Recorders! Strings!

Triadelphia SDA Church invites all interested blockflute/recorder players to join in for two hymns just before the 11 o'clock service December 11. The hymns will be #122 and #124 in the Adventist Hymnal.

Triadelphia SDA Church invites all interested violin, viola, cello and string bass players to join in for two hymns just before the 11 o'clock service December 18. The hymns will be #125 and #132 in the Adventist Hymnal.

The church is at
12950 Brighton Dam Rd
Clarksville, MD 21029-1411

For more information, send an e-mail to jdashton@ashtonfam.org.

Hymns for November 20

This being the third Sabbath of the month, the brass are expected (as I understand it) to play with the hymns. I obtained this morning the list of hymns, and here they are:

• 86 - How Great Thou Art
• 616 - Soldiers of Christ Arise.
• 615 - Rise Up, O Church of God
• 377 - Go Forth, Go Forth With Christ

See you there!

Oops! My bad…

I have received further information about the December 4 concert I mentioned in this earlier posting. I have been made to understand that the ensemble I envisioned would not fit well into the organizer's plans for this event. Mea culpa. Please accept my apologies. I look forward to playing Corelli and much more with you at some future date. And enjoy a free evening.

Calling All String Players

If you're a Maryland-area string player and reading this, please either leave a comment on this posting or send me an e-mail.

We have two opportunities to do "a little something" together. Here's what we have:

1. A family at our church owns a collection of violins. They would like to present a vespers recital in which many different violinists play solos and ensembles using the violins in this collection. I have access to pieces like Eine Kleine, the Pachelbel Canon, the Corelli Christmas Concerto, and the Brook Green Suite. Please let me know whether or not you would be willing to help with an event like this, playing a solo and/or being part of an ensemble. We need violas, cellos and basses for the ensemble numbers, too. If you're willing to play, when? The family was hoping for a Friday or Sabbath evening in November, but I realize that we will have difficulty pulling this off in two weeks. Could you do November? Or perhaps January or February?
2. A concert is being planned for December 4, at Triadelphia SDA, at 7 in the evening. Would you like to throw together the Corelli Christmas Concerto for that event? Plans change: see this posting for a little more info.

Please let me know if you're interested. If it's out of the question, at least let me know that you read this posting.

Thanks!

Practice update

It's been a sparse week for me and brass practice, but I got in about an hour of tuba today, and a few minutes trombone. AND, I broke loose my trombone tuning slide, and greased it properly.

How about you?

My brass practice time I spent playing with the Canadian Brass Advanced Quintets book and CD. This makes for an intense work-out for my lip, as there are no significant breaks between pieces. I highly recommend this as a fall-back activity, for those days when you can't get yourself to drag out the music we're learning. Just three or four pieces with this CD, daily, would make a huge difference in your endurance and tone. Try it!

One more time

Triadelphia Brass members: How many of you can meet at 6 Friday evening at the church? Please comment here ASAP so we can decide whether to hold a rehearsal or just wing it.

Brass Rehearsals

In rehearsal this Monday we agreed to the following rehearsal schedule between now and Christmas:

• Monday evenings at six o'clock (6:00 PM) at Triadelphia SDA

In addition, we agreed to hold at least one extra rehearsal this week, at 6:00 tonight (Wednesday) at David's home. We'll need to bring music stands.

I'm delighted to have Corey back in our ranks, and in honor of his return I ordered a handful of pieces for six trombones. Please remember to look around for brass music that interests you.

See you tonight!

Brass: Call for Repertoire

I'd like some help with selecting music for our brass group. I typically order from http://www.rkingmusic.com, but other sources exist. Please spend a few minutes browsing through whatever sites you can find and send me a list of music you are interested in playing.

Thanks!

Brass Rehearsal Tonight & Personal Practice 11.01

Triadelphia Brass members, we have rehearsal tonight at 7:00 at the church. See you there!

Oh yeah, comment here if you squeeze in practice before or after rehearsal today, Monday, November 1.

Personal Practice 10.31

Comment here when you've practiced, or missed practicing, Sunday 10/31.

Brass Practice for October 31 - November 6

Hi guys,

Practice schedule discussion was incomplete for future weeks (among the difficulties prominent in my memory: Wes has meetings the second and third Mondays of each month) but for this week, with our upcoming performance for church, we agreed to meet Monday night with a good chance of also meeting Wednesday and/or later in the week.

I'm wondering, for future weeks, whether the meetings and our rehearsal could be dovetailed, with our practice session beginning an hour before the meeting, perhaps?

Personal Practice 10.29

Comment here when you've practiced, or missed practicing, Friday 10/29.

Personal Practice 10.28

Comment here when you've practiced, or missed practicing, Thursday 10/28.

Brass for church 11/6

OK folks, here's what I see us playing for church November 6. I'm putting this out here so you can discuss and consider it and offer your opinions and suggest alternate plans. Please do!

Call to Worship:	Es ist genug - Bach
Offertory:	Augsburg Hymn - Kugelmann
Special:	Amazing Grace - Wagner
Postlude:	Little Fugue - Bach

I'm assuming (could someone find out for sure?) that we won't be playing for Sabbath School.

Let me know what you think: are we up to this? Should we do less? more? other pieces?

Personal Practice 10.25

OK, I did it. It wasn't long or pretty or strenuous (for me, that is: can't speak for the rest of the family) but I did have my lips on my trombone for a few minutes this evening. You practiced too? No? Leave a comment!

Rehearsals moving to Monday evening

Hello all,

This is the week in which David's class switches to Wednesday evening, such that our brass practice needs to switch to a different night. Sunday and Monday nights are options. What can we do for this week? Can we actually get ourselves together tonight?

update 9:30 PM
Given the overwhelming(ly silent) response, and our upcoming performance November 6, I think we'd best be planning to rehearse this Wednesday evening. See you then.

David, we play in two weeks. Um, is there any way you could, um . . . ?

Who wants to do a vespers?

Westminster church is now scheduling their musical Sabbath vespers series for 2005. (Geri's group has done this program in recent memory.) Are there any who would be interested in doing a vespers service? I think the brass does not currently have the stamina for a full program, but we can fix that between now and then or add other types of numbers if we're interested. What have we been wanting to do that's just waiting for such an opportunity?

Brass @ Triadelphia 11/6

Under the current recommendation, we'll be playing for church at Triadelphia on November 6. Please respond here ASAP if you have a schedule conflict.

Because this is Family Sabbath, we may not be needed to play for Sabbath School.

Thanks!

Gone Oct. 30

Contrary to my statements on Wednesday, I'm actually scheduled to play organ for Burnt Mills on the 30th. If it matters, I'm ALSO not at Triadelphia on the 23rd.

I shouldn't be confused, since I've got a copy of the music schedule. It might be helpful to keep our upcoming schedule in the "Dates" area of the blog, for a reality check. Really, though, I'm just confused in general lately. :-)

Music Retreat 2005

After spending the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, I find myself wondering if we want to try an en masse retreat next spring/summer, some sort of pre-CMW. The "cottage" we stayed in has a great room easily large enough for a string quartet. I'm making inquiries about the house on that property, which could be large enough for several families to share.

What would such a vacation be like? I can imagine string ensembles, if we bring the right people, but we may not have access to a piano. I think we could read recorder or flute ensemble music pretty much anywhere. I'm not sure whether the property is sufficiently sound-proof to politely manage brass ensembles.

What are some things we would need? Repertoire is the show-stopper we face here or anywhere, specifically having a good match between players and parts. Nice chairs and music stands would help.

What extra-curricular activities would we want to plan? I have some info on cruises, including whale-watching. There's a state park nearby perfect for Laser/Sunfish sailing, and we watched people kite-boarding. (Looks awesome!) The boardwalk and beach are a very short walk away, and it was nice to have our bikes along.

Who and what instruments (beyond the current members of this weblog team) should we try hard to include? (e.g. I'd like to make sure Jeremy is there for recorder sessions, Ellen for violin/viola, Anastasia as an additional cello)

Brass Practice tonight…

…as usual at the church. I'm still trying to find out whether we can swap with the dulcimers for 10/30.

Birthday Plans

We're rapidly approaching the end of my 37th year on earth, and the 3rd anniversary of our move to Maryland, which made it possible for us to get to know you or renew our acquaintance with you, as the case may be. I'd like to celebrate with an early-evening meal together with you. The questions are where and when. (Oder wo und wann, if I remember correctly.) (No gifts needed: just come share your company with us.)

For where, I suggest Romano's Macaroni Grill in Gaithersburg. Romano's menu offers six vegetarian entrées, according to our recent count, as well as a handful of vegetarian appetizers. If we're there early enough in the evening, perhaps 5:30 or 6:00, we should be able to quickly get a table in the quieter section of the restaurant.

Regarding when, I think we must decide on what works best for the most people. My b-day is the 24th of this month, but that's Friday (a busy night for restaurants) and Corey will not be experiencing perfect dental comfort. So I think we must choose an evening a few days later.

I know that Tuesday evening is tied up for at least four of us. I would be willing to see our brass rehearsal time exchanged for this event, if people would find Wednesday to work well for the most people. Or we could look at Monday or Thursday.

So, please reply here: let me know what evening after the 24th sounds like a good fit for your plans, and also let me know whether you could be in Gaithersburg as early as 5:30 on that evening. Please remind us, too, if your birthday falls in this time period, so we'll know we're celebrating for you as well. (Jamey? Others?)

Thanks!

ALL BRASS AT 11: Details Below

(Sorry for the local news joke)

All brass players are invited to play with the hymns next Sabbath, September 11, at Triadelphia SDA. The hymns will be 1, 17, 25 and TBD.

Know a brass player? Spread the word!

PS. I think I should save De De the trouble of stating that we should soon have a woodwinds-welcome Sabbath.

TriBrass Rehearsals Move to Wednesdays

This week we agreed to move our rehearsals to Wednesday evenings, same time, same place, to accomodate David Greene's class schedule. According to current plans, this will remain for 9 weeks, then switch to Mondays for 9 weeks.

To clarify: our next rehearsal (as of the time of posting this blog entry) is Wednesday evening, September 8. Brass players, family and friends, I'll see you there!

Personal Update

As you have heard by now, I'm seeking a new project within IBM, or another place of employment. Some of the entries in my weblog talk about my job hopes, opportunities and interviews. Both my weblog and my resumé are linked from my homepage.

I've recently added to my weblog a list of other weblogs that I follow, including Corey's Life, The Universe, & Everything. See the bottom of my weblog's left-hand sidebar. If/when you have a weblog or website, let me know: I'll be there, reading what you write.

Sept 4, Sept 10, Sept 11

For September 4: Geri has asked that some string players, specifically including Beth and William, among others, provide offertory, and some players (including or not including these two) provide special music. I have a couple of numbers from the Sheila Nelson Quartet Club that could be used, or it might be better to play a hymn a couple times through.

This might also be a good time for Jamey, David and I to play a cello-cello-bass trio. We'll bring instruments to practice Tuesday evening. If anyone wants to call and invite others (Becky? Carla? Christina? others?) please do so. We've already talked with the Possingers about having Leo H. practice and play with us. Jamey fired off an e-mail to Enno, but a follow-up call may be in order.

For September 10: Don Crane asked us to play something at Elternhaus. I suggested filling the program with a very long song service, and that seemed acceptable. David, if you'd like, perhaps we could throw in Meditation or Adoration or some such.

For September 11: Ekkehardt mentioned that he's planning to have Ryan and trumpet on hand for special music, and asked if the lower brass would join in for the hymns.

Brass Sept. 25 - Triadelphia

[Posted on behalf of Geri]

September 25: Brass is playing with all the Hymns.

Strings Sept. 4 - Triadelphia

[Posted on behalf of Geri]

September 4: Offertory and Special Music with all the strings. They can just play the favorite Hymns that were played on August 14.

Potluck vs The Community of the Involved

Potluck diatribe moved to my personal weblog.

Potluck this week

Hi everyone, just letting you know I am on for potluck this week. Come keep Danny company. :)

Real-Estate Dreams

Hello friends,

As a few of you heard last night, we bid on a townhouse near the Maydens' home. You can get a bit more info from these two posts in my weblog:

• on Thinking of Buying a House
• Not This Time

TriBrass Practice Tonight

Hello friends!

Wes, David and Jason: Let's plan to meet as usual: 6:45 call time at the Triadelphia SDA church. I have two new numbers for us to look at, too.

Corey, one of the new numbers is for bass (vocal) solo with brass and organ. It's by Schütz, and in Latin. The part looks difficult, but I'd like to hear you sing it if you're interested in the challenge. Stop by rehearsal this evening to look at it with us.

CMW: How to keep it going?

CMW: better than ever? I think each year is better than the last, and that's saying something huge.

Are we essentially relegated to one CMW each year? Are there things we can do locally to encourage, precipitate even, chamber music through-out the year?

What are we going to need to make it happen? We have the Trout piano quintet, we have some Haydn string quartets, and a few Mozart piano quartets. Are these enough to start bringing people together? Can anyone get serious about buying string and flute music? Can we find another strong violinist? Geri, which string instrument will you learn first?

Should we start planning a recital? If we do, will we feel awkward about playing together Sabbath afternoons?

Fun for the day

Spelling Quiz: 10 questions.

Also, I saw this license plate this morning on a new Infiniti FX SUV:

 NBEYND 

William's Birthday: Thanks!

Thank you all for sharing your time with us last evening. William really enjoyed it, and so did we. :-)

William's Birthday

William turns 12 this week, and he would like to see you folks. Seeing as we will be seeing quite a few of you at brass rehearsal on Tuesday, I was wondering if it would make sense to do a little something downstairs afterwards. No presents, just friends :-). I'll bring some sculptured watermelon that we can stick candels in (he doesn't really like cake). Perhaps we will have time to squeeze in a quick game of Uno, Catch Phrase, or something of that sort, he would really love that. I will bring several things along just in case. I would like to extend this to those of you who aren't brass memebers as well. Rehearsal (which is at Triadelphia SDA Church) is usually over by 8:00pm so that gives you an idea of what time it would be.

A Sabbath Proposal (aka Chamber Music revisited)

Come one, come all; join at any time

Itinerary:

• Church at Triadelphia; highlights include specials by Daniel Ashton
• Potluck picnic at the capitol; suggestions on location include the reflecting pool, Roosevelt memorial, Capitol building steps…
• Afternoon visit to various Smithsonian areas.
• Supper at the Ashtons (ask them how you might contribute)
• Chamber music following supper, including the ever-popular Trout

Suggested lunch menu:

• Strawberry shortcake - Greenes
• Sandwiches - each bring enough to share
• Chips - each bring enough to share
• Fruit and other picnic-friendly items - welcome
• Water - each to his own

Special guest: Sherilyn Johnson, my mother

[Daniel adds the following:]

Supper is likely to be Pakistani Curry. If, for any reason, this would discourage you from joining us, please speak up quickly! We would far rather enjoy your company.

Please bring your parts for the Hummel Septet, as I want to have them in hand before leaving for CMW. I believe that means flute and horn parts from the Maydens, and piano and viola parts from the Greenes.

Dooley is welcome.

Also, I really enjoyed the recorder trios, etc. that we played last time. I hope we get to do more music like that.

Chamber Music Sabbath Afternoon

Anyone interested? We can go through the Trout again, as well as Eine Kleine and whatever else we have on hand. Recorders too, if you want.

Also, please think of who else we can invite ahead of time.

Christy-Party!

I have been given to understand that this Tuesday evening will witness a celebration of life's annuality on behalf of the young Mrs. Corey Cottrell. Therefore, I recommend that we forego our usual musical exertions in favor of camaraderie and the eating of cheesecake. Details, Mr. Cottrell, we need details!

Standing Order for Veggie-Meat

We are very seldom near the book store at a convenient shopping time, so it's not always easy for us to buy Worthington or La Loma products. Here's what I'm thinking: If you're at the book store, grab a couple extra cans of something for us, and we'll be happy to more than pay you back the next time we get together. Prime Steaks, Fri-Chik, Veja-Links, Chai Pow Yu or pretty much anything else. Thanks!

Chamber Music Sabbath Afternoon

Hello friends,

This looks like a good week for chamber music after potluck. Are you interested? Bring instruments and music, and lets see what happens!

For those who have Trout or Hummel Septet recordings, listen up! It really helps to know what the music sounds like.

Brass with Greene/Ronning/White families

Hey--I forgot to mention last night that we're planning on a rehearsal Friday night next week, time to be determined.

TriLowBrass Update

We had a good rehearsal last night with all five players. (Thanks, guys!) In preparation for playing this Sabbath, we agreed to have an extra rehearsal at 7:00 this Friday. See you then.

V., V., all is V.…

We're thinking about getting [ahem] personalized plates for our new van. I mean, since one of our strongest motivators in purchasing it was to be able to carry the tuba, the double bass and the children all at the same time, it seems appropriate to call it, maybe,

MUSIC VAN

[I've thought for a long time that I should have MUSIC MAN as my plates, but maybe this represents a little less hubris.]

The problem, of course, is that MUSIC VAN has nine characters, and Maryland plates have room for only seven. What do to? Here are some of the possible permutations:

• MUSICVN
• MUSCVAN
• MSICVAN
• MSC VN

What do you think? Is any one of these obviously better than the others? Maybe something completely different? The application has room for four options, in order of preference.

Holla back now!

Practice update

10 minutes trumpet this evening.

Rehearsal Tonight…

…at the church, call time 6:45.

We're playing this Sabbath at the Spanish church south of the GC. See this post for details.

May Not Rent

At this time I anticipate that no rental will be involved in carpooling to Southern this weekend, in a white 2005 Chrysler Town & Country, Touring Edition.

[We'll post pix later; right now we're exhausted after a long day at the dealership.]

Corey Pix

Bounced E-Mail Update

As mentioned in this post, some people would receive a rejected e-mail after they posted to this weblog. As it turns out, one of my upstream providers was doing spam filtering, and decided to reject any e-mails from the following domains unless delivered by a machine actually in that domain.

• aol.com
• hotmail.com
• lycos.com
• msn.com
• yahoo.com
• yahoo.com.hk
• yahoo.com.tw

Because the messages were being sent from Blogger.com instead of from your actual e-mail server, they were being rejected.

I've asked to have Blogger.com added to the whitelist, and it appears that this has solved the problem. If you get a bounced e-mail when you post here, please tell me.

Stan/Gen Wedding: What Hertz Would Cost

It looks like Hertz will charge us 29¢/mile, or about $320 more than quoted here, making a total of around $600 + gasoline. Divided amongst seven (?) people, it's about $85/person + gas. Is this worthwhile? Does anyone have a seven or eight passenger vehicle we could borrow for less?

Selected Vehicle: Mini-Van, Auto Trans-Air Con Ford Freestar or Similar Details: $84.99 USD Weekend day Base Amount: Weekend day: 3 at $84.99 USD 100 FREE MI .29 EXTRA MI (MI = Miles KM = Kilometers) Total Approx. Charges: $286.16 Additional Items (included in Approximate Total Charges) PER RENTAL Tax: 11.50 % Vehicle licensing fee: $1.68 USD Optional Items (not included in quote) Rates for Optional Items are exclusive of tax and other associated charges PER DAY LIABILITY INSURANCE SUPPLEMENT: 11.95 USD LOSS DAMAGE WAIVER: 22.99 USD PERSONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE /PERSONAL EFFECTS COVERAGE: 5.50 USD Rates above are guaranteed in US DOLLARS

Rehearsal Tonight…

…at the church, call time 6:45. We're practicing to play at the Spanish church.

Corey, could you confirm what slots we'll need to fill? We also need directions.

Wedding travel

I'd like to carpool, if it works out. Return time has some wiggle room, though I should show up at work by Monday afternoon if possible.

Chamber Music Weekend

Please notice that the $15 discount goes away at the end of June 1. (Assuming that I'm awake and make the change. <wink>)

Also, Geri is going, and is looking for a ride. If you're driving down Tuesday July 13 or Wednesday July 14, please post here so we can get things worked out.

Travel to C'dale this weekend

We need to clarify plans for traveling to Collegedale for Stan and Gen's nuptials. Here's one way things could work out for the Ashton family:

• Drive to Collegedale Friday night/Sabbath, leaving sometime late Friday afternoon or evening, trying to arrive before 6:00 PM.
• Drive back Sunday night, leaving shortly after the wedding, trying to arrive before the workday begins.

We're pretty flexible with the scheduling. It's not inconceivable that I could take a vacation day Friday or Monday if needs be.

We've talked about renting a larger vehicle so that we can carpool with more people in either or both directions. David? Jamey? D2? Others?

Post responses here and tell what schedule or plan works best for you.

Can't commit

AFAIK, I need to be at Triadelphia on the 12th, so I can't do the Spanish thing.

Practice update

OK--time to check in. Jamie and I put in 20+ minutes this evening. Friday included 30-40 minutes of trombone practice; Thursday had 5. Before that, I don't remember exactly, but it wasn't much! I've been mostly playing recorder sonatas on the trombone, since the range works out OK, if a bit low. Keep on practicing, everyone! Corey, hope you're up to it soon. It'll be good to have you back.

FSYO Concert Friday, 5/28/04

For more info, see this post.

Misc Weblog Fundamentals

Bounced e-mails: Corey mentioned that he gets an e-mail bounce message whenever he posts something to the weblog. (This may be new since Blogger updated their software.) If you're getting bounce messages when you post, please forward a copy to me and forward another copy to Blogger support.

Picture in your profile: If you want to display a picture in your profile, that picture needs a home on the web. I'm happy to host your picture. E-mail the picture to me, and I'll send back the URL you need to add to your profile.

RSS: RSS feeds are available for this weblog. If your reader can understand Atom XML, use http://mdmusic.blogspot.com/atom.xml. Otherwise use http://feeds.feedburner.com/MarylandMusic. Someday I'll get around to modifying the template with the appropriate little XML buttons.

RSS Readers: You've got a ton of options. For Mac OS X, try NetNewsWire. For a web-based reader, try Bloglines. (That's what I'm using for now.)

TriLowBrass Rehearsal at the Church 5-18-04

Hi everyone,

Let's plan for rehearsal at Triadelphia SDA this week. Arrive at 6:45, set up, warm up, start practicing at 7:00. Corey is very probably not playing with us this coming Sabbath, so I'll bring my tuba. We can do most of the hymn arrangements with only four players.

And everyone lift up a brief prayer for Corey's swift recovery: it's no fun to have teeth pulled.

Chamber Music Concept

This is an idea I've been mulling over for some time, and it came back to me this morning. It seems appropriate to discuss it in this time when people are talking about buying or building houses. The idea is incomplete, as if I'm seeing only some pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps you can see other pieces. What I see is this:

Prepare a small auditorium that comfortably stages about eight string players and a concert grand, a stage smaller than Ackerman. Prepare very informal seating arrangements, perhaps in a steep amphitheatre style. Offer weekly (or nightly?) non-concerts, events to which the public is invited, (advertisements?) but it's understood that the musicians are not strictly performing. They may stop and restart a movement, for example. The audience should be comfortable bringing books or laptops or other quiet occupations, and are free to enter and exit as needed, i.e. concert protocol need not apply. In some cases the players might start with a more difficult work, and finish with something more approachable, for which more players could sit in.

I have a strong visualization of how the hall should look. I think the concept ties strongly to the Octet reading at CMW Saturday night. I think some of the motivation is that so many people seem to appreciate the music we make, and we appreciate a live audience. As word of the event got out, more players could join.

Brass rehearsal @ Müller's this week

Arrive at 7:00, begin practicing at 7:15. We're responsible for providing special music (and possibly more) at Sabbath School and church in less than two weeks.

Washington Symphonic Brass Concert May 12, 16 & 23

See this page for details. This group is definitely worth hearing. But be aware that all three concerts are in churches, and some of the music is blatantly secular.

Valor Brass Quintet Concert Tonight

Monday, May 10, 8 PM
The Lyceum - Old Town Alexandria

Valor Brass - Mike Mergen, Chris Smith - trpts.; Hillary Hart, horn; Chris Clark, trombone; Chris Tiedeman, tuba

Brass Quintet recital: music by Bozza, Plog, Ewald, Debussy, plus some other goodies....

The Lyceum is located at 201 S. Washington (GW Parkway) St. in Alexandria, a couple of blocks south of King Street on the West side of the street.

A What!?!

In recent conversation someone (not one of our team) referred to my musical interests as a habit to be supported, i.e. an addiction as to drugs. The point being made was that Vicki deserves applause, kudos, mad props, etc. for putting up with all that I'm involved in. And that point was spot-on.

But I've been trying to shake the analogy, and it hasn't been easy. Is music an addiction for me? Do I selfishly pursue it? If so, should I go into rehab? Quit cold turkey?

These are certainly different terms than I normally use to describe the activities that keep me busy and happy.

I write in the first person, but I suppose these questions could be asked by any of us. Are we developing and using God's gifts according to His will? Can we exploit this gift of music more effectively? When does it become selfish? or a habit? or an addiction?

Chamber Music Sabbath Afternoon

Sounds like it's coming together. I'd like to hear from the Greenes, esp. re: Mrs. Greene's friends. But I think we'll have the parts covered even without the extra cello and bass, as long as oboe-stephanie is on hand.

Recorders would be a lot of fun, but we'll need to be sure that Geri is present and brings a wad of music with her. Anyone with a telephone want to work on this?

CMWs: I'm not ready to make these happen yet. These events take a huge effort, and with my networking track record, I'm in doubt about getting enough good players together here to make it work. And I'm not crazy about the facilities at CUC. I need to hear more from this community: more ideas, more people, etc.

Soldering: I think it should be do-able. The trick would be to fill the lead pipe with something to keep the solder from collecting inside: perhaps cork, or tape, or something else. It might be valuable to visit a repair shop and ask how they do it. Be sure to ask about the solder/lacquer interaction. I'm wondering how a hole like that is formed anyway.

Networking: Keep your heart open to opportunities to recruit players into our ensembles. We don't need to drag in unwilling parties, or coerce anyone, but when you find someone like Wes (kudos, Wes) who will show up on a regular basis and put some effort and outside practice into it, listen for the Spirit's guidance.

A+ Tuba

Hey, if it floats your boat, go for it! As far as getting your hands on one, Zephyr Brass in Atlanta has/had a used one they may be/have been willing to sell for around $2K, and when I was in Atlanta it was in good condition. Recommended. The new model I had my heart set on is the Miraphone 181 Series F Tuba 1816VGB - 6 Valves, Gold Brass.

Tubists, Rejoice!

International Tuba Day

Piano Quintet & Septet this Sabbath

Here are the parts to cover. Can we all get together this Sabbath afternoon? Yes, D2, please call Stephane. Jamie, can your friends join us then? (How was your final exam?)

What time? Where? I'm thinking two o'clock-ish in the sanctuary at Triadelphia SDA. What do you think?

Corinth

Hey Corey, it sounds like your trip was a success. Congrats! Be sure to let us know when you get air-dates for your work. Do you anticipate more work like this in the future?

How has it been practicing at the warehouse?

We'll need to choose dates to offer to the Spanish church. Suggestions, anyone?

July 17 is in the middle of CMW in Collegedale, but we may be willing to try Linthicum on a different weekend.

I've sent an invitation to both of Paul's addresses.

SAA Band Helpers

I've reported to Jan Wall that we'll be helping her band as follows:

May 15		May 29
David—trombone Wes—euphonium Daniel—tuba		Jamey—french horn Wes—euphonium Corey—tuba Daniel—maybe

Let me know if plans change.

More CMW's

Jamey suggested in this post that we should have another CMW here in the Maryland area, and it's not the first time I've heard the suggestion. I've also heard suggestions for brass weekends, woodwind weekends, and voice weekends.

How can we gauge the level of enthusiasm for these ideas? When will we know it's reached critical mass? I think there's a lot of merit to each idea. Jeremy is aware of the concept, and supportive.

freeware music typesetting S/W

http://lilypond.org/web/

Brass Practice tonight @ Müller's

As David and I are both practicing at Geri's home this evening, let's plan to meet there with all brass players. Arrive at 7:00, begin practicing at 7:15.

We have opportunity to play 2 - 5 numbers on May 22 at Triadelphia, so we need to figure out what we're doing. We can also run through the SAA band music for May 15.

Calling all Trout

This sounds great! Two more low strings. OK, I'm open tonight (Monday), Wednesday or even Friday night. Or we could try for Sabbath afternoon. (I think.) With two more players we could even take a whack at the Hummel Septet. We need the Greenes, the Maydens, the Ashtons and Jamie's friends. And anyone else who's interested. (I'll post instrumentation below.) Which evening or afternoon works for you?

Trout Piano Quintet		Hummel Piano Septet
Violin Viola 'Cello Bass Piano		Flute Oboe French Horn Viola 'Cello Bass Piano

Weekend Plans

• Ashton Family: Sabbath afternoon is taken starting around 3:30, as Danny has to head to HVA to play in a brass quintet there, which should wrap up around 6:30.

May 29/June 26

May 29 I'm scheduled to play the organ for Triadelphia.

By the way, June 26 is the day that my brass-playing family (x6) is coming from out of town and playing at Triadelphia (perhaps, in part, the very lack of brass helpers that is being referenced). We've been hoping to combine with the Triadelphia brass for a couple of numbers, and my uncle should be sending some music along in a few days for that purpose.

Brass w/ Band May 29?

Jan Wall asks:

The Academy band is trying to put together a couple of pieces for Senior Graduation Sabbath at Spencerville. My brass helpers aren’t able to come that day. Would your group be available to play with us May 29 at the main worship service at Spencerville? Let me know ASAP as I will have to order music according to the instrumentation we will have.

Please reply to me here or by e-mail so I can tell her how many of us to expect.

Thanks for Sore Fingertips

Jamey gave me one of the best gifts I've received from anyone, ever, this weekend, quite by accident.

Vicki and I decided to attend the Sunday afternoon performance of The King & I at Spencerville Adventist Academy. Although we both have reservations about encouraging academy and elementary kids to focus so much time and energy on Broadway musicals, we decided to see one show in support of Jamey and De De, who were both in the "pit" orchestra. When I'm playing, it means a lot to me to see friends in the audience, and that's why we wanted to be there for the Maydens.

But that's not how things worked out. Before the show we chatted with the orchestra players and with pianist/conductor Jan Wall. Jan pointed out that she had several empty chairs and said she could use my help. The only spare instrument to be found was the string bass, so I jumped in to cover that part. After a number or two (as my right-hand fingertips were beginning to blister from pizz'ing) Lester Roach, the bassist, arrived and took over. I slid into the empty chair next to Jamey, waiting for a good break in the play so I could rejoin my family.

Well, I quickly found myself watching Jamey's music, and soon I was counting along and turning pages for him. After a few numbers it was time for him to switch from 'cello (which he was covering in the (complete) absence of the hired 'cellist) to horn, and he handed the 'cello and music to me. Um, what's a guy to do? Jamey let me continue playing his 'cello through the remainder of the play, and again during the second show.

It's very hard to describe the experience: I'm getting an adrenaline rush just trying. As far as I can remember, I'd previously performed only one number as a 'cellist: some number by Pachelbel. But I was able to figure out roughly where my fingers should go, and my violin/viola/bass experience helped me get the bow pressure about right, at least when I remembered to keep the bow off the bridge. For me that afternoon and evening provided several hours of "rush," equal to anything I've heard about skiing or surfing. That was, to me, perfect entertainment.

Jamey, I know that you were relishing your own opportunity to garner experience with your new instrument. You unselfishly gave that up, and it meant the world to me. My left-hand fingertips are sore today, from pressing 'cello strings, and it's the best feeling. Thank you!

A big thank you also to Vicki, William and Beth who put up with the drastically altered schedule and delayed supper so I could be at the second show. I love you!

Practice 4/27 at Triadelphia

In the absence of David Greene I do not expect to be meeting with Geri this Tuesday. Ergo, let's revert to having brass practice at Triadelphia for this week. Yes? No?

6:45 call time,
7:00 rehearsal.

To clarify: both David and Corey are missing tonight. However, we have May 15 band music to review, Wes and Jamey, so let's get together anyway.

Another CMW, May 14 - 16

http://daniel.ashtonfam.org/ChamberMusicWeekendInvitation2004_3_.pdf

Please post back here if you get in touch with these people. It looks like a fun weekend, although I'm not certain how well it will fit with our perception of Sabbath. Also, someone remind me if we have commitments here that day. Is that when the Greene Party is in town?

Ah, I see, that's when the SAA Band is playing at Triadelphia. Hmm. . . . taken together with traveling expense and hassle, that may tip the balance in favor of staying here. Still, . . . it looks like a heap of fun!

Take your mouthpiece!

If you're out of town, take your mouthpiece. Get it to your lips for 30 seconds or 10 minutes a day. Believe it or not, when you get back you'll feel less lost than if you do nothing for three days.

Find and buy a BERP to help you out. Try Woodwind and Brasswind or your local music centre.

More practice: dhg

5-10 minutes per day, every day. The treat on Sabbath was having my wife accompany me. I might become convinced there is, in some small way, improvement. Alas, I will be out of town Tuesday through Thursday evenings, and am choosing not to pack the trombone on the plane.

Thank you

Corey and Christy were at Spencerville church this morning. Seeing them there really made my day. Thanks!

Practice Report: jda

Quick update: I snuck in 10 minutes each on tuba, trombone and trumpet this afternoon.

Der Chor Frequency

Another good question:

How often would Der Chor perform per month?

The more churches we represent (i.e. we have core members from those churches) the more places we'll have an obvious reason to sing. Bluntly: I don't know. It depends on what the core members are willing and eager to do. I'd like to see the program grow large enough to handle two or more churches on the same Sabbath. As a place to start, I feel like we should aim to have 16 singers at each gig, and hope to have 32 on the roster, so not everyone is required at every opportunity.

Brass with Band May 15

Reminder: Jan Wall from Spencerville Academy has asked us to play with her band for church at Triadelphia on May 15. As I understand it, all of us are interested, but Corey anticipates dental agony over that weekend.

Weekend Plans - Ashton Family

Here's what I'm aware of, at the moment, in case anyone wants to co-ordinate with us this weekend.

• Sabbath morning, Washington Community Brass are at Spencerville
• Sabbath afternoon (tentative), bicycling with Sharon, possibly at Rock Creek Park
• Sunday afternoon (tentative), 4:00 PM Sligo Atrium, Senior Recital of Dan Hall, euphonium and trombone player, musician extraordinaire, a.k.a. The Black Mozart

As I'm posting this info I'm hoping that it increases the odds of being at the same place at the same time as any of you.

Jamey, what's left for King-n-I performances?

Low Brass Warm-Ups

• French Horn
• Trombone
• Euphonium
• Tuba

Witnessed

Corey, your pledge has been heard (received? read?) and witnessed. More power to you!

Male Chorus: I'm not averse to the idea, although I'm cautious, given who's choosing the repertoire. (There's that R word again.) If it's all as good as Tschesnokoff, I'm with you all the way.

Brass: One thing that would make me happier is a better fit between our players and our parts. Guys, please take some time to search for music sources and find out what we can buy that fits our five players. I'll give you two stores to start with: Robert King Music and Hickey's Music Online. If we had one more trumpet player we could get into some standard brass quintet music.

Summer Music Options

David asked earlier about people's summer plans, musically. Don't overlook Chamber Music Weekend, July 14-18.

Brass break? There are times when it seems difficult to face another rehearsal. But I'm feeling (like Corey) encouraged with where we see ourselves going. I'm not sure we're organized, yet, or that we have the right repertoire. But my feeling is that we're just getting rolling, so a break now would be detrimental.

Recorders? Given De De and Jamey's recent acquisitions, we need to pursue some basic recorder ensemble opportunities; perhaps something like the afternoon of Corey and Christy's wedding. Just get together and play and play . . . Repertoire is the tricky bit, and I'm hoping Geri proves to have a large supply.

Strings? Same thing, basically. We're short staffed, somewhat: we need another violin or viola who can manage to read music as well as Jamey can. (Kudos, Jamey: your cello playing is showing excellent progress. It's obvious that you're not having to learn music as you learn technique. Very impressive!) Repertoire is, again, a potential roadblock. I have some Haydn quartets, but not much else. Personally, I'm not crazy about music with fewer than four parts. Five is better, etc. But it's better to play a duet than to miss a chance to play chamber music!

We need more music that calls for strings and chic flutes. (Hi Jamie!)

Impromptu chamber music? Call me! My number is . . .

Practice Report: Step by step

David, it sounds like a good beginning. Be encouraged.

Wednesday night was, for me, a wash for practicing: we sat at the local CompUSA for about 2 hours waiting to get Vicki's Mac laptop swapped out.

Tonight I had a 90-minute (about) rehearsal with WCB, playing mostly tuba. I did get to play trombone on one Gabrielli: Canzon Primi Toni, or something like, I think. It was high: it started on high F and stayed there much more than I liked. I got little reaction from the guys, so I'm not sure how well I did.

Der Chor Concepts

In this post Corey asked some fundamental questions. (Great questions, Corey. Thanks for the springboard!) Here are the answers I've been contemplating, as a place to begin discussion:

What sort of music would Der Chor sing? Would it be standard fair or high church?

You can get a feel for the kind of repertoire I like by looking at what I selected for the church service last October 25. Those pages are still online here and here.

What sort of denominations of churches, if any, are in mind?

Well, it's not the denomination that's as interesting as the motivated singers. Given the people involved in this discussion today, we'd be focused on Sabbath morning SDA services. As our core choir began to have members from other denominations, if their home churches wanted the music we offered, we should be willing to sing for them.

What would the frequency of guest spots be for Der Chor?

I'm picturing a core Chor of perhaps 32 people, with hopes that about half of those people would be able to show up for any given gig. Suppose we had a chance to sing at Triadelphia. We would arrange to rehearse with interested singers at their church once or twice before that Sabbath. Because we would already know our music cold, those rehearsals would be very beneficial as we could interleave the local "guests" into our own ranks. The purpose of this choir is not to build a reputation as a solo ensemble, (oxymoron?) but to provide the foundation, the core, so that every constituent church could feel as if it had its own church choir.

What would a typical service look like that included Der Chor?

A typical service would look like any other service with a standard, in-house choir. I'd expect us to sing an introit, prayer responses, anthem and benediction, or something like that.

Would there be a collection of appropriate responses?

The SDA hymnal has a surprisingly useful collection of responses. However, additonal response collections are available on the market.

Would this be purely vocal or a musical combo?

I'm picturing this as a vocal core ensemble, actually incomplete (too small) without local singers. It might help to have a couple of organists on staff, for rehearsals and in case the local church organist was not available.

Practice Report: First steps

Progress on practice is slow but steady: two 5-minute sessions Wednesday evening and a 10-minute session Thursday morning. A significant portion of that time was spent trying the warmup exercise Daniel encouraged. Result so far: EXCELLENT pedal tones, with reduced higher range. We'll see what more practice provides.

Was ist Der Chor?

Der Chor is a choir concept. Within one congregation (especially Triadelphia) we don't have enough experienced, talented, dedicated singers to maintain a church choir. This may be true in other churches as well. The idea is to pull together singers from all the local congregations, potentially even from other denominations.

Der Chor would run one or two rehearsals at each church during the week or two previous to singing there, giving the local church members a chance to join up and sing with a "big choir" in their own church. Der Chor would provide the core people, skills and knowledge of the repertoire.

I like the name because it's a play on the homonyms core and Chor (German for Choir).

What is Something Else?

I don't know yet, but I know that it calls for at least two flutes. Suggestions?

Kudos and Question

I enjoy Daniel's philosophy of getting things done. Kudos to him for setting this up!

Since rehearsal was last night I'm as yet unable to brag about practice time, but I do have a question.

What's happening musically this summer in our community? The Baroque Consort will of course be taking a break, as it is tied to the school schedule and Geri is most likely going on furlough. How about the brass? My hope is that we don't break. Does anyone in the Baroque Consort want to get something together during the summer months? Do we need a goal for the choir this quarter? Is there a time we just want to invite our out-of-town friends and have a musical jam session?

How does it work?

I'm still trying to figure that out myself. Here's what I've picked up so far.

Each of us can write and publish entries here. Entries appear with the newest at the top. (This one is the third that I've written.) We each have the ability to go back and change what we've written after it's published.

When you get to the blogger.com home page, you'll find our blog, Maryland Music, listed on the right. As soon as you click on that link you'll be looking at the form you use to write and publish.

To read what's been published, hit the View Blog button, or open a browser directly to MDMusic.blogspot.com.

My suggestion: Bookmark this page. Check it every so often. Read down until you hit old material. (Look that over briefly, because it may have been edited since you last read it.) Then scroll to the bottom and click the "Powered by Blogger" link, which will bring you to the forms for logging in and adding your own commentary.

I'm still trying to figure out the RSS options. I'll post a new article when I understand more.

Initial members

What we write can be seen by anyone who visits our site, http://MDMusic.blogspot.com. However, I've marked this as a private blog, so we won't get included in the directory and won't be considered for blog-of-the-week or whatnot. I've also marked the blog so that most search engines will ignore it.

The people I've invited at first include the members of Triadelphia Low Brass and their spice, and the adult members of Geri's Baroque Consort. Let me know as we discover other people who should be involved in this discussion.

Let's get started!

I'm starting this web-log after discussions at our Triadelphia Low Brass rehearsal this evening. We talked about our thoughts and hopes for the future, what we could become and how we would like to grow. One member challenged another to practice a certain number of minutes a certain number of days this week. Someone suggested that we should start a blog to help encourage each other. So here it is!