What I Did on my Summer Vacation Part 1 (May & June 2009)

This Summer started off great!  Well, actually we have to look a little before Summer to see where it all began.  As I have already blogged about May 18th was the first in a series of performances that would take me through the Summer.  On May 18th, Philip Santos performed Glimpses of the Moon for violin at the Seventh Annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert.

May 24th was another important day as my wife and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary.  At times it is hard to believe that we have now been married over a year.  We spent the day at the Oakland Zoo.  It is always fun to see the animals.  We finished the day by having dinner at the Olive Garden, one of Melissa's favorite places to eat.

June 2nd and 5th saw the premiere and second performance of my flute quartet, Shadows of Dreams.  The experience as a whole was great.  Greer Ellison, the ensemble's director, is very nice and supportive.  The quality of the performance was what you would expect from an undergrad ensemble.  The two performances were quite different.  I do hope to be able to work with Greer again.

Saturday, June 6th, was the first of two performances of my woodwind quintet Visions of a Landscape.  This piece is important because it is my first collaboration with SF Bay Area photographer Micheal Vickers.  This concert, supported by the San Francisco chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA, was to me more of a preview performance as the Avenue Winds performed only the 3rd and 5th movements.  I remember leaving this concert happy because it was the first time an ensemble accurately performed a fast movement of mine at the correct tempo.  It is amazing what happens when professionals perform your music.

The rest of June was rather exciting.  I was promoted to receiving lead for the Stockton, CA, Bed, Bath and Beyond and so there was some adjustment there.  Also on June 18th, my nephew Jonathan David Bice was born.  Big things were happening and this is shaping up to be a great summer. 

Hello Old Friend

Wow.  It has been over 2 months since my last post.  Well, Summer always seems to be a busy and yet somewhat unproductive time of year for me.  For the second year in a row my wife and I moved.  This year we only moved about 40 miles north from Modesto, CA to Stockton, CA.  So this year's move was difficult, but relatively painless.  Over the next week or two I will be writing about my Summer.  I will highlight the San Francisco Chamber Wind Festival, the Festival of Contemporary Music and other important events and happenings (and even some not so important things).

I do feel bad for neglecting this blog and you, my reader.  But let it be know that I am back and i am looking forward to a productive rest of the summer and beyond.