music

life of a percussionist, part two {this could get bloody}

in

this morning i watched 
as the fruits of yesterday's labors 
shattered before my eyes
with each and just about every stroke.

{that really wasn't supposed to happen}


and somehow michael's tile made it out alive.
maybe that's what they teach grad students.

and,
shield yer eyes for the next one...

there was a casualty 
after the second run through.
cause of casualty: the friendly 2ft x 1ft aluminum sheet.
a.k.a.
thunder sheet.

don't worry about it, though, i'm a tough cookie.

stage manager david ran to the rescue...

david: i'm gonna spray it
me: NOOOO IT'S GONNA STING
david: it's not gonna sting
me:YESSS IT'S GONNA STING
david: i promise it's not going to sting
sprays it i wince i scream i cry... and then it didn't sting


and orchestra manager justin taped the edges of thunder sheet so that it wouldn't happen again.
that's him lurking in the background. 
{hi justin, please read my blog}

the rest of the rehearsal...
was actually quite successful. 
i haven't the slightest idea what is happening with the electronixa 
but my part is fun,
it involves scraping metal things against metal things
and then dropping metal things
and shaking metal things
and hopefully not bleeding anymore about metal things.

but if i may plug it again,
come to 
it starts thursday,
and eez going to be soopa tight.


xoxo


yeh


life of a percussionist.

in


today percussionist friend michael and i made the trek to home depot to purchase our percussion instruments for this week's 
beyond the machine 
performances.

our shopping list was this:

2 4ft rebars
2 2ft rebars
2 1ft x 1ft slate tiles
a box of 1 inch nails
10 4 inch nails
2 12 in nails
a 1ft by 2ft sheet of aluminum
a water heater pan
and two metal mixing bowls

thinking, i can't wait to play this piece.


so, when the salesperson's reaction to our request for rebars was something to the effect of,
we don't use rebars in manhattan.
 go to jersey.

and when his reaction to our request for water heater pans was something to the effect of,
there are no houses in manhattan, 
therefore there is no need for people to buy water heaters,
and water heater pans.
go to jersey...

we panicked a little bit.
ok, a lot a bit,
because rehearsals start tomorrow,
and the first performance is thursday.

so we did what percussionists do,
and we ran around the store hitting things.


overtones,
we needed overtones.

and the hollow pipes they had weren't cutting it.

you should have seen the brotha's face when i told him we needed a 4ft solid bar of steel. 
"wha-what are you planning on doing with it?"
i was all, relax, i'm not going tanya harding on you. 


we ended up having to settle for some dinky sticks of steel until composer man shows up, hopefully with rebars at hand.
but, please pray for me that i won't have to go jersey midweek.

either way,
i'm super excited to play this piece.
it's by spencer topel,
a juilliard grad, 
who has incorporated some sweet electronix
and melodrama {is that why i was chosen to play it?}
 into his percussion duet.

and also our trip to home depot wasn't a complete failure because we did discover this sweet table:


it's made from the bottom of a cymbal stand and it is height adjustable.
it also comes with a drum key for show, how cute.
i must have this.


ok,
wish me luck in rehearsal tomorrow.
happy monday lovelies!


xoxo


yeh


carnegie hall

in ,
how i love carnegie hall!

every time i go there,
i feel so old school...
getting dressed up,
and walking up the same stairs that people a hundred years ago walked up,
{and listening to same of the music too}
the men in tails and bow ties,
oh i love it all.
this evening and last, i saw the 
chicago symphony orchestra 
perform. 
my old teacher was a soloist this evening in 
bartok's sonata for two pianos and percussions.
it was so glorious!
his calf heads sounded unlike every other performance that i've seen of that piece,
and i was so into it!
go teacher!

i love cso

elliott carter was in the audience.
he's like the lady gaga of the classical music world.
kidding.
but he is pretty famous.
and he's 101 years old.
and i got to meet him!


can you imagine being 101?!?!


when i'm 101,

i'm going to be chillen on the big porch of my big southern home,
reflecting back on my life,
on my time in paris,
and barcelona,
and india...
on my three, maybe four (hopefully successful) careers,
thinking about what i'm going to cook for dinner,
and then i'll probably write my one millionth blog post.

i hope your weekends were all as lovely as mine!

xoxo


yeh



happy pizza night from grimaldi's!

in , , ,

i know, i know,
it's a sin that i've lived in new york this long and haven't been to 
grimaldi's
so sue me. 


i actually just happened upon it when the pops and i attended a concert down the street from grimaldi's at bargemusic
{it's a chamber music venue and it's a boat. isn't that super silly?}

hello, pops!

so after a lovely evening of brahms and mozart,
we piggied out on pizza,
that is definitely up there with kesté and di fara.
i'm a total fan of the slightly burnt bottom.
i think i should have ordered extra basil though.
next time :-)


have a lovely weekend, pretty people!
pops is here all weekend! yay yipee! 


xoxo


yeh



grimaldi's is located in brooklyn, just below the brooklyn bridge.