Upcoming Summer Fun:

I've just started rehearsals for a very cool new project called Oktoberfest: The Musical which will be playing from August 26th through November 27th at the Crest Theatre in Westwood. What's it about? Well, it's about Oktoberfest, obviously, and specifically the origins of the tradition in Bavaria. All the seats have been removed from the theatre and are being replaced with long tables, the better to accommodate the beer drinking which is necessary for any good Oktoberfest celebration. 

You can check out more information at the link below where you can see what I imagine to be a depiction of me, the only drummer involved in the show: 

Oktoberfest the Musical

It seems music director Tom Griep was captured in a, shall we say, "more flattering" manner.

Now, I can picture you thinking: "Oktoberfest as a basis for a musical? I'm not sure that's a great idea." Consider this: if someone had told you 4 years ago about an idea for a hip hop musical about the first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, you would have been skeptical too. So come check it out, it will be a blast. Beer and pretzels are involved.

Additionally on August 31st I'll be performing again with The Echo Society, arguably the single coolest musical group I've ever been a part of. This show, the group's fifth, promises to be their most expansive yet and is taking place at the Theatre at Ace Hotel. The shows are a blend of electronic music with live chamber orchestra and complemented by video projections and expert lighting. Come see it. 

I have the distinct pleasure of being back at the La Mirada Theatre this month, playing with the national tour of Disney's The Little Mermaid. 

It involves a very large setup and is typical of modern musicals in being very busy with very quick switches between instruments. Things move so quickly, I actually never sit down during the show!

The cast sounds amazing, and the orchestra is great. I'm assured by friends who have seen the show that it looks incredible as well, but of course I can't see anything.

It will be playing through June 26th, so come down and see a performance!

We lost Sarah a couple of years ago today. But the last time I communicated with her personally was three years ago today. She was asking for my address to invite me to her upcoming wedding. The fact that we didn’t talk in that intervening year is one of my greatest regrets.

I got to know Sarah in college. We were in a music theory class that became close, and associated for years afterwards known simply as “Gusto.” From there she became a very dear friend. A spring break trip with me and my then-girlfriend Briana to nearby Nashville, IN. A late night where she told me all about her troubling problems with a man. A weekend where just Sarah and I headed out to the country, playing paddleball by a riverside, where I was escaping my life for just a little while, though I don’t think Sarah knew it.

When we both moved to the New York area for graduate school we stayed close, she being one of my only friends in the area. When I came into the city, we would inevitably meet and adventure together. Lulu at the Met. Watching turtles from the castle in central park. A trip to Brooklyn where she first met her future husband. And she was my confidante. I told her all about my problems with women and my degree program, and she told me about her concerns with men and school. I even got to go on a double date with her and Richard, her eventual husband, just before I moved to South Africa.

So I can only chalk it up to an astounding lack of character that I didn’t keep in better touch with her after that. We wrote for a while, but grew distant over the intervening years, talking less and less.

I saw the videos from her wedding and marveled at her beauty. How happy and, yes, still awkward she was. I wished I had been there, but I was living thousands of miles away and couldn’t afford to come. It was only a few months later that I heard she was sick, after I had moved back to the US. If I had been a better friend, I might have gotten on a plane to go see her. But I was scared and weak and I didn’t go.

When she let everyone know she was going into hospice care, I was too inexperienced to understand the depth of what that meant, and before I knew it she was gone.

By sheer coincidence I was in Indiana at the same time as one of her memorials. I got to meet her father and see her husband again. I heard her teacher David Effron speak about her amazing potential as a conductor. I got to weep with some of our other friends over our loss.

And I thought about how poor a friend I’d been. How I’d made it to her memorial but not to her wedding. How I hadn’t made time to visit her while she was sick.

I thought about Sarah every day for a long time after she died. Now sometimes I’ll miss a day, but the next I’ll remember and be all the more regretful for not thinking about her the day before.

Thank you Sarah, for being, at times, my best friend. And I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend to you. 

Happy New Year to all! The last few months of 2015 was a busy and productive time for me. I got the chance to play with the wonderful Dream Orchestra at the end of October and in December playing timpani for the Mozart Requiem and Handel's Messiah. 

I also got to return to the Idyllwild Arts Academy, where I spent a few summers in high school, to play with their orchestra in a program including Beethoven's 8th Symphony and Sibelius' incidental music to Pelleas et Melisande. Got  a heavy snowfall while there, not something I'd really expected in my usual Southern California living, but perhaps a preview of what's to come this winter. 

As for the new year, I'll be touring to the east coast with a band for several weeks.

And when I get back, I jump straight into a short run of Beauty and the Beast at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center from January 28th to the 31st. 

Come see me do a thing!

I've had some cool gigs lately and some fun stuff coming up. I'll be playing with the Dream Orchestra again next week, with a concert on October 30 at Saint Monica Catholic Church in, you guessed it, Santa Monica.  Come check it out. The group is great and we'll be doing Mozart's Requiem. www.dreamorchestra.org

Last month I had the pleasure of playing Bonnie and Clyde with the Musical Theater Guild at the Alex Theater in Glendale.  I didn't know this musical beforehand but its seamless blend of 30's jazz and more modern pop-country was a hoot. It's a shame you don't see this musical produced more often. Here are a few pictures of my set up. 

It's mostly a drum set book, with a bit of percussion. This particular production was a one-day-only reading, so we used a reduced orchestration and I was asked to omit the mallet parts (saving me some significant moving trouble!)

Coming up in November, I'll be playing with Vox Femina on October 15th at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. This is a great all female choir based in LA that's been doing wonderful work for nearly two decades. More info at www.voxfemina.org 

Lots more interesting stuff coming, including a likely tour to the East Coast in January. Stay tuned for specifics on that. 

It has seemed a fairly common trend in my career that the musical universe will see to it that if I play one kind of instrument, more of that will follow. 

Well, the summer is fully upon us now, and that means outdoor concerts and sandals everywhere. 

I've had some great concerts lately, including the Sailor Moon tribute: SERASYMPHONY at Zipper Hall. It was timed to coincide with the Anime Expo here in LA and so we had several people dressed up as characters from the show.  Check out my set up in the picture below.

This week, I'll be playing with the Marina Del Rey Symphony on a program of composers from Latin America as well as Ravel's Bolero. Come spend Thursday night with us! 7pm in Burton Chace Park, Marina Del Rey

And I'll be disappearing for just a little while as I take a road trip across the American south over the next week.  See you all again at the end of July!

Hey all, I've got some shows coming up in the event you want to come out and see me live. 

The JC Spires Band: Every Tuesday from 7:30pm until 11:30pm: Jax Bar and Grill in Glendale. 

Southern California Brass Consortium: May 31st at 4pm: Los Altos United Methodist Church 5950 E. Willow Street, Long Beach, CA  90815

SERASYMPHONY: Sailor Moon Symphony: July 5th at 8pm: Zipper Hall, Colburn School Downtown Los Angeles. 

Other things may pop up in the mean time, so keep checking back for more updates.

I'm currently working in the pit of the La Mirada Theatre for a run of a new musical called "Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice" Written by Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs. Great songs, great cast, and a great band. Here  is a picture of my set up. It's very timpani heavy with a fair dose of chimes and field drum. The show is running through May 10th, so come on down and see it!

I've changed my domain name, as a good friend wanted stonepercussion.com for a very interesting project. Stay tuned on that front. 

So, everything is new. Take a look around, and please let me know what you think!