Romeo and Juliet

I am pretty lucky to be covering two amazing reed parts on Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" which is being performed at Spreckels Theatre from May 11 - 13. Not only do I get to play the crazy fun bass clarinet book but I also get to play the classic tenor sax solos... not many of those to be found in the standard classical repertoire.

This is going to be one of the biggest productions ever staged by City Ballet of San Diego and promises to be a feast for the eyes and ears. Enter "Orchestra" in the coupon code section when buying your tickets online and get $10 off per ticket: www.cityballet.org

Ebony Concerto

For anyone who doesn't know, the Woody Herman Orchestra commissioned a piece from Stravinsky in 1945 and Ebony Concerto was the result. Not your grandma's big band swing chart. Stravinsky called it his contribution to the blues and Woody, who was supposedly a little disappointed, called it "the quietest piece he ever wrote in his life." Regardless, almost 70 years later, it still sounds like a fresh and unique approach to a standard instrumental genre to me.

I'm really excited to be playing tenor sax and bass clarinet on Ebony Concerto with La Jolla Symphony for two concerts in March. It's the only piece I'm playing on but it's going to be a great program:

http://www.lajollasymphony.com/assets/pdfs/March_ePostcard.pdf