is adventurous, creatvie, edgy - it's too bad the orchestration didn't live up to that. A lot of effort was put into the opener, "Missed Me", with a percussionist on tambourine and a violinist following Amanda as she weaved through the audience, and a trombone player leaning over the lower balcony playing to her. It was a great opener, as theatrical as you'd expect from Ms. Palmer. A few of the tunes - "Astronaut" and "The Point of it All" were beautiful with the string underscoring. And, as is always the case, Amanda looked as if she were having the time of her life.

























Katie and I took these pictures from our great seats, in the first balcony overlooking the stage.


Afterwards, the Luminescent Orchestrii performed in one of Symphony Hall's function rooms. Let by Sxip Shirey, a friend of Amanda's, this hip NYC group puts a unique spin on eastern European folk music. It was a great night.

Blog On

Though I'm not the most consistent of bloggers, I do realize the relevance and importance of blogs in todays business world. And that point was hit home today by our guest speaker at the Portsmouth Rotary Club, of which I am a member. KD Paine, marketing guru, blogger and writer, spoke about blogs at today's lunch meeting, and it is more evident than ever that blogs are a force to be reckoned with. But what hit home with me was the impact Twitter is having on the internet world. I've known about Twitter for some time now, but not really paid much attention. Now I feel an urgency to check it out, get my own Twitter account.

And I need to be better about blogging.

Check out KD Paine's blog here.

Come on, really?

What's the deal with our government paying $40 a pop in certificates for people to buy digital converter boxes for their television sets. Read below from a recent AP article:

"The government established a $1.5 billion coupon program to help millions of consumers buy the converter boxes before the nationwide transition to digital programming in February. Households are eligible for two $40 coupons, which are aimed primarily at up to 21 million owners of the older-model sets that rely on antennas to watch TV. If they don't get a converter box when the country's broadcasters complete the switchover, they will wind up staring at a blank screen. Cable and satellite TV subscribers do not need the boxes."

O.K. I don't get it. Is TV really that important that the government needs to step in and give people who haven't bought a new set in over 20 YEARS a $40 certificate so they don't have to upgrade? Can't there be some reasonable restriction on this - like only for the elderly and those with a note from their doctor? COME ON! I can think of SO MANY other ways to spend $1.5 BILLION of our money.

Read the whole story here.

Family Ties

A guitar student who is graduating this month and heading to college to study music in the fall just played an original composition, written by his mother, on his studio recital. His mother has only been playing for a year, having begun guitar as a birthday present to herself. She wrote the piece for our adult student blues band, which premiered it just three weeks ago. His version is very clearly the same piece, but unique in it's arrangement just the same.

Very cool...and one of the many reasons I love my job.

True Colors 2008

Katie and I, with Anna and Chris, attended opening night for the second True Colors Tour in Boston on Saturday. The lineup was:

Kat Deluna
The Clicks
Regina Spektor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rosie O'Donnell
The B-52s
Cyndi Lauper
Master of Ceremonies for the evening: Carson Kressley

OK - we FINALLY were able to see Regina Spektor live in concert. For those who don't know that story, read more in the postlude of the blog post here.

Regina was the highlight of the evening for us, though the festival atmosphere made her performance challenging. She was on early in the evening and there was a lot of milling around and talking by audience members who were obviously there for the later part of the show and weren't too hot on the three opening acts.

Not much to say about Kat Deluna - she has an OK voice, but I'm not into karioke hip-hop performances.

The Clicks were loud, and fun. Not terribly original.

Rosie O'Donnell was surprisingly good. I expected to be preached at about politics, but no, not a word on that front. It was a touching monologue about coming to terms with living longer than her mother, who died at 41 of cancer when she was only 11. And about seeing her kids grow older and being able to be there for them at times when her mother wasn't. A very soul-searching set.

The B-52s really are the world's greatest party band, and with them the party got started. Mostly new tunes of their latest album - Funplex - but they did perform classics "Roam", "Private Idaho", "Love Shack", and "Rock Lobster".

Cyndi Lauper was high maintenance on stage again this year. (Last year she complained - rightfully so - to the sound engineer the entire concert. This year's victim was the lighting guy. Last year she came off as a frustrated artist in a bad sound situation. This year it was more pain-in-the-rear-diva.) She has a remarkable number of hit tunes.

All in all a fun night, though it will take a great penultimate group to get us back next year. For the last two years we attended to see an opener - The Dresden Dolls last year and Regina Spektor this year. But we've learned that it is not the best opportunity to see these great young opening bands. They get little respect from the audience and their sets are cut way to short by the time constraints of the festival. It was great to hear the B-52s, so if the band in their slot is someone we want to see, we might go again. But 2 years in a row of Cyndi Lauper is plenty for a lifetime.

To read about last year's concert, go here.

Stories

Having spent a lot of time working with adult students in music lessons and ensembles, I have heard many stories about why people begin or return to music study later in life. In fact, there are as many stories as there are people to tell them.

Just last night PMAC hosted its Adult Student Departmental Workshop for the spring 2008 session. We have two of these each year, one in the fall, one in the spring. It is an opportunity for adults who take private music lessons at PMAC to play music for each other and share their experiences as an adult music student.

What struck me, is that one adult told their story of how they got back into music after getting their kids involved - and then the next said, "hey, that's my story" as did one or two other people. But I think the reality is, though we have similar tales, I bet each story is actually unique.

We all have a story about our creative lives. What we did or didn't do as a child - what we were encouraged to do, discouraged from doing, whatever. All of our experiences shape our lives. Some of these experiences are traumatic - keeping us from fulfilling a dream such as playing a musical instrument. Some are just stories of "life getting in the way."

Whatever your story, I want you to know that if you love music, there is NO reason why you shouldn't be making music right now. The music YOU want to make. If you were told as a child that you could only play classical piano, but you really wanted to rock out - well, now YOU are the boss, and you should find the time to learn to rock out on the piano.

We all have fears about learning something new. That is probably a topic best saved for another blog post. Regardless of any fears you carry, you can learn to make music. And learning with others, in ensemble environments, is an amazing way to go.

Stress

Life is stressful. And the more productive, active, interactive, and successful you are, the more stressful it gets. One way I deal with stress is by taking time to be creative. Since playing saxophone is my profession, I have other creative outlets that help me deal with stress. I take drawing lessons and draw, pencil on paper. This is challenging for me, I enjoy it, and it removes me from my everyday world. I can easily lose myself for an hour or more in my drawing pad - just me, my subject (so far all of my subjects are inanimate objects), and my pencils and paper. I emerge from my drawing time refreshed, renewed, and alive. I may not always be ready to return to "the grind", but I'm much better for it just the same.

How do you handle stress?

Why

There have been many, many studies in recent years telling people why to learn music as an adult, particularly as an adult over the age of 50.

• Learning and making music utilizes parts of the brain that keep our thinking sharp and vital
• Playing a musical instrument is good for maintaining strong motor skills late in life
• Playing music in an ensemble provides a person with regular, positive social interaction
• The physical act of playing a musical instrument is in fact a way to keep your body in shape
• Having a creative outlet later in life is good for our spirit, our mental well being

These are all interesting, and there are many more reasons just like them - but they are not really that important to me. I think you should make music because everyone should experience the wonder, joy, excitment and more of music. Isn't that enough?

Creativity

I believe all people are creative. But beyond that, I believe that we all have a common need to express our creativity. I'm not talking about music, not art. Just the act of "creation" or "self-discovery". Part of living a healthy, fulfilled life is finding ways to express our individuality. We can do this in many ways - through our chosen trade, which is hopefully our passion. Through our relationships. Or through art. What is important, is that we be creative, we live creative lives.

Sometimes, our creativity seems to dry up. We get in a rut. We run out of ideas, loose our passion. I don't claim to have answers on how to return that passion, that creativity to our lives. But my experience is that when this happens, one of the best ways to regain our creative selves is to seek out "creation" opportunities that are not our norm. As a musician, when I'm feeling burned out, tired, unispired, I will revitalize myself through active involvement in another creative activity. Writing, drawing, painting - whatever. This seems to jumpstart my musicality by giving me a fresh way to express myself. A new perspective for seeing the world.

What is your alternative outlet? Where do you go to recharge, reinvigorate, renew?

An interesting read

Check out Ethan Iverson's epic blog post on Lennie Tristano and race in jazz. I don't know much of Tristano's music and found this to be an amazing introduction, with links to .mp3 files and YouTube videos.

Fiery Furnaces

First amazing concert of 2008 was the Fiery Furnaces - back in January. Caught them with Katie, Anna and Jose at The Space in Portland. I've already forgotten the opener. But the FF were amazing. They played a wide range of songs from their many albums, focusing mostly on their latest, Widow City. Will have to keep an eye out for them - they are a Chicago based band but get to the northeast once in a while. Actually, they were in Boston just a few weeks ago and Katie and I were bummed we couldn't make it to the show.

Other great concerts this year:
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Joshua Bell
The Fringe
John Zorn with Masada
The Molenes - CD Release Party

Upcoming shows:
True Colors 2008 tour - featuring Regina Spektor (FINALLY!), B-52s and Cyndi Lauper (end of this month)
Radiohead
possibly Rush?

I'm planning on getting back on the blog bandwagon. Sorry for the absence as of late. It's been a busy, busy year.

Been a long time...

After a long blog hiatus, I'm back. Many things to share:

GREAT Concerts this year so far...

MANY WONDERFUL PMAC happenings....

Much to share...

Will be back with details soon.

Oscar Peterson's Virtuosity

A thought-provoking blog post about the late Oscar Peterson by Boston Globe music critic Matthew Guerrieri can be read here.