NEW-ISH MUSIC TO HEAR

Maybe you are here thinking you want to listen to some things from the past year, I don’t know…but if that happens to be the case you could go download a little EP of solo fiddle tunes played in an exploratory way…or check out some samples from Poem for my Grandparents for string orchestra. Additionally, you could check out concert footage from a performance I did last Fall at Vanguard New Music series, featuring a few brand new pieces of mine (a Chaconne and Waltz).

WHAT’S HAPPENING

My students and I will be playing at St. Albert the Great on April 4 from 4:30-5:30. Come eat fish, and listen to fiddle if that sounds fun. THIS SUMMER: my bandmate Nick Gaudette and I are starting up a week long Edina Fiddle Camp which I know will be lots of fun (we have taught lots of camps together in the past). Students in grades 6-12 will be able to learn a whole lot about fiddle and jamming in just one week!

JUST HAPPENED: It was so much fun to hear the students in GTCYS Sinfonia East play my Irish tune arrangement in their March concert! They worked hard and rose to the challenge of really feeling the beat together and they also did great in the intro section where they could choose the timing and textures of their notes. That same weekend Sister Esmerlinda also had so much fun opening up the festival at the American Swedish Institute Midwinter Festival. I hope we will be getting back there to play more often.

And in other areas, very early brainstorming has begun for a new piece. Right now I am just experimenting, trying to identify themes I think may work. Lately I think that writing music helps me in part because it can be like a puzzle to mull over for some time…until I find a solution that fits. Check back soon because I hope to share some things from my process.

DEMOCRACY

If you are fine with how things are going in our country then you don’t need this information. If you aren’t, keep reading. I’ve tuned into the grassroots organization Indivisible and they have some good ideas about how we might fight for democracy. You might especially check out information on the April 5 Protests which will be happening all over the country. Additionally, I’m also interested in what the local group Minneapolis for the Many are up to in trying to promote progressive leadership in our city. Maybe we can make some good strides on a local level toward, maybe even pioneer new ideas! But, we’ll need a different mayor with a different outlook to do that. It will be interesting to see how the mayoral election shapes up this Fall. Ok, stay sane out there!