Happy 2018!
Posted January 4, 2018
I hope to return to posting here more regularly in 2018. I have let it lapse due to the excuse of being busy, but the reality is that I am busy with things that should be posted about on this site!
2018 promises to be a busy and fulfilling year. The spring semester begins at Alabama on January 10, and the viola studio hits the ground running with a visit from none other than Carol Rodland! Carol will lead a masterclass, talk to us about her impressive project “If Music Be the Food…,” and perform an organ-viola recital with her sister, organist Catherine Rodland as the Rodland Duo. It is a tremendous thrill to host a viola pedagogue of Carol’s caliber in Tuscaloosa!
I am preparing to present at the ASTA Conference in March, and I have been busy helping organize the schedule and logistics for the American Viola Society Festival in LA this June, which will be held in tandem with the 2018 Primrose Competition. Hopefully the topics and pieces to be presented in LA will be posted on the AVS site soon: there promises to be some very exciting and original content there!
There are other big projects in the works, including the world premiere of a new viola work by William Bolcom slated to happen at Merkin Hall in April (details TBA). I am also thrilled to be joining the faculty of the Brevard Music Center this summer!
But as exciting as all of this is (and as much as it looks daunting when it is all written down), it all pales in comparison to the fact that any day now, I will become a father for the first time. My wife Shannon is due to deliver our baby boy, and we are preparing for our lives as we know them to be turned upside-down. So as much as I hope to post regularly here in the new year, I know every parent reading this is snickering at such a claim. Wish me luck!