As all Northwestern University SWE Alums know, Percy Grainger‘s Lincolnshire Posy is an incredibly important piece in the wind band repertoire. It is so important that every year, each student of Dr. Mallory Thompson‘s conducting class leads the band through…
Perfect your pentatonics with this week’s sequence, inspired by a wild whale piece by Armenian/American composer Alan Hovhaness.
This week’s sequence is a beautiful romantic melody from Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s 2nd piano concerto. This concerto is such an incredible piece of music. The piano solo is ridiculously virtuosic, and the orchestra parts are also well crafted. I love the…
Do you ever come across music that is very simple and easy looking but somehow turns out to be incredibly challenging? I do, and this sequence is based on one of those moments. The monk chorale in the second movement…
I’m having a blast playing Tchaikovsky’s 5th symphony this week with the San Diego Symphony. Maestro Gemma New is bringing details to the interpretation that aren’t printed on the page, and her leadership has made a huge positive impact on the…
This Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah was one of the first pieces by SS that I had the pleasure of playing. The piece has beautiful melodies that so expertly capture and outsiders view of the middle east, and an almost primal energy…
I’m in San Diego this week playing one of my favorite pieces of all time: Camille Saint-Saëns‘ 3rd Symphony, known as the Organ Symphony. This piece has everything: Gorgeous melodies, stimulating harmonies, clever structures, and the most epic instrument ever created…..the ORGAN.…
I love weddings. I am always inspired to see two people pledge their lives to each other in front of everyone they care about most. They are magical events, filled with ritual, tradition, and hopefully lots of fun. I am…
Alexander Zemlinsky‘s tone poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid), is a beautiful piece that he wrote in 1903 after hearing Richard Strauss’ epic work, Ein Heldenleben. Zemlinsky sticks to a few main themes over the course of the three movement, 45min work, and this…
My first job out of music school was at a gym called Know No Limits (imagine answering the phone with a business name like that…). It was a small business that started in the owner’s garage, and over about 15…