in five years: a look-back

"Where will I be in five years?" is always the question.

When I was a Junior in High School, I would have given anything to go to CIM or IU. Instead, I gladly went to BYU and studied with Dr. Bigelow. Those four years were the best four years of hell I could have experienced. I loved every second, but hated every other second. Looking back, I would not have changed anything! I loved my teacher (I cannot express this enough, ever), loved my friends (they really became a life support in all literalness, no joke), loved my growth (musically, emotionally, educationally), loved the music (LOVED the music), loved my quartet and Julie Bevan (my coach), loved the mountains (all those chasing rain, or ditching class to drive in the aspens...), loved the fun (as much as Utah can give) and have AMAZING memories. I do not want to live in Utah, but I keep the special times close, in my pocket.

When I was a Junior at BYU I would have given anything to go to Mannes, in reality, NYC; I even flew out to take a lesson with Paul Neubauer, I wanted to come to the city. I changed my playing to fit the style of Paul. Every suggestion he gave me I took to heart and slaved to play the best I could when I auditioned... I even flew Chris out to play with me in my audition, but due to circumstances which made me very upset (and really affected my performance), I did not get into Mannes. I had the choice of SFM or CCM. CCM seemed to be a blessing from God, as I applied two weeks before the audition. However, I got into CCM and was thrilled to be going there.

Fast forward past the desperate pleas of the summer in Orlando.
Fast forward past the terrible experiences of CCM (though I loved the people, the music and have made amazing friends who I love and/or live with).

Here I am, now in the city, the place I wanted to be all along. I am studying with a teacher who is the perfect teacher for me! I haven't felt this connection since the good Claudine days. Though I have had a bumpy road trying to figure out what to do with my life, in the end, I am getting what I have really wanted, subconsciously, all along. Also, if I had not gone to CCM, I wouldn't be in the city. It was the proper stepping stone in my life, FOR SURE!

This all stems from such an amazing lesson with Stephanie Baer I had today. All the work I have slaved into my instrument over the past several years--the intonation exercises, the ghost tones, the new instrument, the new chin rest, the new hand frames, no shoulder rest, yes--a shoulder rest, the new bow positions, the different strings, back to the old strings, no--new strings, more bow, less bow, different vibratos, play like Primrose, NEVER play like Primrose, play like everyone, Paul's inspiration, Claudine's passion, Stephanie's everything, Masao's perfection, Cathy's projection), all the guidance my teachers have given me (whether I have retained it or changed it completely--I have ended up a better musician, in the city I want to be, excited to grab life by the horns and march along my way. It is an uphill battle, the likes of Little Round Top, but I am going to stick it out.

NYU, see you in the fall!

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie

I saw END OF THE RAINBOW. Tracie Bennett is one of the most amazing things I have seen on Broadway. It is really interesting to me how Off-Bway has really been my theatre of choice this year--CARRIE, ASSISTANCE, SONS OF THE PROPHET, HAPPY HOUR etc. Not only Off-Bway, but most of the things I have seen this season have been plays (except for FOLLIES and CARRIE). I am happy Stephen Karam recieved a special Drama Desk Award for his brillant and touching SONS OF THE PROPHET. I am sad it did not win the Pulitzer, but WATER BY THE SPOONFUL seems more applicable to a general society as it deals with Iraw. All this being said, SONS OF THE PROPHET really pulled at my inner strings. I still cannot attach why I was an emotional wreck after the show, but the closest I have come to is how we all have influential people in our lives and all are HUMAN!!! Man, bringing that Kindergarten teacher in at the end... I am also sad SOTP did not receive any artistic nominations anywhere.

FOLK WANDERING is going to be playing at Ars Nova June 15. I am really excited about this. A year ago, if I told myself I would be involved in a truly special project that is FW, I would not have believed it. Granted, I have not been paid, but it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever attached myself to. We lost Roe and Annie to bigger projects, but I am very excited about the upcoming months.

I did a recording session for a Columbia Student Film called FIVE YEARS. It is going to be playing at the Lincoln Center Columbia University Film Festival. I am excited see to it May 6th. I played with some awesome players, and I am always happy to "perform" with talented players.

I also performed Britten's War Requiem at James Chapel. Definitely a treat. It felt right to play it in an amazing, Gothic style church. I wish I could have played with full orchestra and chamber (the full was played by the organ), but needless-to-say, it was still a treat. I have an audition coming up on Saturday. I am really excited about it, but I need to not psych myself out. Stephanie Baer mentioned at my last lesson how when I relax and "act" like I am performing for myself or close friends I play much better. I always walk into a room and need to play "perfectly." This stems from the stress of Grad auditions and Masao...

I am reading the most fascinating book entitled The Tao of Pooh. I love the interjections of book, history and A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh. It really has made me realize life moves on a course, and I need to just go with the flow of the river. I need to do the best I can in every situation and be BLAKE. I cannot control situations when other people are involved. I just need to stay the nice, personable, strong player I am until I make it big. That day will come--my path is my path and I cannot relate it to other people.

Austyn and Dustin are moving here in May so Dustin can do his internship at NBC Sports. I am really looking forward to having family near me. Until other cool things happen B

whose yo-yo mama?

I had a busy month of February and March. I performed great literature in a short span of a couple days and had some other amazing experiences.

First of all, Krista, my sister, is married. I have never seen her look more beautiful or more happy (well, she was in a dress). I think she her marriage will be great, and I am happy she found a guy like Greg.

In order of performance:

I was the violinist for the Dwight-Englewood Production of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. I am grateful for the fast rehearsal performance process because it really helped me solidify my violin skills. Also, the musicians were fun and have real professional jobs, so it was great to perform/meet them. Who can complain to play a Menken score anyway?

I was a guest violist with the NYU Chamber Orchestra for their performance at St. Joes. It was so wonderful to play Bartok's Divertimenti and Dvorak's Divertimento. Both are so beautiful and great rep to know. I loved meeting the violists and getting to play with them.

I performed in NYU's production of STREET SCENE. Now, here is an AMAZING AMAZING score. The three hours went by so fast, and I couldn't get enough. The musicians were great, and I couldn't really hear the singers to have an opinion, but the set was gorg and operatic, as it should be.

I did a recording session for a hip hop artist, but I cannot really talk about who or what the project was. It was a fun experience to do a session. I miss doing them. Luckily I have more coming up this month!

In other news:

I loved the Oscar telecast this year, and am so glad THE ARTIST took the top prize.

I saw a great show called ASSISTANCE at Playwrights-Horizons. SO good. So funny. It is not one of those where you LAUGH out loud all the time, but it is one of the funniest I have seen in a while!

My roommate Ryan Breslin opens in NEWSIES on Thursday! So happy/excited for him.
Ben get's off of ImaginOcean tour on Saturday, and I couldn't be more thrilled!!

wandering in the woods

Life in New York is great, if even a little crazy at times. I am definitely the happiest I have ever been in my life and I can see things on the horizon.

In December I went to Ottawa, ON with Ben to visit his family. Ottawa is definitely a beautiful city, and I love Canada and Canadians. Parliment Hill is gorgeous and I enjoyed eating my Beaver's Tail. This short trip was just the break I needed before FOLK WANDERING went head strong.

December 19th there was a reading of the musical I have been working on with a group of musicians at SoHo Walker Space. I spoke earlier of the workshop. I was asked to stay on as a orchestrator/vocal arranger. Well, the show went up very quickly, and I think we have something special in our hands. This is not saying there needs to be some work, but it is a beautiful score, and I am very proud to see a show I helped created.

I went home to Arizona which was great because I haven't seen Krista, Clayton or my grandparents since Nov 2009! The weather was a little bad for AZ, but it was a nice change.

New Years in New York with friends and lovers is the best way to spend the holiday. I don't understand how people spend their life in Times Square. The whole mid town area was a mad house!!

I auditioned for a show about a string quartet. It was a great experience to audition and the show sounds pretty cool, but I turned down the offer because of timing and the monetary compensation isn't what I was looking for! Too bad! I could have gone to Sydney... Just not smart to leave the city for so long not with an omportant musical career advancement.

I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with Lisa! Nassau and Free Port. It was on Carnivale, so when the Italian liner flipped while on the boat we all had a barn raising time.

I just finished playing a benefit concert of INTO THE WOODS with equity actors/union players. Since it was a benefit, rules don't apply, but I am glad I was able to perform with the great string players Summer Boggess on cello and Hiroko Taguchi on violin. I am glad I slowly am putting my name out there (even if my D string was giving me problems!!). So exciting.

Just finished recording FW so it can be sent off to festivals and the like. Also a very fun experience.

On the horizon is an opera and an orchestra concert as well as LA with Ben and Lisa. Update coming soon.

2011 Most Played Songs

Here are the 25 most played songs on my iPod for the year 2011. It is very interesting to see the difference/similarity between 2011 and 2010. Who knows what 2012 will hold!!

1--"I Think You're a Contra"-Vampire Weekend
2--"Giving Up the Gun"-Vampire Weekend
3--"Good Luck"-Sondre Lerche
4--"Take It All"-Adele
5--"Run"-Vampire Weekend
6--"Rumor Has It"-Adele
7--"California English"-Vampire Weekend
8--"Cannibal"-Ke$ha
9--"Cosmic Love"-Florence + The Machine
10--"Holiday"-Vampire Weekend
11--"Postcards from Italy"-Beirut
12--"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"-Cyndi Lauper
13--"Take it Off"-Ke$ha
14--"Rolling in the Deep"-Adele
15--"Do You Realize??"-The Flaming Lips
16--"Happy Ending"-MIKA
17--"Blow"-Ke$ha
18--"White Sky"-Vampire Weekend
19--"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"-Katy Perry
20--"Gronlandic Edit"-Of Montreal
21--"Daydreamer"-Adele
22--"Half of You"-Cat Power
23--"Poor Little Person"-Alice Pleyten from HENRY, SWEET HENRY
24--"We R Who We R"-Ke$ha
25--"The Boxer"-Simon & Garfunkel

Songs that get recognition"
-Anything from WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS by the Tijuana Brass
-"Love on Top"-Beyonce. It is too new to be on the list
-"Heatwave"-Martha & the Vandellas

Goosey Loosey

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

My roommate Ryan performed "King of New York" from NEWSIES at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you happened to be watching, he started the number and had a cigar in his mouth. It was pretty cool. Everyone we know is wicked excited to have NEWSIES transferring to broadway.

My Thanksgiving was quite nice. Ben and Leesh are in town, so it was a roommate gathering for sure. We had so much food and so much fun making the food, it is one of the better experiences in my life. I did have to go to work at World Yacht, which kinda put a wrench in the day, but I am glad to have a job that pays the bills.

I played with the string quartet I sub with for a proposal. It was really funny! The girl hit her fiance and then took the ring without even hearing a question...then the whole family came out! Woof. It was an easy gig for money! :)

GO SEE THE MUPPETS!

Just for your enjoyment (what the two people who read this ha!), I have had "Turkey Lurkey" from PROMISES, PROMISES! stuck in my head for about a week and I want you to enjoy it as well. Here is the link to the Tony Awards performance. The red-head, Donna Mckechnie, is crazy. She whips her head and spins her arm so fast!! It is pretty enjoyable, and who does not like Burt Bacharach. Oh, and an fyi, I haven't found a version of the song that has as MUCH energy. I hope you enjoy.

I hope you Turkey Day was as marvelous as it could be!

Oopsies

I have been so busy I have not updated my blog in a long while. Also, I got a 5-year journal, where you write a sentance or two everyday, so it seems like I am keeping up to date with things, but not to the WHOLE WORLD! Let me look at the highlights of the past couple of months:

Summer is now over. We had the official first snow fall of the year on October 29!! It was a blizzard, and some people in VT and CT still do not have power. It snowed three inches in Central Park, but Westchester (only an hour away) recieved 14!! Pretty crazy. It is the earliest snowfall since the Civil War. That was only 150 years ago, but it is still a long time! Everyone here is blaming it on Global Warming/Global Climate Change.

I moved into a new apartment with some buddies from CCM. I love it and it is the first time I have had an apartment where I can decorate and make it "home." It is really cool. IT is in Long Island City, so though it is not Manhattan, I am SO close to everything. It takes ten minutes on the train to get to Times Square. Brilliant! Even when I lived on the UWS, it took 40 mins and I had to deal with the overly crowded 1 train... Here, in LIC, I have the 7, N, Q, R, M, and E all within five minutes of my house. Pretty sweet deal there.

I am taking lessons from Stephanie Baer at NYU and am involved with Karen Ritscher's masterclasses at NYU/MSM. I am very blessed to be able to still progress in the viola even when I am not at school. I love the teaching style of both these teachers. They blend well together. It is also really cool to have masterclass with a different instructor because you get different view points on the same thing. Some how, this seems to work. I like it. They are also VERY kind, which I need. Kind words of encouragement work much better for me than distain.

I have a lot on my plate involving the literature I am playing: Reger G minor suite (learned and almost all memorized!), Bach Cello Suite 4 in Eb, Paganinni Caprice 5 (ouch!) and Bartok Viola Concerto. I have this pretty cool practice regime where I practice several times throughout the day instead of in one chunk. It gives me time to accomplish other things, and I do not get frustrated as much. Also, it gives me time to think about what I accomplished, and what I still need to get done. It really adds up. An hour here and a half hour there makes four hours go by!

I observed the pit for Wicked in September. Suprisingly, the orchestrations make the score. The viola part is SICK, and Kevin was really cool. It is always great to get insights into how people scored the gig and their background. So far, almost everyone I met has gone to MSM or Juilliard... is that saying something?

Speaking of scoring, I went to the 802 Theatre Musician Meet and Greet (I had a rehearsal, so I only was there for the greet). Jonathan Tunick spoke, as well as other musicians and BIG SHOTS, and it was so nice to hear I am doing everything correctly. Practicing is your job until you land your gig, you take any gig you can even if it doesn't pay, you are a nice, dedicated person and you hand out cards like mad! Check check check check. Pretty cool. Jonathan Tunick said something that stuck with me "Your goal should be to play at the highest level possible, just like a basketball player." Makes perfect sense to me. You take pride in what you do and everything is an opportunity.

I participated in a Workshop of a new musical entitled Folk Wandering. I am not really at liberty to discuss all the deets of this work, but I am sticking with the project and we have a public reading of it in December. It should be really great. I think the message is quite good.

I played with the New York Chamber Players. It was a fun gig where I got to meet some great musicians and play the master concerti. It really helped me remember that I do indeed like classical music. I had been turned off for so long while being at school. The spark is back.

Now, onto non-music related things. I went to Sleepy Hollow! It is so beautiful. The bridge is no longer there (thanks to the Rockefeller's modernizing the city), but the Old Dutch Church still stands. I have pictures, but no way to upload them, so I will add them later. The cemetary is brethtaking, especially in autumn when the leaves change.