Music … playing and teaching

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Time to settle back into the teaching routine. The kids are back in school and the gig level has dropped back to just weekends. My private studio is running at about 85%.

I’m excited for the Fall season. The foliage in this part of the country is amazing and it’s time to start organizing for my New Hampshire Independent School of Music fall ensembles. I’m blessed to conduct 3 adult ensembles. The folk group is around 7 members strong. The jazz group is 5 members and the string group is a little thin at this time with just 2 musicians (one violin and one cello). I’ll have to step up to the plate and dust off my viola chops so we can have a string trio. If anyone in the lakes region of New Hampshire is interested in any of these groups check out the NHISOM web page at www.NHISOM.org

Peace and good tunes to you, D. Patrick

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It’s a very exciting day for Lisa Young & Co. Today we are off to Brunswick Maine for a performance in the V.I.P tent for the coordinators, sponsors and performers at this years “Brunswick Maine Naval Air Show“. It’s expected that there will be up to one thousand people in attendance for the dinner and gala to kick off the air show. The air show starts tomorrow Sept 6th and runs through Sunday Sept 7th.

We are also very excited for the release of Lisa’s new CD “Reach For The Sky”. The actual release is set for Sept 28th but the company that has been putting together the finale CD disk and cover (Disk Makers) said it will be at our door 10:30am today in time for the air show. Our fingers are crossed as we have to be on the road by 11:00. Wish us luck.

Peace and good tunes, D. Patrick

Wednesday was a beautiful day in the lakes region of New Hampshire. I was blessed with the opportunity to do some fishing with my good friend and fellow  musician Andy (piano, violin, bass) K. It was nice to get away from the music studio and on to the lake for a couple of hours. We tangled with some small mouth bass. I caught the first and biggest but Andy out fished me in the quantity department. The only music we talked about and listened to was the sweet song of the loon.

Back to teaching today and as the school season progress it will only get busier. That’s a good thing.

Peace and good tunes to you, D. Patrick

It has been one of the busiest summers for music performances since I moved to the East coast a little over 8 years ago. I logged in 55 gigs from June 1st to August 31st. That isn’t a record but is certainly comes close.

Labor Day 2008 is now in the history books. School is back in session for the lakes region of New Hampshire. The morning s are feeling a little more crisp with a dry coolness in the air. Some of the leaves are starting to show signs of change. Time to settle back into a more steady teaching routine. There are some big shows coming up, not to mention Lisa’s CD release party but the gigs will taper off to mostly weekends. I am however, getting excited to the group of returning and new music students.

Peace and good tunes, D. Patrick

It’s a busy weekend to close out the tourist season for Lisa Young & Co.

Tonight it’s the Bridgewater Inn Bridgewater NH then Sunday a private party on Lake Winnipesaukee followed by the last show of the season for the Town Docks in Meredith NH. We hope you all have a great Labor day Weekend and please try to get out and support live music.

Peace and good tunes to you D. Patrick

Day one of the New Hampshire Independent School of Music over night camp was … exciting, hectic, fun, and over with to fast. Between fixing trumpets, guitars, violas, and flutes, learning our schedule and where to go for classes, finding the lunch hall and meeting and greeting old and new faces, the day just flew by. What a great assortment of 46 kids, all loving their music and wanting to grow musically. This years camp is held once again on Lake Winnipesaukee this time at the North Woods & Pleasant Valley YMCA Campground.

Peace and good tunes to you, D. Patrick

The rain has been strong and deadly. We had a fatality at a campground in Ashland due to flash flooding. Tragically a 7 year old little girl lost her life. Life is so fragile and tenacious. It’s an old but true adage … “we must live the moment because we never know when it will end”.

Today I start preparation for the New Hampshire Independent School of Music over night camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. We have a lot of excited kids fir the camp. Many are returning campers and a few new to spice up the week. This is our third year holding the overnight camp and it has grown past our widest expectations. But how can you go wrong, outdoor fun, water play (canoeing, fishing, swimming), and music. Sounds like a great combination to me.

Peace and good tunes to you, D. Patrick

I love music. Once again due to music I made a new friend. Lisa Young and Co. was playing at Fun Town Splash Town in Saco Maine Saturday and as luck would have it my digital camera failed on me. I saw a man in the audience with a digital camera and and asked if he would take some pics and e-mail them to me. He said sure and as it turns out he is an electric guitar builder. I check out his page and they are really cool guitars. Be sure to check them out at www.mbkustomguitars.com/

Peace and good tunes to you, D. Patrick

The 2008 New Hampshire Independent School of Music summer day camp was once again a huge success. The camp had 26 students. I was blessed this year by being able to work closely with eleven of these fine musicians. I was honored to conducted two guitar groups with three guitarists in each, one guitar ensemble of seven guitarists, two students with DAI (discover an instrument) on cello, five DAI guitar, and three DAI on violin. The performance on Friday afternoon was wonderful and exciting for all the parents and friends of these fine musicians. Time and again I would hear someone say to me or one of the others teachers how amazed they were that we could put together such a fine concert in five days. Our humble response was unanimous, “it’s not just us … it’s those amazing kids.” We were treated to a great concert of vocalists, jazz groups, blues groups, classical piano and woodwind groups. The finale was the entire camp performing an audience participation tune called “Listen to the Rain”. You can check out the pictures at www.myspace.com/standupfclef I’m already looking forward to next years camp but first it’s time to prepare for the overnight camp on lake Winnipesaukee later this month.

Peace and good tunes to you, D. Patrick