About 3 years ago I moved to Minnesota from California (with a brief stint in Idaho where I met my husband!). A little bit before my move I recorded this video with a classical guitarist. My friend had a new drone and we shot it in the hills of the San Fernando Valley on a beautiful SoCal afternoon. It was a fun project!
Just found out about this awesome app called Tomplay that let’s you play along with real musicians. Lately I’ve been practicing with Youtube videos or tracks on Apple Classical. I’ll put my headphones in and play lightly, trying to listen to my part of the piece as well as everyone else. It’s an okay strategy but when a friend told me about this app, I was like wow this is what I needed all along!
You can mute your part, raise or lower other parts, slow them down, add a metronome, etc. It’s pretty genius and the best part is that it’s all real musicians playing, not some awful sounding MIDI or computer generated sound.
This past weekend we performed Purcell: Dido’s Lament with vocalist Deesa Staats. It was dedicated in honor of Clark Ohnesorge, the CVRO president and violinist who recently passed.
It was a beautiful and somber piece and it made me tear up every time we rehearsed and performed it!
Henry Purcell was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream called The Fairy Queen. Purcell’s musical style was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements.
I always like to read the concert program notes front to back and usually save them. The info from our last Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra concert was really interesting.
There is a list of musicians, bios on our conductor and guest soloists, as well as info on all the composers.. Check it out!
This weekend we have such great music to play for you! The Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra will be performing music from English composers the 29th and 30th of March in Northfield and Cannon Falls, MN.
One of my favorite is the suite Four Centuries by Eric Coates. Written in the darkest days of War in 1940-41, it was inspired by the bombing of London as seen from the Coates’ Baker Street flat.
In the work, he depicts dancing in the twentieth and previous three centuries: the seventeenth century, depicted by a Prelude and Hornpipe; the eighteenth, a Pavane and Tambourin; the nineteenth, a Valse (french version of Waltz); while the twentieth, ‘Rhythm’ is an affectionate tribute to the dance bands.
I’m performing with the Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra at the end of March! The theme is English Gardens with music from English composers Holst, Handel, Coates, Elgar, & Purcell. Paul Niemisto is conducting and we have a guest soloist and organist.
We have two shows and tickets are $15 at the door:
Saturday March 29th, 3pm, @ Bethel Lutheran Church in Northfield, MN
Sunday March 30th, 3pm @ St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church in Cannon Falls, MN
What a great time last Sunday was! We had a wonderful music selection with pieces from popular movies and musicals as well as guest tango dancers, a banjo player, and a powerful vocalist, Tesfa.
The Grand is such a nice space to perform at. Even with a balcony it’s still an intimate venue with a rich history. Looking forward to the next Bows Strings & Contentment Orchestra concert on June 15th, 2025!
I had an audition the other day and had to find a piece to play. I was scanning through my sheet music and decided on this piece: Bach Suite No.3 Gigue.
I really like how the video turned out. The sun was setting and there was just enough light left to film. It’s shot on my phone so of course the audio isn’t perfect but I thought it still sounded good!
I love this piece so much, it has so much movement and chaos and beauty.. it really matched my mood that day.. 🙂
Excited to be playing with the Bows Strings & Contentment Orchestra on Sunday March 9th, 6pm, at the Grand Event Center in Northfield, MN! This is a free concert featuring music from popular movies, musicals, and operas like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.
There will be a guest singer and tango dancers for some of the pieces as well as a Haydn quartet (that I’m in!) and quintet. Our conductor, Laura Geissler, has been working hard with all of us and it’s been fun to play with everyone.
The Grand is a really cool historical building that first opened in 1899 with opera and theatre performances. In 1989 it was remodeled to offer fine dining and they still serve food and drinks today, so come in early and get something before the concert!
Growing up I played multiple times a year at various retirement centers. It was a way to give back to the community and share some musical joy with the seniors. It was also a way to prepare for upcoming performances and auditions.
Thursday Feb. 27 I’ll be entertaining the residents at Northfield Retirement Community with the Bows, Strings, & Contentment Orchestra! Looking forward to this as well as our concert at The Grand in Northfield on March 9 🙂