Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Performing with the Chattanooga Symphony
I'm still receiving new fan pictures which is great, but it's going to be a few days before I get to post them, as quite a few exciting projects are demanding my immediate attention.I've just been asked to perform with the Chattanooga Symphony for their July 3, Pops In The Park concert. It will be the second time I've gotten to play with our local orchestra and I'm thrilled and honored that Maestro Robert Bernhart is giving me this opportunity. We'll be playing the intermezzo from the Hary Janos Suite by Zolton Kodaly, which is a fiery hungarian folk ballad. Those of you who have my Turning Point cd will recognize the title right away. The version I play with the symphony is straight from the original orchestral score. I play the cymbolum part, which is the Hungarian ancestor of the hammer dulcimer.
Also on the program are two of my tunes, Spring Peepers and Dragonflies. These are from my first cd, Questions in the Calm. Playing my own music with a full orchestra is like a dream come true, but it also means I have a lot of work to do writing the string arrangements. I worked over 12 hours yesterday on Spring Peepers, finally forcing myself to stop and go to bed. The scores need to be finished by Friday so I'll have to press on today.
On top of all this I'm playing a reception this afternoon hosted by Allied Arts of Chattanooga at the Chattanooga Theatre Center, going to Black Mountain, NC Wednesday to visit and deliver cds to hammer dulcimer craftsman Jerry Reed Smith at his store, Song of the Wood, and getting ready to start street performing again this weekend at the Tennessee Aquarium.
Later in July I'll be teaching, performing and selling hammer dulcimers at a workshop in Evart Michigan, and this fall I'll do a workshop in Jefferson County, Missouri. If you're in either one of these areas, please write and let me know. I'd like to find some venue's along the way at which I could possibly put together a few small concerts - even house concerts are not out of the question.