Lawrence Community Theatre

 This summer I played background music for the Opening Gala for the Lawrence Community Theatre.  It is a beautiful space and I look forward to seeing many wonderful productions there. 

New York again!

This has been a busy semester for me because I was playing and recording with the wind ensemble in preparation for a big trip to Carnegie Hall.  It was exciting to be able to go to New York twice in the same year for harp related events! We spent long days of our precious Spring Break recording at the Lied center.  

 After Spring Break we got a huge snow storm and I was very worried about getting to the airport.  I was traveling with a couple other people and we left really early to give ourselves enough time.  It was a stressful drive and we were going very slow behind a snowplow for quite a while.  We made it just in time for our flight.  And then our flight was delayed for three hours.  But we arrived safely and in time for dinner!

 This was at our rehearsal in a very nice space.  It was such a huge pain to unload the harps and all the percussion.  Good thing the guys handled the heavy lifting.   We are rehearsing the Phillip Glass Concerto for two timpani.  The soloists were amazing!

 Moving the harps was a big pain but the percussionists had it much worse with 8 timpani plus tons of other stuff.  This huge truck was completely packed with percussion and two harps.

 I was so glad that we went to the 9/11 memorial.  I had never been to this part of New York and the old buildings were beautiful.  The memorial was very moving and I really enjoyed being there despite the rain.

 The only free time I had was friday morning.  I happened to walk by Magnolia's but since I just had breakfast I didn't get a cupcake.  I am kind of regretting that now.

 Went to the MOMA and saw lots of great art and lots of weird stuff too.  Unfortunately Tilda Swinton wasn't there on the day that I was.

 After Moma I went to the top of the Rock.  It was fun to see the views.

 I was able to meet a high school friend for lunch and it was so fun to catch up.  Unfortunately we didn't get a picture together but she bought these amazing macarons for me to try.  Yum!

The Carnegie hall performance went well. We premiered an amazing piece, In the Shadow of no Towers by Fairouz.  It was intense to play it after visiting the memorial.  So glad I was able to be part of this performance.

AHS conference in New York!

I had a great time going to the American Harp Society conference in New York this summer.  I didn't get a lot of pictures but I really enjoyed connecting with old friends, making new friends, and of course hearing many wonderful performances. I won a raffle to get a backstage tour of Wicked with the harpist for the show, Laura Shermann.  She is such a nice person and it was so fun to see where she works.  She is not even in the pit because there isn't enough room.  She is in a dressing room and the percussionist is in the dressing room next to her.  She watches the conductor on a video and listens ona mike and she is well miked so her sound gets out there.  I think it would be a very tricky set up! 

 All of the costumes were so cool!

 I didn't actually get to see Wicked but I saw Newsies which was awesome!

Some favorite paintings in the Met

I loved their historical instrument display of course.

Latest gigs

Playing for an 80th birthday party next to this interesting mural at a restaurant in Kansas city.

 Played for a wedding at the Oread--can you tell they are KU fans?

 Bought a new harp!! Well it was a used harp but new to me.  It is a perfect size for kids.  The Ogden is a great sounding harp for a good price.

 Loved the Art Nouveau cover of the AHS journal.

 I really enjoyed playing the Fantasticks--such a fun show.  But I can't say I enjoyed wearing this hat!

 Awesome concert with the Topeka Symphony--Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky.

 Harp issues are worked out now fortunately...

 A wedding at a lovely venue in Kansas City-- Californo's

 In the pit for Tartuffe.  It actually turned out to be a pretty cool opera.

My little one sleeps as I practice.