A cello journey – part I

There is a story behind every instrument.  Each musician brings their personality and experiences and the instrument gives them a voice.  In this next series of blog posts, I plan to share the cellos that I have owned over the years.  While that might sound like the...

Illness and instruments

Hello, my friends! The topic of illness seems to be top of mind for everyone these days, and for good reasons. I’ve begun to see some articles and videos floating around regarding cleaning string instruments in a way that would kill the virus. I thought it would...

GEWA cases

I’ve always been a fan of GEWA cases.  My first good cello cases were Jaeger cases, now owned by GEWA.  I’ve been a fan of the IDEA series cello cases which are various refinements of a basic case design that is decades old.  Snap bow closers and a...

ISSMA solo & ensemble weekend!

It’s here at last – state solo & ensemble at Northview MS this Saturday!  My colleagues have written great blog posts about preparing mentally and making sure you have everything you need, so I thought I would just add a few notes from past...

Cellos, patterns, and cases

Most people familiar with band and orchestra can identify which instrument is a cello when shown a room full of string instruments.  Fewer people can recognize which historical form a cello is patterned after.  While many are familiar with the name Antonio Stradivari,...

Violas!

Violists rejoice!  We have an amazing selection of violas at the moment.  I’d like to highlight a few, just as a sample: A 16″-ish viola by Indianapolis’ own Christopher Ulbricht – this viola plays like a dream! A 16 1/4″ viola by...

IMEA 2020

Later this week I’ll attend the Indiana Music Education Association’s (IMEA) annual conference.  There will be opportunities to see performances, attend educational sessions, play in new music reading sessions, and generally catch up and socialize with all...

Midwest bound!

As in past years, I’m headed up to Chicago for the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic.  This is an incredible international event that is attended every year by over 100 Indiana Band & Orchestra directors.  Professional development, student performances,...

Talking to music education students at IU

One of the privileges of my job is to visit various universities and talk to students about my corner of the music world.  On Monday I traveled down to Bloomington and had the chance to speak to a class full of future music educators.  As all but one of them were...

It’s the SOUND

I’ve spent quite a few hours driving over the past couple of months. Long road trips always give me the opportunity to do some of my best thinking.  What I think about isn’t always terribly important and plenty of the conclusions I formulate don’t...