Springing

The birds are so loud today! And the magnolia tree right outside of my window is about to BURST into pinkness! I think that either tomorrow or the day after, it is going to be blooming!

I love spring! Such renewed energy in everything! And so many exclamation marks!

!!!!

Today I managed to take out my garbage, do my laundry, AND get my hair cut!

And now I have to go practice. Whoopee!

Traffic Jams

So, I went to Pittsburgh this past weekend for an audition. And I had the pleasure of staying with my oldest friend, AB. At some point, our conversation turned to Philadelphia and its traffic problems. Embarrassingly enough, we even broke out into the "KYW, News Radio, 1060" jingle. (For those not from the greater Philadelphia area, this is commuter radio, with traffic reports every 10 minutes for 24 hours of every single day.) AB and I chuckled about the poetic nature of traffic reports: The Conshohocken Curve, Schuylkill Expressway, The Blue Route...

So I wrote some really bad poetry about the Philadelphia Morning Commute.

Your morning commute,
KYW3
Is more than just traffic,
its pure poetry.

Every ten minutes
Voices out of the blue
Are there to direct me
"Traffic and Transit on the Twos"

95 Southbound
Its usual crawling
Cottman to South Street
Commuters are stalling

Schuylkill Expressway
And 676
95 Northbound
Are slow going trips

The roads are like parking lots
from 7 to 9
If you didn't know that,
You won't be on time.

76 West
To the Conshohocken Curve
At 8 in the morning
Takes a carload of nerve

Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman
Are both all jammed up
Possibly because of
Some overturned trucks

The R5 the R8
Broad Street and the Blue
"No reported delays"
And for now, that'll do.

Billy Penn had it right
When he laid out the city
But with two million commuters
No wonder its shitty.

Don't say I didn't warn you, Reader(s). I make no excuses. I told you it was bad poetry. So now you know that my poetry and commuting in Philly both SUCK.

16th and Market

So I get off the train and I’m standing at 16th and Market, waiting for the light to change to head towards the Academy of Music. And all of a sudden, the most wonderful feeling washed over me:

You’ve got your shit together.

I don’t remember the last time I felt so in control. Its only a matter of time before it all falls apart again, but for the time being, I feel capable of anything.

Throwing it all... somewhere else

Going to Tanglewood was going to be the pinnacle of my career. I was going to know that I had made it on the day that I actually got in. After two years on the alternate list, I wasn’t sure they’d ever want me to be one of the magical six who got to spend nine weeks of my summer in the Berkshires. The high point of all summer festivals, Tanglewood was something into which I put an awful lot of stock.

And yesterday, I turned them down.

I thought that I would be sad about it, but I’m not. Why? Well… things changed. I won my first job. I’m the new principal horn player of the Ocean City Pops. So I will be spending my summer playing schlocky pops garbage on the beach. But its going to fund my audition taking adventures for the rest of the year. As much as I might regret that I won’t get to play Elecktra with James Levine conducting, I think that I’m over it.

One thing I’ve realized in mulling over this decision is that this is NOT my last chance to work with great conductors. Two weeks ago, I worked with Simon Rattle and Christoph Eschenbach. I’m going to be in a great orchestra and work with great conductors, maybe not this summer, but definitely sometime in the nearer future. My life does not begin and end with my acceptance or rejection to Tanglewood.

If you had told me two years ago that I would someday turn down the opportunity to go to Tanglewood, I would have thought you were speaking in tongues. But things change, and that’s what I’ve learned. Things change.

Kudos, not just a candy bar

You know, its really great to see your friends doing well, so I'd like to give a few shoutouts:

Carol Jantsch, I'm so happy you're going to be in Philly next year. Way to "break the brass ceiling." Turns out, you're a cool person, too. Reader(s), be sure to listen to the clip on the website.

CMH, way to go get yourself a job in the Yucatan! That is awesome! When can I come visit?

SM, I heard your performance at the Midwest Horn conference went swimmingly!

JT, so many good things! You're so modest, its hard to get these details out of you, but the fact that Sony wants you is worth singing from the rooftops. Ok, I'll sing, you record. Or whatever.

Adam Unsworth, my esteemed teacher, released his first CD. Check it out at HERE. This isn't just another horn CD to put on your shelf. This guy is a badass. I know I'm biased and all, but this is something special.

Its great to see great people being successful. I like to revel in their glow.

musical hangovers

I'm playing Mahler 6 with a regional orchestra this weekend. And its really not that bad, for what it is. Its like a $20 bottle of wine. Pretty decent, not swill, and you're not embarrassed to bring it to a party.

But the truth is, I've been drinking the good stuff for two weeks, and suddenly, that $20 bottle isn't tasting so great.

Once you've been drinking the $100 reserve bottles, its hard to go back.

And I'm not going to. Its high class all the way from now on.