I didn't plan to go to the National Flute Association's Flute Convention in San Diego this year. Going to the convention is an expensive endeavor especially when it involves flying to the other coast. Unless I had something major being performed I was going to sit this one out. So when my friends started conspiring to perform and commission new pieces with the hopes they would be selected to perform at NFA, I had my doubts any of it would be selected - especially the proposal that involved playing 30 minutes of my works on one program. I had made up my mind that we couldn't swing going to NFA this year, and that if would be crazy to think any of those proposals would be selected. So when 5 of the 7 proposals were selected, I was in total disbelief.
from last year's NFA
This year's NFA really is going to be an extraordinary experience for me. First of all, I've never been to California - yay, travel! Secondly, I have 6 pieces being performed. SIX!!!! I always feel lucky to just get one piece performed during the 5 day convention. This means every day at the NFA convention I am having a piece performed. Thirdly, in spite of my printer's attempts to die, I've managed to convince Flute World to sell my music at their humongous booth at the Exhibit Hall at NFA. Lastly, I get to take an epic road trip with two of my friends and conspirators from Boulder, CO to San Diego, CA which includes stopping at the Grand Canyon for a couple nights. The best part about going to NFA is a chance to see and meet all the wonderful people who have performed my pieces and friends I rarely get to see. I also hope to meet people who I've made connections with online who have performed my music. It's a rare opportunity and I had to figure out a way to get to NFA.
So how do you get to NFA on a budget. I have been putting some money away from my sheet music sales since Christmas on. With that, I was able to pay all my NFA fees and plane tickets. The hotel is expensive, especially in San Diego. Luckily, nothing like friends to help defray the costs on the hotel. My 3 other cohorts and I are splitting a hotel for 4 of those days. I have to stay over by myself one night. Believe it or not, the cost of my hotel with my 3 friends was cheaper than my one night alone. The only thing I have left to pay is food. Food, in my opinion, is the easiest way to save money. If the hotel doesn't serve a free breakfast, I can run to the grocery store and get some Luna Bars for the week. Lunch is usually catch if you can - if I remember to eat. Dinner - well dinner is always worth a good sit down meal with some adult beverages. For someone who didn't plan to go to NFA, I was able to do it. Now next year, I'll have to play be ear again. The lesson is "Always Be Saving".
Last year's NFA with my sister and FNMC
What do I hope for this year's NFA? I hope that I reinforce previous relationships with performers, learn some new tricks for my student's sake, and make new connections for more commissions. I've reached a lull in commissions. It happens. I may have exhausted my current connections and its time to make new ones. While I hope to have a good time with my friends and get a chance to see a bit of San Diego, I will have to put on the used car salesman hat my grandfather left me and go shake some hands.I'm just lucky that I enjoy my job so much that it doesn't always seem like work. Let's face it, its a Sunday afternoon - I should be relaxing, but I love what I do and it doesn't seem like work.
This summer has certainly been uncharacteristic for this freelance musician. Typically, I'm working on one commission and more than likely trying to make Christmas arrangements (my biggest seller) to make up for the lack of income from vacationing students and the drought of gigs. This summer, however, I have found some flute love.
At the beginning of the year I always make a list of pieces I would like to compose in case I find myself without a project to work on during the year. Most of the time the pieces I plan to work on vary in instrumentation and form to help me keep things different and fresh. This year has been the year of the flute, however, and it doesn't look like I am going to write a piece where the flute isn't the featured instrument.
I suppose it makes sense that my main instrument is the same instrument of my commissioners. It certainly is the instrument I am most comfortable composing for, obviously. I usually meet other flutists at flute fairs and the National Flute Association Convention who have heard a piece of mine there and would like me to compose a certain piece for them.
I just had a piece for flute choir premiered at the 2015 National Flute Association Convention in Washington, DC. this month. I was commissioned by Flute Choir of Atlanta, under the direction of dear friend Kathy Farmer, to compose a piece for flute choir with the hopes to perform it at the National Flute Convention. The program was called "American Seasons" and that I could pick whichever season I would like. I had been experimenting with cricket and insect sounds using the flute with other pieces, but this time I could experiment with the sounds on a bigger scale in a flute choir. So I picked summer, the height of bug season.
I had found memories as a child spending the night at my great aunt and uncle's farm in Dearborn, Missouri.The days were warm and the nights were cool. The windows were always open at night. I remember on particular night staying at the farm for the first time without my parents or sisters. Falling asleep listening to the crickets, but then a my imagination ran away with with me. Needless to say it resulted in me waking up my great aunt and uncle and having them drive me an hour back to St. Joseph, Missouri where my parents and sisters were staying with my grandmother. So this is for my poor great aunt and uncle who gave me wonderful memories and never complained about driving me back to my parents in the dead of night on that long gravel road.
That night was the inspiration for the piece Summer Insomnia. Some of the extended techniques were new for many of the members of the flute choir, but what troopers they were about learning! I not only had the privilege of composing for the choir, but I got to play with them as well. It was a wonderful experience and and experience I'll never forget. They even made me a special bug crown!
So the question now, as always, what's next? I just finished another flute choir commission for the Atlanta Flute Club. It's a piece for the 10th Annual Flute Choir Extravaganza event on November 15. So far there are 5 flute choirs signed up to join the premiere performance, with a possibility of a couple more. That will be an amazing experience to stand in front of all those flute choirs and conduct a premiere of my own piece.
I will premiere another work of mine for flute and piano, Three-Nine Line, with pianist Ipek Brooks on October 3. Now, I am just about to start putting the first notes on the page for a flute and trombone duet commissioned by Dr. Shelley Martinson. I also have a couple of commissions out to be signed and negotiated...yes they are for flute. Of course I have my usual load of students, Terminus Ensemble performances, and Perimeter Flutes has a plethora of performances coming up as well. Needless to say, I am going to take advantage of the holiday weekend to get the house in order so that our house isn't condemned by Christmas....
Flute New Music Consortium also interviewed me. Watch me try to speak English, shockingly my first and only language, but I'm not sure you can tell:
Every year I summer comes around and basically I white knuckle it until October when work picks back up (ie students and gigs). This summer is no different in the student and paid gig arena, but in the composition department is has been a record breaking season for me - well as far as summer is concerned. This summer has been filled with commissions, performances of my works, and a competition win!
My summer kicked off in the win column when it was announced in June that I won The Flute View's Composition Competition. Winning a competition is rare, especially for me. Winning meant a little money to help us get through June (record breaking low since I started teaching - thanks students for getting awesome and going away to music camps). It also meant a lot of publicity as well as a premiere of the my winning composition Percolate for flute trio. I haven't heard the premiere yet, but I'm sure it was amazing since it was performed by Viviana Guzman, Andrea Fisher (Fluterscooter), and Alice K. Dade. Did I mention that there was all sorts of publicity tied to this? There was a Youtube interview and a podcast interview with The Flute View.
August is shaping up to be a good month as well thanks to the National Flute Association Convention. The Flute Choir of Atlanta directed by Kathy Farmer will premiere Summer Insomnia for flute choir that they had commissioned specifically for this performance. (Purchase availability coming soon!) I will join forces with my sister who is a physical therapist to give a workshop about pain prevention called "When Tooting Your Flute is a Pain in Your Neck". So I think this summer certainly makes up for last summer.
There's been bumps in the road - AC breaking in the car and the house, a flat tire, health junk. But we got through it. The hubs even quit smoking! How awesome is that!?!
Well it's that time of the year where students go off to their various vacations and summer camps, gigs dry up, and I'm left with free time - and this time a commission! Although, its not a large commission, its something, and it could lead to other things. At the very least it will get some money coming in to make up for a few missed students. Like last year, summer there are fun things to do. Unlike last year, we are hoping to dodge any and all depressing life set back (all pets and cars are required to stay healthy this summer).
So what am I doing this summer? Let's start with my favorite part...I have a commission! This past year has been all about composing for flute, and this summer will be no different. The Atlanta Flute Club has commissioned me to compose a fanfare for the 10th annual Flute Choir Extravaganza that will happen November 15. I love commissions where I know who I am writing for and there is a definite premiere date in place. Nothing worse than never hearing a piece performed that I had written. When I am done with my current self appointed project, I might dive into that next. Personally, I might try to write something short without flute just so I can make sure I am varying my writing a bit. Still, I can't wait to hear a GYMNASIUM full of flutists perform my fanfare.
I'm also doing a bit of playing. On Sunday (5/31), I will perform with Terminus Ensemble. I FINALLY get to play Dr. Charles Knox's A River Runs Through It for flute and piano. It's a beautiful piece and I am glad I get to play it with Dr. Ipek Brooks. I will also be performing Olivia Keiffer's Two Horn Unicorn for flute and viola with Mike Brooks, and Glasz by David Garner. Looking forward to playing more with this ensemble.
On June 27, I'll be attending Flutapalooza. I'll be there performing with Perimeter Flutes, presenting "Beatboxing to a Better Bach", and selling my wares at the Spotted Rocket Publishing booth. It will be a very busy day!
And that's about it until the National Flute Convention in Washington, DC in August. My sister and I will present "When Tooting Your Flute is a Pain in Your Neck" and the Flute Choir of Atlanta will premiere my new work Summer Insomnia for flute choir. Have I mentioned I've been writing a lot of flute music lately? Here's one example of what I've written, and it just got its premiere in March. Then some of my favorite flute people decided to also perform the first movement and send me a video so I could finally hear it! You can also buy the sheet music for Orion's Belt!
That's it. That's what's on the agenda for the summer. So I hope everyone decides to buy my music this summer to help keep things going :) I could also use a few more commissions. I hear I'm pretty reasonable!
On Thursday I make the journey with my flute quartet, Perimeter Flutes, to New Orleans for the National Flute Association Convention. I have a small confession, I've only been to one flute convention and that was 2 years ago. I am was never interested in going until I decided the convention 2 years ago in Charlotte, NC was too close to miss out on. Now I'm hooked. There's so much good stuff going on and you get to see all your long lost flute friends, and meet the ones you've been stalking online. This year I'm not just an audience member, I am performing and two of my compositions will be performed.
On Thursday, August 8, at 12:30pm,"Tamar" will be performed by a group who all met on Twitter, myself included. The musicians are Tammy Evans Yonce, Meerenai Shim, Alexis del Palazzo, and Kathy Farmer (who was gracious enough to fill in for me!) It was a last minute addition to the program, so unfortunately I might not be in attendance. I'm gonna try my best to get there in time, but I don't know if it will be physically possible. I think this will be the 5th ensemble to sink their teeth into "Tamar".
On Saturday, August 10, at 2:45pm, "French Quarter" will be premiered by Perimeter Flutes. This is where I make my debut performing at the NFA Convention. Nothing like performing your own flute composition for a bunch of flutists to really add an interesting sense of pressure. I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully it will interest other flutists who might want to perform it or commission me to compose something for them.
Another big part of what I am looking forward to is seeing all the people. Mainly, I'm looking forward to old friends, commissioners (new and old), and fast friends I've made with like minded flutists. The four days I'm at NFA will be crammed with performances, sight seeing, and most of all good times with friends. Let's just hope I can stay awake for all of it to enjoy it all.
I wish I could say when I get back home from convention I could rest up, but that doesn't look like it will happen. I will cram all my students into a short 3 day work week and head back up to Connecticut to hear Cuatro Puntos premiere "Elasticity". Seriously, its Christmas in August for me.
