This February, I escaped the icy Boston winter to perform and teach in Spain for a week. (Because the weather was so nice, and the food so good, this may need to become an annual trip!) Barcelona, Spain Hosts an International Strings Conference At the invitation of Berklee alumnus, Oriol Saña, I served as a […]
Producer of the Year: Grammy Nod for Hat Trick
Tonight, Hat Trick‘s Garden of Joys and Sorrows received a Grammy nod at the 2018 Grammy awards. Our album appears among nine projects listed in support of producer David Frost‘s Producer of the Year, Classical Grammy win. Working with a Master Producer So what’s it like to work with a multi-Grammy-winning producer? The first thing David Frost’s […]
Music Camp as Radical Catalyst
So you’re back from music camp! At their best, music camps are radical catalysts for learning. Your mind brims with memories, teachings, discoveries, and good intentions for continuing your development. You’re determined to return the following year a much-improved musician. Sadly, our best intentions for self-improvement often go unrealized unless we apply discipline, strategy, planning, […]
Music Camp Withdrawal Syndrome: A Survivor’s Guide
Music camp withdrawal symptoms hit hard once you return to “the real world.” Just listen to this distraught message I received from Chuck Bontrager, heavy metal violinist and concertmaster of Chicago’s Hamilton orchestra, two days after the MWROC festival concluded: “Doc! Doc! You gotta help me, Doc! I think I might be going through some kind of withdrawals. […]
Road to Nowhere: Covering a Classic
What’s the first CD you ever bought? Back in the 80’s, when those shiny new laser disks appeared in elongated cardboard packages, my first purchase was Talking Heads’ Little Creatures. I enjoyed the entire album, but I particularly liked to play the final track, “Road to Nowhere,” on endless repeat. ABOVE: Watch David Wallace & Friends perform […]
A Teaching Artist Nightmare
Do you dream about your work? A colleague of my father’s once invoiced an employer to compensate his sleeping hours. (Purportedly, he had solved a problem in a dream.) Because chemical engineers are expected to sleep on their own time, his request was denied. Billing for dreams may sound ludicrous and pretentious, but I get […]