To The Studio - ep. 3

I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since the last update! Lots to share…

So, right after I wrote the last entry, I got a call from the Co-Artistic director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS). I was about to board my flight to Chicago to play the Ligeti trio and she said the violinist is sick.

“We’ll need to change the program.”

No problem. We change it to the Brahms horn trio, making it the third consecutive week I played the piece. But there’s more. The violinist was supposed to play a solo on the first half, so we’d need to fill some space.

“What do you have?”

Now, I’ve never been asked this question before under these circumstances and it felt very much like an industry moment. Like, as close as horn playing can get to “The Devil Wears Prada”. It’s an old movie. You should watch it. Anyway, I had an answer! Multiple answers! I sent a couple of examples from my video recital (I really hope you’ve watched that by now, if you call yourself my student), and we ended up going with “Air” by Jörg Widmann. I had three days to whip it in to (memorized) shape. The concert was at the Harris Theatre. I also happened to be able to visit David Cooper and David Griffin (CSO hornists) at their studio class at Roosevelt University. Coincidentally, they were having a class focusing on music for horn alone.✌🏽

From Chicago I flew to NYC. I had a couple of days off to recuperate, and then I met up with some of my colleagues from the International Contemporary Ensemble to record a piece called “Soundlines” by the one and only George Lewis. It features Steven Schick as the soloist and conductor and will be released sometime next year.

After NYC I flew to Atlanta, which would be my home base for masterclasses at the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia and Columbus State University. I’m from Atlanta so I stayed with my mom. It was great visiting these schools and getting to see a variety of how things are done elsewhere. U of A has their studio classes at 7am. Do you want that?? We can vote on it…

After Atlanta, I flew back up to NYC to rehearse with The Knights for the Germany/Denmark tour I am on right now. It’s a crazy schedule, but it’s nice to be here. You guys know who Ray Chen is?? 😃 Also, I will be meeting up with some Euro horn gurus, so be ready for me to bring back some more teaching tools from across the Atlantic! Ok now I rest…

That’s Eric Jacobsenand Ray Chen

また今度

To the Studio - II

I saw a really cool thing yesterday…

Last night at the Southwest Horn Workshop, at University of Redlands, we got to see a session demo by some of the LA film studio hornists. The person warming up on the far left is Dylan Hart. You may not know his name, but he was the lead hornist for the new Top Gun movie. If you didn’t see it, you should, but I’m sure at least one of these players is playing on a movie soundtrack you’ve heard. They recorded a couple of cues with actual studio engineers, and talked about the studio process and lifestyle. It was fully video taped, so I’ll definitely let you all know when it is released.

Adam Wolf (buzzing, just to the right of Dylan) is the horn teacher at University of Redlands (CA). He put the whole weekend together. I split a couple of recitals with Brett Hodge (Omaha Symphony) and Danielle Kuhlmann (Seattle Symphony). Here are the programs. Check them out for rep that you might want to play on your recital!

また今度。。。

To The Studio

Hello!

These posts will be for the DU studio, but I’m leaving it here because why not.

It was good to see everyone Tuesday ! Lot’s of horn in a short period of time. I always find it beneficial to mix it up with other players. Even if no playing happens, I still walk away having learned something about myself. Last week, I got to spend some time with my teacher, Richard Deane.

See?

He even came to my performance of a new piece for horn and string quartet, by Hirofumi Mogi, called In Memory of Perky Pat and the Brahms Horn Trio. The concert went well, and I’m glad I was able to make a former teacher proud. You’ll meet Richard in February when he comes for Konzertstuck.

Last night I played at Carnegie with Jon Batiste. It was fun from an experiential point of view, but not what I’d call an intimate music making experience. He’s really talented (understatement), and the audience had a great time (accurate).

Feeling a little bruised and battered and I think I should probably take a couple days off. But first, big concert Sunday! I hope you all can come. I think I’ll get through it ok. Here’s a piece of advice from your fearless teacher: Have other interests! It’s so important to have ways to get out of the playing headspace, and get off of the emotional rollercoaster that is being a musician. Some days your on top of the world. Some days you’re ready to quit and be a park ranger or something. But music is so rewarding, and you have to remember that the journey is the destination.

下次见

Rondo (Going Home)

I still go home.

Sometimes I want to go home,

sometimes I have to.

With each passing year,

home becomes more of a thing

and less of a place.

Growing unfamiliarity replaces

expectations with new

observations.

But the hill where I crashed my bike, in front of

Mario’s house, is still there.

His mother dressed my wounds while I cried like a

little boy.

I was a little boy, then.

I still go home.

Most of the time I’ll leave the window open

because the birds are still singing the

same songs they did when I was young.

I still go home to my mother, to my father.

The sentimental pit in my stomach

that is there when I’m away, is inevitably

overshadowed by the duties of a son

when I’m present.

I still go home, and I am present.

The trees can tell.

Eventually that pit will be permanent.

That’s why the birds’ song is

so important.

Because sometimes I’ll want to go home, and

sometimes I’ll have to.

And, with each passing year,

as the trees, while serenaded,

watch us disappear.

And as place and time

become more and more unclear,

I’ll still go home.

(2016)

一直在路上, or I watched “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”, and now it takes me forever to do anything

Everyone goes through this. And, if you haven’t, you’re about to. Or you’re lying. I’m not talking about “organizing” or “spring cleaning” (although they are slippery slopes that could lead to a MariKon-like breakthrough). I’m talking about a full-fledged inner revolution of thought that makes you wonder how far you can take this little granule of an idea, before it becomes absurd.

Spark joy.

Oh boy. If the phrase “spark joy” makes you wonder a lot of things about the differences between yourself and someone who can genuinely speak it aloud several times a week, you’re not alone. I also find Marie Kondo unbelievably saccharine. But I think she is genuine (I might be alone on this). And, while I haven’t adopted her entire ethos, I am enjoying the reminders of characteristics I find aesthetically valuable. Space. Balance. Light and Dark. Assigning non-empirical values to all things. When you say “organization”, it has connotations of social obligation or doing what is “right”, and it makes everything tiresome. But I think maybe it should be just as much of a selfish act. Making your space exactly the way you want it. Which is why it now takes me hours to pack for anything. I’ve gotten meticulous about the process (Even the dirties get folded! In a different way!), and anyone who knows me will tell you I’m about as far from OCD as they come. I’ve also become a hand crank toting Aeropress traveler, which also takes a certain amount of keeping tabs…

The Setup.

In any case, I’m enjoying it and I hope it lasts at least a little while longer.

Im also full steam into my Mandarin studies. Hence the soft flex; translation: Always on the road. It took me a year, but I think I have momentum now.