Weekend update

Well, sort of...perhaps Weekend preview is a better title...anyway, the Next Generation Festival continues this evening at LVC in Annville. New artists and new repertoire, should be fun, come on out! (more on the festival here.)
Congrats to the Hershey Bears for their Calder Cup victory! Go Bears! They won game 6 in Milwaukee 5 to 1. I'll have to wear my Bears cap with pride this summer!
Tune in on Saturday for an interview I did with Don Campbell, the author of The Mozart Effect. He's just released a new cd for "Dads and dads-to-be" of Mozart's music. It will air during Weekend America on WITF between 1 and 3pm and repeats between 3 and 5pm.

Finally, have you seen this Dodge commercial for their Caliber? Its rather cute and the fairy quite appealing - doesn't she remind you of Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) a little bit?

Bachelor Brahms

Yes, I know that blog title almost sounds like a bad ABC reality show, sorry!
This next week I have Brahms' Third Symphony in the afternoon on Classical Air. I always have great music, and almost always a "large" celebrated work in my shift...but this particular work resonates with me, as does the composer.
You see, Johannes and myself have quite a bit in common. At least a few viewpoints...I wouldn't actually ever compare myself to him, neither as a musician or composer, but indulge me for a minute.

The first connection I make between Brahms is with cigars. I love seeing those pictures of Brahms taking a walk and smoking a cigar. There is something both relaxing and reflective when smoking a cigar.

Brahms was also a bachelor, which may be the larger part of my affinity with him. His friend and fellow musician Joseph Joachim once had a motto, Frei aber einsam - Free but lonely. In fact, Brahms, Schumann and Dietrich went so far as to write a sonata for Joachim, known as the FAE sonata (yes, it uses those notes, F-A-E in it!) which of all the movements, only Brahms' Scherzo (Sonatensatz) is played regularly.
Brahms was fifty years old when he wrote the Third Symphony, and it starts off with his own motto, Frei aber Froh - Free but happy.

The musical motif is F-A-F.

I also have friends who will refer to me as Johannes (or Johann) - so in a way we share a first name.

I'm going to enjoy a cigar and be happy, I am free.

Oh, and neither of us are on this list...go figure!

NGF Interviews

I was quite excited to hear world class artists performing free concerts in WITF's Next Generation Festival (N.G.F) and was also happy to catch them between a recent sound check and their performance in Gettysburg College.
Martin Beaver, first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet made his first appearance at the N.G.F. this year. He plays a Stradivari violin and teaches at the Yale University School of Music.
Martin and I began our chat talking about joining an established chamber group: Interview Part 1 [mp3 file]
We continued talking about recordings with the Tokyo Quartet: Interview Part 2 [mp3 file]
Martin also spoke about taking part in the Next Generation Festival: Interview Part 3 [mp3 file]

Rachel Barton Pine is one of the leading violin soloists today. She performs around the world on her 1742 Guarneri del Gesu "Ex-Soldat". Rachel has varied tastes in music, having recorded solo baroque literature to heavy metal music (one of her favorite bands is AC/DC) on 11 different cds.
Rachel and I started off talking about her latest cd release (which was a WITF Featured CD) of Scottish fantasies: Interview Part 1 [mp3 file]
We also talked about her first appearance this year at the Next Generation Festival: Interview Part 2 [mp3 file]
Rachel also shared some future plans, with recording and her foundation: Interview Part 3 [mp3 file]

DSCH, Harry Potter and Wolfie

Gettysburg College's Schmucker Hall
Yesterday I gave a talk to 36 young musicians at Gettysburg College for the Next Generation Festival and WITF. Trio Lunaire, the apprentices at the festival, joined me and were gracious to play Shostakovich's Piano Trio #2. We had some fun, singing musical themes and scales (it was a choral camp) and heard them put to use in the trio.
Particularly fun were some of the questions that the trio and I fielded. Also especially nice was seeing so many of them at the concert that evening, All Mozart with Awadagin Pratt and friends.


So what does the title or my talk have to do with Harry Potter? Compare a picture of a young Dmitri Shostakovich with the actor who portrays Harry Potter and you'll see...the kids seemed to get it ;)

NGF at Barshinger

It was a great crowd and incredible music Sunday afternoon in Lancaster, PA. It was the second of Next Generation Festival concerts I caught, this one featuring the apprentice program musicians, Trio Lunaire, as well as Awadagin Pratt and friends. Mozart, Golijov, Bach and Brahms were all stunning. Especially moving and exciting for me: the haunting Golijov work and hearing the Bach Double with soloists Rachel Barton Pine and Martin Beaver and their Guarneri and Stradivari violins.

At intermission

A young fan gets an autograph from Karen Parks

Looking up

Last night with the moon and the stars I couldn't help but think of this:
"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."
Eskimo proverb
I also recommend listening to Augusta Read Thomas' In my sky at twilight.

Playing

The performances continue around Central PA...last Saturday (the 3rd) I played violin for "Change your mind day" at the Blue Mountain Lotus Society - it was an awesome afternoon and for the meditation/incense lighting ceremony I played Ralph Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending.
Then Thursday you have probably seen the entry below for the PHC Party at the Midtown Cinema where Paul and I had some fun.

Dusk at the Gala

Last night, we were entertaining for the Open Stage of Harrisburg's 20th Anniversary. It was fun, with people bidding in a silent auction, dancing, mingling and having a great dinner. Oh, did I mention wine? starry sky? gorgeous lake? telescope focused on Jupiter and 4 of it's moons? ice cream in chocolate bowls?

Later in the evening

Today brings no playing for me, but attending another Next Gen concert in Lancaster and Gretna Music kicks off with Mozart.

And in the random department, a friend passed along this gem of an advertisement:

New and old friends

What an amazing Friday. Unfortunately it started at 5:00am for me...I got ready and made it to WITF by 5:30, gas up the Yukon and got some diet coke. Casey (the Audio manager at WITF who was going to engineer the interviews) popped in, we loaded up and were off by 6:15. Traffic was incredibly easy, with a little stop and go at the Lincoln tunnel (we were there at 9:00am!) it was a quick trip to NYC. After circling the upper west side for parking, we found a garage near Columbia University and made our way to Dodge Hall.

Fred Lerdahl met us at his office and we chatted about his music for Composing Thoughts. He's from Madison, WI originally and we commiserated over the Pro Arte Quartet, Norwegian cookies in Stoughton and new music.
Afterwards, Casey and I made it up to Riverdale in the Bronx. A nice lunch at a little cafe, complete with world cup coverage and jokes about low scoring (ironically there were 3 goals in the first 15 minutes! goooooooooooooooallllllllllllllllllllllllllll!) which led to a leisure walk in the neighborhood and a cigar (technically Casey smokes cigarettes, but hey you probably knew what I meant.) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's apartment/studio wasn't far away (we had actually scouted for it and a parking place before lunch) and we went over, again with great traffic and an easy, close parking space.

Ellen Zwilich is a composer I had interviewed for 20/20 Hearing(tm) in its second (and final) season. I have known her music for quite awhile and it was wonderful to get to meet her. Ellen has, no surprise, an artist's apartment - it's filled with original, sumptuous paintings, a baby grand piano that looks out the 14th floor view to the Hudson...a Pulitzer prize sits on one table, and cds overflow around a well used stereo. The interview was a great discussion and I'll soon post something incredibly special from it both here and on the Composing Thoughts site. Ellen is as gracious and witty as her music if that is possible.
Casey and I loaded things back up and jetted over the George Washington bridge and made great time on the way back, again, just a slow spot before getting back on 78, and a slow-n-go as heavy rain hit traffic, but for the most part smooth and easy commute flew by. We got back, Casey unloaded as I printed out directions for Millersville University. It was 6:30pm and I needed to head over to the Next Generation Festival.
Unfortunately, I needed to stop for gas with my van, and had never been to M.U. (or to a Next Gen concert for that matter!) so I was a bit stressed knowing I had about 45 minutes to get there. I lit a dominican cigar and again had smooth sailing. Directions were easy and I made it there with 5 minutes to spare (it started promptly at 7:30pm) to chat.
The Next Generation Festival is a series of free concerts across Central PA that WITF presents with pianist Awadagin Pratt and friends. Among these friends are Martin Beaver (first violinist of the Tokyo Quartet), Rachel Barton Pine (gifted solo violinist), the Cypress Quartet, and many others. The all Mozart program, in all e-flat I might add, was beautiful and at a high level of music making - in a word, sublime. It was well attended and I was pleased to see coworkers, friends, and listeners of all ages at the concert. There was a fun "talk-back" session afterwards and a chance for me to meet and say hi to some old friends...I'll see them over the next two weeks and looking forward to some wine and good conversations. No doubt you'll see some entries here on that matter!
I made it home to Harrisburg about 10:00pm and soon fell asleep. What a Friday!

PHC Party

A good time was had by all and all were had by the good time Thursday evening for the Harrisburg premiere of A Prairie Home Companion - the movie. WITF sponsored the event at the Midtown Cinema.
Paul Zavinsky and I played for a nice crowd before hand, complete with drinks, snacks and door prizes.

John and Paul
A full house
Kathleen Pavelko

The Millers

A pair of Susans
Before the show
Jammin'
Cantabile

Fiddlin' around

Stuffs

Some updates, don't miss the latest on Classicallyhip.com with a new interview page!
And a new Music in a Moment blog entry with Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Thursday brings about the new Garrison Keillor movie (first mentioned here) and Paul Zavinsky and I playing at a premiere night at the Midtown theater for WITF members.
Otherwise, lots going on, and in the uncommon trait of me reporting on sports (which I'm not a huge fan except women's tennis and hockey) Martina Hingis lost to Kim Clijsters yesterday - now looking forward to her Wimdeldon return.
Oilers blew a three goal lead to lose 5 to 4 to the Hurricanes, oh well, they play game two tonight.
Friday I'm in NYC interviewing two composers (Fred Lerdahl and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich) for Composing Thoughts. Also the Next Generation Festival starts that evening. Saturday I'm playing for a fundraiser/20th anniversary party for Open Stage of Harrisburg with Paul. Sunday is another Next Gen concert in the afternoon and the opening of Gretna Music that evening. Monday I give a talk in Gettysburg to middle school students in prep for a Next Gen concert that night. Wednesday morning I interview Tina Davidson in Marietta.
There's more but I'll give some updates between now and then. whew!

A win!

Yesterday it was hard knowing Martina Hingis had dropped a set to Shahar Peer, then play was suspended until today. But the Swiss Miss triumped, 6-3 2-6 6-3 and will face Kim Clijsters in the quarter finals and probably Justine Henin-Hardenne then in the semis. Go Swiss Miss!When she does that, she'll no doubt win the French Open this year.

50,000 clay marks can't be wrong

Unless you're Maria Sharapova who lost her match today, how sad...and blew a 5-1 game lead in the third set - very disheartening to see her lose 5-7 6-2 5-7. Hang in there Maria! In the meanwhile, Martina Hingis breezed into her next match, 6-1 6-1. She had two aces and twenty five winners in the match...and it was over in 45 minutes. Go Swiss Miss!
She'll play Shahar Peer later today to see who makes the quarterfinals!

Excellent Adventure

A lot of fun was had with coworkers, sponsors and listeners at the National Civil War Museum Friday evening as we wrapped up Mozart's Excellent Adventure giveaway - a trip for two to Europe, walking in the footsteps of Mozart. WITF broadcast live an all Mozart program.

Andrew, Randy, Dick and Cary before the broadcast

Coffee? Tea? German chocolate cake?

A good time was had by all...

Vienna calling? Dick and myself before a break.

Checking in on the checking in...John and Angela

A listener and contestant, Adella Fasano, who loves WITF!

Adella's (seen in the previous picture) granddaughter, Amber Answine.

Wait a minute! Is that Cary or John? (their name tags are switched!)

Wha? Is it Dr. Dave? Dick Walker?

Look at the name tag...yet the face...

Loss

I lost a really good friend from Dallas this week. His name was Jack and he was a gruff, funny, brilliant, smooth talking, caring, and honest man.
I met him after returning to Dallas. You see, I had originally moved there in the fall of 1999 with my fiancée who took a job at the Morning News. I was brave (or foolish!) and quit my radio job in Kansas and went along. As it turned out, I ended up taking lots of orchestra auditions, and also took a part time job at a cigar shop. My fiancée ended up having an affair with one of her married coworkers and we broke up that spring. I ended up moving back to Kansas for a few months, but returned that fall to teach violin and play in orchestras in Dallas. I also went back to the cigar shop part time, mainly for a discount on cigars and the good company. That's when I met Jack.
As I write about it, it seems like it was a sort of the good ol' days or perhaps the "salad days". I had my violin in my hands for 8 hours a day, teaching 52 middle school and high school students each week, and either hanging out at the shop or playing concerts in the evenings. I did quite a few freelance gigs besides being on the sub list for the Abilene and Shreveport (LA) Symphonies. Shreveport if you've never been is about two hours east of Dallas and its all highway...and is a playground for Dallas and Houston because of the riverboat casinos. When I took the gig there, I met lots of cool folks, both in the orchestra and in the casinos. It was a blast to play violin at night and play roulette during the day. My first trip there, my stand partner turned out to be good friends with a pitboss at the Hollywood Casino; we ended up with tons of comps - on top of our perdium - and stayed at the Best Western just across the way, from the concert hall and the casino!
So whenever I was either working at the cigar shop or just stopping by, I had my violin - and in Dallas you don't want to leave it in the hot car, or have it stolen...so naturally I'd bring it in with me. Jack always wanted to hear a tune. Either a classical piece (I can hear him sing Dvorak, Massenet and Monti) or a Sinatra tune (Fly me to the moon was one of his favorites), Jack was singing along or telling me the words. Jack and another friend of ours, Raffi, even picked up a book for me of Latin tunes - I just ran across it the other day! When we'd go out to eat, again either after the steaks were eaten or during dessert, the violin would come out.
One evening we were at Bob's Steak and Chop Shop and Elizabeth Hurley was dining there (and maybe Matthew Perry too) - I had my violin out and the guys dared me to serenade her. On my way back to play for her, Bob himself stopped me, "Absolutely not!" A small consolation was Mike Modano, captain of the Dallas Stars, was in the bar that night later and said hi to all of us...I still think Elizabeth might have enjoyed a little on the g-string, but I digress.
Jack would have us over to his house, we'd swim and laugh, play with the dogs, watch a hockey game or listen to music...usually Roz his wife would have some incredible meal prepared. It was like the four musketeers: Jack, Raffi, Fred and I were all close and enjoyed the same sorta things - mostly though it was Cuban cigars and beautiful women.
Jack and I were always hitting on women, me because I was single and Jack because he had the charm. Somehow he'd always manage to have some cutie on his arm or sit with him at the shop. Mind you, he was faithful to Roz, but he was a huge flirt.
No matter who came into the shop, Jack could have a great conversation with them and 9 out of 10 times, he'd sell them something they probably didn't need or had decided to come in for...but that was part of Jack's charm. It was also a great part of Jack's personality. He had been a clothes salesman out east as a young man, and again, as I type this, remember it was women's fashion/dresses that he dealt in...hence part of the power he had with women! His sales skills were awesome, just like his loyalty and friendship. Eventually, we both left the cigar shop - I was fired and he quit. It was a hoot to meet our friends across the street from the shop and sit there at Starbucks while the owner and manager would glare at us. Jack had been fired years before by the owner, on the basis that the owner was immature and an idiot (too true.) I was fired for talking to customers about Cuban cigars. It really made Jack angry and he soon quit. He ended up at a much better and friendlier shop in Addison, and I ended up getting a job in radio in Las Vegas.
Jack was also a wheeler and dealer. I don't think we ever paid full price for anything - he'd trade cigarettes or cigars that we got at cost for free sandwiches at Einstein Brothers...and we always got comps in Shreveport. You see he'd come out and see a concert I'd play in and stay over at the Horseshoe Casino. We'd give cigars to the pit bosses and always had a free meal, comps to shows, etc. One trip, the season finale of the Shreveport Symphony, Jack came out and we had dinner reservations at the steak house (The Douglas Fairbanks Steakhouse) at the Hollywood Casino. We checked in at the Horseshoe Casino (I was still in my tails) and everywhere we went Jack introduced me as a concert violinist (which he always did, it had a real effect with my white tie/tails though!) We smoked cigars and I went to play roulette. Jack was off, playing 3 card poker and the slots...when he won a huge jackpot. He was very calm coming over to get me, and told me to cash in, that's all he'd say. So I did, and he told me he'd won. Seeing it in cold hard cash was pretty amazing. We joked about a "cow-orker" at the time who said, "That'll help." It became our mantra whenever we won, got change or anything monetary, "That'll help!"

The last time I saw Jack was in Las Vegas. He and his family were out celebrating his daughter's 40th birthday. We met at the Flamingo and hung out. After several drinks and cigars Jack played some poker. Not long after Jack was back in Dallas he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Jack passed away on Thursday morning, and while I won't get to go to the service on Monday, I am playing violin at a function today. There's a meditative section and I'll play my heart out, dedicating my composition to Jack.

You'll be missed my friend. Have a Cuban for me, my friend, that'll help.

Finals

Well tonight is the Mozart's Excellent Adventure Party, where WITF will giveaway a trip to Europe to one of our listeners. It'll be fun and we're broadcasting live from 7 to 9pm.
Also, a killer cool game last night in hockey, the Hurricanes won 4 to 2 against the Sabres - a stunning game seven - now to watch the Oilers and 'Canes duke it out - the puck drops Monday evening! *The only crappy thing was OLN getting dropped towards the end of the 2nd period, where Buffalo scored twice! I listened to the radio 'cast online and called and emailed with lots of complaints to Comcast & OLN for screwing up a transmission on game seven. I watched all the highlights this morning and had heard them last night, but what frustration!
Martina Hingis is tearing up the court! Another 2 set match for her, 6-1 6-3 and get this: a first service percentage of 80% combined with hitting almost twice as many winners (20) as unforced errors (12). Go Swiss Miss!