2018 in Review!

I promised a year-in-review post, so here’s a quick rundown of this year. Meant to post this last night but I wanted some time to review it before I sent it.

This has been an eventful year and I’m sure I’ve missed some things. It has felt incredibly long. I tried to hit the highlights of things, especially things that have built into where I am now.

I purposefully kept this list brief and dry because it’s so long and I don’t want to drown it in emotion forever and ever.

So without further ado: a brief list of what I did this last year.

January

Auditions for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at The Players Theatre Company.

Trip to New York to tour a college, including seeing performances of Sleep No More and Come from Away. Thanks to family friends, I was able to get onstage at Come From Away after the performance. Spent the night with my friend Michael Williams, and sadly missed his roommates Ryan Jacobs and Austin Jacobs.

Saw snow in Ithaca, NY!

February

Pop Show, Solo & Ensemble with choir students.

Piano Solo & Ensemble.

Continued Rehearsal for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

March

Performances of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Players Theatre Company

Trip to Phoenix, AZ to visit Arizona State University, where I have applied for my master’s degree. I’m looking forward to auditioning in February of this year. I stayed with friends Dale Sakamoto and his wife Jayna.

Hatched the idea for The Woodlands Chamber Music Project along with John Paddie.

April

UIL Concert and Sight Reading

Rehearsals with Stageworks Theatre for Bonnie and Clyde (sadly, I was replaced on this show, as I was unable to play the score well enough on short notice.)

Rehearsals with Stageworks Theatre My Shot Cabaret.

May

Pop Show

Performance of Stageworks Theatre My Shot Cabaret.

First “The Woodlands Chamber Music Project” recital. It was the same night as the above, so I was unable to attend it.

State Solo & Ensemble with a number of band students.

June

Auditions for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with the Players Theatre Company.

Performance with “The Woodlands Chamber Music Project”

July

Trip to the Grand Canyon (see Instagram for more detail on this one).

Continued Rehearsals for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Performance with “The Woodlands Chamber Music Project”

August

Final rehearsals for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Performance with “The Woodlands Chamber Music Project”

September

Performances of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Short & Sweet Choir Concert

October

Men’s Choir Performance at MWHS Football Games

SHSU Men’s Choir Showcase

Trip to Shenandoah, VA to tour Shenandoah University where I have applied for my master’s degree. I’m waiting on feedback, as I submitted just before they went on winter break.

Began rehearsals for [Title of Show] at Iconotheatrix.

November

Performances of [Title of Show] at Iconotheatrix.

Hired as organist at Advent Lutheran Church. This opportunity came about thanks to meeting with Scott McAdow, who judged my students back in the spring.

Submitted application to Arizona State University.

December

Merry Mustang Show & Auction

Christmas Services at Advent Lutheran Church

Thanks to all of my friends and family for their support during the past year. I’ve tried so many cool things and some have been successful and other haven’t. All of them were opportunities for personal or professional growth, so I’m thrilled to have had them.

I’m also incredibly grateful for the new friends and colleagues I have met in the last year. I have met so many talented actors and musicians through my travels and expanding my network. I have worked with committed, talented amateurs at the theaters and at school and at church. My heart is full of love for those who have given their art into the world during 2018. Let’s do it again in 2019!

Post-Show Thoughts

Its’ been a bit since I posted. Part of that excuse is the busy schedule of a show, plus a full time job. But now that Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has closed, I have time to reflect.

Looking Back

It’s been a fairly crazy (for me) summer. I had an ill-fated trip to the Grand Canyon, a micro-vacation to Austin, and an eventful, extensive rehearsal process for a musical.

The last one was of course the biggest part of my schedule. Rehearsals 4 days per week left little time for anything else in the evenings. The show was a massive success, selling out more than half of our 10 performances. I’ll update the show page soon with pictures and more info.

Toward the end of the summer, I made it a goal to have one new artistic experience every week. Previous sights included trips to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Island ETC in Galveston, and my first show at The MATCH.

Of course I also inaugurated this blog. Now that the show has closed, I have time to stop and think and reevaluate.

Looking Forward

For the first time in nearly three years, I don’t have a show coming up. It’s still taking a time to settle in.

I’ve been music director and/or pianist for 12 shows since fall of 2015. In that time, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and experience on how to work with singers, directors, musicians, and the challenges of a musical theatre score.

I still have a lot of room to grow, and I’m looking forward to trying that now that I have a little time to focus myself. I want to do more score study, more piano practice, and more observing of other musicians.

I’m back in piano lessons, and after a recent exciting day as an organ substitute, I’m thinking of getting back in to organ lessons as well. I also recently came into possession of an accordion, so that may be in my future too.

I’m looking at attending graduate school if I find a program that I like and that will let me in. Doing some campus visits this fall, and applying. I will know by March or April of next year.

In the meantime, I have a choir to direct and I’m seeing another show this week. I made recordings of my playing piano so I can do some self assessment. I just bought a new score. The Woodlands Chamber Music Project is going to pick up. I’m reading more and exploring more.

So look forward to seeing new posts here!

Filler Post

It's late and I don't have time to put together a lengthy post, but here's my daily. It's been an eventful day!

I had a meeting with Reese Burgan and John Paddie about our plans for The Woodlands Chamber Music Project. So look for further developments on that.

Tonight I'm in Galveston. I saw a show earlier tonight (9 to 5 at Island East-End Theatre Company) and I'll post more of my thoughts on the show tomorrow. I really enjoyed it!

In the meantime, I'm going to rest and relax. I'm back to school on Monday, and I have a church service to play on Sunday, so tonight is my last free night for awhile!

Current Events

After writing for three days consistently, I'm starting to get a nice streak of writing posted here. I want to keep up posting daily for as long as possible. That inevitably means that posts like yesterday's meditation on connections aren't going to be possible daily.

So I figured I'd take today to briefly talk more practically about what I'm spending my time on and what I am pursuing these days.

Back to School

I have about a week and a half before I go back to school. This year, I will have my piano classes separated from each other, plus we are adding after-school rehearsal expectations once per week for the choir. So I'll be getting used to a slightly different work schedule than I've had in the past.

My piano classes will be more structured and more hands-on. I think I've pretty well decided what I want the focus of the class to be, and I'm really excited to begin implementing them.

Piano Work

I've spent a lot of time the last few days exploring new piano repertoire. I'm preparing for a college audition in the fall, so that is at the top of my list. In addition, I want to broaden my horizons in playing accompaniments for both classical and musical theatre styles.

To that end, I'm paging through my various songbooks, piano collections, and vocal scores. I'm discovering different pieces that I'm interested in playing, and finding more of them are approachable than I expected. I hope to post some videos at some point.

Experiencing the Arts

Since I got back from my vacation, I have been thinking more about how little time I spend absorbing artistic material. I spend all of my time working and directing, instead. I want to find an audience for my own work, but that also means I need to have an audience mindset sometimes. Plus I get to meet other artists and performers.

My plan going forward is to try to experience some new artistic work every week from here to the end of the year. Last week I saw a community theatre musical, this week I intend to go to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for their free admission night. I also want to attend musical performances with venues such as Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Symphony. Watch for reviews and reflections here.

Reflecting and Writing

On the subject of reflecting, I intend to post at least a short post here every day, as a way of focusing my thoughts and reflecting on my experience. I want to improve my writing style, and record my experiences and perspectives. I want to engage with my readers.

To that end, I hope to actually incorporate pictures and video into these posts as well as words.

And finally,

The Woodlands Chamber Music Project

After an intense, but productive board meeting, I am excited to say that we have made the decision to forge ahead with The Woodlands Chamber Music Project. We will continue our monthly performance series, and we will incorporate as a legal nonprofit entity. I will post more information as it develops

Thank you as always to my friends and family for your support, and stay tuned for further developments!

Building an Audience

I've been spending a lot of time this summer reading Drew McManus's blog Adaptistration, after I happened on it just before the end of the school year. Drew is a prolific writer, and has published an article virtually every day since sometime in 2003. I've only made it through 2009 so far, but it's been fascinating reading.

Among the many things that Drew returns to over and over are the questions of how to make an organization socially relevant and financially solvent. That is, how to attract and keep an audience.

Throughout these early archives, Drew emphasizes relationships. He is constantly urging groups to communicate between management and performers, and reach out and genuinely listen to the concerns of stakeholders such as board members, performers, administrators, and the audience.

This has gotten me thinking about some topics that I first approached back in the spring. I work with two organizations that are trying to build an audience and a reputation. One of them, the Players Theatre Company in Conroe, claims a 50+ year heritage of community service through theatre.

And yet it has a vibrant, young competitor right across the street. Shows rarely sell out, despite a relatively small auditorium to fill. This suggests to me that their reputation doesn't speak for itself enough to attract unify the community behind them. How can they improve their standing?

The other company, The Woodlands Chamber Music Project (Facebook) (Instagram), exists in a somewhat untapped market. The northwest Houston area doesn't have any homegrown chamber music ensembles or performances. We want to bring this music to the area and generate some interest in the music, both new and old.

But so far, our three audiences have been made up almost entirely of family and close friends of the performers. How do we attract outsiders and people who aren't already invested in us personally? As we move forward, I want to discuss these things with my fellow organizers.

The live and performing arts are always struggling for their lives. Even artistically adventurous, culturally relevant organizations rely on donations and grants to help make ends meet. I still get calls from professional companies in Houston asking for donation. Is there any way a performing arts company can generate enough interest and find the correct balance of income and expenses to self perpetuate?

The Search for Meaning

I've finally reached the point in the summer where I feel like I've totally unwound from school and my summer plans, so I'm looking ahead to what I want to do going forward.

Among the many things on my mind today is the idea of continuing to learn piano repertoire. As I've been learning solo music for my collegiate auditions, I have also become more interested in the breadth of standard piano repertoire that I never explored.

When I say "standard" I mostly mean the small-to-medium length Romantic works by composers like Chopin, Brahms, and Liszt. When I was in college, I wouldn't give them the time of day, and in fact, until fairly recently I remained uninterested. But since digging into a Chopin nocturne, I have come to understand how he is creating his effects, and I'm more receptive to them as a result.

Today, I have the day mostly off, other than a recital this evening, so I have spent much of today listening and playing through piano repertoire. For example, this morning I listened through about half of the collection "The Library of Modern Piano Music" with mixed results. Most notably: I have no interest in playing anything by Ludovico Einaudi, a rather trendy new-age style composer.

In the afternoon, I listened through a few works by Tobias Picker, and I have been playing through my books of Christmas arrangements. As I go, I make notes on whether I am interested in learning, preparing, or perfecting the piece, or whether it holds no interest at this time.

Now that I have seen how my taste evolves, I'm not writing anything off totally, but I'm trying to find some direction for myself as the fall approaches.

Before I pick up anything new, though, I have a concert tonight! I'm performing with The Woodlands Chamber Music Project, a group I helped found along with my friend John Paddie. I'm playing a piece by Kevin Olson, and a movement from Francis Poulenc's sonata for Flute and Piano. I hope to be able to do more collaborative work in the future.