a visit from the dreamgirls.

this weekend was absolutely incredible. thursday night i went to "where the wild things are" (fantastic movie, by the way - made me miss my parents a lot, however...) and came home to total weirdness. there was a postcard with an inside joke with my girls in the disney band on it in the clip by our door. i walked in the apartment (it's late at night, i'm not thinking clearly) and the TV was on. at the time, i thought i had just left it on, when it was actually playing the movie Dreamgirls. i'm thinking, "wow, i haven't seen this movie in forever" and then i look over and a light is on in the kitchen that i have never turned on before. by the time my EXTREMELY SLOW brain can process this, Jackie and Kristen jump out from behind my dining room wall.

a little background - in 2007, i did the disneyland all-american college band out in California. i got to hang out with the coolest people everyday and dance around playing the saxophone. Jackie and Kristen were the two other girls in the band. we were from 3 totally different places, and we were in 3 totally different places in our lives. but we got along better than anything ever. it was amazing, and we are still really, really close. they sort of complete me, in a way. i haven't seen them since March, and i really didn't know what i was going to get to see them again. and then they were IN MY APARTMENT. it was so freakin cool. i can't even tell how happy and surprised i was. unbelievable.

so they came to school with me on Friday. then we went to the Salt Lick for dinner that night, and it was spectacular. i had never been, and this place is amazing. we were lucky in that we got in right away, and we were inside out of the chilly weather. the food was spectacular - the company, even better. saturday J and K came with me to Waco, TX to see the kiddos i taught in the summer do their marching contest. it was great to see those kids. we came back and went downtown so they could see 6th street. it was a BEAUTIFUL evening - it was fantastic. sunday we went to kerbey lane for wonderful pancakes, then i played for evelyn and jack's conducting recital, and later we went the Iguana Grill for SAI/PMA dinner. the sunset was beautiful. the elephant room was also fantastic later that night. monday we couldn't do much because i was at school, and then i had to take them to the airport. saddest. thing. ever.

so basically one of the best weekends of my life. i want Jackie and Kristen to be here all the time. i didn't get anything done, but it just didn't matter. i had my dreamgirls here. absolutely amazing.

i need to do this again.

i've decided to try to get this blog-like thing underway, once again. good luck, me.

thought of the day - i truly, 100 percent, not-clichely, believe that people don't hear how much they are loved enough. just say something small to someone. right now. or in a couple of minutes. or tomorrow. just do it.

i'm in the middle of an assignment for my education class, and it's kind of blowing my mind. it's a bunch of curricular objectives, specifically for a middle-school saxophone student. it makes me realize how many goals i am actively working to help my students to achieve. i also realize the ones that i accidentally achieve because sometimes i have good instincts. then, there's the hard stuff - the ones that i forget about, and really should focus on. or, even worse, the ones that i think are too hard for students this age. but in all honesty, they really aren't that hard.

3rd thought - it is supposed to be 90 degrees for the high in Austin tomorrow. yes, i like nice weather in the winter. but 90 degrees, humid, and misting? gross. i'm looking forward to better temperatures in a couple of days.

also, i really like clouds.



alright. bedtime. peace out, dudes.

It's been awhile....

I know it's been quite awhile since I have posted, but things have been absolutely nuts. We're getting ready for more concerts, and just got finished with a few last week.

My parents were here for a week, which was awesome. They got to hear the Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Orchestra, New Music Ensemble, and Saxophone Ensemble. I sort of bombarded them with rehearsals and concerts. We went to the Elephant Room as well, which is a fantastic jazz club in downtown Austin. My dad played at the jam and sounded awesome as usual. I really miss getting to hear him play. We went out to eat at a bunch of fantastic restaurants, but didn't nearly get to all of the ones I wanted to show them. There are just WAY too many places to eat in Austin.

Today is Friday and tonight is our last big Jazz Orchestra concert for the semester. I think it is going to be an amazing concert, and that is mostly because of the awesome pieces we are playing. I talked about Gabriel in a previous post, and he wrote another tune for this concert. It is absolutely amazing. We are also playing an original tune from our second trumpet player which is an attempt at minimalistic jazz - and it definitely succeeds. It is gorgeous and cool and everything. Another tune from Marcus, which are always good, and Jon Mills (jazz saxophone professor here) wrote a new tune that is groovy and ridiculously syncopated. If you get a chance, you should listen online. It's going to be a great concert!

More about jazz stuff - in the spring, we are going to be putting on "Queenie Pie" by Duke Ellington. It is an opera, and it is not very well-known. The Jazz Orchestra is going to be the pit orchestra, basically, and we might even be on stage. Freakin' sweet. This is apparently in conjunction with a huge Ellington festival here in April. I don't know much about it, but I think it's going to be awesome. Also, Jeff Hellmer (director of JO) just told us that the guest artist for the 2010 UT Jazz Festival is going to be CHRIS POTTER. I can't possibly explain to you how excited I am for that. He is absolutely insane and I can't wait.

I got asked to play in Wind Ensemble as well. The best part - I am playing bass saxophone and alto clarinet. RANDOM. Both pieces on which I am playing are by Husa, so I am so excited. I also can't wait to play for Jerry Junkin - he is a legend. And rightly so. This also means that most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I am in rehearsal from 12-5:30 without a break. Gah. Luckily Jazz Orchestra concert is tonight and Wind Symphony is Wednesday - they will both calm down quite a bit after that. :)

OK. I should probably listen to Antokoletz talking about Babbitt's Compositions for Piano No. 1. :)

Concerts coming up!!

Hello again! It has been awhile - things are just a little crazy! First order of business: upcoming concerts. The coolest part about ensemble concerts at UT is that they broadcast them live online on the UT website. All you have to do it go to the UT-Austin School of Music and you will see the upcoming concerts listed on the left of the screen. There should be a small orange square next to the name of the ensemble that is performing on that particular day that says "Web". If you click on that, it will take you to the event page. Broadcasting begins a few minutes before the performance, and it is pretty self-explanatory. However, you do have to have Quicktime in order to listen, I believe. Check it out. These are the dates:

Friday, October 10th 8:00 PM UT Jazz Orchestra
Monday, October 13th 8:00 PM UT Wind Symphony
Wednesday, November 5th UT Saxophone Choir

Those are the big ones that I will be a part of and that will be broadcast. It would be awesome if you would listen in, even if it is just for a bit. Pretty high-tech, huh?

Second thing - Chris and Audra Barrick had their baby! Chris just finished his doctorate at UNL and was the TA for the last three years. He and his wife were expecting and they had the baby last night. His name is Henry Ryan and he is absolutely adorable. They live in West Virginia now, however, so I don't know when I will get to see him. Hopefully soon! I am just so excited for them!! I have been dubbed Auntie Liz.... :)

Otherwise - life is great. This week is obviously busy because of concert preparations, but I am so excited about this weekend. I am driving up to Fort Worth (it is TCU's fall break) to see this great exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum. It is a bunch of Impressionistic works from the Art Institute of Chicago. Though I have seen this stuff before, I absolutely love it and could not pass up an opportunity to see it again. It's going to be a great weekend.

Time to do laundry! :)

why music is everything.

I just got home from playing a gig with Jazz Orchestra at UT and it was a blast. I am always on such a musical high after I play for people with amazing musicians. We played for the opening of this new AT&T Conference Center on the UT campus. It was a really big deal, and we were the featured entertainment. We started the set with "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and one couple got up at danced. We moved on to "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and we got a couple more out on the dance floor. And by dance floor, I mean the small area of rug that was in front of the band. By the time "Moonlight Serenade" hit their ears, we had a full dance floor and they absolutely loved "In the Mood", "Pennsylvania 6-5-000", and our flashy closer, "Sing, Sing, Sing". I know that "serious" jazz cats give these tunes a bad rap sometimes, but it totally killed with these people. I don't know how many times I rolled my eyes in rehearsal at something silly in "In the Mood" or whatever, but this is seriously what gets some people excited about this kind of music. Everyone was so gracious and thankful when we finished the concert - we had so many people come up and thank us and tell us that the music was great. I got a lot of "only girl in the band" comments, but I'm used to that. :)

The other cool thing about tonight - we have this great guitar player in the Jazz Orchestra that moved here from Brazil very recently. Tonight he played us his album that he recorded in Brazil before he left. The music is extremely beautiful and I was ridiculously impressed. He said that he about 35 musicians play on the album (including a string orchestra) and it took them about a month. His stuff is awesome!! He's arranging at least one of his tunes for Jazz Orchestra to play sometime this year. I cannot wait. Here is a video on YouTube of him recording his arrangement of "Spain" in a recording studio. CHECK IT OUT.

Gabriel Santiago trio plays "Spain"

Seriously, though. My life rules. Plus I got an awesome package from my parents today, including a very old, long lost friend of mine. :)

*cough cough*

in other words, i might be sick again? i've been coughing all weekend and it is frustrating. couldn't really sleep last night because of it, and when i finally took cough medicine, i almost gagged. i have tasted and eaten so many things in my life (thanks to travel and weird food that my parents make :)) but i still cannot stand cough syrup. that stuff is DISGUSTING. not that anything my parents ever made tasted like cough syrup....

this week was great. did a lot of saxophone playing (it's only going to get more ridiculous) and had a job interview. it was for a receptionist position for the fine arts student center. i find out tomorrow - we'll see! i am also looking into teaching saxophone lessons at a middle school in south Austin. that would be really awesome. i briefly talked to the teacher - we need to get together this week and find out how many kids want to take lessons. i love middle schoolers. :)

went to the Husker game again yesterday - what a blast. Andrew, Spencer, Missy, and I played Apples to Apples while we waited for the game to start - that was awesome. i think it might be my favorite game. although Pass the Pigs might give it a run for it's money.....

looking forward to this week - gig with the Jazz Orchestra! also, Spencer's birthday is Thursday and mine is Saturday. we're having a party on Friday. i'm pumped.

go 'skers.

i just got back from watching the Husker game at the Cool River Cafe in North Austin. it is a beautiful place and it is a perfect place to watch the game (though slightly expensive). every time the Huskers have a game, they show it on all their TV's and people flock to this place. last week they broke a record - there were 774 people there watching at some point (it's a ridiculously large place). at least, that's everyone who signed in. that's INCREDIBLE - and these people are so into Husker football, it's amazing. last week i got raffle tickets and won a shirt and some Husker paper plates and napkins - pretty awesome. nothing as cool this week, but it was still fun to watch the game. i have to say that the 4th quarter was my favorite - i was a little worried there for awhile.....

we had our first rehearsals for everything this week and it was awesome. here is the program for our first Wind Symphony concert:

"Don't You See?" by Donald Grantham (starts with a big alto saxophone solo by yours truly....oh, and did i mention that Donald Grantham TEACHES at UT? crazy.....)
"Clocking" by John Mackey (he'll be here later in the semester to work on it with us - he actually lives in Austin now, which is awesome.)
"Give Us This Day" by David Maslanka (a truly spiritual piece that is difficult, like most of Maslanka's music....)
"Postcard" by Frank Ticheli (i played this piece at UNL my sophomore year and it was a blast - it's going to be hard to not miss Dr. Barber, however....)
Some Beethoven piece that doesn't involve me so we don't care about it. just kidding - it's beautiful. but obviously doesn't involve saxophones. :)

pretty awesome show, huh? if anyone would like to come down to Austin on October 13, you could hear it! not a bad trip if you don't mind driving for 13 hours. straight. oh well. i'm excited for that as well as Jazz Orchestra - it is a great group of musicians and we have been sight reading so much. we actually already have two gigs in September, so we are going to have to get our act together rather quickly. we actually get paid for one of them....so weird. :)

other than hopefully getting some teaching going here soon, that's about it. i'm lovin' it!