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. :)