Upcoming Concert

This particular version of insane in my life - over 3000 miles on my car in the last TEN DAYS, 19 services (rehearsals, recording sessions, and performances) including 2 self-produced recitals, and as many students (not that many) as I could squeeze in around the edges - is finally ending. If I've posted nothing other than shameless self-promotion I am sorry. It is about to be over. I will become smart and interesting again, instead of merely competent and punctual, which is absolutely all I've been able to manage since the 20th. I love what I do but this has been a rough set.

Tomorrow afternoon I am playing a St Matthew Passion at the University of Chicago. It's one of the greatest pieces EVER written, and I am playing the least stressful oboe part in it for a change, so for me it is three hours of enjoying everyone else's awesomeness and loving being on that gorgeous old campus. Great orchestra, astounding music. Details are HERE.

And on Monday my normal life resumes, with nothing but my normal teaching, practicing, reedmaking, running, and ZOE TIME!

I can't wait.

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Zoe's Musical Beginnings

I've mentioned before that I started out on the piano by figuring out melodies. Connecting notes and trying to learn how they worked. I'm fascinated to observe that Zoe's initial approach to the instrument is totally different from mine. She sits at our new piano and plays random notes, and tells us what to feel. If she is playing slowly then the music is sad, and we should cry. When we are "crying" she either gets up and hugs us so we feel better (so awesome!) or bangs faster, to indicate that the music is now happy and we should dance. Her other piano game is accompanying herself - she plays "chords" in alternating hands while she "sings" the ABC song or Camptown Races or Sesame Street. She makes us sing along. She loves it when we clap at the end. When I was little I wanted to know how music worked. Although I make my living as a performer now, I learned about the interpersonal aspects of music later. Her immediate interest is in ...

Cleaning Your Reeds

Updated: I've posted a video of my plaque cleaning technique HERE ! Oboe reeds are made from organic material, and over time it is inevitable that they will age and change. The first few days of change are usually quite welcome, as you break the reed in by playing and the opening gradually settles down to something you can be comfortable with and the response becomes more and more predictable. You might even hit a plateau where it appears to be perfectly consistent and reliable for several days! But after that, the reed seems to be on a constant gradually accelerating downslope, until it eventually collapses into a sharp, non-responsive, mushy mess. We can rejuvenate the reed during this time by cleaning it, and can often extend its life as well! There are three good ways to do this. First, least invasively, you can just run some fresh water through and over the reed AFTER you play each time. Go ahead and rinse that reed in the sink, shake it as dry as possible, a...

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