Stan Curtis playing a Baroque slide trumpet. (Photo by Elisa Koehler)

It’s Thanksgiving Weekend and I’m thankful for a terrific new trumpet blog by my brilliant colleague, Stanley Curtis (www.trumpetjourney.com). In addition to serving as a trumpeter in the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., Stan is gifted performer on both the natural trumpet and the cornetto as well as the modern Baroque trumpet with vent holes and any other member of the trumpet family, old or new. He has even performed the Haydn Trumpet Concerto on keyed trumpet. He earned a doctorate from Indiana University and was a prizewinner in the First Altenburg Baroque Trumpet Competition in 1995 in Bad Säckingen, Germany.

Stan’s blog is a reflection of his unique combination of musicianship and scholarship as well as his never-ending pursuit of excellence. It includes a comprehensive Trumpet History Timeline (complete with photos and video links), abundant educational content, and many useful links for trumpeters. For some reason, he decided to post An Interview with Elisa Koehler recently, but don’t let that stop you from checking out Stan’s fantastic blog. I will always be grateful to Stan for helping me to get started on my own journey in learning to play the natural trumpet and the cornetto several years ago. You’ll never meet a more humble, generous, and talented musician. But you should hear him play, too! Luckily, there are audio links of his fine performances on the blog. What are you waiting for? Go check out Stan’s Trumpet Journey Blog now! You’ll be glad you did.

It’s been over a year since my last blog post, so I thought it was high time that I wrote something new here. What have I been doing all of this time? Well, I’m currently on sabbatical leave during the fall semester to finish two book projects. The first one is The Trumpet Family: Instruments, History, and Repertoire [working title] for Indiana University Press and the other is Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player for Scarecrow Press. The manuscript for the first one was submitted in September and is currently in the editing phase. I’m not sure when it will be published, but most likely sometime in 2013. The dictionary project is due on February 1, 2013 and that is my main focus right now.

In the course of my research I came across a few YouTube videos that concern trumpet history that I wanted to share. The first two concern the annual summer natural trumpet workshop and present a vivid depiction of the process involved with making an instrument using historic processes. The last one is an excerpt from the Beatles Anthology series that features the late David Mason discussing the origins of the piccolo trumpet solo he played on the recording of Penny Lane.

Enjoy!

 

Brent Flinchbaugh, Lisa Weiss, and Elisa Koehler (Photo courtesy of Billie Weiss)

I had a great time this week performing a faculty recital at Goucher College with my colleague, the wonderful pianist Lisa Weiss, and trumpeter Brent Flinchbaugh who studied with me when he was in high school and whom I’m now proud to call a colleague. The program featured Brent performing the Hindemith Trumpet Sonata and your faithful scribe performing Bozza’s Caprice, Op. 47. We began with a movement from a Vivaldi Trio Sonata in G Minor for flute and oboe arranged for two piccolo trumpets and ended with Roger Voisin’s edition of Telemann’s Concerto in B-flat for Two Trumpets that was adapted from a suite for two horns from the Tafelmusik of 1733. In between all of the trumpet music pianist Lisa Weiss treated the audience to exquisite renditions of Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp Minor and the first movement of Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A Major in addition to her masterful accompaniment throughout the rest of the program. To give you a sense of what it was like, here is a video of the last movement of the Telemann, thanks to my student orchestra manager, Alyssia Smith, who operated the video camera. Enjoy!

The view from my desk at the home office.

Somehow I have fooled people into believing that I am organized. It’s all purely self-defense, I assure you. One of my favorite college professors told me that he was convinced that I was “a right brain person masquerading as a left brain person,” and he was right. Organization is a learned skill, not a natural trait, especially for artistic dreamers (sigh).  The secret is finding the right tools that work for you and keeping up with the system on a regular basis.

Have you noticed that practically everyone feels stressed out, overwhelmed, and pressed for time? It’s a serious societal problem. Technology lures us into a false sense of power and mastery, fooling us into believing we really can “do it all.” But it’s a lie. We can’t. Multitasking is for computers, not humans. Time is a finite commodity. How we spend it is up to us.

Every time you turn around these days there’s a new book addressing personal productivity, time management, and organization … and I’ve read most of them (or listened to the audiobook version in my car or on the treadmill). I’ll recommend a few of my favorites in a moment, but first I want to address the root of the problem: feeling out of control.

Personal organization is just that: personal. No single system works for everyone. You need to figure out what works best for you, which is much easier said than done. For me it’s a combination of technology and paper with a healthy dose of David Allen, Steven Covey, Julie Morgenstern, St. Benedict, and Benjamin Franklin.

Let me explain. I was about to have a nervous breakdown until I discovered David Allen’s Getting Things Done four years ago through the abridged audiobook version on a long drive to a conference. It literally changed my life. Allen’s system is now known as “GTD” and it has become justly celebrated for its ability to clear away the clutter of the mind, spawning a thriving consulting business, podcasts, and a blog. If you’re in a hurry (and who isn’t, right?) the best summary of David Allen’s GTD ideas is found on Josh Kaufman’s blog, The Personal MBA. The bottom line: get everything out of your head and into a trusted system (notebook, calendar, software, smartphone, reference files) that you will check regularly; write everything down and keep track of it regularly. When you know that you have everything under control, you can free up your mind to focus on important things and experience the elusive Elysium of inner peace.

Wonderful as GTD is, it’s not the complete answer for me. You need to find your “trusted system” for it all to work, and that takes time and adjustment (and let’s be honest, some serious housecleaning). For my to-do lists and goals, I like to use Toodledo, which is a free website with companion software (not free, but only $2.99 US as of this writing) for most major smartphones and tablets. I like it because it’s accessible through the password-protected website on any computer or on my smartphone (both versions sync automatically so there’s no hassle with different versions). Any to-do list can work for you. I tried using a paper notebook and a smartphone (PDA) for a while, but I much prefer the multi-platform accessibility of Toodledo. The ability to capture ideas wherever you are whenever they hit you (usually not in the office) is invaluable. I regularly leave myself voice mail messages while driving, too (using hands-free Bluetooth with speed dial), when I need to remember something.

As wonderful as Toodledo can be, Evernote is an absolute lifesaver. It’s a cloud-based service like Toodledo with a wealth of cross platform options. For example, I began writing this blog post using Evernote on my laptop while watching a Wimbledon match last month and then decided to finish it tonight. Click on the web link for Evernote at the beginning of this paragraph right now to explore its untold riches. Really, do it now, and forget my silly blog. You’ll thank me later. Evernote will transform your life! Did I mention that it’s free? You can even capture photos with your smartphone (text in photos is searchable; this is great for receipts) and record voice memos in Evernote.

Speaking of cloud-based systems, another popular storage option is Dropbox. It’s free with limited storage; additional storage is available for a fee (Evernote and Toodledo work the same way). You can download Dropbox software onto several different computers and link them all to your account through a password. In other words, I can add a file to the Dropbox folder on my home computer and then access the same file in the Dropbox folder on my computer at work; the files sync automatically over the internet when the computers power up (and immediately when files are added). Despite the recent security breach, Dropbox is a great service, provided you don’t expect miracles in cyberspace. Face it, cloud services are not for everyone, but the benefits overwhelmingly outweigh the risks, in my world. I actually thought of naming this blog post something like, “Head in the Clouds,” but thought that didn’t convey the main point.

I also like to use Google Calendar and Google Docs for a variety of purposes (yes, another cloud-based service), but I always revert back to a paper At-A Glance Monthly Planner for my GTD Weekly Review (usually on Saturday mornings). I prefer a paper calendar for archiving purposes and to make sure I keep track of important dates. I use the calendar on my smartphone (which is synced to Google Calendar) for everyday planning and then I update the paper Monthly Planner during my GTD Weekly Review. I prefer the Monthly Planner layout so I can get the “bird’s eye view” of everything and quickly scan what’s happened and what’s coming up next. It’s also handy for quickly referencing events from past years. I only write major events, performances, and appointments in the Monthly Planner, not daily agenda items. Having lost my calendar and contacts data twice over the years due to Palm software syncing problems, I don’t trust my life to Google. There’s always a paper backup.

So those are the tools. Here are some of the best books I would recommend on organization and productivity. For home organizing, you can’t beat Julie Morgenstern’s Organizing from the Inside Out, but I prefer David Allen’s tips for a home filing system in Getting Things Done. Best tip: everything needs a home or a zone (i.e. don’t put home office stuff in the kitchen). For home/work management philosophy with a twist of neuroscience, David Rock’s Your Brain at Work is astonishingly brilliant and sensible; by far the best book on the subject I’ve ever encountered. For “Quick & Dirty Tips” for organization and productivity, don’t miss Stever Robbins‘s entertaining little book, Get-it-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More. Steven Covey’s classic The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  is a valuable source of helpful information especially the time management habit, which he expanded on in a separate book called First Things First. If you want to get started, read Get-it-Done Guy’s 9 Steps first, then Your Brain at Work followed by Getting Things Done.

And in case you’re wondering why I mentioned St. Benedict and Benjamin Franklin several paragraphs earlier, I have found that the key to keeping everything in balance is to maintain a regular sleep schedule and to spend daily quality time with a higher power than Google.

But before I go, I want to take a moment to address a very real problem that is often the subject of jokes and not taken seriously: work addiction. Burning the candle at both ends and pulling an all-nighter may be necessary occasionally in extreme circumstances, but if it’s a regular lifestyle, it might be an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The best source on the subject is Bryan E. Robinson’s excellent book, Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics. Being organized and productive is one thing, but never making time for anything else is not healthy. There’s a “Work Addiction Risk Test” (or WART for short, how cute) in the front of the book that assesses related personality traits and situations. I read the book last summer when I was killing myself to earn tenure (which I did in March 2011) and was a little worried about myself. But I got a low score on the WART (I’m a lazy dreamer at heart) and realized after reading the book that I was just genuinely overburdened the past two years. Life is much better – and more organized! – now.

Thanks for taking the time to read all the way to the end of this unusually long blog post. I have wanted to write about this for a long time, but didn’t have the time until now. If you have any good tips for organization and productivity, I’d love to hear from you!

One of the great joys of being a conductor is collaborating with guest soloists whose artistry and skill inspires everyone around them. Such was the case last month at the Frederick Symphony concert on May 7, 2011 which featured pianist Jeffrey Chappell performing Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto. Not only was it a privilege to work with Jeff, my colleague at Goucher College, but it was a rare opportunity to collaborate on what is widely considered the world’s most demanding piano concerto.

Elisa Koehler conducting the Frederick Symphony Orchestra (photo extracted from a video using the Freeze Frame feature in iMovie)

Jeff wrote about the performance and how he prepared for it on his blog  (entries dated May 23-31, 2011) and even said it was “the best concert I ever gave in my life so far.” Now, I’ve been privileged to hear Jeff perform many times (including a dazzling improvised fugue, all styles of jazz and classical music, and his own brilliant compositions), so this was quite a profound statement. But after reading about Jeff’s experiences on his blog, I have a deeper understanding of his perspective. There was also an article about the concert in the Frederick News Post. (not a review; it appeared before the concert).

Thanks to the efforts of Ted King of King Video Productions , and with the permission of Jeff Chappell, videos of the complete performance (the first movement is broken into two parts) are now available on YouTube and are embedded below. Enjoy!

 

In the wake of the fall Goucher Orchestra concert, I thought I would take a minute to post a video of one of the works we performed along with my thoughts about the piece from the program notes. Enjoy!

Nobody could blame the Italian musicologist Remo Giazotto (1910-1998) for being a bit chagrined. His most famous composition is popular all over the world, yet he rarely gets the credit for writing it. Popularly known as the “Albinoni Adagio,” his Adagio in G Minor on Themes of Tomaso Albinoni contains only six measures of music from a “Sonata a tre” in G minor without opus number by the Italian Baroque composer who lived between 1671 and 1750. Giazotto discusses his method for creating the piece in his notes from the printed score: 

The first move towards the reconstruction of the work was provided by the realization of the figured bass, to which a brief introduction was added. Using this figured bass and the two thematic elements (six bars in all) the whole was pieced together and composed in full accordance with the harmonic tissue suggested by the figured bass. The organ, instead of the harpsichord, has been indicated for the figured bass in consideration of the mystic atmosphere created by it and on the assumption that this might have been a Sonata a tre ‘da chiesa’ and not ‘da camera’.

The “Adagio” doesn’t necessarily transport the listener back to the Baroque era, but rather to a romanticized conception of the period. The poignant pathos of the music may be connected to the discovery of Albinoni’s original manuscript. As the compiler of the thematic index of Albinoni’s works, Giazotto received the six measure fragment from the State Library of Dresden following the destruction of World War II. Because musicologists deal with the painful frustration of lost masterpieces on a regular basis, it’s hard not to wonder: Did the tantalizing fragment of “what could have been” combined with the cultural devastation of WWII inspire Giazotto to write his elegiac music? We can only speculate.

Violin soloist Lisa Vaupel and Elisa Koehler backstage.

There’s something about the opening concert of the season that always puts me in a good mood, but this year it was extra special. As the Music Director of the Frederick Symphony Orchestra (FSO), there is always a lot of extra work the first two months of the season editing the season program booklet, coordinating logistics, and of course rehearsing the orchestra. So when it’s finally time for the first concert after all of that preparation, there’s a unique sense of pride and achievement in the crisp autumn air. This year it was a great kick to conduct the world premiere of Usonia by talented local composer Jonathan Cohen, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, and most especially to collaborate with my good friend Lisa Vaupel for Samuel Barber’s exquisite Violin Concerto, Op. 14.

FSO also benefitted from a lot of good press and, as far as I could tell from the stage, we had a capacity crowd. The local paper, the Frederick News-Post, even published a story about me. Some people said that the article probably contributed to the turnout, but I think it was more likely that people wanted to hear our soloist, Lisa Vaupel, and the world premiere of Jonathan Cohen’s piece. Whatever the reason, it was a real thrill to perform for a packed house. Before the concert FSO Board President Matt Stegle and I were interviewed by Craig Shipp from Frederick.com, and Craig also filmed excerpts from the first half of the concert which he promptly posted online today, the day after the concert. Thanks to Craig’s generosity, the video clips are embedded below. Thanks, Craig!

Update (10/27/10)

I subscribed to the AreaCable YouTube site and just discovered that they posted a new trailer for us (rather tongue in cheek, by the way). Enjoy!

My new band coat arrived today ... three weeks too late.

Although the Vintage Band Festival ended just over a week ago, I was happy to receive my new band coat when it finally arrived today (via FedEx). There was a misunderstanding with the tailor that caused the delay, apparently. It’s a shame, but at least I’ll look good for the next Newberry Band tour.

While I’m at it, I wanted to post a better video of my cornet solo, Fantasia on “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” by F. J. Keller. The original video I posted came from an outdoor concert (on Bridge Square) where the camcorder was so far away from the band that you could hear the cicadas better than your weary scribe. So the videos below are from one of the band’s indoor concerts at the Vintage Band Festival. The sound quality and balance are much better and, although it was the third performance of the day, it was the best because I did not have to worry about my music blowing off the stand – ! The second video is my short spoken introduction to the solo where I explain how a cornet differs from a trumpet, in case you’re curious about that.

Finally, because I’m posting a video of the solo here, I wanted to put in another plug for my arrangement of the piece for cornet and piano which is available as a free download from the International Trumpet Guild Journal website, so that it would be easy to find here (one stop shopping; video and sheet music, too). It was published as the ITGJ music supplement in June 2009. Enjoy!

Elisa Koehler chats with an audience member after a concert in Northfield's Riverside Park. (Photo courtesy of Christine Beard)

After performing at the first Vintage Band Festival (VBF) in 2006, it was a great thrill to return this summer to perform with the Newberry Band again at the second festival. VBF director Paul Niemisto deserves a hearty “huzzah!” (and so much more) for organizing and hosting such a terrific festival. Paul’s incredible army of volunteer staff could not have been more helpful, friendly, and efficient. They are truly the unsung heroes of the festival.

It was a distinct pleasure to perform in all of the beautiful venues in Northfield and to enjoy such generous hospitality. I especially enjoyed speaking with so many audience members after our concerts. Several people told me how they remembered the old bands and appreciated how the Newberry Band represented that tradition. I’ll never forget the older gentleman who related to me – with tears in his eyes – his long career as a band director after our concert in Bridge Square.

Having already discussed my own family connection to the Sousa band in a previous post, I was touched to meet another woman with band heritage in her family, Joy Riggs, after our concert in Northfield’s Way Park. Joy maintains a terrific blog, My Musical Family, and she even mentioned the Newberry Band in a recent post (click on the link and scroll down). It was a privilege to “meet” her great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, who was also a bandleader and cornet soloist in the 1880s.

Photo courtesy of Carl Behr

The Newberry Band had a very busy performing schedule at the festival (seven concerts in three days plus a church service) and it was great fun to play in so many beautiful venues. Although I regretted not having the opportunity to hear many of the other fine bands at the festival, it was nice to reconnect with many of my friends in the Historic Brass Society who were holding their annual meeting in conjunction with the festival. It was a real kick to participate in the “Battle of the Bands” with our friends in the 1st Brigade Band of Wisconsin; they are a fine Civil War band with authentic uniforms and a marvelous collection of historic instruments.

It’s hard to describe how much I love playing my antique Seefeldt cornet, a beautiful and rare instrument that I can only play with the Newberry Band because it is pitched at A=452 Hz (Old Philharmonic Pitch). The cornet’s dark chocolate tone and easy response are just as gorgeous as its elaborate engraving and gold wash bell. Playing that instrument is a mystical experience that transports me back to a simpler time that is somehow more in tune with my artistic personality.

The Minichini Band at Saratoga Springs in the 1920s. (Click on photo for larger image.)

But there’s one more reason why the Vintage Band Festival is so special to me: I wrote my dissertation on a vintage bandleader, Salvatore Minichini. Having spent so many years researching that band, it means even more when I play with the Newberry Band. We even wear that same hats!

I will always be grateful to Michael O’Connor for inviting me to join Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band back in 2005. Little did he know how much it would mean to me to have the opportunity to connect with my musical heritage in so many significant ways. And above all, it’s great fun to truly be “the leader of the band”! So as I return to my not-so-normal life as an orchestra conductor and college professor, here’s one more picture of my friends in the Newberry Band. Looking forward to playing with you guys again in the future!

Newberry's Victorian Cornet Band (Standing, left to right: Michael O'Connor, William Gregory, Lori Turner, Jeff Stockham, Tyler Wiernusz, Mike Jones, Bruce Groll, Michael Beard, Barry Bocaner, Eric Caldwell, Brian Kanner, Antonio Rodriguez, and Steve Lundahl; Kneeling: Rebecca Caldwell, Russell Murray, Dickson Rothwell, Christine Beard, and Elisa Koehler)

Members of the 1st Brigade Band (left) and the Newberry Band (Steve Lundahl, right) with their rare Schreiber Eb bass (left) and Bb baritone (right) horns. Both instruments date to the 1870s. (Photo by Mike O'Connor)

A large crowd gathered by the Cannon River in the center of Northfield, Minnesota to witness a popular attraction at the 2010 Vintage Band Festival (VBF): The Battle of the Bands. Staged at high noon on Saturday, August 7, 2010, the two participating bands, the 1st Brigade Band of Wisconsin and Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band, set up on opposite banks of the river and took turns performing. Described by VBF Director Paul Niemisto as “more of a conversation than a battle,” the history behind the event is described in an interesting article by Rob Hardy on Northfield.org. When the 30-minute “battle” was over all of the band members convened on the main bridge across the river to shake hands and then we all shared a nice lunch together sponsored by the festival.

Thanks to the generosity of Northfield resident Carl Behr, I was able to create a brief video of the event to post here. Thanks for sharing your footage and for all of your wonderful photos, Carl!

UPDATE (8/18/10)

Through the courtesy of Northfield resident Dan Bergeson, here is another video from the Battle of the Bands. Shot from across the river, it shows the Newberry Band performing the rousing Finale from Act II of Verdi’s Atilla arranged by J. B. Claus. In addition to filming the band, Dan did a great job of showing the crowd along the river, and you really get a sense of how windy it was that day. Thanks, Dan!