January: Radu Lupu and the New York Philharmonic

I'm usually a fairly discerning audience member: I've been fortunate to hear the world's greatest orchestras multiple times over, and when a concert is anything less than sublime, I leave having noticed a few inconsistencies here and there. But tonight, I was probably the best audience member a musician could wish for. All I wanted was to be played to, to be sung familiar melodies and carried along a sea of beautiful sounds. Brahms 1st Piano Concerto and Dvorak's 8th Symphony, two of my all-time favorites.

Radu Lupu looks a little like Brahms himself, portly, with bushy gray hair and a bushy gray beard. While I wasn't drawn into his every note as I have been with other pianists, I very much enjoyed the whole performance. OK, I thought the horn vibrato was weird and inappropriate for the solos, but he did it with conviction, so I went along with it. But I would have preferred to hear Radek Baborak...

Upon reflection, Radu Lupu struck me as more of a chamber musician than a soloist; he blended with the orchestra in a very organic way, and the piano and orchestra seemed to accompany each other. He isn't imposing or flashy, he is humble in front of the instrument, and as an effect, the piano blends cohesively with the orchestra. This may also be why the piano solo didn't make a particular impression on me other than, "I love this. I am so happy to be hearing Brahms right now."

Brahms was followed by Dvorak's 8th, another old-time friend. Sometimes I'll turn on the 8th or the 7th and blast the third movements on my stereo. It's that powerful brass, the punctuated rhythms, the lyrical folk dances that get me every time, that make me want to grab my horn and blow along, or the nearest person and spin around the room. And the NY Phil did it superbly. The basses sounded particularly strong, and I wanted to leap out of my seat at one point with their energy.

I do think it's unfortunate that an orchestra that can shine so brightly plays in such a dull space. Imagine how they would have sounded tonight at Carnegie Hall, or the Philharmonie. The hall really makes me sad as a musician, and even sadder as a listener, because the joy of hearing live music diminishes when you struggle to hear muffled sounds. We need exceptional spaces for live music, to make the experience of going to a concert feel infinitely better than listening to a recording at home.

Still, Brahms and Dvorak were brought to life tonight. For my first classical concert in awhile, I was delighted to just sit back and enjoy. No (or few) judgments, just music.

January: Yoga journey- teaching Yoga Basics!

I am finally a certified yoga teacher!

My journey with yoga began when I was 15. I had seen "Light on Yoga" on my mom's bookshelf my whole life, and wondered about this strange 70s phenomenon. When she invited me to join a class with her at a tiny studio in Newhall, California, I went, and loved it. I kept going back throughout high school.

In college, I found a studio in Evanston, Illinois and a teacher I adored, who spoke about how yoga is connected to life in a way that made sense to me. Eventually I discovered the Sivananda studio in north Chicago and went as often as I could. I loved the environment, the incense, the repetition of the asanas and the way I felt when I left. I felt calm, patient, focused, and as if my perception re-calibrated to see what was really important in life.

In Berlin, I didn't want to continue Sivananda because it was all taught in German, and this was before I learned the language. I discovered Elizabeth Smullens, an Iyengar yoga teacher who became a long-term teacher and dear friend.

At first I didn't like Iyengar. I didn't think the props made sense, and I didn't like that there was no attention to Pranayama (breath practice) in beginner classes. And there was no flow, at all. But over time, I realized that this practice had enormous benefits, and I began to truly understand yoga in a way I never had before. I learned about proper alignment, and how to do poses correctly that I had practiced incorrectly for years. I became so enamored with Iyengar that I dismissed all other styles of yoga as frauds. But it was through this experience with yoga that I realized that I would love to offer people a way to explore how to do poses correctly so that they not only protect themselves, but can go deeper into the poses safely.

Cut to New York, after several years of practicing yoga intermittently. I had some time to take a 200-hour yoga teacher training, and found the most wonderful yoga school, Finding Sukha. I have written another blog post about it because it deserves its own review.

And now I am a certified Vinyasa instructor, teaching a Yoga Basics class at Finding Sukha Yoga School Monday nights at 8pm. I like to think of my approach as "alignment-based Vinyasa," with a good deal of attention to detail in order to really enjoy the full expression of each pose. As with practicing music, I love the idea of getting back to basics, to the foundation of building the note or the pose or the phrase. I have a much more open mind to other styles of yoga now, and I'm excited to incorporate what inspires me into my teaching. More classes to come, hopefully around Brooklyn.

December: TEDxNewYork salons

I have been attending the Friday TEDxNewYork salons for about a year now. TEDxNewYork is a one-hour long salon in which a group of people watch a TED video, and discuss it afterward. While they're only 1 hour long, and not enough time to really dig into any subject and reflect on it, the salons are a wonderful time to step away from other daily tasks to bask in imagination, and share and discover ideas with a very diverse group of inspiring people.

My friend Chel, who facilitates the salons, was leaving town to join the INK Conference in India as the social media point person, and she asked me to facilitate TEDxNY for three weeks while she was away. I was thrilled for the opportunity, as I love facilitating groups of people with great ideas.

It was my decision as to which videos we'd watch, and this proved to be much more of a challenge than I'd anticipated. Should I think of creating a scope over three weeks, with each talk relating to the next? Should I show videos about issues that are of interest to me, but perhaps not as intriguing to a more diverse audience?

In the end, I chose three talks that had little to do with one another, but that would hopefully provide a good basis for a conversation.

Here are short blogs about each salon:
December 3
December 10
December 17

December 17, 2010: TEDxNewYork salon

I need to look up the talk I showed on this day, because I'm drawing a blank. But the most interesting part of the discussion was not about the talk itself. Deciding to shift the conversation to focus on "dreaming big," I said, "As you know, TED gives away a prize to an extraordinary person who has a dream to change the world. This prize helps that person achieve his or her wish. In the spirit of the holiday season and wishes for the upcoming year, what would you do to help change the world if you were to be awarded a TED prize?"

It was beautiful. We didn't have much time, but here are a few ways that TEDxNY members would help change the world if granted a wish:

Conserve wildlife on the planet
Connect every child in the world to a caring adult
Connecting to our roots and nature (Something about the book "Ishmael")
Develop lifestyle innovation
Share the idea of cosmic consciousness
Start a campaign against rape in Africa
Develop a well-being institute
Inner life
Help bring more money into mass transportation system and arts education
Contribute to child health

December 10, 2010: TEDxNewYork Salon

The second (and by far most popular) talk we watched was Itay Talgam's Lead Like the Great Conductors. Just watch it. This one hit home for me, as I have spent most of my life playing under and watching various conductors, and it made so much sense to think about how we can learn leadership skills from great (or not so great) conductors.
My favorite comment of the day from a regular TEDxNY attendee: "I spent all week at other TEDx events, and I really thought I'd had enough, that I couldn't possibly come today. But this talk has made my entire afternoon, my entire WEEK! There's nothing better than hearing great music in the middle of a Friday afternoon."

I couldn't agree more.

December 3, 2010: TEDxNewYork salon

I had been thinking a lot about entrepreneurship, and the first talk I showed was Cameron Herold's Let's Raise Kids to be Entrepreneurs. Interestingly, many of the people who attended that day were entrepreneurs, and there were some differing opinions among the group about whether people agreed with Cameron Herold or not. What I took away from the discussion was this: it may not make sense to raise all children to become entrepreneurs, but rather, to raise children to develop entrepreneurial skills which they can bring to any profession they end up pursuing.

Found Sound Nation party a success!

I'm extremely proud of the Found Sound Nation crew for putting together a fantastic party at Tammany Hall last night. We had a wonderful opportunity to share some of the projects of Found Sound Nation with friends, colleagues, and supporters. Thanks to all who came out on a cold Monday night!

The folks at Tammany Hall were fantastic, and we look forward to collaborating with them again. Chris and Jeremy showed video footage from their projects in Africa and New Orleans, and talked about future plans for a project in Haiti. Everyone especially loved when former FSN participants got up on stage and free-styled along to tracks they'd created during their FSN workshops.

Found Sound Nation, sponsored by Bang on a Can, is a mobile production crew that guides people to explore their voice and vision through creating multi-media music projects. I have been managing many of the projects with our stellar team: Chris Marianetti and Jeremy Thal (workshop leaders), and Elena Moon Park (project manager and development specialist). We're all revved by how these workshops allow young people to explore their potential in life by participating in a musical experience in which they create their own song tracks by using the sounds around them, and we want to get as many people involved in supporting this innovative, culturally-relevant, and socially-conscious work as possible!

I'll be writing more about FSN soon. We have big plans for 2011, so stay tuned!

December: Fred Hersch at the Vanguard

Among the many things I love listening to, a show at the Village Vanguard ranks high up on the list. Especially when Fred Hersch is playing. Tonight I had the good fortune to be invited into Fred's gorgeous sound. Now, as a brass player, I understand the concept of beautiful tone production. But-- despite growing up around a pianist grandfather who owned one of the top Steinway piano stores in the U.S-- I've never understood how beautiful tone production is achieved on a piano. This is probably for the best, because I revel in the naive amazement of being soothed by every note that comes out of the instrument when Fred plays.

Last time I came to the Vanguard was to enjoy the Brian Blade Fellowship, which was one of the pivotal concerts of the year for me. What I love most about the Vanguard is its intimacy: it feels as if you're in someone's living room, the walls peppered with several photos of jazz legends, and the welcoming sounds of the piano, with the perfect acoustical balance of warmth and clarity.

If you missed Fred's show, or if you want to relive the experience, check out a show from an earlier performance here.

TEDxEast

It's been quite some time since I last wrote, and I realize that a blog needs to be regularly updated. I really wanted to share a little about the extraordinary events surrounding the TEDxEast conference on November 11 at the Times Center. I had the good fortune to help coordinate the event and work the event itself, and to spend some time with the speakers.

The theme was Inter-connectivity, which was a very relevant subject matter in this time when the Western world (and beyond) seems in a race to get as connected as possible. What struck me was the diversity of speakers: Jason Johnson of Re-think Books, Dennis Crowley of FourSquare, Gavin Starks of AMEE, chef Thomas Keller, artist Raghava KK, and more.

There was so much take-away from this afternoon, and I'm still wondering how all of the ideas around "inter-connectivity" bring us to a greater awareness about making change in the world. The event itself was certainly an opportunity for great thinkers and leaders from diverse fields to connect and share about big ideas, an inter-connective think-tank with video cameras and fancy cupcakes.

Because I am a glutton for inspiration, I'd like to share some quotes and thoughts that resonated most from the day. Do they have anything to do specifically with inter-connectivity? Maybe, or maybe not. Regardless, I'm hoping that by sharing them, you'll find a small connection, perhaps to something that inspires you to make one little change for the better in the world...

Sunny Bates: "We're looking for magic all of the time."
"Great men feel what good men merely know."

Chef Thomas Keller: "Success is... the memories we collect."

Gavin Starks, CEO of AMEE, an organization that collects data to determine our carbon footprint: Gavin spoke about looking at hard data to realize what we-- from individuals to organizations to governments- can do to make a sustainable change on the environment. We can measure how much energy we're using in order to determine how we can make simple steps to change. It's not all or nothing; it's making a contribution. And if enough people make a small contribution, we can make a major impact.

Raghava KK: "To unlearn, you have to be vulnerable." The idea of "unlearning" what we know, playing and exploring and putting everything we've learned aside to take new risks.

To enjoy the videos from TEDxEast, click here: http://www.tedxeast.com/pastevents.shtml

Blonde Redhead at Webster Hall

You know those shows in which you completely surrender to the music? In which all criticism, praise, and other worldly concerns seem to utterly disappear and you develop this perfect synergy with the music and the musicians who are performing it? That was the Blonde Redhead show for me tonight at Webster Hall.

I realize that this music isn't for everyone, but I've been listening to this band for years now, and I'm always moved by their surprising chord progressions, their ethereal voices, even their bizarre lyrics that I can't quite understand. This was the first time I saw them live, and their performance was just as gratifying, if not more so, as their recordings.

The two lead singers are married-- a Japanese woman and an Italian man-- and the man's twin brother plays drums. There's also a keyboard player. The Japanese woman started the set wearing a very unusual mask, with tight sequin pants. Why do I love this band so much? Maybe because they strike the right balance: provocative-yet-accessible harmonies, sexy without trying to be, and simple lyrics that are both profound and completely inane (like "Allow me to show you!!! The way which I adore you!!! Sometimes I think I must, Just let you be, let you be a horse, All I want is to be a rider...")

Such a blessing, to be taken out of oneself for a couple of hours and drawn into music. Which concerts have you experienced this with lately?