Early June: R!S and TAPS East Coast

It's been a busy first half of the month so far. Though summer isn't technically upon us, there's something about the month of June that makes it a month for personal projects.
Perhaps it's because my entire life has been attached to an academic calendar, or perhaps it's because it's a month where there's typically more nice than dreary weather - either way, the first half of this selfish month has been a total joy.

New Article

It's been out for a little while, but you can read "Developing Kinesthetic Awareness: A Guide to Mindset, Explorations, and Wrists - Part 2" in this month's Rhythm! Scene. Find it on page 14!

TAPS East Coast

By now there's evidence on social media that TAPS East Coast was a blast, both as a human and as a musician. Held at the New England Music Camp (NEMC) at Snow Pond, the setting was nothing short of breathtaking. The faculty were housed in cabins, the students in the new dorm, and our activities took place in the historic Bowl of the Pines located in the center of the NEMC campus.

Lake Messalonskee from The Lodge

view of the Bowl from the audience field

We presented masterclasses, taught private lessons, held a mock audition, recorded a podcast, and presented a concert, complete with a performance of Ionisation.

Ionisation dress rehearsal

coaching some Ivan Trevino

Casey performs Meditation no.1 during his masterclass

one of the mock audition winners in performance

Thanks go to Innovative Percussion for sending mallets for each participant, and to Majestic for sending not only a Prophonic snare drum for giveaway but also the gorgeous 5 octave instrument you see in the photos.

I had a great time at TAPS East Coast, and there's another one in July in Long Beach, California. You can learn more about that here.

Comments

19 Summer Reading Ideas

Ah, summer. For those of us in academia it means time to work for yourself , and that includes feeding the mind literary goodness. For when you're in the mood for word food, here are some ideas. Hyperlinks will take you to an excerpt on Google Books, if there is one. About Percussion The Percussionist's Art , by Steven Schick Sticking it Out , by Patti Niemi When the Drummers were Women , by Layne Redmond Drumming at the Edge of Magic , by Mickey Hart and Jay Stevens The Girl in the Back: A Female Drummer's Life with Bowie, Blondie, and the 70's Rock Scene , by Laura Davis-Chanin Keiko Abe: A Virtuosic Life , by Rebecca Kite About Artistry Creativity , by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi Flow , by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi The Artist's Way , by Julia Cameron Walking in this World , by Julia Cameron Finding Water , by Julia Cameron Leonardo's Brain , by Leonard Shlain About the Self Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , by Stephen Covey ...

L+M Duo presents...ILLUMINATING WRIGLEY

Saturday, June 8 is a big day for L+M Duo!! Our visionary project titled Illuminating Wrigley comes to life at 8pm in a free concert just outside the Wrigley Building on iconic Michigan Avenue! This event marks the start of Wrigley's Centennial Celebration, so we commemorate important dates of the last 100 years in our programming. Our Collaborators Composer Steven Snowden was on board with this project from the beginning, and agreed in early 2017 to write a new work for L+M Duo inspired by the Wrigley Building. Here we are in downtown Chicago - the first time the 3 of us met! Illuminating Wrigley closes with Steve's gorgeous new work for piano, marimba, and electronics titled 25 Million Candles , named for the amount of candlepower it took to light the building's exterior when it was completed in 1924. The piece is alive with a rhythmic vitality that reminds us of the energy contained in a beam of light. Cadance Collective joined the Illuminating W...

Bellies, Sausage Fingers, and John Psathas (but not how you think)

Anxious me had a list of ways that pregnancy would completely mess with my playing and thus my self , proof that I expected the worst as the reason for the lack of photographic evidence of others performing while expecting. Doesn't mean they didn't, but wondering about it did fuel my fears of the journey into motherhood. (And explains why I intentionally posted videos of performances with a baby belly! Proof!!) I figured I'd have a belly that bumped bars from time to time, fingers that would be bigger than normal, and a back that would ache. Spoiler alert: I did. There was nothing to do but laugh and go with it as little boy decided to take up core real estate. 1. Bumper Belly This one I saw coming. It took about 7 months, but it definitely happened. Goodbye, accidentals; hello, surprise muffling of bars. But it was a great way to break awkward tension in lessons. So there's that. 2. Bye, Bye Balance They tell you that things like r...

Laurel Black Music

Search This Blog