I'm A Bird By Erik Kofoed

I finally got my hands on a recording of a concert I did with a bunch of talented musicians here in Atlanta on December 29. So here's a woodwind quintet written by local composer and brass player, Erik Kofoed, called "I'm a Bird":

http://www.nikkinotes.com/music/flute/Bird.mp3

The musicians were Brendon Bushman (oboe), Catherine Sinon (clarient...soon to be Mrs. Bushman), Dan Wions (horn), Kiyo Kojima (bassoon), and myself(flute). We only had a couple reheasals, and one as a complete group since many people were coming in an outta town for the holidays and other gigs. Myself included.

There are more musicians on that concert, and it looks like Erik is coordinating another concert in June. The series/group is called Mercury Season and there is a site: http://www.myspace.com/mercuryseason

Hopefully I'll get the recording to the GSU solo from the April concert too.

GSU and duoATL

The concert today went very well, and I believe the composer Daniel
Perttu, was really happy with the performance...whew! A really nice
guy, and I wish him well as he searches for a job as a composition
professor and on his upcoming wedding in July. If you know a college
hiring, I recommend this guy.

Now back to duoATL stuff: duoATL will be performing in Williams Hall
at Oxford College in Oxford, GA at 8pm. We will be performing works
by Piazzolla, Assad, Daugherty, Hoover, and much more.

Directions are here: http://www.emory.edu/OXFORD/map.html

We also solidified concerts at Late Nights at the Academy on June 2,
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on June 17, and a our first chamber
music series "Music on the Hill" at Northside Drive Baptist Church on
November 4.

First Guest Artist Gig!

This Friday (4/20) at noon I will be performing a solo flute work by Ohio Composer Daniel Perttu for the Socity of Composers, Inc. concert at Georgia State University's Kopleff Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public. There will be other composers having their works performed and should be a good variety of music as well as the opportunity to hear world premieres of recently composed works. To hear more of Daniel's works visit: http://www.danielperttu.com ( I am a fan of Tonospheres).

So if you around GSU and can make it out during your lunch break, check out the concert. The composer will be in attendance...no pressure...ahh the shoe's on the other foot for a change.

Turning Minor Defeats into Accomplishments

So maybe this week isn't as glamorous as last week, but the bad weeks make the good weeks even better. Professionally, everything is better than ever. Personally, not so hot, but I believe this "not so great" will turn to "something better" with time, patience, and a little of being on my own.

 

A good example, after making a bad driving decision that I will not go into embarrassing detail about, I managed to blow out a tire on the little beetle. So I pulled over into the library parking lot and begin changing my tire in heels and work attire. After wrestling with the full sized spare out of the world's smallest trunk, I was successful in changing the tire all on my very own. I got pretty good at changing the tires on the Tercel in college, so it was nice to know I can still manage it after all these years. I got kinda spoiled relying on others for help.

 

So what, I'm on my own. I can manage, and pretty damn well. It feels good to do it myself.

Another review in the AJC!

My first review, and I think its more than fair. I wasn't incredibly
happy with my sound output in this venue, but pretty nice review from
Pierre Ruhre. He thinks I might even have potential as a
composer....sweet. He's been very generous with his attention on our
group.

So here is the review from the electronic music concert on Tuesday,
where MW5 was performed: Click here to read it!

And listen to MW5 here: http://www.nikkinotes.com/music/mw5.mp3

Yesterday, Tonight, and Tommorrow

Yesterday's concert at Agnes Scott went really well. The were a couple of bobbles, but nothing tragic, and nothing we can't fix between now and the March 6th concert.
I was was concerned about my stamina in making it through the the last piece of the concert which was Daughtery's "I Loved Lucy" but the order worked out well. I was able to save all of my energy until that last piece.I have the most fun playing the last three pieces on the concert, and I think it really shows. Most of the nerves were pretty manageable. If I just remember to have a good time, the nerves seem to dissapate. So onward we go!

Tonight will be an interesting night. My electronic piece, MW5, will be played on an Atlanta Composers Electronic works concert at the Five Spot. It will be nice just to show up to a concert and not worry about performance. You just get to listen to some new and different music, and meet people that share your interest. Should be fun, and I am looking foward to it.

Tommorrow, its back to routine. Work, Eat, Practice, Sleep, Repeat.

Apparition on Bowed.org

Appatition is on the Bowed.org Podcast! Check it out here: http://www.bowed.org/019/019.mp3

duoATL performs this Sunday (2/16) at Agnes Scott College

This Sunday (2/18) at 3pm duoATL will perform at Maclean Auditorium in
Presser Hall at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA.

Brian and I will be performing Histoir du Tango by Astor Piazzolla, I
Loved Lucy by Michael Daughtery, West End Funk by Brian Luckett, and
many more works by living composers. Admission to this concert is free.

To learn more about duoATL go to http://www.duoatl.com or download our
flyer and hang it up: http://www.duoatl.com/press/concerts2007.pdf

Our next concert is March 6 at 8pm at the Emerson Concert Hall at
Emory University's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Hope to see you there!

Nicole Randall
Composer and Flautist
http://www.nikkinotes.com

Special Guest Soloist at Georgia State University

I just landed another great performance opportunity. I will be a special guest soloist at The Society of Composers, Inc. GSU Student ChapterConcert of New Works Always on Friday Series. I will be performing a work by Daniel Perttu, a doctorate student at Ohio State University.(http://www.danielperttu.com). The piece is for solo flute called "Prism" its 3 movements and about 6 minutes long.The concert will be at Florence Kopleff Recital Hall at Georgia State University on April 20th at noon. Here are the directions: http://www.music.gsu.edu/locations.aspx.

Its gonna be a busy spring!

duoATL Concerts!

duoATL announces the Spring concert season! Please come see us perform works by Piazzolla, Pipo, Sierra, Daughtery, Hoover and a world premiere by Brian Luckett! Please download our flyer, print it, and hang it up. We have a lot of seats to fill:

http://www.duoatl.com/press/concerts2007.pdf

February 18, 2007 at 3pm
Agnes Scott College
Maclean Auditorium in Presser Hall
Admission is Free

March 6, 2007 at 8pm
Schwartz Center at Emory University
Emerson Concert Hall
Admission is Free

April 13, 2007 at 8pm
Ben Franklin Academy
Atlanta, GA

April 23, 2007 at 8pm
Oxford College of Emory University
Oxford, GA

escarabajo

means beetle in Spanish...sweet.

MW5 in Atlanta Composers Concert!

I just got news today that an electronic work I created in 2000 dedicated to my dad will be performed at the Five Spot (http://www.fivespot-atl.com/) on February 19th at 8pm. I will be in good company with 12 other electronic works by Atlanta composers being played that night. I am looking foward to hearing the piece played in a large space with big speakers :)

More concerts coming soon....very soon...in fact I should be practicing right now.

2007 Resolutions

1. Give more....whether it be blood, money, or time.
2. Write it and record it. Finish something even if its just a flute solo I record myself.
3. Schedule more concert dates for 2008 for duoATL.
4. Drop a dress size. I've been on the verge of a size 8 for two years now, if I eat more veggies I think I can do it.
5. Be more "outdoorsy". I love being more active, especially camping, I did none of that in 2006.
7. Clean house. Mentally and literally there's a long of junk I need to let go of already.
6. Conquer my fears. Rock all here I come!

End of the Year!

The year is coming to a close and things should start picking up again. I've been lying low, practicing, auditioning, working, you know the drill.

I have two gigs coming up before the end of the year. Christmas Eve I return back to my hometown church, St. Ann's Catholic Church in Richmond Hill, GA. I haven't played midnight mass there in years, but this year I decided to come home for Christmas rather than pick up extra money to play. Last year I didn't play at all, I just wanted to hang out with my niece and nephews at the children's mass. It was nice just to relax...but I did miss playing.

The Friday after I have a gig playing a concert with a bunch of Eastman and Indiana alumni. Apparantly no Eastman flutists live in Atlanta. So the oboist in my woodwind quintet drafted me. Seems like its going to be a fun concert and I am looking foward to it. A really great way to finish out the year. I'm playing more in the concert setting, and its the best!

A look ahead to next year brings alot of playing as well, and hopefully duoATL can start really putting things together. After our concert in March we should have a lot of quality recordings to send out to potential venues.

As far as writing? I haven't done a lot this year. Almost nothing. So maybe I'll get back in the mood. Its time, I got a lot to say, and I need to start sayin it already.

Next Year: more writing, more playing, new website, new recordings....NO FEAR!!

Apparition Recorded!!!

After 4 years of waiting, I finally got to hear Apparition for the first time today! The performance is by James Strauss, flutist, and the string orchestra is Antunes Camera both located in Brazil. Here it is:

http://www.nikkinotes.com/music.html

Atlanta Ballet on AFM Unfair List

The saga continues...The ballet has been contacting musicians to record Michael Moricz’ score to “Great Gatsby” for the Atlanta Ballet. The score calls for symphonic orchestra, as well as a 17-piece jazz band. Needless to say the union is pretty unhappy about this latest endeavor.

A picket is planned for this weekend at the Fox Theatre during the ballet's performances:

Oct. 26 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Oct. 27 at 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Oct. 28 at 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Oct. 28 at 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Oct. 29 at 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Oct. 29 at 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

I can give you contact info of the organizer of the picketing if you need it.

The journey continues

The journey continues to find out exactly where I belong and what i am suppose to be doing with my life. I think I know what I want but then life throws you a curve ball to see what you'll actually hold on to.

I think the next couple of weeks might help me determine what I want to keep striving for...of course you know the ol saying, "Anything worth keeping (or getting) is worth fighting for".

This week duoATL had a gig, although a minor gig in Cartersville. Anyone, but me apparantly, should have known that this was not the gig for us. I think the wind made that clear when it was finally successful in ripping the pages from our clips. Nothing worse than stopping to fix your pages and starting again, no matter how small the crowd. I don't see many more outside gigs in our future. Other than that and all the distractions (motorcycles, sirens, and trains) we played basically well. However, lesson learned in my booking capablilties. Better luck next time.

This Saturday I head off to Macon to try and audition for the Macon Symphony sub flute part. I will try to be confidant, and think positive. Finding inspiration from Anne's blog.

Wish me luck! This will probably be my last big event for the year, besides the usual musical wanderings I do for the rest of the year. Next big recital isn't until February.

Ahhhh Vacation Time!

I am officially back from a week in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. We had a great time, and the weather was incredible but was ready to be back home with the Spotted Rocket. Back to the ole grind tommorrow...and back to regular eating habits. Yes you can eat too many crab legs in Baltimore no matter how good they are.

The next gig will be with Brian in duoATL at the Legacy Fine Arts Festival in Cartersville, GA. We're are going to play more of our crowd pleasers which includes Villa-Lobos and Piazzola. If you around Cartersville on October 21 at 11am come check us out. I am always a little concerned about playing outside though. Pray for good weather.

Thanks to everyone that made it out to Capitol City Opera Company's performance of Andre Previn's "Streetcar Named Desire". It went very well and was a long one, and as a musician it keeps you on your toes the whole time...even when you are resting. The best performance by the orchestra by far. The singers, as always, were awesome. I hope I get the chance to continue performing as principal flutist with the company.

Crashing Gigs

I generally do not crash gigs...but this group was a bit different. I had just finished rehearsal for the opera and met some friends to hear a band they really loved called Swami. Since they are a band with Jam tendencies they seemed to be warm to the idea of having me play. Good times playing, nice change up from the rigidness of the music I've been currently playing.

I also played with Organized Time at the Five Spot this week. Love their style, but I played like a turkey. I think I tried to do to much that day work, duoATL rehearsal, and then meeting them to jam...I was already wiped out from opera rehearsal all week...oh well. I had fun though, and that's what matters.

Mini Recharge

What wonders a visit home can do! This Labor Day weekend I packed up the dog and my flute and headed to Savannah to visit my parents and sister. I have to admit I've been feeling a little down trodden about things. I really hadn't felt like I made any progress this year. Family and old friends always has a way of showing you the big picture.

After coming home on Saturday I was able to help Mom with a Powerpoint presentation. I hate Powerpoint, never been a fan, and perhaps it is because I don't use it much. Once we got that out of the way we went to a concert by Cuarteto Latinamericano at the fabulously renovated >Lucas Theatre. It really was uplifting to hear them play music by living composers, and composers that I feel write in a similar style as me. Needless to say it got me motivated. To get back into writing again. Its been way to long, I need to jump back on that horse.

Sunday morning I played at St. Ann's in Richmond Hill, a historic church with ties to Henry Ford. It has the best acoustics, very live, but just the way I like it.

That afternoon I visited a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in about 11 years. Its crazy how people with similar lives can take such different paths. I've been just trying to make life more pleasant and he's been trying to preserve it in one form or another. But he did offer some words of wisdom...You can see the glass as half full or half empty, the important thing is to drink it. And that's something I need to remember. I doesn't matter what I've accomplished or not accomplished, the important thing is to live life. Stop worrying and make it happen for myself. Whatever I feel "it" is.

Yesterday was a sliding back into normalcy. After getting toes done with mom and sister, I headed back to Atlanta. And made it just in time for opera rehearsal. I feel better. I think I know what I need to do, and I just need to stop complaining and whining about it and get it done already. I just need to remember to lighten up sometimes and have fun. Which I hope to accomplish on my east coast road trip in a couple weeks. That should give me the ultimate recharge!