As I started to drive up to Milwaukee to begin my annual Nutcracker run, something suddenly struck me–I hadn’t left the state of Illinois since the summer! In fact, the furthest I’d wandered the whole fall was to take a few trips to Elgin, just 35...
It’s early December and I am knee deep in Messiah season, pumping them out on a daily basis for ensembles all across Chicagoland. Messiah Messiah Messiah Messiah Messiah….I eat, drink, and breathe this piece morning, noon, and night this time of...
My recent interview with the always entertaining and anecdote-filled Justin Locke prompted me to poke around his site in search of more amusing tales. There, I found this post about ways in which musicians woefully misrepresent themselves to orchestra...
One can’t help but have their interest piqued by the title of Justin Locke’s expose about the inner workings of the music business. Real Men Don’t Rehearse is the exact sort of book I love to read–witty, lighthearted, yet insightful and full...
I had the opportunity to appear as a guest lecturer for the orchestral studies seminar class at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of the Performing Arts earlier this week, which was a lot of fun for me and hopefully a good experience for the students as...
