So Many Instruments, So Little Time!

If you read my blog article summarizing the International Clarinet Association convention in Baton Rouge back in 2014, you may recall that I was extremely impressed by a few instruments, but there was one in particular that snagged my attention...the Uebel Superior. This is a clarinet that provides that beautiful dark, focused German sound that I (and so many other clarinetists I know) love so much, but with the Boehm system keywork that we're all used to. Of all of the instruments I played that weekend, the one that stuck with me the most, almost to the point of obsession, was the Superior. Well, fast forward a year and a half: I am now fortunate enough to be an Uebel artist representative, and I am playing on a pair of them! I've had them for a little over 5 months now, and I fall in love with them a little bit more every day. For the first time ever (at least since I played exclusively on actual Oehler system clarinets back in 2008 for several months), I am able...

[This post's primary audience will be people who do the bulk of their work in less than ideal environmental conditions, namely theater pits and on tours. However, anybody who finds themselves having to play outdoor pops series or patriotic concerts might also find this useful!] This is an article I've been wanting to write for a while, but something happened recently that made it clear that now is the time. One of my very nearest and dearest friends (who also happens to be my roommate) was very recently playing the reed chair in a fantastic high-profile off-Broadway show, and in this show, among the 8 instruments in his book, he played oboe and English horn. In the frigid air-conditioning of the theater, during a performance (as he began to play a highly exposed solo), his English horn cracked. No, it didn't crack, it EXPLODED. His precious, dark and smooth-voiced English horn, which was the instrument that his beloved mentor and teacher used for her entire care...

I have no idea why it never happened until last weekend...I mean, I really, really love flutes. A lot. I've been to tons of regional flute fairs, and conventions for nearly every other instrument I play that HAS a convention. (Ask me about the year that I thought I could pull off Schnittke at the American Viola Society Festival...I still have nightmares.) Last summer, I went to both the International Clarinet Association convention AND the International Double Reed Society convention in the same week!  Yet... I have never been to the National Flute Association convention...until now.  In a hilariously ironic twist of fate, two years ago, the convention was held in New Orleans. Where I, you know, LIVED at the time. I literally could have *walked* from my living room to the hotel in 10 minutes. I didn't go.  Why?  I was performing in Tokyo.  #facepalm (Not that that's exactly a terrible reason...) So when my dear, lovely friend Betsy Winslo...