Tag: music

2023- How did I do?

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scenic view of ocean during sunset

It’s that day of the year again where I reflect and scruitinize the heck out of the rest of the previous year (Boy, write enough of these and it starts to feel like Deja Vu!).

Here we go again!!!!!!

On January 1st I set out to focus less on resolutions or goals and instead rebuild my lifestyle from the ground up through Action Items. For your reference, here is a link to last year’s post.

Action Item #1 Schedule Composing, Instrumental Practice, Gym, Meal, and Email time into my calendar at SPECIFIC BLOCKS OF TIME.

The grade I’m going to give myself is an 80%. Having a dedicated Journal with a layout that works from my brain seemed to work to help this happen- when I remembered to write things down that is. It worked well enough that this year I bought a Disney Cats version of the same planner ( but smaller this time so I can carry it with me and write things down the second I learn of it in 2024.)

Overall, I did not always adhere to the schedule strictly, but it was a marked improvement from previous years. I definately got a lot more done than in 2022.

Action Item # 2 Replace Phone Screen time with the activities listed above.

This earned me a solid E for Effort! I’ve learned through this endeavor that in 2024 I need to have a nonphone alarm clock in my room and have a hard stop at 8:00 Pm and be more disciplined about picking it up during the day. TikTok is just too darn addicting for my knowledge-obsessed brain.

Action Item # 3 Adopt a CONSISTANT bedtime and wakeup routine.

Another E for Effort!

I tried. I really did. Sometimes I get insomnia which makes this impossible to adhere to. I’ve learned that I just need to let my body relax when it’s ready and make sure that all technology is off at a certain time to keep this from happening. Being a natural night owl – which I’ve been all of my life, makes this very difficult to adhere to.

For 2024 bedtime wil happen when it happens but I am going to to more things to help sleep happen more consitantly in the future.

Action Item # 4 Add my original compositions 1 piece a day to my WOOCOMMERCE Store. ( 10 minutes/ morning) to start.

I should have worded this “Working on Adding my compositions to the store”. The grade was about a 70%.

I was relatively consistant most of the year with working on this. My rate ended up being 1 piece added every 2-3 weeks depending on the complexity and how much else I had going on in life at the time. As a result, 34 titles are available for purchase, and more ( that can be added at a faster rate now that I’ve gotten over the learning curve) are coming in 2024!

Action Item #5 Form a habit of Posting 1x/day, focusing on no more than 2 social media channels at a time.

Grade : Another E for Effort.

There were times where I was on top of this, and time where my posting resembled a metaphorical wasteland of blank pages.

I’ve learned that as long as I’m managing myself, this is going to be an ebb and flow. At least I’m learning how to use the Canva social media posting calendar, so I can do the thing where I hyperfocus and make a bunch of future posts at once to keep it more consistant.

Action Item # 6 Hold myself accountable for these items!

I am going to be generous and give myself the Canadian Grade, which is an A. I’ts still a lower A, so about 90%. I was relatively consisitant in checking last year’s post to reevaluate how I felt how I was doing at the time and it definately helped.

Below are a list of Highlights from 2023 and Accomplishments that were able to happen by inplimenting these action Items.

  1. I finally have a working store and have 34 titles and counting currently available with more in the queue.
  2. I am overall healthier. My teeth feel and look better. I can finally bench over 80 lbs- a long way from not even being able to do one pushup 2 years ago. Squat and deadlift are over 105 lbs and counting! And I can walk multiple miles without feeling winded. Although I still wear the same size that I always have ( which is fine by me) I can see and feel more muscle relative to fat ratio. Not having to ask for help when lifting heavy things like groceries and manhasset music stands has been nice too.
  3. My students are doing well and the studio is full. I’ve had more inquirees that I’ve had to turn away due to time ( I’d take more if my energy level allowed it, but I need to create and perform too) . In short, I can keep my self employed job status!
  4. I had a blast teaching keyboard at the She Rock She Rock Camp. It was greating being able to fit this part time opportunity into my schedule over the summer and was totally worth the time.
  5. I was able to take 2 weeks off consecutively to go to Pennsic. It was an honest to goodness vacation!!!!!
  6. I hit my goal of attending 25 plus live performances.
  7. I composed a grand total of 4 new pieces and have a notebook full of germ ideas that will be used for 2024. Considering most of 2023 was spent rebuilding my lifestyle and editing old pieces to make them available to a mass audience, and barely anything was created the year prior, this was commendable. ( 2024 is going to be a lot more fruitful and I’m excited!!!!)
  8. My music had several premiers and performances that I’m aware of ( There may have been more) – Allemonde de Eleri with full ensemble at Brass Chix, the Horn version of Lunar Tides, as well as the collaboration with Clare Howard on “For the Record”, Painless Parker’s Giant Bucket of Teeth by the Fridley City band in March, Freewill Fanfare with the Minneapolis Trombone Choir, also on March, Not A Flower Suite in August, and A Babe in Bethlehem ( Brass Band Version) with the Twin Cities Brass Band in December.
  9. I performed with severeal ensembles playing trombone- Swing Sisterhood Big Band, The Twin Cities Brass Band, Lady Band, Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, Minneapolis Trombone Choir, Triforce Trombone Trio, and our yet unnamed, but high Calibur performing Brass Quartet . I joke that 2 of us have their performance Doctorates, one could have had theirs but chose Computer Science instead, and then there’s me. But, they invited me so I gues I’m doing ok. 🙂
  10. I feel that I’m actually getting better at playing the guitar- kinda sort of – thanks to studying with my colleague, Andrew Thomas, who is a wonderful Teacher BTW. I’m also getting better at how to explain concepts to students and relate to them through my suffering. xP
  11. Midwest was a success! The first year of the CoadChrome Collective booth went well, and I’m sure we will be exhibiting many more years.
  12. Made More Music overall and am happier compared to the last few years. Here’s to continuing this trend in 2024!

Performances 22-25 and Beyond! Mn State Band and Midwest

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I can’t believe that I’m wrapping up this journey of attending 25 concerts between May and December! It’s been an adventure and took some willpower at times to get it done. ( I love listening to live music and supporting colleagues, but sometimes the transition to get into the car is the hardert part. It’s always worth it though!)

The First Concert in this report was attended thanks to an impromtu invitation by my friend and fellow Brass quartet member Jason Wiley on December 15th. I had just learned of the performance that morning at rehearsal, when he mentioned that he’d be playing in it. The MN State band did not dissappoint, and played a plethora of holiday tunes. The Church choir and bell choir did a nice job too. My favorite part was the holiday medley singalong at the end.

The last 3 plus happened while I was at the Midwest Clinic. The entire 3 day conference is full of performances and rehearsals spanning several genres so I will talk about the top 3 that stood out to me the most.

On Wednesday I attended the Peabody Jazz Ensemble directed by Sean Jones.

These kids killed it at this concert! I was tapping my foot and dancing as reservedly as possible- although that was difficult in my cramped auditorium chair. They played some complicated charts to boot and were cookin’ the entire time. It brought me back to my old days in the Jazz band at YSU. Perhaps that is because Sean Jones happens to be an alum.

Earlier in the day I got to hear an Orchestral Reading Session of brand-new pieces. Although I was there to support my friend and Fellow CodaChrome Collective Member, Sakari Dixon-Vanderveer who had a piece selected for the reading, I was impressed at how well this orchestra, which is made up of teacher volunteers from around Chicago, read these brand-new pieces and presented them musically after maybe 1 rehearsal or less together.

On Thursday, I attended the Round Rock High School Sax Choir, as another Fellow Codachrome Collective member, Joseph Sowa, had a premiere of his brand new piece, Phoenix. These students blew my socks off! Kudos to them because this was also at 8:30 in the morning on the Last day of the party….er, I mean conference. They were playing college-level rep at an extremely high level and pulling it off with such musical nuance that I was engaged the entire time. My mind did not wander once. Joseph’s piece was executed with excitement, vigor, and flair, and was an appropriate finale for this group. I enjoyed it very much!

An honorable mention goes to the Rock Band that I witnessed on Thursday Morning in the Exhibit hall stage. While I was shocked to hear a Rock band at a Wind Band and Orchestra Convention, I was equally impressed with their execution of Classic Rock Hits by Sting, Stevie Wonder, and more. I just regret not getting their name so that I can tell all of you.

Thank you for sticking around through this journey if you made it this far. Next year, I will return to less frequent Blog posts as it takes quite a bit of mental bandwidth to keep up with this and all the other things I have going on in life. But…..If you like hearing from me and want to keep up with what I’ll be up to in the new year and all my projects, please consider subscribing to my newsletter.http://eepurl.com/ihiNNP

In the meantime, I hope I’ve inspired at least some of you to go hear and support your local musicians. Showing up makes them feel supported and like their hours put into the craft are worth something, and You always get the benefit of experiencing Live Music in real time too!

Performances 13, 14 & 15- At the MN state Fair 9/2/2023

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Ah, The Fair! A perfect place to pay money just to go spend lots more money and eat lots and lots of usually fried food on a stick. What a time!

It’s also a great place to hear a lot of music.

The first performance that I will mention is a Rock Band/ artist Colin BraceWell at the MPR booth. They mostly played originals ( except for one mellow, but well done cover of Little Red Corvette by Prince) and their music and sound reminded me of some of the music from the late 90’s and early 2000’s that was playing on the radio at the time.

Two things impressed me about their performance. First of all, The instrumentalist did not stick to just one dedicated instrument. The musicians switched it around for a few tunes. At one point, I believe the trumpet player was playing the bass. On a side note, I really enjoyed listening to the counter melodies that their trumpet player was playing.Perhaps I have not seen enough live bands, but from what I can tell, this is not always the case.

Secondly, a string on the lead singer’s Electric guitar broke mid-set and instead of letting it ruin the performance, they seamlessly transitioned to using the acoustic by connecting it to a pedal to give it an electric feel. Although you could tell this was not planned, the band concluded the remainder of their set seemingly unphased.

The Second performance I will talk about is by the Bands at the daily parade that happens at The Fair. This parade is massive and takes at least 45 minutes to complete. Several community and high school bands from around the state arrive just to perform in this spectical which has them dodging impatient people who look for a gap to cross the street to cow piles in 90 degree heat. I got to hear a variety of music from 1960’s-70’s marching band renditions of classic rock and folk, to steel drums and traditional DCI style drum lines.

Thirdly our day concluded upon a happenstance performance of the HMS Pinnafore by The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. We did not intend to see this group. They just happened to be performing by the History building and I recognized the music from The Simpsons, so I got excited and made my S.O. watch with me.

This group did a fantastic job with the entire opera, but the hightlight was during a duet piece where this oblivious couple walked right through the stage while a duet was occurring.

The DEATH GLARE from the perofmers was Spectacular and I still say that that coupole DESERVED to be made part of the performance!

Overall, I had a great time at the Great Missesota Get together ( aka the great minnesota Eat together) and got to hear a lot of music too!

If you were there at anytime during the two weeks, , please leave a comment and tell me what your favorite performance was that you saw.

Performance 12- A Brass Quintet of Friends and Colleagues at a Friend’s/ Colleagues wedding 8/23/2023

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I’m attending 25 Live Performances by the end of 2023!

This report was unexpected, but I am choosing to count it, mainly because it was a chance to support my colleagues in more ways than just attending a performance, and because there was a full-on performance of sorts at this wedding.

The friend that got married was Gavin Carney, a fantastic trombonist /fellow nerd/all-around great human who started teaching next door to me at the studio and sort of adopted me as his Friday morning duet partner sometime in 2022. Practicing with him has made me a better player and I’m glad that the universe introduced us. His now-wife, Taylor is pretty fantastic too!

The Friends and colleagues in the quintet were Lauren Husting – Bass Trombone ( I know her from Brass Chix stuff and running into her in the wild on Trombone) Lara Dietrich- Tenor Trombone (A friend/ colleague who gave me the chance to teach at Maestoso Music Studio, which she owns!), Ally Partin- French Horn ( I know her form Brass Chix and runnings out in the wild) Derek Thorsteinsson- Trumpet( Colleague at Maestoso and a great person to talk to in between waiting for students, and Gerard Ahlgren- Trumpet( I used to work with him at Maestoso and he’s a great player too )

They played a variety of pieces to add to the ambiance from your wedding standards ( classical/ rennaisaince brass mixes) to the unusual- I remember hearing Oh Shenendoah with some Juicy harmonies and modulations that stuck out from the usual fare. If this was not a musicians wedding, I’m not sure we would have heard this arrangement, but given the crowd, the variety was welcome. They also performed the entirety of Ralph Vaughn Williams Folk Song suite, which I happily hummed along to.

The highlight of the performance was a premiere from my colleague John Proper ( Last name is Pronounced like you would pronounce the “pro” in Professional because I believe he’s on his way to becoming a Pro!)

He wrote a suite based on a melody and variations for Gavin and Taylor as a surprise. It was well-structured and turned out marvelous!

Overall, I enjoyed the music and, although I didn’t expect anything less from Gavin, I’m glad they hired live musicians for both the ceremony and reception. It was totally worth it!

Congratulations to Gavin and Taylor on a beautiful wedding, to JP on the premiere, and to my friends and colleagues on a great/ successful performance. I hope you all get more gigs.

2023- Let’s DO THE THING!

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round brown and black analog clock

Happy 2023!

This is the post where, every year, I usually list the goals that I intend to accomplish.

What am I doing to make things happen this year?

Well, I’m taking the lessons learned from the past few years and instead of posting goals like I have been, I am instead posting the actions that I am building into my daily and weekly routine to make things happen.

If you read the post from a few days ago, it was apparent that some of the goals that I intended to accomplish did not happen as planned. Instead, I am taking a new approach to accomplish the goals that were left, AND set myself up for even more success in the future, in whatever form it may come. Some things are going well, and I will continue to keep up the habits I’ve already established.

Action Item #1

Schedule Composing, Instrumental Practice, Gym, Meal, and Email time into my calendar at SPECIFIC BLOCKS OF TIME.

Sunday evening at 7:00 is when I have scheduled to plan out the week. My phone is programed to remind me to do this.

Every month, I have a concrete checklist of music business Items that I have to schedule on my monthly calendar before transfering to my weekly. These include things like writing the newsletter for my composing business, checking on contest info for students, and other specific communications and research items.

The 28th of the previous month is when I have scheduled to take care of this. However, getting into the habit of writing down monthly appointments into my calendar as they come up has helped with planning in the past.

Some of these are floating tasks that have to get done at some time on the scheduled day or week. Having a visual checklist helps me with this!

Action Item # 2

Replace Phone Screen time with the activities listed above.

Although the Tik Tok and Twitter addiction has been hard to break, I’ve been improving at using it as a reward rather than disassociating with it.

Also, my new rule is No Checking Email past 7:00pm! Otherwise, I have a tendancy to overthink about how to respond and agonize about it all night instead of sleeping, which I totally should do instead for health reasons.

Action Item # 3

Adopt a CONSISTANT bedtime and wakeup routine.

Although I do the expected things like showering and brushing my teeth every day at.. some haphazard time, my morning has only had one thing consistent up until now: Coffee. I do not wish to replace this wonderful to me beverage I lovingly call Godberry juice, as I genuinely enjoy the taste and it’s become a personal staple for waking up. However, every day has been varied and sometimes I forget to eat breakfast or shower and all of a sudden it’s 15 minutes until I’m supposed to leave to teach and I haven’t eaten lunch yet.

To start with, I will begin my day with showering, teeth brushing and a glass of water BEFORE Coffe. Coffee is a reward for taking care of these important things. Also, my second cup of coffee will be accompanying breakfast, which will not only save time but serve as a habitual reminder to eat.

At night, I’ve been winding down with Tea over the last month which has helped. I will also be replacing the phone habit with reading on time. Lately, I’ve been switching between the two. Leaving the phone downstairs has helped. Soon, I will NOT be looking at my phone past 9:00 and instead be reading physical books.

Action Item # 4

Add my original compositions 1 piece a day to my WOOCOMMERCE Store. ( 10 minutes/ morning) to start.

For now I will leave my stuff up on Sheet music Plus as well for a wider reach, as I’m still working to build an audience that will purchase my music and play it more often, funding my good habit 🙂 I am, however, changing each compositions individual page to link to my Woo Commerce Store Page, in order to get a better idea of who is buying my compositions, keep in contact in case they would like help from a living composer, and the added bonus of getting to keep more of the profit.

I’m starting with Digital downloads and then will add physical copy offerings as I learn more about how to run the storefront. It looks like it will also calculate shipping, even overseas, so that is a plus.

I also have it scheduled to publish on both my Facebook Business page and Twitter Profile when I add a new piece to the store for some added awareness.

Once I run out of pieces I’ve already added to SMP, this will shorten to 1/week or every other week as needed. Engraving and editing takes time.

Action Item #5

Form a habit of Posting 1x/day, focusing on no more than 2 social media channels at a time.

In order to succeed at this, I am going to post one time/ day on one of my channels as most of them are linked anyway. When applicable , I will repeat the post in a different format- i.e. Text converded to a 30 second Video.

(Note- I will be exercising Action Item # 2 to keep screentime from getting out of hand again).

Action Item # 6

Hold myself accountable for these items!

If you know me well enough, please don’t be afraid to ask how it’s going either. Let’s put that toxic guilt complex to good use!!!! lol

Realistically, integrating all of these steps won’t happen all at once or even ALL of the time. However, as I work on making this my new norm, it will be easier to get back on the wagon when I fall off, and continue making things happen this year and beyond.

I’ll start by scheculing checkin posts on my calendar.

2022- How Did I Do?

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green tree

Every year I have been setting Goals and offer a reflection at the end of the year. This is my reflection for 2022.

Composing

FINISH the projects from last year that were started.

Did it happen?

Hahahaha…nope. This year was a bit of a firestorm of unexpected difficulties that sapped my mental capacity and emotional energy for much of the year.

What did I finish though?

  • Pieces now offered for Sale- Allemonde de Eleri, A Well Traveled Rhapsody, Chorale on a Palestinalied, Fy Gwanwyn Sky, Painless Parker’s Giant Bucket of Teeth, A NOT FOR SALE ( because it would be illeagal for me to do it at this time to my understanding) arrangement of Kingdom Heart’s Music for Brass Band, and Several Arrangemts you can find on my Sheet music plus Publisher Page.
  • An orchestral Brass Fanfare that has yet to be Read!
  • Several Aural Sketches for Projects that were started last year. I am currently putting these on paper and assembling them to send out over January, now that I’m feeling less burnout.

Sell at least 1 score a month

Did It happen?

Not as I had hoped. Next year, I will be taking on a more refined approach to advertising my works for sale, including building an email list and newsletter. On the plus side, I’ve been selling 1 score/ month since September.

Start Making some Money from Composing

Did it happen?

Sort of yes. I did not get paid as a composer for writing this year. However, I did negotiate a paid commission to be completed this coming year, and for the first time in a long time. I will be paid as a writer in 2023.

Lesson Studio Goals

Build studio up to 30 students.

Have at least 2 big recitals this year ( With at least one being in person, Covid Pending), and generally find more performance opportunities for my students.

Host A Quarterly Studio GET-TOGETHER via Zoom with Games and playing opportunities for peers only.

Have more students participate in MMTA contests and festivals.

Increase educational content on the studio YOUTUBE channel. (sorry, as of now this is for MY STUDENTs only, although I may make some of the videos public eventually). Every other Friday, I plan on recording a short video and UPLOADINg it.

Continue to become a better teacher for my students.

Did It happen.

YES!!!!! In fact, the plan worked a little too well. I ended up with 33 Students at the end of summer!

Musicianship Goals

Play an EtudE Every Practice session

Improve my sightreading on both Piano and Trombone

Establish a functional practice routine and schedule a time to practice every weekday.

Did I succeed?

Mostly. There were some periods where I was not practicing regularily, and in retrospect, I may have been suffering from some form of depression and burnout due to the firestorm. It was due a mix of taking care of others during their chrisises, doing the job of 3 people and feeling underappreciated and a whole mix of other things that just left me feeling numb at the end of summer. After all, if you stand in the cold long enough, you eventually don’t feel it any more.

Luckily, things are looking up finally.

I do have a properly challenging routine now thanks to my friend, and very talented Trombonist Gavin Carney, have been consistant since September, and can’t wait to keep getting better at the Trombone in 2023!

Life and Relationship Building

Continue to improve my health and stregnth.

Did I Succeed?

Overal, Yes!

I took a break from focusing on this and, surprise, surprise, it coinsided with that period where I was not practicing reguarily and feeling comfortably numb. Exercise helps Mental health and I will continue to go to the Gym at least 2 days a week, and find some form of movement every day. If not, I may face another unproductive stretch of time that I can’t get back.

Continue to Volunteer at leAst 4 times a year

Did it happen?

Yes, though in small ways.

Most of this was helping at MMTA theory events, from proctoring exams to giving directions. I also volunteered my time with the Twin Cities Brass Band, helping with web admin tasks and organizing the social media team. I have to say that they were the ones who put in the most effort and got things done though. All I did was delegate 🙂

Plan monthly phone calls and emails, Aim for 1 New person per month to start with in this list.

Did It Happen?

Yes, but not in a steady stream. It was more like a few waterfalls, of 3-4 people every few months. After counting it averaged to 1.3 people/ month.

Support fellow artists through Album/ music PURCHASES and RECOMMENDATIONS, and email them with compliments.

Did I do It?

I did not buy anything this year as the first half was rather lean financially. However, I did do a LOT of listening and sent some reccomendations of my fellow composers to artists that I thought would be a good fit when talking with them over this year. For Example,one of my students is now a FLOOR BABA Fan after exposing them to their music in a lesson. Many encouragements came in the form of Facebook and Twitter comments. I aim to offer more of these in the future.

Attend at least 3 newtorking events or festivals.

Did I do it?

YES!

Brass Chix in January

MMTA Meetings with my local Chapter bi -monthly

Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December

All in all, 2022 was a spiritually and emotionally challenging year. Life threw a few unexpected tests my way and some important lessons were learned. I learned who in my immediate sphere is worth my time and who needs to grow a little more before I think about interacting beyond a surface level again. I also learned that I am capable of doing the work of 3 people if necessary and, even though I do not always like to be that person, I’m a pretty good leader when it comes down to it. The ability to make and share music is a privilege and I got to experience some goosebump-worthy moments with duet partners, The Twin Cities Brass Band, Swing Sisterhood Big Band, and The Triforce Trombone Trio. I even had the pleasure of hearing my piece, A Ship’s Calling performed and recorded by Calypsus Brass, which was AMAZING! Here’s looking forward to 2023, in which I will write down my intentions and post about them in the next day or two.

Why Halloween is My Favorite Holiday

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When I was a kid, I always looked forward to this time of year. For me, Halloween meant looking at cool decorations in people’s yards, dressing up in a costume and not having to be mundane me for an evening, going out after dark, and of course, CANDY!

Halloween brought on many fun memories, like the time my friend Carolyn and I made a Halloween themed 2 person Dragon costume together and wowed everyone 2 years in a row (it was that awesome!), going through some yards that had actual haunted houses or trails built into them in order to get the opportunity for trick or treat, and seeing everyone’s costumes of course. Two that stick out in my memory are a cow costume (I doubt anyone else thought of that) and the year someone went dressed as Quailman- belt on head, underwear outside clothing, and all.

These days though, Halloween has evolved to mean something more for me personally.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that many people don’t share my sentiment and it’s understandable. Some people just don’t like the “spooky” atmosphere that comes along with the holiday. Being scared, watching people be scared, or being surrounded by home décor decorated with rotting corpses does not always sit well with everyone.

In addition, Halloween has many stereotypes now associated with it having evolved from a pagan/ witch associated festival known as Samhain, the most severe being Devil worship. (Spoiler alert- most witches I’ve come to know do not even believe in the devil, but that is a deeper discussion for another day and time.). Having come from a Christian background myself, I can understand why the association is as it is.

Heck, I even briefly considered axing the holiday that has been beloved by me since being conscious of it from the age of 3 from my personal list of holidays to observe, when someone in made me aware of their belief in this association with evil spirits. Mind you, it only lasted about a minute or two, but it led me to research and question things.

The conclusion that I came up with in my own path is that what you associate with a day has more to do with personal meaning and your own knowing and belief system. If Halloween fell on May 1st and you had the same personal beliefs associated with it, I would be willing to bet you’d behave the same toward it as you do on October 31st. If you choose to avoid the happenings of the day, regardless of the reason, that is your choice and that’s ok.

It also led me to research where Halloween truly came from (why do we celebrate it as we do and how did it used to be celebrated and what the reasons were/are?). There are several resources to look at the day from a purely historical perspective and I encourage you to go find them. Google and the Library have great resources.

These days, for me, Halloween, aka Samhain, is a gentle reminder to take a day out of the year to remember my family and friends who have passed on. It’s a bit like Memorial day in The Unided States, where we take time to remember and thank all of our service men and women, because we are conveniently reminded on a calendar. It is what it is…

I use the day to not only remember them, but celebrate the fact that they were here and gave me pleasant memories to look back on and smile every once in awhile during the rest of the year. It’s also a chance to say thank you and move on from any past grievances if any come up. Whether or not the message gets through is hard to say but at the very least, I feel better, and the positive effects of purposely taking time to do this last for quite awhile.

If it makes you feel better, I promise you I’m not doing the devil’s work and practicing necromancy. That literally could be dangerous, not to mention a bit more icky than handling the purely decorative plastic corpses that adorn my living room.

Anyway, I hope you have a Happy Halloween, Blessed Samhain, and/ or, have a fantastic day everyone!

2022 Music, and Life, Goals.

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The last few years I have been psting my goals for the coming year in order to look back at periodically and hold myself accountable. Here is this years list of goals in their respective catagories.

Composing

FINISH the projects from last year that were started.

  1. ) Enter Spirit- Flex band score. I am currently working with a band director to have it read and finish the graphic score element. This should be ready for the public by May if all goes according to plan.

2) Painless Parker- Band Score. I need a few volunteers to read the piece and give feedback for the final score. I aim to have it available for purchase asap.

3) Continue my editing of past works. – I got a litle more than halfway through, and then I lost my productivity streak. By the end of the year I aim to be finished with all prior pieces. It will help that I’ve gotten better at engraving for anythihg that I write this year, so lots of time will be saved!

4) Documentary Score- Almost finished. It was postponed due to covid and a big life transition for the director. I just need to touch base with the director a few more times to get this done.

5) Vocal and Instrumental piece with a Librettist- I started this one with them as a new type of collaboration for me. Most of the Ideas are in the germ phase, but this will get done by the end of this year at the latest.

Sell at least 1 score a month

I will be ramping up advertising on Facebook as well as taking the initiative to contact more musicians and directors directly. I’ll also be adding lots more pieces and arrangements to My website store and on Sheet Music Plus.

Start Making some Money from Composing

Eventually, I’d like this to make up the bulk of my livelihood along with performing and teaching. Luckily it’s looking like at least one paid commission is shaping up with a fantastic Trombonist.

I can’t wait to share more of these details with you in the coming months.

My one Resolution- normally I don’t do these but I’ll make an exception in this case- is to Share more of what I am working on. Please follow me on Instagram or TikTok @shogan_composer to see more of my process this year.

Lesson Studio Goals

Build studio up to 30 students.

Have at least 2 big recitals this year ( With at least one being in person, Covid Pending), and generally find more performance opportunities for my students.

Host A Quarterly Studio GET-TOGETHER via Zoom with Games and playing opportunities for peers only.

Have more students participate in MMTA contests and festivals.

Increase educational content on the studio YOUTUBE channel. (sorry, as of now this is for MY STUDENTs only, although I may make some of the videos public eventually). Every other Friday, I plan on recording a short video and UPLOADINg it.

Continue to become a better teacher for my students.

Musicianship Goals

Play an EtudE Every Practice session

I’m starting with the good Ol’ Rochut book 1 and will work my way through the book one etude at a time. When I’m done, I’ll look for a new book to progress to. It is my hope that I will become a better player by making this commitment to my practice routine. It should also help me……

Improve my sightreading on both Piano and Trombone

Establish a functional practice routine and schedule a time to practice every weekday.

Life and Relationship Building

Continue to improve my health and stregnth.

I started this last year in 2021 and began strength training with Barbells as of June.If I can keep with the schedule of 3-4 days of stregnth training and eat well, I’ll be well on my personal goal to be able to squat my body weight by June as well as do 1 unassisted pullup by then. Maybe I’ll even surpass it! Although My goals here are not asthetic, I am looking forward to see how things change here as the year progresses. The reason for this is that it helps my mental health quite a bit and I’d like to remain as healthy as I can to do thie things that I love- Mainly Make Music! Also, as I am now in the dirty 30’s, I’d like to not be complaining about back problems like so many of my peers are already.

Continue to Volunteer at leAst 4 times a year

I am excited to see what opportunities 2022 brings, especially with MMTA. Assuming things keep opening back up, I’d also love to have a recital or perform at a nursing home.

Plan monthly phone calls and emails, Aim for 1 New person per month to start with in this list.

This may be a lofty goal, since being extraverted in this capacity takes quite a bit of uncomfortable effort on my end, but I’m going to try by listing a set day on my planner calendar to do this. It wil be at the end of the month too so I have that long to come up with someone.

Support fellow artists through Album/ music PURCHASES and RECOMMENDATIONS, and email them with compliments.

Attend at least 3 newtorking events or festivals.

Next Month, I’ll be attending Brass Chix as I have every year, and in March, the MMTA convention is in Minneapolis, so I’ll be attending at least 1 day of this as well.

2021 Goals- How did I do?

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It’s that time of year- The end of the year where I give you my report card and evaluate the goals that I set at the end of the previous year.

Here is what happened:

BIG GOAL: Make More Money/ Be able to solely do MUSIC to survive.

Update: Success! I am surviving. As of June, I was able to just teach and complete an engraving project to make the minimum that I neded to bring in to justify being my own boss. Next year I will set my goals toward Thriving… and then some.

Mini Goal: Sell 10 scores of my own music. My goal is a minimum of 25 total including arrangements.

Update: I sold 12 total. Yeehaw. It looks like I’ll have to evaluate and revise my strategy.

Mini Goal: 15 students by June

Update: I have since surpassed that goal and am up to 20 students!

BIG GOAL: Get to know more people

Update: I didn’t meet as many new people in person as I was hoping to ( thanks Covid) but did meet some. I talked to Alex Gardner and Matthew Driscol via the magic of zoom and meet a few local musicians and composers through a Monthly Composer Meet up and throught the Z festival, both of which met online. I’d really like to actually get to know more people this next year beyond briefly meeting them.

If you count it though, I did get to meet some awesome new students and their wonderful families 🙂

Mini Goal: Contact 2 new people in music/ month minimum

Update: This fell by the wayside but I did manage to average 1-2 every other month. Next year I will schedule monthly phone calls and emails in my planner.

Big Goal: Write 3 hours minimum of music

Update: If you count all of the unrecorded improvising I did, I ….probably?… reached this goal. However, my composing focus was nonexistant most of this year and getting things written down just did not happen.

Mini Goal:Create more creative opportunities

Update: I did it- but via a different avenue that I set out to follow. I am now part of a trombone trio called The Trifore Trombone Trio and got to exercise my creativity by making marketing content for the Twin Cities Brass Band. I also participated in Z-Fest this summer which provided some interesting ppportunities as well.

Big Goal: Be even more giving and spread more JOY

Mini Goal: Send more notes in the form of cards and emails

Update: Success. I’ll keep this goal active for next year too.

Mini goal: volunteer my time in a musical capacity at least 4 times

Update: This happened exactly 4 times. I volunteered at an MMTA event this Fall, helped out with a large music sorting project, and helped a few friends with their musical projects a few times this year. Next year, I hope to help out at more events because helping is fun. 🙂

Throwback Thursday September 2021 Recap

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September 2nd 2021

This Week’s #throwbackthursday piece is related to the event I’ve been excited about that is happening this weekend: MNKINO Film Score Fest!(BTW- It’s this Saturday at 8 In Mears Park, St Paul MN if you can come).A few years ago, in 2017, I wandered to an event that I had heard about on a podcast called Composer Quest called the MnKino Film Score Fest Meetup. It was at an underground bar in the middle of Minneapolis- or was it St Paul? As is tradition for me with trying new things, I had no idea what I was getting into. Also, meeting new people in groups still terrified the bejeebus out of me, but there I went. At the time, I was starving for creative opportunities outside of my mundane day job and, although it scared me, I reasoned that the best way to make this happen was to step out of that comfort zone and talk to strangers. Somewhere in the large crowd a, talented yet also introverted and kind animator named Beth Peloff talked to me and decided that I was going to be her composer (YAY!).Together, we created a little film called Blob’s Adventure. You can watch it here:https://vimeo.com/218081763

September 9th 2021

Do You remember looking up at the sky on a carefree summer day, imagining the pictures and scenes in the clouds? Today’s #ThrowbackThursday piece was written on such a summer afternoon. When I used to work at a printer factory, I’d come home and need to decompress. Being that the job left little time for much else between driving home, eating dinner, and sleeping to wake up early and do it all over again, there was a 30-minute window that I’d have to myself. I chose to walk from my Dad’s trailer home to the end of the road and back most evenings after scarfing down my meal. That day in 2010, I admired those picturesque clouds in the sky and imagined what it could sound like. At the time I was listening to a lot of Debussy piano music as well. Cumulus Humilis- The scientific name for the type of clouds that I saw that day- is the name of this piece. It was premiered by Jimmy Knezetik- a pianist I knew in undergrad who has the most sensitive touch of any pianist I’ve known. Listeners enjoyed it because it is easy on the ears and my theory teachers loved it because it uses something called Locrian Mode. (Note- I did not do this on purpose. It was a happy coincidence). A few years after composing the piece, Avguste Antonov recorded the piece and did a wonderful job. It is included on his debut album, An American Journey.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/cumulus…/21854853…#pianomusic#newmusic#solomusic

September 16th 2021

In 2009, around this time, I started my undergrad degree at Youngstown State in Ohio. At the time, I had just met my – unbeknownst to me- future husband. He took me to one of Youngstown’s greatest hidden treasures, Mill Creek Park, as part of a tour of the area. We walked around on this adventure for a while when a rather large tree branch suddenly snapped, and almost beamed us in the head on the way down from the fall. Me being me, blamed it on the trickster Faeries that obviously got a laugh at almost killing this intruder, .and yelled something unintelligible back at them. Darko laughed, I laughed, and this whole near-death experience is now immortalized in a Trombone and Euphonium duet. Today’s #ThrowbackThursday piece is dedicated to these Wood Nymphs who happened to give me the inspiration to finish the duet I was writing for fellow composer Dan Brandt and I, just in time to not get scolded by our studio professor. #Brass#BrassDuet#Trombone#Euphonium#WomanComposer#NewMusichttps://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/meliae…/21816732…

September 23rd 2021

Who Likes Thunderstorms???…….. Actually, not me. In fact, I sometimes find them terrifying! This week, we had a fairly loud one that kept me up quite late. The loud sound of the thunder hurts my ears and seeing a Lightning strike victim in the ER when I was little because my mom used to work nights and sometimes had to take us with to her job, may have contributed to this uncomfortableness. Thank goodness though. MN needed the rain. That brings me to this week’s #ThrowbackThursday piece.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/reign-of…/21833455…Reign of Thunder is a flute solo and one of my first pieces that premiered at YSU. However, it was written it in the summer before starting my studies Shanyse Strickland , a Fantastic Musician known for her Horn playing and Composing these days, was the Flute Player! Cory Davis did a wonderful job accompanying on piano and I took his suggestion to double the octave in the left hand, thus improving the piece. #Flute#Flutesolo#piano#womancomposer#newmusic