What Has Been Happening?
Well. It’s been a month, so I guess it is time for another blog post. I am really lame and doing this regularly. It seems like a good portion of this month I was sick. I feel bad I inconvenienced some people because of it. Canceling a brass band rehearsal is rare but I really could not handle it. I was that sick. In retrospect, I think it was good because it gave everyone a night off and a chance to catch their breath. This might have been a really good thing for us. Thankfully, the band is good enough to handle it and we are still on track to be ready for our concert march 18.
I now have the finalized score and parts for the entire Ellerby Concerto. We will read the first movement this week and will be able to play the while thing now. It’s not a tough tune but it is really nice. I am pleased at the outcome of this work and hope that everyone tries to play it. It is very playable. I am really looking forward to hearing it put together with Jens Lindemann in a couple of weeks.
The youth band is cranking right along. We are pretty close to being ready for the next concert. We have some brilliant moments in rehearsal now and a few things to clean up before the show. By the time the tour comes around we will be really good. On that, I should have that planned by the end of this week for sure. Promise.
Carolina Gold is going pretty well. The brass line is at about 22 members and is making a lot of good progress. We really need a couple more trumpets, mellos and baritones. And fast. If we get up to 30 brass we will be phenomenal. The vibe is really good and I am really enjoying working with the people there. It’s great to reconnect with Charlie and to watch him work. He is so good at this. The visual team, Jordan and Andrew, are fine and easy to work with. We make a good team and will end up having a strong playing and moving line.
It has also been fun working in the quintet that we just started. It has been a long time since I played in an ensemble that works on music and challenges me. I am so rusty at playing with others. I need to do more of this. It won’t be long before this quintet is ready to hit the schools for some clinics and performances.
I am pondering two things right now for the future. One is doing an alumni youth band concert next season. And two, is making that concert my last with the youth band as director. I have to think it over a lot. I am pretty sure I am going to produce the alumni concert. I am leaning towards retirement from directing the youth band an focusing on TBB and playing the tuba more. Decisions decisions.
tonytuba.org 