Solo Concert March 23rd

(photo courtesy of Eric Shalit)
Seattle Area German American School presents a benefit concert for art and music instruction. It's a cello and piano recital with treats served and is scheduled in conjunction with the SAGA parents night out.

On the program will be:
Beethoven Sonata #3 in A Major Op. 69
Bach Unaccompanied Suite #2 in d minor
Hindemith Sonate Op. 25 #3
Pårt Spiegel im Speigel
and a new work by Brad Hawkins

The best part is that Lesleigh Reinfried will play piano on the Pårt and Beethoven. John Teske will perform on the Hawkins in a special improvisation.

Tickets are $20/30 single/couple and all proceeds go directly to the SAGA school but truth be told, we won't turn anyone away.

March 23rd, 7 PM John Marshall Building 520 NE Ravenna Blvd. Seattle

Alchymeia

I've spent a lot of time with a fabulous band. It's peopled with Steve Rice on piano and accordion, Brandon Vance on violin, Yusuf Kilgore on guitars, Ahmad Yousefbeigi on percussion, Nadia Tarnawsky on vocals, and I play on cello and bass.

We play some serious Eastern European folk, Scottish MSR's, gypsy jazz, and torch songs.

We have a new album coming and some good concert dates including April 20th in Georgetown.

More information coming

Thursday Downtown with Emily Dickenson

After three productions of William Luce's "The Belle of Amhearst", the first in Fremont, the second at Seattle Center, and the third in Federal Way, we are doing a private performance on Thursday for lunch. I've never done dinner theater nor have I done any lunch theater, but this should be good and since I wrote the music and perform it on a regular basis, ok the only basis, I have a really good time with it.

Upcoming Concerts December 2008

So here goes:

Saturday September 6th, 2PM. Chamber concert with Oana Tomai and Natalie Lerch. Frye Art Museum. Performing Andre Previn's 4 songs, Rachmaninov Vocalise, and a Vocalise also by Previn.

Saturday December 6th, 7 PM. Handel Messiah at Tacoma First Baptist Church

Thursday, December 11th. More involved version of the concert at the Frye. This one is at the Chapel; 4649 Sunnyside Ave N. You'll want to hit this one. Note: 7 PM start time.

Friday, December 12th and Saturday, December 13th. St. Mark's Cathedral with Choral Sounds Northwest. These concerts are always really well thought out. Fred Coleman runs this group. Excellent Choir.

Sunday, December 14th. Seattle LDS Stake Center. Some sort of chamber piece as part of the Christmas concert. I'm thinking up something grand.

Friday, December 19th Lynnwood WA. Address TBD. Chamber concert with Ute Freund-Puscht and Mark Salman.

Sunday, December 21st. Continuo for Handel Messiah at the Lynnwood LDS Stake Center 7 PM. Should be interesting.

I haven't been to Lynnwood in months and I can't remember when I last played in that town, but the upcoming concerts should be interesting.

Brian Cobb's Opera "O Pioneers"

I think that's the name. We just finished a set of recording sessions for selections from Brian Cobb's chamber opera "O Pioneers" It's a cool one that includes cello, clarinet, two percussion, flute, violin, soprano voice, baritone voice, flute, guitar, and banjo. Julia Tai conducted and I played the cello part.

The music was generally slow to moderate with lots of extended techniques. The trickiest parts were segueing from scratch tone to scraping vertically on the strings with the bow, to pizzicato to snaps to everything else in between.

The banjo parts were very interesting also because numerous places in the score asked the banjo player to scrape or rub on the sound skin. This performer was a little skittish because he was playing a borrowed instrument and didn't want to damage anything. The quirky part about it is that the very same sound can be effected by scraping fingernails on a snare drum. I don't mean to jest when I say that banjo and snare drum are kindred instruments. Deal with it.

I finished the last session on Saturday by punching in the cello part on some circular bowing techniques and overdubbing onto what the other players had just done. It was easy, got it in two takes. Whew!

Yo-Yo Ma's Montagnana

(Photograph by Stephen Danelia)


This from the Boston Globe

I just have to say that when I've played a really, really, no, really fine instrument, I've been humbled. I once had a crack and Joseph Gingold's Del Jesu, once played on a really great Guadinini in Tacoma, and a Goffriller that a teacher was trying out. I'm really happy with my Steve Banchero cello that plays like a powerhouse and feels like my voice, but when you get into instruments worth multiples of homes, they don't really mess around. They really are that great. They're even easier to play. Imagine!

Songs for each child

Granted, I only have one, but Claire and I have decided that each of our children should have their own song. Claire came up with the words and for the time being, I notated and fiddled with a known camp song. I'll get something written today, for now, you get this

This is the song Thorvald hears when we love him and when we are cross. Claire loved how catchy it is. If you come up with words that fit your particular bent or view of the world, let me know.