Laurel Black Music

It's a final week of concerts to end the spring semester. I, along with the percussion studio, have been very busy. 4/27: 4pm General Recital (for any music student wishing to perform)           7pm Band Concert 4/28:  7pm Sr. Recital: Austin Bolden, percussion and composition             performed two world premieres:             2012 for marimba and piano. Concert Music in E-flat for solo euphonium and piano 4/29: 7pm Sr Recital: Matt Harvey, percussion            "Chromatic Foxtrot" by George Hamilton Green (me, piano; Casey, drum set) 4/30: 6pm Percussion Ensemble Concert               Marimba Spiritual  - soloist 5/1: 5pm Sr Recital: Chelsea McGlothlin, voice 5/5: 5pm Faculty Recital: with David Ball, low brass           BASTA for solo trombone, by Folke Rabe       ...

Nothing written here for longer than I like.  Between starting the church job officially , preparing for  classes, and freaking out about the competition, (all while trying not to spend TOO much time sewing), I've been a little busy. Today marks the end of week 2 of classes, and I am LOVING my new schedule. I'm teaching classes to music majors only , a first for me, and it's really rewarding. I like teaching Intro to Music, but this is soooo much better. Not too much playing yet for me, but that will change rapidly as students are assigned repertoire in their lessons. Luckily, I've been able to focus (somewhat) on the competition, and will be presenting a recital in about a week to get a run-through of the rep in front of lots of people. I've played for Casey and for students, but I need a scary auditorium full of folks to make me nervous. My involvement at the church is enjoyable, but the week does get long. Wednesdays are now 12-hour work days, and if there...

Being the procrastinator I am of technology-related tasks, I am still uploading videos of Turning Point's October concert at CU. It was an evening of marimba duets, some adapted for the instrument and others composed for it. It was fun. I'm slowly uploading everything to my YouTube channel, Laurel Black .  I still have a few more to go, not to mention the recordings I'm planning to do for the summer. SO MANY. Today's new video addition s: Three Transformations , III. Rhumba Rubio by Andrew Thomas; Three Preludes, II. Andante con moto e poco rubato, and III. Agitato, by George Gershwin. In other news, I'm 99% committed to playing in the Italy Percussion Competition  on marimba. Other areas include vibraphone, timpani, snare drum, drum set, and composition. I figure it will be good for me to play in a competition, regardless of the outcome. I've been here in my comfortable little town for two years now, playing concerts with friends, putting together projec...

This past weekend was an eventful one for percussionists in WV. Casey and his students headed off to the WV Day of Percussion held Shepherdstown.  There were solo competitions and performances by a variety of colleges in the state. Concord performed well, which is great! Casey was enthusiastic about how his students played, and that's always a good thing. :) Also held this weekend was the Marshall Day of Percussion at Marshall University in Hungtington, WV. I was super stoked that Steve Hall, professor of percussion at MU, invited Matt to hold a class and perform during his weekend's events. How cool! Steve graciously hosted Turning Point in October, so I am very excited that Matt was able to bring his brain back to WV to talk about music stuff. Despite these great events, my weekend was spent at home, preparing for the present week. I have two remaining recital hearings, and full run-throughs of 4 recitals tomorrow!! Eek. But, I am prepared. And, since I stayed home this ...

Technically, I'm on spring break. I don't have to teach a class all week, nor do I have to rehearse with any students. What I do have to do, however, is learn approximately 280 minutes of music to a level I deem worthy of playing in front of my colleagues. So what does that mean? It means Laurel doesn't get a break. Laurel spends hours at a piano hashing and re-hashing parts she learned long ago to make sure that the lines are correct, listens to the metronome for hours on end, and sings those bloomin' melody lines in her head until her brain explodes. Laurel also talks in third person when she's feeling a bit overwhelmed. In the spirit of making myself feel like I've accomplished something in these hours of practicing today, I thought I would catalog the rep I'm learning. Without further ado, Here's what Laurel has been cramming into her brain: with alto sax: J.S. Bach - 2. Sicilienne and Allegro (adapted from Flute Sonata No. 2) Paul Crest...

How last week flew by! From shoveling snow, to rehearsing, to talking about improvisation, to designing posters, to finally  playing a concert, the only thing that would have made the week better was not driving 2.5 hours to the airport to send Nati back to Boston. Looking back, this has to be one of my favorite concerts, and that very much has to do with the space we performed in.  It's amazing how a space can transform music. We used a black box theater on CU's campus; before I reserved the space, a platform for an upcoming stage production had already been built and nailed to the floor. Instead of worrying about it, Nati and I used it as a stage for our intimate setting. Plus, the platform was covered with carpet, which made it stand out from the rest of the theater quite nicely. (See: black box.) Our memory play  concept was carried out in our staging by setting sentimental objects around on the platform. From heirloom trinkets, to photo frames, to throw pillows, ...

This is an exciting week! Natalie flew down from Boston last weekend, and we have been rehearsing for our upcoming concert at CU. We are excited about this new program. Titled memory play , our concert consists of delicate repertoire. The perspective of these pieces feels distant, as if remembering a different time and place.  We are very excited to have two world premieres on this concert: Aphorism 10 , by Andrew Paul Jackson , and lyte , by Tim Mainland , a member of the CU music faculty. We will also perform works by Dalit Hadass Warshaw , Marti Epstein , and Elliot Cole .  See the official press release here. Tonight Natalie and I will present an impromptu improvisation workshop for the CU community. Modeled after an approach from our beloved and admired teacher, Pierre Hurel , we hope to remove some of the anxiety associated with improvising as well as encourage them to play and listen openly. We had the opportunity to present the workshop to the jazz band y...