Livingston HS Wind Symphony - "Dusk" performance

Last night, I had the pleasure of conducting "Dusk" with the Livingston High School Wind Symphony. We finally had the entire band there (having a trombone section definitely helps!), and they did a great job with the piece. I think we woke some people up with that climax section!

A big "thank you" to Mike Jedwabnik, the LHS Band Boosters, and the Wind Symphony for inviting me out and letting me work with the band - you've got a strong program, and the large audience turnout is fantastic! Also a shout-out to Jordan the trumpet player for teaching me the sunburst handshake. I feel infinitely cooler now...

Here's the Livingston HS director posse at the local Applebee's after the concert. Thanks for the after-concert hang - I learned more than I ever thought I'd know about laying out brick and stone patios, and cutting them in circular patterns with a diamond-blade saw... :)



Hopefully I'll get everyone's names right: (l-r) Amedeo, John Brian (sorry!), Heather, Jim, Mike, me.

Dusk rehearsal - Livingston High School

Went out to Livingston, NJ to work with Mike Jedwabnik and the Livingston HS Wind Symphony on Dusk tonight. Their concert is next Wednesday, the 25th, and I'll be conducing Dusk with them - looking forward to it! Tonight was a little rough because we were missing several players (started rehearsal without a trombone section...), but they have a lot of talent and are going to pull of a great concert!

Here's the band pretending to play Dusk (I'd forgotten to get a picture while I was conducting with them, so I made them 'pose' for me - don't tell anyone).



My apologies to the trumpet section for giving you so many rests - just saving you up for the big moments. And yes, I really do own a gorilla mask. That's a picture of it in the upper-left corner of the website... :)

See you all next Wednesday!

Newman's Avenue X

I just heard a recording from one of the premieres of Jonathan's Avenue X from last week. It's as good as Jim says it is. Can't wait to hear it live! If any groups out there reading this are playing at Midwest this year, this is your piece - take a serious listen to it (I'm sure Newm can provide you with the audio upon request)...

Everyone flood Newman's mailbox with congratulations and well-wishing - he's outdone himself this time!

Rolling Stones at Juilliard

Since it's now all over the news, I guess it's no longer a secret: the Rolling Stones are playing 3 tunes at Juilliard this Tuesday, May 10th, about 1pm, to announce their new tour. They're only letting about 150 students onto the Plaza to hear them, so I imagine it'll be a mob scene. I'll try to catch them from the back entrance as they enter through the President's office (I find this hilarious) to where they're performing. I've never been a huge Stones fan, but it'll be fun to watch everyone lose their sh*t over this. We had to run an extra ethernet line to the Plaza so all the press hordes could have internet access for the event. I guess the fact that we already offer wireless access on the plaza just went right over their heads...

Anyway, I don't know if "the public" will be able to get close or not - probably close enough to hear if you're anywhere on the plaza at Lincoln Center. So, come on out if you dig the Stones.