Happy Birthday, Emily Warner Smith! Loooong exposition for tonights video! Ive found that the most difficult part of the #BirthdayQuest isnt the time commitment (which is about 70-90 minutes per theme) but the fact that lots of folks get left behind. For every person Im doing a #BirthdayQuest theme for, theres an average of 7 that Im not...and knowing I would not be able to do a fun, personalized theme for everyone I love almost led me to not begin this crazy project at all! Well, tonight is one of those impossible #BirthdayQuest days where lots of folks that I have spent lots of time with over the years are all sharing the same birthday. Theres no particular formula to deciding who gets a #BirthdayQuest theme on a given day...in the case of tonights recipient, its a combination of factors. She invited me to conduct on her Masters degree recital; its one of the most memorable works Ive ever had the chance to perform, and its on a select list of works Ive had the chance to perform more than once; that work actually quotes other pieces, which makes it perfect for the quote-heavy #BirthdayQuest (including me quoting a quote of a quote, a triple Inception!); and, that recital set in motion a series of events that led to an incredible collaborative relationship & friendship with the entire studio, which was one of the most important elements of my time at IU. So, with all my love going to everyone celebrating a birthday today, tonights theme is for Emily! Emily is an amazing Bassoonist who completed her Masters degree in performance while I was studying conducting at Indiana University. The piece we performed together was Michael Daughterys Dead Elvis, a short spin-off of Stravinskys Histoire du Soldat (with the same instrumentation) where the Bassoon is the lead player, and wears an Elvis outfit during the performance! Emily also put together a superstar lineup of players (who Ill tag on my Facebook page: Jessie Meng Aaron Rader William Harvey Chris Chance Dave Horn) The concert & its encore were an absolute blast, and I still talk about them today! Shes the 7th member of the IU Bassoon studio to be featured so far in the #BirthdayQuest. These days, shes playing, performing, and teaching in the midwest. Its no surprise that Dead Elvis is the main source for material in Emilys #BirthdayQuest theme. As I mentioned above, the piece quotes several different pieces...the second quote I use in the theme is a famous Latin hymn of the dead. The quote that opens the theme is Daughterys quote of one of Elvis favorite songs...but also happens to be a quote of an old Italian tune. So, its me quoting Daughtery who quotes Elvis quoting Italy! The quotes that close each phrase come from my own choice of an Elvis tune: its one of a handful of songs that left a strong aural imprint on me as a kid (just hearing some of his songs randomly on oldies radio) but I never really had much appreciation for Elvis music until my grad school years. This song is now one of my favorites of his. As usual, all of these quotes are played in the keys they were written- check the bottom of the info section on the YouTube page to see what quotes I used, and which source each quote comes from. Happy Birthday, Emily! All my best to you, and I hope you enjoy your #BirthdayQuest theme! youtu.be/MIZpJVP89SE
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 03:07:30 +0000
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