But anyways, this December shouldn't disappoint, regardless. Of course, the Saratoga Orchestra will have it's winter concert this Saturday, with yet again another Peter and the Wolf performance...good news it's exciting to play. And we get to play a couple really great orchestral Christmas works with it. And I get to play with Mannheim Steamroller again, this time in Everett. That should go well, although I remember it being a little high-pressure because those guys weren't exactly the nicest people you could perform with. But oh well, it'll be great.
And my students get some great performance opportunities, too. Also happening this Saturday my students and I will play some Christmas tunes at the Oak Harbor tree-lighting ceremony. And then in front of Safeway (with community members, too) in Oak Harbor on the 21st...that will be a very fun (and long) day. And my brass ensembles will have a really great performance at the Nazarene Church in Oak Harbor on the 16th, which includes music from the Nutcracker! Oh, I can't wait for that one...
Yes, speaking of that! So my high school brass ensemble, the Penn Cove Brass, is playing 4 pieces from the Nutcracker that I arranged for them. We're the strongest we've been, with 12 players, most of which are quite experienced. So I threw this arrangement at them, which is definitely the hardest piece they've ever played with me before. And I know that it's not going to be perfect, but I really wanted to give them the experience of playing this music and hopefully loving it, because I really love it a lot. And it's not all just music from the suite that everyone knows and folks play often. Yes, we'll do the March from the suite, but also the "In the Christmas Tree" number. And the "Mother Ginger & Her Polichinelles" dance, wrapping up with the "Final Waltz & Apothesis". They're playing with the a lot of heart, although we still are working out a couple kinks leading up to the concert. I'm really excited for these guys to play it, though.
That's about it as far as fun performances coming up. I do wish I was playing more...ugh, I think about it every day, how I wish I had more chances to perform. But I'll take what I can get.
Take care and value music.