Off tto L.A. - then Sibelius, Beethoven, & Schumann

In the recent past I've been terribly busy organizing fundraisers, rehearsing, learning music, etc., but finally I'm getting a little down time. I'm off to L.A. to visit a good friend and to see some of my old West Coast buddies and colleagues. There's not much to say about L.A. except that it's a great city with a unique flavor, whether you love it or hate it. I happen to love it.

But I'm never far from work. I'll be thinking, plotting, planning, and studying the whole week I'm in L.A. because when I get back I have to hit the ground running. I'm hosting the fourth annual NYC Conductor Workshop. I've got 14 conductors coming to NYC from 5 countries and 6 different US states to study with the Maestro Kirk Trevor as the faculty. The week is packed with activities like body movement classes, Eurhythmics lessons, conducting sessions, visits to NY Phil rehearsals, and more, but the weeks culminates in a big concert with the Astoria Symphony performing Sibelius' Finlandia, Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, and Robert Schumann's First Symphony. The incomparable Arielle Levioff will perform the Beethoven. She's wonderful.

It will be amazing. If you're in the NYC area on March 13th, stop by! For tickets and more information, click here.

Thanks to all - and another big party!

So my big birthday bash and fundraiser for the Astoria Music Society was a blast. Thanks to all who contributed and all who attended. I am especially grateful to the musicians who donated their time and talents, and to the board members of the Astoria Music Society who donated their time and efforts. Thanks to Heather Petruzelli, Allyson Herman, Megan Pachecano, and Byron Singleton for singing, to David Stech for playing piano, and to Chrissy Fong (flute) and Eileen Kelly (clarinet) for accompanying me as I played guitar.

I am very excited now to travel to Round Rock, Texas, for another great event - "All You Need Is Love" - a special Valentine's Eve Dinner Event, a fundraiser for the Round Rock Symphony. It will be an elegant affair - valet parking, hors d'oeurve, dinner, drinks, dessert, and of course live music. For more info, click here. I'll see you there...if only I can get out of NYC in this snow!

10 Days Left until my B-Day Party!

You may know that I'm hosting a little birthday party for myself on February 6...10 days from now. Actually it's not a birthday party at all, but a fundraiser for the Astoria Music Society and Astoria Symphony. It happens to fall o the weekend following my birthday, so why not kill two birds with one stone, right?

I'm very excited about the event as I've finalized the venue, talent line-up, and menu. It will be amazing. I will play classical guitar for the party a bit, then I'll have two friends join me - Eileen Kelly, principal clarinetist for the Astoria Symphony, and Chrissy Fong, principal flutist for the Astoria Symphony. We will play some Dowland, Corelli, Tarrega, Bizet, and Benny Goodman. Fun stuff...

But wait! That's not all! A few of my friends who are talented singers will join us, too. My singing friends include Allyson Herman and Megan Pachecano, graduate students at the Manhattan School of Music, Chris Layton (of Naked Boys Singing Fame), and my great friend Heather Petruzelli (NYU and AMDA faculty). David Stech, a wonderful pianist and conductor, will accompany.

Seriously, it's going to be a great party. Silent auction, raffle prizes, good food, drink, and company...and tickets are only $30 - that includes food, a drink, and the performances. The proceeds benefit live classical music and music education in Queens, and if support the highest form of art is not reason enough to come, well, then just come have some drinks with me!

More info: http://www.astoriamusic.org/

They play, not I...

My "new" blog...

I blogged here once, and then I tried to blog on my website - it didn't work as well. I suppose that's why Blogspot exists...

I've been playing guitar a lot lately, and putting my hands on an instrument and actually producing sound has reminded me that the musicians I work with on a regular basis are very talented, and I am fortunate to know each and every one of them. I pride myself on being a competent, if not talented, conductor, but without the living, breathing bodies that produce the sound, and without their intelligence, consciousness, emotions, and effort, I wouldn't - as a conductor - make any music at all.

There's a lot of pressure on a person who picks up an instrument to play. He/she has to honor the composer. He/she has to entertain or at least engage the listener(s). He/she has to transform little black ink-spots on paper into something that moves and has energy and breathes. And all he/she has to do it with is a molded hollow piece of wood, or a bent pipe with a mouthpiece on one end and a bell on the other, or a stick and a couple of big bowls with skin stretched over them - and a lot of training.

I'd like to think I don't take orchestra players or singers for granted when I stand in front of them and wave a baton, but every minute that I practice playing music - hands on the instrument, making sound - I have more respect for every musician I've ever met. I love them because they honor me with their talent, and they allow me to make music with them.

From my forthcoming book, The Tao of Conducting:

It’s amazing how music has a life of its own.
Musicians make music, yet music exists even without musicians.
A wise conductor understands this, and that music lives without conductors, too.
When an ensemble begins to spiral out of control, simplify the beat. Be small, get out of the way.
Relax. Simplify. Think only about the music, not about yourself or your appearance.
Being selfless and getting out of the way invites an ensemble to focus and listen better.
Selflessness and simplicity in a conductor give an ensemble center, create order, and rectify musical problems.
After all, if you put your baton down and leave the podium, they could play without you.

January 3, 2010

January 3, 2010:

Happy New Year, and Goals for 2010

2009 was a wild year in many ways, but it's gone now and it's time to think about 2010 (and beyond). The end of 2009 was a blast. Following the successful Lost Dog concerts on Dec 4 & 5, Round Rock Symphony Holiday Spectacular on Dec 5 & 6, run of Penelope at Manhattan School of Music on Dec 9, 11, & 12, and the Astoria Symphony Holiday Jubilee! on Dec 13, I relaxed. Taylor and I enjoyed two weeks of vacation and we didn't travel or do anything constructive at all. We just relaxed. We watched a lot of movies, saw the Met production of Strauss' Elektra, and attended an amazing New Years Eve-Eve (Dec 30) party hosted by the very talented composer Patrick Soluri (if you live in New York City, you simply must check out Patrick's periodic salon parties - open to all). On New Year's Eve we toasted the end of 2009 at our local hang Rapture. Some holiday photos for you:

A close-up of our tree and a snowball fight in Times Square (Dec 19)

Taylor, me, Jessamyn, & Yoav at the New Years Eve-Eve Salon, Tay & me on New Years Eve.

My personal goals for 2010:

• Do less, do it better
  Practice photography more
  Compete in a sprint triathlon in May
  Compete in an Olympic-length triathlon in June
  Be happy

Here's an excerpt from my forthcoming book, The Tao of Conducting, just for the heck of it:

Conducting a large ensemble
Is like frying a small fish.
One must cook it simply, for it is easy to ruin.

Coming up next:

• Astoria Music Society Fundraiser (Feb 6)
  Round Rock Symphony Fundraiser (Feb 13)
  Astoria Symphony concert (March 13)
  Page-to-stage New Opera Program (March 14)
  Manhattan School of Music Opera (April)
  Astoria and Round Rock Symphony concerts (May 8 & 22)
  Round Rock and Astoria Symphony concerts (June 6 & 13)
  some more time off?

December 7, 2009

December 7, 2009:

Lost Dog, a Trippy Spider, and Holiday Spectacular!

On Friday Dec 4, and Saturday, Dec 5, I conducted the New York premiere of French composer Philippe Bodin's Zygiella's Visions, a wonderful piece of music about a spider that eats the wrong kind of mushroom, then builds a crazy web in a psychedelic episode. It was great fun to conduct, and it was especially rewarding because the musicians of Lost Dog are so amazing - really top players in New York City.

At the very same moment I conducted that concert on Saturday, the Round Rock Symphony was performing the RRSO Holiday Spectacular in Austin, TX, along with Texas State University's Department of Music choirs. I heard many reports form friends and colleague who said the show was a big hit, so I offer my congratulations and thanks to teh RRSO players, and especially the conductors who led the music in my stead - Maestros Joey Martin, Jonathan Babcock, & Lynn Brinckmeyer.

Now I'm looking forward to two huge events:

The Manhattan School of Music main stage opera production opens this Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 pm. The production is Gabriel Faure's Penelope. If you like Greek literature and watching Ullyses kill a bunch of guys in French, you'll like this. The music is sublime and the performances promise to be very good. Dec 9, 11, and 12. (more info)

December 13's Astoria Symphony Holiday Jubilee! (a "jubilee!" is a lot like a "spectacular!"). Maestro Daniel Radtke, music director of Astoria's Most Precious Blood Catholic Church will guest conduct music by Britten, Bach, and Mozart, as well as a world premiere by Astoria resident Scott Munson. I will be sitting in the audience and listening for a change! The AMS holiday party follows - join us at the Irish Rover at 4:30.

October 19, 2009

October 19, 2009:

Astoria Symphony 2009-10 Season Launch

The Astoria Music Society launched it's 2009-10 concert season and christened the Tony Bennett Concert Hall at the brand new Frank Sinatra School of the Arts on October 17, 2009. We performed works by Felix Mendelssohn, Alfred Schnittke, and Ludwig can Beethoven, and I invited the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Orchestra to join the Astoria Symphony onstage for two excerpts of music by Josef Haydn and Aram Khachaturian.

Me conducting the combined Astoria Symphony
and Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Orchestra in rehearsal

The amazing Miranda Cuckson, violins & violas,
and a big bass section!

It was a remarkable experience, to say the least. The young musicians from the Frank Sinatra School played with heart and integrity, and I pushed them in every direction - tempo, dynamics, and phrasing. I look forward to building a relationship with the school and with the musicians of the orchestra. Many thanks to Ken Lieberson, director of the FSSA orchestra, who also conducted the combined orchestras that night. Also thanks to Miranda Cuckson, Brent Chancellor, Grant Gilman, my wife Taylor, the AMS board of directors, and everyone else who was part of this show.