The Power of Yielding

     The idea of yielding is a powerful image for me in many areas of life, but it also has applications in horn playing.  I first came across this idea in college, in the book Thinking Body, Dancing Mind, by Chungliang al Huang and Jerry Lynch.  To me, this book is right up there with The Inner Game of Tennis on the list of must-haves for performing musicians.

SMBQ China Tour 2010

     This has been a record-setting year for me, as far as travel is concerned.  I just got a passport for the first time back in the Fall, and now I've been to Argentina and China in the past 3 months!
     The SMBQ had a 2-week tour of China from April 27th - May 10th.  I couldn't possibly relate all the amazing experiences we had in this blog - I don't know where to begin!  I think I'm still processing it myself, in some ways.  Looking back at the pictures, it's hard to believe that we lived all those great moments.

Isla Verde Bronces 2010

During the first week of February, I had the opportunity to travel to Argentina to be the "Profesor de Corno" at the 4th Annual Isla Verde Bronces. This international brass festival was created by Fernando Ciancio, Principal Trumpet at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

What an amazing experience!

Little Einsteins

My 3-year old son, Tyler, loves this show - "The Little Einsteins." Each episode features a piece of visual art, and a piece of classical music. I was very pleasantly surprised one day to hear Mozart's 2nd Horn Concerto coming out of the TV - who says TV is bad for kids?

Hindemith's Horn Sonata

Tonight I'll be performing the Hindemith Sonata in F (1939) on a faculty recital. Each of our brass faculty are performing a solo piece. While doing a little fast and dirty "research" to find some things to say about the piece before I play it, I came across some interesting stuff.

Plan Your Work; Work Your Plan - A 3-Step Plan

This post is inspired by the "beginning of the semester pep talk" I've been giving to my students lately.

1) Plan your work.

Plan when you are going to practice. Don't expect practicing to "just happen!" Look at your planner for the week, and make "practice appointments" with yourself. (Btw, you should have a planner/calendar of some kind - paper or electronic.)

Let's Get Physical

I hope the title of this blog entry reminds you of the Olivia Newton John song. :o) Alas, I'm showing my age. I did just have a birthday recently. I actually got to perform with her a few years ago, when she did a pops concert with the Macon (GA) Symphony - that was fun! It was the biggest crowd we ever had! She didn't wear the 1980's work-out gear, though.