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Flute

Performing is Fun

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What is fun about performing?

Sometimes students are scared to play in front of others. I completely understand that. Sometimes I get nervous too. When I was younger my dad always wanted me to play my flute or the piano for anyone that came through our front door, or so it seemed. Did I love that? Absolutely not! But now, years later, I’m grateful that he was so proud of me and wanted to provide opportunities for me to share my talents with others as often as I could.

I went to college and earned degrees in Flute Performance and Pedagogy. Some of the college requirement options were to either do a research paper or do a solo performance. Which one did I choose? You guessed it. Performance!! I had a lot of fun preparing and playing multiple solo recitals during my years in college and graduate school, not to mention all the large and small ensemble performances I’ve been involved in for the past 40 years.

Utah Valley Symphony Sunday in the Park

Last week I played with the Utah Valley Symphony for our second outdoor summer concert in the park. The symphony is on the left just past the large screen and the van. It’s not the best photo, but at least it gives you an idea of the setting. Even though a lot of people filled the park to come listen to us and even though it was being filmed by the local cable company to be rebroadcast later, I wasn’t concerned about the people or the cameras.

I was just so happy to be playing again and even more grateful that the wind wasn’t blowing like our last outdoor concert. I sure missed not preforming last year, thank to COVID.

Our concert was patriotic and movie music such as Battle Hymn of the Republic, Moon River, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Over the Rainbow, Harry Potter and more. Nothing heavy and serious, just a lot of fun and beautiful music. There wasn’t anything scary about playing this summer concert.

So what’s fun about performing?

Continue reading “Performing is Fun” →
Utah Valley Symphony

Utah Valley Symphony Sunday in the Park

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The Utah Valley Symphony is performing a free outdoor concert on Sunday, July 18th, 2021, at 7:30 pm. We will be set up on the east side of the Spanish Fork Library, 49 South Main Street, Spanish Fork, Utah.

Here is the official news release:

This year, Legacy House is proud to present Utah Valley Symphony as the Sunday in the Park entertainment. Utah Valley Symphony is the longest established community orchestra in the Valley. The Utah Valley Symphony was organized in 1959 as a non-profit organization.  Its purpose was to give the talented local musicians an opportunity to use their talents and to provide the community with symphony music.

They will be performing popular classics including Star Spangled Banner; ET: Journey to the Stars; Over the Rainbow; American Salute (This is Morton Gould’s arrangement of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”); Moon River; Fiddler on the Roof Medley ; Harry Potter, Wondrous World; The Battle Hymn of the Republic; and more!

Some seating is provided, but you may also bring chairs or blankets for your comfort. Bring the family for a wonderful evening of fun, and inspiring music!

Food vendors will not be available during this event so please feel free to bring your own drinks and snacks.
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Flute

What Have You Learned?

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It’s great to finally start having some things return back to “normal” after the pandemic. We’ve all learned a lot during this past year. If each person made a list, and we compared them side by side, perhaps there might be some things that are similar but for the most part, I’ll bet each one would be different.

Keeping yourself and your family safe became the number one priority, no matter the costs. Having three “high risk individuals” living in my home at the time, we took the virus very seriously. The pandemic helped remind us what’s truly important in life and what things are nice, but not critical. Our schedules suddenly became free from all extra curricular events for a time.

I remember when I saw an empty parking lot at a chain of retail stores in the middle of the day and how strange it seemed. This was another reminder of what’s critical such as food and medication and other household items, like toilet paper, right? We all had to get used to wearing masks and it became a natural part of getting out of the car to go into a business. Yet, now it seems strange to see so many people without masks.

What did I learn as a musician?

Continue reading “What Have You Learned?” →
Utah Valley Symphony

Together Again

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After more than 14 months, the Utah Valley Symphony finally came together again last week for a rehearsal. Even though this picture isn’t a rehearsal, we can look forward to performing together soon. It sure has been a long empty year of no symphony. I can’t express how wonderful it was to play music again as a large ensemble.

We are preparing for two outdoor summer concerts. The concerts will consist of movie themed and patriotic music including Over the Rainbow, Moon River, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harry Potter, American Salute, and others. It will be fun!

Mark June 28th and July 18th on your calendars and come hear the Utah Valley Symphony again or come hear us for the first time. Details are on the sidebar under Upcoming Events.

Flute

Summer Practicing

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Hooray for Summer! Who doesn’t love a change of pace, the warm summer sun, lemonade, swimming pools, ice cream and vacations?

With all the fun and extra events that summer brings, how do you stay motivated to practice during the summer? Commit to keep playing, especially if you are not taking lessons during the summer.

Sight read anything. Pull out old books you’ve previously gone through, flip randomly to a page and see what you can still play.

Go to flutetunes.com and try the Tune of the Day. They have an audio recording along with it.

Summer can be a great time to strengthen your scales and put them to memory.

Play popular music or folk tunes. All local music stores always have popular music or Broadway or Disney music favorites or Irish tunes or folk songs for flute. Try a new one each day as you continue to work on proper breaths, accurate tonguing, solid tone and vibrato.

If you find it hard to motivate yourself to practice, at the very least, listen to exceptional flute players. Maybe that will motivate you to practice.

In any case, enjoy summer and keep music a part of it in some way.