Georgia...

This Friday, I will be taking a short vacation to Georgia (about three weeks) to visit my mom and get out of Oklahoma. I still plan on practicing though, so hopefully I'll have some stuff to write about.

For anyone who is not familiar with the Enigma Variations, by Edgar Elgar, shame on you!! Find a recording and listen to the Nimrod variation. You will not be disappointed.

That is all. If I don't write any in the next three weeks, I'll catch up when I get back from Georgia.

-J

New Pictures

Instead of "Drum Corps Memories, Part IV", I am announcing two things:

1. I have some new pictures up of me playing marimba in a more informal setting (no concert dress). So check it out!!

2. I now have a my first date set for concerts in the fall!!!! It will be at the Nancy O Brian Center for the Performing Arts (Norman, OK) on September 14, at 8:00 pm. Check out my myspace (click the link to the left of the blogs) to get more information on it.

Things are getting started, and it's unbelievably exciting!

-J

Drum Corps Memories, Part III

Here we go again!




Tyler Athanon, apparently dying. I'm pretty sure this was during finals week, around lunch or something. Anyways, how he looks is how I felt pretty much all that week, haha.





Tyler choking Donna, because he's angry. Haha, I can't decide which person looks funnier. I'll go with Tyler.







Tyler in the last visual warm up of '05.





Tyler, Mark, and I. This was at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, IN. This was one of the coolest experiences so far in my life, because we got to rehearse on the same field that my favorite football team (the Colts, obviously) play on. It was seriously one of the most awesome things to ever be able to do. And on top of that, we played that night in some ballroom in the RCA Dome for NASM (National Association for Schools of Music). Imagine how loud 60 brass and 18 percussionists can be in a relatively small ballroom (compared to a football field). It was pretty awesome.

Part IV coming soon!


-J

Drum Corps Memories, Part II

Here's part II of my various drum corps memories, as shown in all the pictures I have.

Haha, Kevin and Lauren. This was taken during the last week of tour.

Tyler, Mark, Kevin, and I. Again taken on the last week of tour.

Lauren McGill: the biggest complainer of us all/the biggest badass of us all. Haha, she was a total enigma, because she could go through some of the hardest shit with ease, but she would whine so much! But without her, Kevin, Tyler, and Mark, I wouldn't have had any fun during tour at all. So I owe her a lot for that.

Haha, Matt Reschetz. This guy sat in front of Lauren and I on the bus. And he would always be turned just like the picture bugging the hell out of either Lauren or me. He was always a lot of fun.

Me, on the last visual warmup of the '05 season. I had no idea this picture was even taken until about a month after tour ended. But I do remember what I was thinking, and it was something to the effect of "Ow!" Haha, I'm just kidding. By that point of tour, I could've stood for a very long time in that position, and not had a problem with it at all.

Part III coming soon!

-J

Drum Corps Memories, Part I

Instead of posting the normal stuff about percussion, I thought I would do something a little different today. For those who do not know me personally, I marched with a drum and bugle corps called the Blue Stars in 2005. I didn't play anything percussive--instead, I played baritone. And since the drum corps season is in full swing right now, I have a been a little nostalgic about my past experiences with the Blue Stars. So I thought I would give some random thoughts and comments on some pictures I found not too long ago when I was cleaning my room. I have way too many pictures than one blog could handle, so this will be the first in a series of drum corps memories. Here goes:













Here's the 2005 baritone line. It was the only picture taken that had all of us in it at the same time. It was taken during finals week 2 or 3 days before the season ended.














This is on finals night for the division I corps. Division II corps had their finals that day at a different location. The seats aren't too great, but I was pretty much in the stadium just to get the picture. I was more interested in watching the corps warm up in the parking lot. So that's what I did lol. Oh, and contrary to most people, I loved SCV's show, no matter how bad they did. So anyone who didn't like it can bite me lol.

Here's our horn sergeant, Ben Franke. He was a really cool guy and an excellent leader. I have no idea what he's up to now, but I hope he's doing okay.

This one of the infinite brass arcs we formed to warm up before a show. This was fairly early in the season, if I remember correctly. I think it was sometime around the middle to late June.

This is Doug Hall. He's making a goofy face, haha, and that's pretty much how he is normally. He's a really great guy too. He was the visual tech for the mellophone line, but he helped me get through a lot of hard times throughout the season. I owe him a lot for his advice and help.




















This is one of my good friends from the season, Kevin Guth. He was always hilarious and was a source of inspiration for me to always do my best. This was his second season, and it was never an odd thing to hear him complain about how '04 was so much easier. Haha, and I complained right with him.


Well, that's it for now. Part II is coming soon!


-J

New Performances

As the title suggests, I now have some new performance dates for this upcoming fall! But before I get into that, there is one thing I should write about.

This makes me kind of sad, but I found out last week that I was not chosen as a finalist for the Adagio composition competiton. Like I said, it's kind of depressing, but there are more options. And one of them is to get it published. So I will be working on that very soon (within the week). In the meantime, I will go ahead and post the Adagio along with a .pdf file of the score in my next post. I'll have to convert the files I have and I don't want to do it now, so I'll do it later, haha.

Anyways, here is an updated list of performances I have this fall (again, in no specific order):

1. Cameron University (Lawton, OK)
2. Tulsa University (Tulsa, OK)
3. Nancy O' Brian Center for the Performing Arts (Norman, OK)
4. Southwestern Oklahoma State University (Weatherford, OK)
5. Enid Public Schools (Enid, OK)
6. Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, CA)
7. Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, OK)
8. Drake University (Des Moines, IA)
9. University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
10. Tulia Public Schools (Tulia, TX)

So I'm getting a pretty full schedule, haha. But it will be an amazing fall, and I cannot wait for it.

I'm out.

-J