On October 20th, 2021, Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi died at the age of 87. As an educator and performer, I read his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experiencemany years ago. I will definitely add that to my read list in the coming months. If you are not familiar with his writings, check out this TED Talk from 2004 and check out his books.
Growing up in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to see Mitchell Peters perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic numerous times. As a young percussionist, my first four mallet marimba solos were Waves and then Yellow After the Rain. I only wish there were resources and videos like the one James Beauton posted today. Bravo James! I look forward to future videos. (more…)
I attended the Music for All National Festival and Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival on March 14 – 16, 2019. The festival concluded with a Gala Awards Banquet and this year, Eric Martin, President and CEO of Music for All gave the keynote address. In the speech, he wants “you to be commit to your craft. I want you to be that C student who is committed to community at home, in your music ensembles in your schools and in your town or city in your state and in this nation…”
Take 6 minutes and listen to this speech. Share this speech. Watch it with your students. This speech was recorded Saturday, March 16 in the Grand Ballroom of the JW Marriott, Indianapolis, IN.
Caleidoscópio, written and performed by Gene Koshinski, is one of the solos from his book “TWO,” a collection of concert pieces for two-mallet marimba solo with a comprehensive guide to technique and performance practice.
The audio producer was Don Schraufnagel and Gene Koshinski and video by Marc Hill. (more…)
TheChaconneby Johann Sebastian Bach is one of my favorite compositions. This is especially true performed on solo marimba. I will never forget Jean Geoffroy’s performance the Chaconne at the 2017 International Katarzyna Myćka Marimba Academy. Today’s video features a beautiful performance of Chaconne performed and arranged by Mika Stoltzman.
Recorded at Purchase Performing Center (New York City, NY) on 2-28-2018. The recording producer was Steven Epstein and filmed by Mikako Ishii. (more…)