It has truly been a whirlwind of a month... wait... it's now May. Either way, the month of April sent me out of town on gigs, my faculty recital, a student's performance as concerto competition winner with the wind ensemble, his junior recital, a gig with the Rocky Mountain Pan Handlers (my steel drum band at ASC), and the percussion ensemble concert/steel drum concert. In the middle of all of this, I taught, had rehearsals in Dallas, and oh yeah, this little job interview. The interview is still up in the air, but hopefully will bring good news to me and the department very soon!
My recital went very, very well.... I love my Marimba One and it seems like Leon Recital Hall was built for marimba recitals! I played some Bach, some new music, some standards, and closed with my first singing in recital, ever. Nebojsa Zivkovic's To the Gods of Rhythm is a hoot to perform and I did so on my new djembe from RBI-Drums (Thanks, Michael!). Singing a Serbian Orthodox chant in mixolydian while drumming was a new experience and this piece will probably make my recruiting tour rep.
It's interesting how the memorization of the Bach Cello Suite concerned me more than anything that took place in my previous blog entries. Getting into a Humvee in Iraq to travel to a FOB didn't phase me... memory blanks raised concern. The memorization held and the playing went great. Preparation is key. (mantra).
My students are playing great and it was never more evident than on their recent performances. I am very pleased with the direction of the studio, percussion group, the steel drums, and the student's individual preparations. Good stuff. This recent percussion ensemble concert also gave the students an opportunity to play folkloric Afro-Cuban rumba, with folkloric dancers. It was an excellent production and now I have to brainstorm for next year's dancers... I've done Egyptian, now Afro-Cuban... I need to find some dancers from Senegal... any ideas?
With the end of the semester arriving in a few days, I look forward to concentrating on my next recording project... it'll be works for marimba/percussion and flute(s) and will be written by me, performed by Tracy and I, and will have a specific marketing niche. More on that once we get it done!
The weather is turning sweet here and I cannot wait to get outdoors again... there are fourteeners all around me and they need to be climbed. I also have bikes that are seriously in need of riding. I had dinner last night with a couple clarinetists from the Academy Band and it reminded me of how easy the good 'ole days of barely working were (no offense to them- they are great... it's the job that is easy!). I haven't ridden my mountain bike since I moved here... I used to live on that thing... and my road bike... now it's just the fixed gear to get back and forth to school... anyway.... rambling.
Another semester down and frankly, it was a good year. I am looking forward to the next... especially if Monday brings good news....
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