Quick update from New World

well, it's been a whirlwind since moving to FL! Here's a link to an article describing the new hall being built for New World...it's an incredibly exciting project and there is certainly nothing else like it anywhere!
http://www.hauteliving.com/sections/design-decor/the-new-new-world-symphony/

Tanglewood!

mid-June through mid-August:

Mom and Dad at the main entrance to Tanglewood

After shipping my whole life off to Miami, I packed the Camry to the gills and drove out to Western Mass for the Tanglewood Music Festival! And what an incredible experience it turned out to be!

First of all, I do believe that many of the friendships I made at "T-wood" will last a lifetime! The level of music-making was incredibly inspiring and a great preparation for my time with the New World Symphony.


Some of the world's most sought after professional musicians come through Tanglewood during the summer which allows the students a chance to work with artists we'd otherwise only glimpse from the audience. I got a chance to play in some masterclasses taught by Christian Tetzlaff and Malcolm Lowe and also played as assistant concertmaster under James Levine for the production of the Mozart opera Don Giovanni. The "DG" performances were particularly dramatic given the summer weather! The orchestra pit actually flooded with 6 inches of water during one very stormy evening performance!...fortunately all instruments were ok.

Earlier in the summer, Mr Levine also conducted the orchestra in a "concert" (i.e. non-staged) performance of the 3rd act of Wagner's Meistersinger von Nürnberg...the 3rd act alone is over 2 hours! I've included links to some of the reviews we received....


Meistersinger: (includes a short video clip)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/arts/music/13tangle.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=tanglewood%20meistersinger&st=cse

Don Giovanni:
http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/view.bg?articleid=1187409

Contemporary Music Festival:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/arts/music/13tangle.html?scp=2&sq=tanglewood%20music%20festival&st=cse


Perhaps the best part about T-wood was the number of visitors I had! My parents were able to make it out to Lenox for our all Stravinsky program in early August. It was so great to see them and show them around the beautiful town of Lenox and the Tanglewood estate. Apparently, the Tanglewood grounds were originally the Tappan family estate (Tappan stoves). Several of my friends: Erin, Melinda and Gina, also visited at various points throughout the summer!

The first of MANY updates! Lakefront yoga!!

Wow! it's been forever since I've had a chance to update the blog...I haven't had internet access on my computer for several months! Anyway, a ton has happened over the the course of the summer so I guess the best bet is to just blog it in installments.
June:
Back in June, my friend Oscar and I participated in a "lakefront" yoga event (on the beautiful shores of Lake Erie) to raise money for the IMAGINE project in Nepal (one of the students at my Cleveland yoga studio is very involved in this project and organized the event). Here's some more info on the IMAGINE project: http://www.nepalorphanshome.org/index.aspand some visual aids....

oooooom! Oscar's the red and white speck and I'm the purple and black speck

One of the studio directors brought his "puppies!" ...new meaning to the term "downward facing dog pose"

Grabbing my heels for dear life

And, as stated in the picture, the "money shot," hehehe!

Packing and more packing!!

Hello!
Well, it's as crazy as ever around here but I'm getting very exciting for all of the big changes that are approaching!

I finally finished the crazy touring! Doug was able to make it to my performance in Chicago and it was so special having him there!! Thanks Unca Bug! My parents were also able to make it to the performances in Madison! yay!

After the tour, I got to make a 24 hour stop in MN!!! Then my dad and I drove down to Cleveland so that he could bring some of my furniture (what little i have) back to MN since none will fit in my room at New World.

Since then, I've been hosting lots of summer programs in the dorm and packing like crazy...plus trying to practice a bit!

I leave for Tanglewood on Saturday but will first back-track to Ann Arbor, MI to pick up my violin...it's been in the shop since mid-May getting some "work" done...yes, it does involve a neck adjustment, but it's NOT plastic surgery, hehehe:-)
Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from some Summer socializing....

My friend Joseph, who now lives in Boston, came to visit his old friends in Cleveland...(he and I both feel that's it's more fun keeping our eyes closed during picture-taking, hehe!)

Karla hosted a barbeque for the few of us who are still in town...Oscar doesn't like boring pictures

(Oscar, Jessica and Alex, Maaike, Karla, Amanda and Tito)

Pictures from YouTube etc!

With Josh and Karla after the concert...

With my good friend, Gina! (We've known each other since high school)

In need of caffeine...

Karla with Measha Brueggergosman!!!

Karla and I with future New World colleagues

With Bob (New World horn player!), Josh and Karla

Graduation etc

I just completed the second installment of the Eric Genuis tour and managed to make it back in time for the CIM graduation reception (if not the actual ceremony)...my plane landed two hours after the ceremony started, so I sprinted back to school, threw on my friend Erin's cap and gown and snapped a quick picture.

With some of my good friends: Erin, Chessie, Mike and Joan

With my good buddy, Oscar (on his best behavior, as usual)

See, I actually graduated!

The Eric Genuis tour was pretty arduous, but we got to play for many very appreciative audiences. The performance last Friday night was for a Down Syndrome benefit in Louisville, KY. It's always very special to be a part of such a meaningful event. During our time there, we got to visit Churchill Downs and even saw a race! Horse racing always makes me feel bad for the horses, but it was still good getting to spend time around those beautiful animals after so many years away from riding!

Other cities that we visited included Rockford, IL, Kokomo, IN and Fort Wayne, IN.

I'm looking forward to a a week here at home. I have lots of packing and dorm work to do but still plenty of time for yoga! I'm also taking my violin up to Ann Arbor, MI to get some work done on it....nothing's wrong, it just needs lots of maintenance work. This will mean 2.5 weeks without my violin so I'll really miss it!!! (The shop will lend me a violin to use for the rest of the tour and practicing)

Well, I think that's about it for now! Some pretty exciting news on the other family's blog, eh? I think that Alex should get a gold star for estrogen tolerance, hehehe! I hope that you're all doing well!!!!

Home for two days...

Hi!
Well, I just returned from my first "leg" of the May tour. It has certainly been an interesting few days but I feel that all the challenges that I'll be encountering on this tour will only make me stronger. The vocalist and trumpet player are delightful people and I'm looking forward to spending more time with them!
We played concerts in Columbus and Dayton and will be leaving on Tuesday for another stretch of concerts throughout the midwest and also Kentucky. I'm looking forward to the concerts at the end of May! (one show is in Chicago! and my parents may make the trek to Madison to see another show!!)

We've officially closed down the dorm, but there is still a lot of work to do to get it organized for the next "administration." It's certainly nice and peaceful right now since most of the kids are gone...though in the last few days a sink literally "fell" off the bathroom wall, shattered and flooded the first floor. joy. But really, quite funny in retrospect:-)

Well, I think that's all for now. I'll keep you updated if anything interesting happens!

I hope that you're all still in one piece!