clarinet neglect

Today I practiced my clarinet for the first time since I don't know when. It's hard for me to believe that it was just 8 months ago that I used to play anywhere between 4 to 10 hours a day. Now I can't seem to find 4 spare hours in an entire month.

And there's this tremendous guilt wrapped up in it. Being a clarinetist is something so central to my existence - it's a huge part of my identity. So when I'm unable to play for maybe 3 weeks at a time, it's like I've lost a part of myself; I'm a stranger in my own skin.

I'm willing to bet there are millions of people like me around the world - people who for whatever reason are unable to pursue the interests and passions that resonate with their very soul, whether it be painting, running, gardening, or whatever else.

I'm not going to tolerate anymore clarinet neglect in my life. When I find my next semi-permanent place of residence, I need to find more opportunities to play and perform, because  my   life    apart     from      music       is        just           hollow

poor clarinet. spends all his time locked up in a case. he deserves better.

Baltimore

As I approach  my 4-month anniversary with downtown Baltimore, many people have been asking me about my feelings towards the city... I figure the best way to express my mixed emotions is with a few mixed anecdotes: 

- Zachariah is the man who sells roses and teddy bears at the intersection of North Avenue and Mt. Royal. I see him everyday when I walk to and from work. He always greets me with a big smile and a "Hello! How are you? You know, you remind me of my daughter, she is very smart!" I've never seen him actually sell anything to anyone. It's a shame. He's really nice. 

- The selection of FM stations in Baltimore is worse than in Kenai. But I listen to NPR when I get ready in the morning, like I did when I was in college. Schools here are delayed because of "fog warnings." It wasn't until recently that I learned what in the world that was all about. 

- I've had to say "No, thank you, I don't drink" more times in the past 4-months than I have in my entire life. 

-Why don't the grocery stores keep their shopping carts inside the store? It took me 2 months to train myself to grab a cart before I enter Safeway. 

- I thought I was such a burdened undergrad, always packing around instruments everywhere; but this morning a saw a MICA student in orange tights carrying 3 canvases, a sleeping bag, a bag of laundry, and a backpack. You'd think with their crazy tuition prices, each student would get an alpaca to aid in transportation of personal items and art materials. 

- Women here are really serious about their boots. It's December and it hasn't even snowed; your $200 boots are pointless. It's the female equivalent of wearing sunglasses indoors. 

- I know that when I leave, I'm going to desperately miss my friends at the City Cafe. They're some of the best people I've ever worked with. 

BSO Twitter Chatter

Since I began my internship, I've been religiously monitoring twitter chatter surrounding the Baltimore Symphony. From this, I've identified some of the BSO's Twitter Heavyweights.

#BSO TWITTER CHAMPIONS#

HALL OF FAME

@LeeTMills - Lee Mills

Mr. Mills is the BSO's Peabody Conducting Fellow, so he receives personal instruction from Music Director Marin Alsop and serves as cover conductor for many of the orchestra's concerts. Also, he probably tweets about BSO happenings more than any other person. 

“Who is coming to the #Offthecuff concert tomorrow night at the @BaltSymphony? I hear it's sold-out!”

@clefnotes - Tim Smith

As classical music critic for The Baltimore Sun, Tim Smith is no stranger to the BSO. In his blog Clef Notes & Drama Queens, the Baltimore Symphony is a very common topic. I heard that he thought my write up on the WhoIsJoan? landing page was funny, and for that, I love Tim Smith. 

“Enjoyable delivery of Mozart, Debussy standards last night from Langree, Baltimore Symphony. http://bsun.md/nYyEe4”

@bachtrack - Alison Karlin

Alison and her husband David are the founders of Bach Track, a website which brings together a wide array of information about what's happening in the world of classical music: concerts, recordings, musicians, events, and trends. They take a considerable interest in the BSO and often send writers to review our concerts.

“Marin Alsop revives Honegger's Joan of Arc @BaltSymphony @carnegiehall "A fascinating journey" wrote @ZerbinettasBlog http://www.bachtrack.com/review-honneger-joan-of-arc-alsop-baltimore-symphony”

@ChivalrousNoble - Brian Donnell

Plays trombone and is a fervent supporter of the BSO. He participated in Bolt for the BSO (the orchestra's team of runners in the Baltimore Running Festival) and frequents the Meyerhoff. Donnell tweets about a lot of things, and the BSO is a recurring subject. 

"Support me & the @BaltSymphony in my 1st #5k Run w/ @BoltfortheBSO in the @BaltRunFest Oct. 15 by donating here: http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/BDRun2011

http://www.active.com/donate/B..."

As tempted as I was, I didn't include myself in this list, but I nonetheless encourage you to follow me on twitter @TashinaLyn, because sometimes I can be pretty adorable and others... I could use a swift kick in the shin. 

stepping with confidence

Through years of coaching from my music professors, I've learned to walk on stage with confidence, purpose, and a welcoming smile. With a love for the drama and excitement of live performance, I would always wear a look that said, "I've got something really cool to share with you and I can't wait to see your reaction!"  But lately I've been envying that girl I once was, wishing I had that same confidence in other areas of my life; with my speech, with my opinions, and with the half-dozen guys I have my eye on (except that most are fictional characters). Most especially, I wish I had more confidence when I'm working at the BSO.

For me, confidence comes from knowledge. I was always able to walk on stage with confidence because I knew my music inside and out. But I'm still in the process of learning all the different policies, procedures, and standard practices at BSO's admin office. The perfectionist in me wants to acquire a thorough knowledge of every piece of relevant information before I act, and in this situation that's just not possible. I have to learn as I go and submit to the fact that things aren't always going to turn out the way I want them to.

I'm not sure how I will accomplish it, but I need to make a change in how I conduct myself in the workplace, because I feel that by allowing this passive demeanor to dominate my life, I do myself an injustice.

"What gives you confidence?" 

- Responses from actors & directors at the Toronto Film Festival -

changes

This last week there were some rather unexpected changes in BSO's PR department. A sudden and substantial staffing alteration occurred. I have no interest in discussing the details, but I feel that because these events have had a big impact on me and my internship experience, it is fitting that I share a little bit about the changes on my end:

1) I will now be helping produce publications for BSO, such as Applause and Overture - magazine-style programs that are distributed at BSO concerts at Strathmore and Meyerhoff, respectively.

2) I will be maintaining BSO's online Press Room, which requires basic HTML formatting.

3) For the remainder of this internship, I will be paid a reasonable wage (what!?! crazy, right?)!

4) No more pizza box desk! I am now at the height of luxury:

I'm so spoiled!

a taste of Guerrilla Marketing

Today people walking around the streets of Baltimore are seeing this at their feet:

It's a sidewalk cling bearing an image of Joan of Arc (created by BSO's incredibly talented graphic designer, Elisa, who is also real sweetheart!).

When you go to WhoisJoan.org, you will see proof that sometimes I get to do things which are (a) Fun and (b) Somewhat Significant:

- Who is Joan? Video: Created by the brilliant people at Digital Cave, and I was fortunate enough to be able to accompany them for the filming. I made the "WHO IS JOAN?" signs and even have a cameo appearance in the video (watch closely)!

- Who is Joan? Text: If writing on the "Who is Joan?" landing page sounds oddly familiar, that is because I wrote it! As you will see, I was encouraged to exercise a colloquial, youthful voice; in hopes that our message would resonate with populations that aren't familiar with the BSO. But I never wanted this paragraph to appear first:

I wish they would remove that paragraph because then the first thing people will see when they arrive on the page is the sales pitch, which is going to immediately put them off! It totally ruins the intrigue and mystery we hoped to accomplish! Once they read that, they won't want to read any thing else, and they won't have any reason to! Really, really a poor choice to put that paragraph first. But what do I know? I'm only the intern.

rock your voices

In addition to being a band nerd, I was also a choir geek in high school (although I would never have admitted this in college, because by then I was instrumentalist snob and had to alienate myself from the vocalists and make them aware that their's was the lesser art form). Anyways, my memories of faulty choir risers, ill-fitting robes, and perma-smile show choir performances came rushing back to me this month at the BSO as we sought to engage an audience of a cappella lovers for our Rockapella concert.

Turns out a cappella is really big here, because every university has like 5 a cappella groups for every social circle imaginable, from the Jewish a cappella group Kol Sasson to Legally Sound, whose members are all law students. I have no idea if it has always been this way, or maybe it's gaining popularity become Glee has bestowed this "hot" new image on young vocal groups.

Well, in order to engage this population niche, we at the Baltimore Symphony created an a cappella competition, called Rock Your Voices, in which the winning a cappella ensemble gets to present a pre-concert performance for the Rockapella concert. We invited a cappella groups to submit a YouTube video featuring one of their performances, and now the public can vote for the winning ensemble on BSO's Facebook page.

Actually, you yourself can vote until around noon EST on Tuesday November 8th -> Please do.

Faux Paz - Current front runner in the Rock Your Voices competition as of 11/6