Flaming Woodwind Enterprises

Hooray! I just got called to play with the Eugene Eugene Symphony on the Cosmic Voices concert. I'm excited to play bass clarinet for the new artistic director. He seems amazing.

This is going to be an amazing show. Please share this far and wide, and come of you are able!

Did you know, Gina Saputo is a graduate of Springfield High School! And did you also know that she has sung with the incomparable Jeff Goldblum for over 12 years! For more information about our fabulous guest artist for our October 25th concert, go to https://www.ginasaputo.com/welcome
and check out her amazing career. Then head to https://wildishtheater.com/event/ssjo-presents-gina-saputo-blues-in-the-night/ to get your tickets to our show today!

Intermediate to advanced clarinet students: If you don't have a copy of Paul Jeanjean's "Vade Mecum du Clarinettiste", you should get one. If you think your finger technique is on point, work out of this book and learn that you have a lot of work yet to do.

It's fantastic!

Thought of the day: No, you AREN'T getting "worse," your ears are able to hear more now.

This idea is not new. I first experienced it when taking serious flute lessons. The flutist and Pedagogue Trevor Wye talks about this in the first volume of his Practice Book for the Flute. He says that once you start consistently practicing long tones, you will, for a short time, feel like you are making solid progress. Then, you will feel like you sound horrible, even though you are spending more time working on your tone.

The thing is, you aren't actually getting worse. What is happening is that through intentional, conscientious practice, you are starting to be able to hear more in your sound that you couldn't hear before. The depth of your understanding is increasing, your "palate" is maturing.

This is not a bad thing. This is the type of thing that will allow you to actually grow. Now that you can hear with more depth, you can adjust your work to include the new things that you are hearing.

Note, that this is not unique to tonal practice. It also includes finger technique as well. If you are practicing your scales consistently (or a particularly technical part of a piece of music), and attempting to increase your speed, you may, for a time, feel like you are able to go quite fast with what you consider even fingers. After a few days of playing your scales at that tempo, and if you are practicing conscientiously, and with intention, you will notice that your fingers feel LESS even than they did before. Just like the tonal example above, this is because your brain is able to notice the un-evenness more easily now that it has gotten used to the faster speeds.

Also, like the tonal example above, this is a good thing. You CANNOT fix problems in your playing if you don't know, or can't feel or hear, what you need to work on. So, ALWAYS practice with intention. Always pay close attention, especially when working on developing tone and technique, to as much of your playing as you are currently able to. Be consistent in your work so you can deepen the understanding of what you are ACTUALLY doing. Then, work to address the "new" challenges you face.

Happy Practicing.

Holy buckets. I had forgotten how fun the Bassi Rigoletto Fantasia was once you start getting it (back) under your fingers.

Now, if I can just match Corrado Giufreddi's tempo at the end (quarter note=172), I'll be ready to go for my next recital!

Today's warmup was so bad, I feel like I need to do nothing but spend my life working out of the Vade-Mecum for the next week without allowing myself to touch actual music. Does my brain even remember that I have fingers that are supposed to work independently? It doesn't seem like it.

After my upcoming recital (which will probably be in September some time), I am embarking on a HUGE recital project. I'm calling it

Jazz Influence and the Third Stream

It's basically my DMA lecture document brought to life. I have been collecting the music, and have started an arrangement to fulfill this massive project. Here is an incomplete list of pieces that I am going to perform in a series of recitals:

Stravinsky: Three Pieces for Clarinet Alone
" Ebony Concerto
Meyer Kupfermann: Moonflowers, Baby!
David Baker: Clarinet Sonata
Miguel del Aquila: Pacific Serenade
Alec Templeton: Pocket Size Sonatas No. 1 & 2
Nikolai Resanovic: Sonata for Bb Clarinet and Piano
Alec WIlder: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Paquito D'Rivera: Cape Cod Files
Morton Gould: Benny's Gig for Clarinet and Double Bass
" " : Derivations for Solo Clarinet and Dance Band
Leonard Bernstein: Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs
" " : Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Simon Sargon: Deep Ellum NIghts
Michael Fink: Caprices for Clarinet and Piano
Libby Larsen: Dancing Solo for Clarinet Solo
Gary Smart: Passing Fancies
Aaron Copland: Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra

That final piece I am rearranging for jazz band, with vibraphone taking the place of the harp.

Like I said, this is an incomplete list, but as of now I don't really have access to an orchestra or concert band. There are several concertos that I would love to do. I'm also finding new pieces as time goes on!

What do you think? Will I be able to perform and record all of these before I get too old to do it well? Let's find out!

Back to practicing!

This week, I will be performing with the Oregon Mozart Players! This is going to be such a great concert, and I am honored to be included. This concert will present the winners of the young artist competition, AND OMP will be combining with the Eugene Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestras! So, not only will I be able to perform with the OMP, but I'll also get to play with an old student as well! Link to the concert below:

Oregon Mozart Players Since our founding in 1982 by a dedicated group of local professional musicians, Oregon Mozart Players has been committed to two core purposes: to perform the rich repertoire of chamber orchestra music and share this music with the Eugene-Springfield community. We take pride in presenting works for....

Yesterday at the University of Oregon Clarinet Symposium I got to try some clarinets!

University of Oregon Clarinet Symposium

Today was one of those days, as an adult with a family and a part time job, that I never did get to do any practicing. It hurts me physically every time that happens.

If you have the opportunity, get some time practicing. Don't take a second of that time for granted.