pretty much the last week as a student in the UK

I have been in the UK since September 11 of last year, and the end is coming soon. I am about 5 days away from my recital, and things are going great. First of all I thought I would say a big "Welcome to the UK" to the Fountain City Brass Band. My teacher, Scott Watson, and the entire FCBB are over in the UK for a 10-day tour, which started with their performance at the Master's Championship. They performed extremely well, exciting the UK audience with their US-taylor-made-sound, and created a window for future bands to come over and compete in "their" competition.

I am very excited that my family is coming over for my recital. My parents are getting here on Thursday - big trip for my Mom, it's her first time outside of North America - at least there isn't a language barrier on this trip. Nothing like being inside of a Slovenian deli trying to mime, "please cut the bread" so I can have a sandwich. That was fun...

My recital at the RNCM is this Friday at 2:20p for anyone who wants to come. I know I pool a generally US-based audience with this blog, so I am sure that you will be with me in spirit. Anyway, my program for this recital is:

Arrows of Time, mvt. i - Richard Peaslee
Arioso & Allegro - Fiocco/arr. Childs
Euphonium Concerto - Martin Ellerby
Relentless Grooves II, Armenia - Sam Pilafian

I think it is one of my most ambitious recitals, given that I can not take an intermission. For those that have played this stuff - it is a lot of physical material, so we'll hope for the best.

Aaron Tindall and I said goodbye to the Besses o' Th' Barn brass band last week. We had a great time playing with them over the course of the school year, and it was awesome that they threw us a party to send us back to the US.

This week will be filled with practice, practice, and more practice. I have a few "trouble-spots" that I would like to iron-out the wrinkles in before Friday. I will leave you with a few "action shots" from last weekend's excitement at Blackpool.

Blackpool, Vol. 2

It was a great weekend. Besses o' th' Barn had their second contest of the year, and we played great - once again. Now, the judges (we won't name names here... just kidding...) thought that there were some bands than played better than us, so we didn't get the first place nod - actually we didn't get ANY place nod. But - that is ok. At least we had fun while we did it.

I remember when I was still a student at Capital University, and I was student teaching. I tried to instill in my students that if you aren't having fun doing this - - - you need to do something else. This is WAY too hard to do if you don't absolutely love it. Sometimes I feel myself slipping as well, but then you take a little time off - and you always come back to it.

Anyway... We left Manchester on Saturday at about 8am for our short little ride to Blackpool, which is apparently a "vacation" spot in the UK. I don't know about that. There seems to be an excess of bars and adult-novelty stores, but maybe I just don't get out much. What does it look like? Well, maybe Gatlinburg, TN. Just replace the outlet malls with strip clubs. BUT - they do have a very large concert hall/venue for us to monopolize, and we did take over the entire building with all three bars bulging with people.

There were 18 bands in our section, which was the Senior Cup. There are 3 sections: the Grand Shield (the good guys), the Senior Cup (the middle guys), and the Senior Trophy (the lower guys). So, each bands plays the test piece. After listening to a few Grand Shield bands playing their test piece I was very thankful that we didn't have to play that piece. I believe it was "A Time to Sing" or something like that - by Bramwell Tovey. Very cool piece - but with coolness, there is usually difficulty attached - and there was in aces. Very neat piece, and a big round of applause to all of the bands that had to tackle that piece.

So, we drew number 10, which was a decent draw. Although, we were placed between two better bands, so that kinda sucked - but it didn't phase us - we played the best we could. Afterwards I, Aaron Tindall and Ray Kao (see the above picture to see these guys) walked around Blackpool and had some dinner.

It was a great experience. I am glad to say that I was a member of the band, and that I got to compete in 2 truly English Brass Band Championship competitions while I was in the UK. I don't think I'm special to have done this, but am definitely glad that I got into banding so early in my visit over here. Thanks to everyone at Besses, and especially to my section: Aaron, James and Ray - you guys are great! Thanks for a great concert and an even better time making music together!

A few scenic shots from around Blackpool... A big THANK YOU to my good friend Ray Kao, who never forgets his camera. Thank you RAY!

If I was in the US...

If I was back in the US, I would have either graduated from college - or would be in my last week of finals. Instead of that, I am in the UK and still have a month of school. I thought going to school later in September was pretty cool... in September. I am paying for it now. Oh well.

Last week I got to see my good friend Tormod Flaten. He was in town playing at Chetham's School of Music for their spotlight on Norway concert series. The entire concert was focused on Norwegian music, and Tormod for being one of the best Norwegian-euphonium soloists out there. If anyone is looking for some great music, check out Tormod's website and buy his disc. His first CD, Flight, is available online for purchase from iTunes. Check it out - you won't be disappointed.

I am getting ready for my recital over the next 3 weeks. It seems like a ways off, but I know it'll be May 31 before I know it - and my recital will be 24 hrs. away. Things are in pretty good shape, but I need to get one of the pieces in a little bit better shape before I subject the public to it. I must say that I have missed performing this year a lot. Over my master's degree at Kansas, I had a lot of opportunities to perform on a regular basis - and other than Besses' I haven't really gotten that opportunity this year. I have gotten many other opportunities this year, so not too much to complain about.

I apologize for the lack of pictures over the last few posts, but every time I go somewhere I seem to forget my camera. Before I leave this island I am traveling to Scotland and France - so more pictures, I PROMISE!

Also for those that know her - Mary is graduating from the University of Kansas with her undergraduate in bassoon performance on Sunday. She is finishing up her final exams this week, and will get her degree this weekend. I couldn't be more proud of her and all of her accomplishments and hard work. I love you!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the warm weather that you all are having in the US. Once again, it's raining here... big surprise. After awhile, you just get used to not being dry. More to come later!

2007 European Championships!

Yesterday I had the pleasure to take in the European Brass Band Championships. This competition is totally different than anything that I've seen so far. It is actually a week-long festival that is host to a solo competition as well. One member of our studio at the RNCM, Phillippe Schwartz, made it to the semi-final round. Way to go Phil - he was up against the best from all over Europe. Sadly enough, the Americans weren't allowed to compete.

Anyway, my buddy Aaron and I went down to Birmingham (like Alabama but said ) on the train which took about 90 minutes. I know that I've said this before - but, I think if the US had a better public transportation system we might not have so many cars on the road. I mean, this train system in Europe is great!

The festival started about 10am and lasted all day. We got to see some great bands and meet some new people. I got to meet some of the big-wigs at Buffet Crampon (owner of Besson musical instruments) and some other people throughout the industry. I must tell you about this one guy. There is a man from Austria who makes the best, I repeat - the best, mutes for low brass. I met him last year at the International Tuba/Euphonium Conference in Denver that I went to. Anyway, he makes the best mutes which you can check out here. So, I decide that I'm going to get a cup mute from him since he had a "show special" going on. He, the owner, is there with his wife - and between the two of them they speak about 10 words of English. Now, here I am with this mute trying to translate that I would pay for it now and pick it up later. Couple that with the fact that they were leaving early from the conference that day, it made for some really interesting hand gestures. Anyway, funny situation - American/German definite language barrier. Good mutes, though.

I was going to post some pictures for you all to look at, but I forgot my camera. I did, however, find a great write-up of the Championships, which you can see here. Also, there were some great pictures of the bands and the hall, here. I figured instead of stealing 4barsrest's pictures, that I would simply link you to them. So, check out the write-up and the pictures.

It was great hearing bands from all over Europe. The English bands were darker, the Austria/Swiss bands were let from the euphonium/baritone sound (which is the way it should be, right?), and every band had it's own color (or is that colour) to the sound that they produced. It was truly remarkable to get to hear all of those different bands in one place.

Anyway, that was my weekend. This week I am in preparation for 2 of my assessments by the head of the brass department. I have to be graded on my external competition SPS and also on our euphonium quartet, which hasn't met for a while. Oh well... at least we have another week!