Tuesday, November 28, 2006

'Tis The Very Musical Season

Okay, here's where I plug various upcoming musical performances and go on and on about all the musical activities in the month of December.

Lots to tell! And where do I start?

Well, let's start with the first concert. On Saturday, December 2, the Early Music Ensemble with hold a free concert in Keller Hall (across the lobby from Popejoy Hall). It's at 7:30, and it's free.

UNM Early Music Ensemble

  • Music from Medieval & Renaissance Germany
  • Saturday, December 2
  • Keller Hall (across the lobby from Popejoy Hall, UNM campus)
  • 7:30 PM
  • Free!

    Okay, so I only play the harp on one piece in the concert. So, I'm not really
  • ActorHarper

Instead, I'm

  • ActorHarperTenor&Soprano RecorderViolaDeGamba&LutePlayer

    At least for this concert.

    But if you're totally hooked on medieval and renaissance music like I am, you want to keep on trying all sorts of period instruments. It's an addiction. I invite you all to get hooked by checking out the Early Music Ensemble.


Saturday, November 25, 2006

Goodbye, Michael Carlson



The loss

of one
affects many.




I haven't blogged in a while, because I knew it was going to be hard to write this entry.


One of my very, very dear friends - and a gift to the folk music world - passed away a little over two weeks ago.

Michael Carlson was the president of the Apple Mountain Dulcimer Club, taught mountain dulcimer with an enthusiasm and passion that was unmatched, and was an expert folk dancer.

He taught fourth and fifth graders at Solomon Schechter Day School, and brought music into their lives, too.

He taught adults who never picked up a musical instrument before - ever - and his enthusiasm and gift of teaching let them know that it wasn't ever too late to learn to play enjoyable music on the mountain dulcimer.

I was so fortunate to have known him. Five years ago, I roped him into doing a production with me. It was a version of the Passion Play that was being produced by my friends who would soon establish the Fusion Theatre Company. They asked me to do the music for this play, that would rehearse in a whirlwind week and have three performances in a school-turned-amphitheatre in Cerrillos.

I said sure - if I could have help.

I enlisted Michael.

I got to know him so well during that intense week of rehearsals and performances. During the long drive to and from Cerrillos, we talked and talked. We talked about out school days and our families, my husband, Ken, and Michael's wife, Arlene.

We also talked about the music we would be playing. I wanted to feature Michael on a tune called "The Dark Island," and it came at a particularly poignant moment in this modern version of the medieval passion play. Michael performed splendedly.

Michael also was so helpful during the production that he got listed in the program as assistant stage manager. He even did a dive worthy of the major league to save my harp when it was it was almost blown over by the wind. He accompanied me on almost all of the music used for the show, but he was most impressive in his playing of "The Dark Island."

Gwen, Anastasia, and I played this tune at Michael's memorial service.

Goodbye, Michael. Your joy, love of life, enthusiam, and exhuberance will be forever missed.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Going Solo

I'm not like a lot of other musician friends of mine. I'm not afraid to play solo in public.

Maybe that's because I've also been in theatre for about 31 years. Or more, if you count playing Goldilocks in kindergarten. I wore a blond "wig" made of crepe paper.

Maybe its because my Uncle Joey is a jazz musician, and I grew up thinking improvising was vastly superior to reading music.

I can improvise with ease. I'm a lousy sight-reader.

I do love to be part of a group, adding harmonies, making a good sound together.

But sometimes, it's just easier to go solo.

I say this with some melancholy. Yet again, in yet another group I'm a part of, there has been unrest and bad feelings that have come to a head, and the group is no more. In an effort to make peace, I said I'd do the next gig solo, to take pressure off the group having to perform until problems got resolved. That just seem to bring the problems to a head until the container holding the trio together burst.

I can just cancel the gig. Or I can do a substitute performance, solo.

This kind of angst reminds me of the years and years of offstage drama in the Albuquerque theatre scene's very "small world." That's one of the reasons I stopped doing so much theatre - I crave the drama that's onstage, but I'm so weary of the drama off the stage. Then I found that the music world in our small-big town has its share of angst-ridden moments, too.

But I guess that's just the nature of the human beast, right? We all have our own opinions, feelings, reactions, and actions - and we'll never be able to please everyone all the time.

I need to leave work and go home. By the time I get home, my husband - who's nursing a migraine - will be asleep. I'll go home, sit behind my harp, and play her for a while - solo.