Euphonium.com

Hello everyone,

 I had the great pleasure to take part in the ITEC 2010 conference in Tucson, AZ.  Hosted by Kelly Thomas and Mark Nelson (that both did AMAZING jobs), this conference was one of my favorites for sure.  I got to see and hear so many amazing performances and hear a lot of great new repertoire and of course see many of my friends from around the globe. 

It was also great to see many students from South America where I have been working a lot recently.  For my recital, I decided to feature a bunch of chamber music.  I think it is important to expand our horizons and chamber music really adds a new dimension and exposure for our instrument.  I featured the Wilhelm Duett Concertino with Trumpet, the York Conversations (with Saxophone), the Censhu Windows Open to the Ocean (with euphonium), and the Cuatro Intentiones (with tuba) as well as the Nissan 300ZX.  I did not feature the complete pieces, but movements so that many players can get some ideas about new pieces to program.  It was so fun and I appreciate all the people that came to the recital.  I shared it with the my friend from South America, Patricio Cosentino (who is teaching at IEI as well).

I also heard so many incredible performances by my friends and also got to play in a red hot ensemble that featured alumni and current students from the RNCM.  In 2 hours of rehearsal, we put together an amazingly difficult program conducted by Steven Mead.  It was so much fun and challenging.

Some other highlights of the week where to listen to a rehearsal of my Japanese friend, Shoichiro Hokazono (I had to fly out before his recital).  He is always commissioning loads of new interesting music and a great player.  Also it was a pleasure to hear the Salt River Brass Band conducted by Patrick Sheridan.  Great music, programming, and pacing of the program and some great playing by Steven Mead and David Childs.

I am sorry that I did not get to hear more of the programs, it was a busy week with rehearsals, teaching private lessons to students, and working at the Euphonium.com Booth.  This was the second time we brought the store to the ITEC and it was great to help people discover so many new pieces.

Well, I am off to Yellowstone National Park for a bit of vacation  before my crazy summer schedule.  More later.