Windmills and Fridges

Visited the wonderful composer Michael Colgrass and his beautiful wife Ulla in their lakeside condo this morning.  Talking about life choices.

Everyday

Teaching day yesterday.... meeting early with one senior student at the Glenn Gould School of Music to hear his Hummel concerto,

Happy Birthday continues

Cannot go to bed early... maybe I will be cured of inveterate late nights once I make the trip to Japan and back with my old Dad (December 10-17).  Until then, when inspiration hits at 11 p.m. Sunday night, I know that it is going to be hard to get up on Monday morning.

Kevin Hearn concert and best birthday ever

Yesterday was the best birthday ever...

Vivaldi Pret-a-Jouer 2012

Today was a first... three of today's students played three different Vivaldi concerti from memory.

Listen - Listen - Listen

It has been an interesting day because I am listening to all of the takes from our Canadian Concerto Project from our recording days in July and September.  I have never ever before listened to every single take from any recording session! Until now, my engineers have done most of the editing before I listen to it at all.  What a princess.

Trash Talk

Rehearsing with Dr Lee this morning and talking about the concepts/props/subtext for our concert in 11 days...the idea circling around value and perception, garbage and treasure.  We are playing pieces that were long-lost then unrecognized, undervalued, and now sexy.

Everyday

 The things that I do everyday are the things that make me who I really am.  And what is that?

Pondering various realities... the lives of my students and how I affect them... planning our concerts, talking about their lives, trying to answer their questions about how to practise while I am secretly thinking about when I can practise.

Getting There From Here: the journey in music takes unexpected paths.

For the last two days, I have been writing my final reports for the Canadian Concerto Project. I won 2 grants that collectively covered about half of the cost of this project. The FACTOR grant is actually a loan though the repayment terms are very generous; as a result, the final report is more like a thorough audit that checks every detail to make sure we actually did the recording under the terms discussed. By contrast, the Ontario Arts Council final report is more general yet also requires lucidity when reporting the numbers and facts.

Subversion Project

Tonight is the Subversion Project with Eric Paetkau’s chamber orchestra, group of twenty seven.  

I have known Eric for many years now, first as an excellent violist, then as a young conductor.  I felt that I really got to know how gifted he is when he led our Canadian Concerto project this summer, recording 6 new works under challenging conditions (late delivery of music, tropical temperatures, bassoon breakdown).  He kept his cool at all times and tirelessly drove the orchestra forward into our best playing even in the final minutes.  

Playing By Heart - the morning after

After last night’s show, I got to speak with hundreds of people and sign an almost equal number of CD’s.  This always happens when I play with orchestras, but this night was special for so many reasons. 

A Night of Firsts

Tonight was really important for me.  I love playing concerti with orchestras, which is why I record so many, but the opportunities to play live are rare.  Sometimes I will get to play with orchestra three times per year and usually they want me to play the Weber Andante and Rondo, so it was an incredible treat to be invited to play with the Prince George Symphony and to be offered the opportunity to pick the works of my choice.

Prince George Symphony Orchestra - Hummel Concerto and Vivaldi C Minor

I am having an incredible experience this week with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra.