I was sitting in a dress rehearsal early Saturday morning and experienced quite an interesting phenomenon.  It is allergy season in Northern California and I, like many, woke up that morning with a bit of head congestion.  Normal.  I arrived at the dress rehearsal not thinking much of my condition because it was not effecting…

Wind and brass players tend to speak in a strange foreign language when discussing articulation.  We flutists, for example, have developed numerous syllables for use in single, double and triple tongued passages that slightly alter the quality and ease of sound production.  Below is a comprehensive list of some of these popular (and not so popular) syllables…

  I was recently asked to sub for a local symphony whose principal flute accepted another position within 2 weeks of the concert.  Accordingly, I was in a mad rush to get the music and begin to cram.  After numerous email chains, I was told I could pick up the music at this person’s house (who…

Welcome to the second post in my Performer Spotlight series!  For this entry I decided to focus on another living artist who has conquered not only the solo and chamber music stages but has also made quite a reputation as an orchestral performer with a sound of solid gold.  Emmanuel Pahud has served as the principal…

  The metronome.  Best friend or worst enemy?  We all tend to use the metronome to correct rhythm deficiencies in our playing because it functions as an objective, mechanical observer.  Reliable rhythm is like the Sun, if you will, to our own musical solar system.  Without rhythm there is still music but that music is…