Assault on Sun Prairie, WI

Tuesday started bright and early with a rehearsal at 8 AM -- I wandered into the building with NO IDEA where I was going. Fortunately, I ran into Garry, a tuba player in the band, who recognized me and he helped me get my gear to the stage and get set up (thanks again, Garry!). Very soon, I met the director, Steve Sveum (seen here holding my beloved 7-string) -- one of the nicest, most accommodating, and generally chilled-out cats I've ever met. Soon the band arrived, and after a few words about the piece, it was time to play. Steve gave the downbeat, and we were on. It was clear from the get-go that this band was well-rehearsed -- they dug their teeth into the first movement's brisk tempo and clamped their jaws down on it. And even though it wasn't a huge ensemble, their sound was MASSIVE. I tell you, I was having an absolute blast playing with them... and it was only 8:15 in the morning!

The high point of rehearsal was when it came time for my cadenza, and just as I hit this screaming high note -- I hear a voice... booming through the room, coming from no where in particular... well, I'm inclined to stop playing when I start hearing voices. Turns out it was the school's intercom system coming through the auditorium, but there were a few seconds where I had NO IDEA what was going on!

After rehearsal, a percussionist named Kyle found me in the hallway -- he just wanted to double-check some dynamics and interpretive ideas, but I had to tell him that his section was really knocking me out. Usually, I have to spend a fair amount of rehearsal tweaking the percussion parts in the third movement, but this section was tight and well-balanced, and needed no attention at all. Combine them with Andy, the bass player who was laying down a bulletproof groove, and I was soloing over them with effortless ease.


Sarah Strohmenger, me, and Liz Hanley before Chaos Theory...

The next rehearsal of the day was with the Wind Symphony, who was performing TranZendental Danse of Joi. Again, the band was very well-rehearsed, and while there were kinks that needed to be worked out here and there, things ran pretty smoothly. I rearranged some stuff at the last minute on Wes (the drummer), but he totally rolled with it everything and there was nothing to worry about. I couldn't quite get my hands moving fast enough during the bass guitar solo, but I kept my fingers crossed that the performance would go better...

Jasmine came up to me after the rehearsal with some questions about publishing -- she writes choral music and is even considering taking on a concert band piece. She obviously has a lot of drive and motivation, and I'll be very interested to see how long it will be before I'm opening a concert program and find one of her pieces listed inside.

After a break for lunch, it was time for Sticks & Stones. The drumset soloist was a very talented guy from Madison, WI named Jim Huwe -- it was only the second time he'd seen the piece, but it was fantastic to hear him bring so much energy and musicality to the piece.

Once rehearsal was finished, Nicki and I found ourselves with a few hours to relax. We briefly considered going to visit the Spam Museum we'd seen advertised in a brochure at the hotel, but it was in Minnesota, and we decided that was a little ambitious for the mood we were in. We decided on a Diner in town, where we had an early dinner and an AMAZING slice of Peanut Butter Silk pie (sorry, no photos for the pie...).

Halfway through, the alto sax soloist from Sticks & Stones, Neil, came into the diner. It turned out he'd been looking all over town for us! Neil is also an aspiring guitarist and composer, and was hoping we could talk about music and composition. We agreed on a time to meet, and he left. Eventually Nicki and I went over to a coffee house called "The Bean 'n Cream" where we watched the owner's 2 year old daughter run about the entire coffee house while the owner and his wife tried to keep track of her -- it was better than television, let me tell you.

Soon enough we were headed back to the school, where I met back up with Neil, and spouted off about classical guitarists he should check out and general compositional stuff (hey Neil: that guitar composer I couldn't remember the name of? LEO BROUWER -- I remembered at around 12:30 in the morning!)

The entire concert seemed to go over very positively -- and well it should have. The bands all played really, really well and I was very pleased to hear their interpretations of my music. The Sticks & Stones performance was appropriately fierce, and Jim Huwe was absolutely flawless. TranZendental Danse of Joi was even better in performance, with the entire band pocketing the groove... and I even managed to make it through my bass solo fairly unscathed. And Chaos Theory... well, they tore the roof off the mother... once or twice, I managed to make eye contact with Steve Sveum, and I could tell he was having an absolute BLAST keeping this runaway train teetering on the brink... but the whole ensemble was glued to his baton and they never missed a trick.


Sarah, me, and Liz AFTER Chaos Theory...

After the concert was over, there was nothing left but to say congratulations and goodbyes to our new friends, and then pile the gear into the car and head back to Chicago. Nicki and I never turned on the radio once, and spent most of the 2.5 hour trip talking about the day and the concert and all the people we'd met that day.


Janessa, me, and Garry

me and my buddy Robert Rockman, future stunt guitar shredmeister extraordinaire...

A huge thanks to Garry, Carlos, Kyle, Sarah, Liz, Jasmine, Nick, Joe, Andy, Anna (cough!), Wes, Neil, and all the other musicians who worked so hard on this music, and whose names didn't deserve the ill fate of my sieve-like brain. A special thanks to Jim Huwe, not only for coming out to play Sticks & Stones, but also for totally kicking its ass. And an extra special thanks to Steve Sveum, for making this entire experience possible, for being such a kind and gracious host, and for treating my music with such care and attention.

THANKS SUN PRAIRIE!!!