Birthday Girl

Guess who's fourteenth birthday is today ?

And can you tell what you are looking at above ?

Happy birthday dear Jamuna.  Nice nails.

On the road to Aspen

Left the house this morning with the van.  It (the van) seemed empty and kind of lonely.  Took my time and am staying at a Comfort Suites just north of Denver.  This hotel is so nice I might stay and extra day.  Drove through quite a thunderstorm.  Here is what it looked like before it passed over my location.

I suppose I should stop taking photos while driving but that seems to be what I am doing a lot of the time lately.

I should arrive in Aspen tomorrow afternoon in time to check into the property we are renting for the next six weeks.  I'll get the stuff moved in then head to the airport to pick up Prema and Maya.  I sure hope they don't encounter a storm like the one that just blew through.  Surely the Denver airport was closed for a while.

Passing through Rapid City

I have made it back from the wilderness of Yellowstone and am deeply saddened and disturbed by the fatal grizzly attack on a hiker yesterday morning.  I know that area fairly well and just feel awful for the deceased man and his wife.  More information is available here.

While at Lamar Buffalo Ranch located in the northeast corner of the park I had a very relaxing break and a nice visit with my friend John S.  Here are a couple of photos that I have available.  More to follow, I hope.  I couldn't do any posting while I was there due to lack of internet access.

These bison were milling around as I drove into the park.  Calves are still being born but most are already running around like puppies.

This rainbow appeared right after a nice thunderstorm shortly after my arrival at LBR on the 4th of July.  Fireworks Yellowstone-style.  It was actually a full, double rainbow.  You can see the more faint rainbow on the right side of the image.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment, preparing for my departure in the morning for Aspen, CO, where I will meet up with Prema and Maya (on Saturday).  Tomorrow night Maya will be performing with a full, professional orchestra for the first time.  I miss her very much and hope she has a blast.  I'm looking forward to all of us getting back in the same place.

I will probably be staying in a hotel Friday night so might be able to post additional information about recent events.  If not, it might be a couple more days until we are settled.

Scattered Family, Sunny Outlook

I made it back to Rapid City last evening later than I had hoped though I made great time on the 770-something mile trip.  Prema and Maya are readjusting to each other in Kansas.  Apparently a week at music school seemed easier with Dad than with Mom.  Jamuna and Abe made it to Texas where they were able to spend one evening with their cousins before starting DFW WOW music camp yesterday morning.  Travel out of RC was delayed due to a gear-up landing by a small plane at the RC airport.  Thankfully no one was injured but the airport was closed for a while resulting in a domino-effect of delays and reschedules.  As I said, we are thankful everyone made it to their destinations safely.

After tidying up a bit and shuffling my cargo I am just about ready to depart for a few days in Yellowstone.  I don't plan to do much other than relax, breathe the special air they pipe in, and listen to the silence.  Might soak my feet in the Boiling River.

Hopefully I will have a photo from Yellowstone by the end of the day.  Until then here is a shot of the view out our back door in South Dakota.

Tag Team

Today is one of many transitions.  Jamuna and Abe fly to Dallas for the greatly anticipated music camp DFW-WOW.  They have been looking forward to this since July, 2010.  Prema is flying to Kansas City where Maya and I will pick her up then return to Ottawa.  I'll be collecting my stuff for and early Sunday morning departure for Rapid City.  I'll pull in late evening and unload.  I'll be leaving early Monday for my much anticipated few days of selfish indulgence in Yellowstone.

Yesterday seemed especially busy because of some scheduling adjustments and the extra preparation for Maya's Sonata performance last evening.  I have video of course but no still shots to show here.  She did a stellar job.  She should very proud to have learned this music in just three days.  I said my goodbyes since I'm leaving and won't see these instructors again for a while.  Maya still has another week.

Here is Maya with Simon James of Seattle, WA.  They are working on polishing Sarasate's Zapateado which Maya will perform as a "show piece" in a few days.

 Here is Maya with Mr. Stephen Clapp of The Juilliard School which I have been told is some music school in New York, I think.  With them is one of Maya's three (!) collaborative pianists, Hyun Ju Jang.  She has been fantastic.  Mr. Clapp has been double-fantastic.

 Today I did laundry at the coin laundry.  Thankfully you can wash and dry clothing there too.  I think I may have put two servings of detergent in one machine and none in another.  I suppose on average everything will be OK.  After I loaded up a few washing machines I walked over to Sonic for a cup of coffee.  I received a penny, a nickle and three "state" quarters as change for my two bucks.  The three states I received were Texas, Colorado and New York.  Since we already go to great music schools in Texas and Colorado I took it as an omen we should try to find a good school in NY.  Will start asking around.

Below is my self-portrait for the summer.

Snip It

I recently learned how to use a simple and readily available tool in the Windows 7 Accessories file.  It is called the Snipping Tool.

The snip on the left is for Ottawa, KS.  The other is for Lamar Buffalo Ranch in Yellowstone National Park.  Sometimes people wonder why I like to go toYellowstone so much.  Fair question, I suppose.

I just noticed that for Friday the low in Ottawa is warmer than the high in YNP.

BLYAP Day 4

It seems like we are well into our second week of BLYAP yet it is only our 4th day, and it isn't over yet.  Maybe it feels like we have been here a long time since we were here for 10 days a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure that's part of it but to me these past few days have been so full of music and I have been much more involved than usual with note-taking, video, practicing (enforcement), and more.

Sometimes a picture can say so much:

In the interest of full disclosure, this was yesterday afternoon.  Maya went to bed early last night and was bright, sharp and full of energy today.

Last evening we attended a lecture by Bryan Hall, a graduate student pursuing a DMA at University of Texas, Austin.  He is a teaching assistant for Brian Lewis.  Here is a shot of the action:

You can see Maya among some of the 12 total students selected from applications from the entire country.  At age 11 she is the youngest this year.  There are a few 12-13 year-old students and the rest are 14-18.

Here are a few more random shots.  I keep trying to surreptitiously get the perfect photo of her and Mr. Lewis.  Time is running out.

This pic is of the campus chapel where I have been spending relatively little time.  If you look carefully you might pick out Maya, center stage, under the plus-sign.

Day 3 morning

This morning's Technical Studies class with Bryan Hall was loaded with more theory, fractions and ratios.  Next time I will bring my laptop and keep a spreadsheet open.  Here is Maya with Mr. Bryan:

Simon James of Seattle, WA, is Maya's "short piece" or "show piece" masterclass teacher.  He is originally from Australia so we all enjoy his "down under" accent.  Maya is playing Sarasate's Zapateado, and doing a great job at it.  This will be a fun piece for her to play for the group next week.



Just had a couple of minutes to get this on the record.  Must go to the chapel (to get Maya where she is rehearsing Bruch).

BLYAP Day 3

It is Wednesday morning and we are at Maya's practice room in the Administration Building at Ottawa University.  At 8:15 she is practicing technical studies, Dvorak's Sonatina, Zapateado (Sarasate), and Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Caprisccioso.  These are most of the pieces she will be playing at some point today.

 Here is a pic of the white board in Maya's practice room.  On it we have constructed a schedule for this week.  The "P" stands for PRACTICE, not play.

On Monday evening Mr. Lewis gave a lecture about "organized practicing".  One key element he recommended was to actually write out a plan for the practice including exactly what studies and pieces will be practiced and for how long.  Here is Maya sitting on the campus lawn outside the Admin Building writing up her plan for the next hour.











Yesterday she had a master class with Mr. Lewis during which they continue to polish the 3rd movement of Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1.  It is coming along nicely.

Her collaborative pianist is Pamela Pyle.






Also yesterday she had a nice hour with Ayako Yonetani working on Bach solo's.  Here's a shot of the two of them discussing a trill or something like that.

I must say that Maya has been working hard with great diligence and stamina.  I think if she can do this kind of "work" she will be able to accomplish anything she wants in life.








Jamuna also had a day full of violin work yesterday including a Skype lesson with Ms. Nicolette, a lesson with Ms. Amanda, and a special hour lesson with Ms. Schnittgrund to practice for All-State Orchestra.  Abe's day was filled with tennis and swimming.  I'm sure he practiced viola somewhere in there.

Here is a side story.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier but on our drive through Nebraska a few days ago we were greeted by a nice flying rock which left a small chip in the windshield of our new car.  I only cried (out loud) for about two hours.  Thankfully the chip is small and on the edge of the glass.  I worried about how I was going to find the time to get this repaired in light of being out of town and on the road continuously until the end of August.  I made a few calls and believe it or not a man from Safelite Auto Glass arrived in the parking lot of OU and repaired the damage in about 30 minutes.  It was all covered by a windshield glass policy I bought when I picked up the car.  The chip still might extend beyond it's current area which would mean the entire windshield will need to be replaced.  Let's hope not.

Today we start the 2-day cycle of classes over again.  This is only the third day yet is seems like we've been at this for a week.  Maybe it feels that way since we were here for Sound Encounters just a couple of weeks ago.

BLYAP Day 1

We imagined that the Brian Lewis Young Artist Program would be intense but now we know for sure.  It is intense, but a lot of fun too.  The instruction is world-class and by the end of the the two weeks Maya will surely have taken her music to the next level (whatever that is).  She seems to be quite well prepared and deserving yet we know that being here is a very special privilege.

I only had the opportunity to click off a couple of still photos today and they aren't post-worthy.  Since today was the first day her schedule kept us hopping.  I'll surely (hopefully) have time in the next few days to show some views of the instructors, the grounds and the other kids.  Today I video recorded over four hours of classes and will begin processing all that shortly.  In addition Maya practiced several hours in her very own practice room.  She has the only key (among us).

For the record, here is a view of the Comfort Inn in Ottawa.  Our window is the fourth from the right, on the second floor.  Check out the fancy car in the lot.

Below is Maya posing outside the fanciest restaurant in town.

Back in Ottawa

Somewhat tired right now so just posting that we made it to Ottawa.  Total miles 794.  Time 12.5 hours.  We only drove for about 5 hours today having spent the night in Grand Island.  We drove past Lincoln, NE then stair stepped our way south and east.  Eventually skirted around Topeka then Lawrence and ultimately made it to Ottawa in time to check in at the hotel then head over to Ottawa University campus for the orientation meeting.

We are cleaning up and getting ready to get some rest.  The next 12 days are going to be FULL of intense classes and a lot of practicing.

I will have some photos tomorrow, Monday, along with some observations from the last couple of days.

One highlight was our stop at the Ottawa Walmart for some bottles of water and other essentials.  I believe today was my 823rd consecutive day of going to a Walmart, not that I'm keeping track.

On the road, again.

Maya and I departed this morning right on schedule.  As usual it was tough on me to see our family divided once again.  In our case "divide and conquer" just means we are dividing up in order to do some conquering.

As I mentioned we are taking back roads on the outskirts of nowhere due to road closures.  We crossed several named creeks and rivers one of which was named "Dismal River".   I'm not sure of the etymology of the name but today it was quite full of water.  I just noticed that outside our motel room is a river that appears to be running high though no apparent risk of flooding in this area near Grand Island.

Above is a typical view of my day.  I believe we were heading south toward Valentine, NE.  In contrast to a couple of weeks ago, today we were riding in luxury.  I'm grateful to have a new car that sticks to the road, handles beautifully and feels like your crawling along at 40 mph even when traveling at 80 - not that I would drive that fast.

 Here's another shot from the journey.

As I passed the 2000 mile mark for the last couple of weeks I realized that I have had a lot of time to think about all the great things in my life.
Unfortunately all I did was listen to old MacGyver and Andy Griffith Show episodes.

As we drove into Grand Island we noticed there is a Walmart here.  Now that we have freshened up we are heading there now.  Will hit Qdoba then hit the hay.

Packed and Ready...

Maya and I are about as ready as we are going to be for our return trip to Ottawa, KS.  We will take our time and spend the night near Grand Island, NE tomorrow night then head on to Ottawa on Sunday.  Maya will be attending a special music program there headed by Brian Lewis.  It will be an intensive, solo-oriented program that will culminate with her performing with an orchestra.

We are taking yet another route this trip.  Flooding remains a serious issue along I-29 but hopefully we will shave off 50 miles or more and save an hour compared with our trip from Ottawa to Rapid City last week.

Back in Rapid

Last Friday was very busy at Sound Encouters.  It really all started Thursday evening with an unusually long ensemble recital at the Carnegie Cultural Center in central Ottawa.  (FYI, Ottawa is a small town with about 6 traffic lights.)  That evening started with a lot of posing and smiling for photographs after which approximately 75% of the ensembles performed.  The other 25% performed the evening prior.  So, Thursday was a late night then Friday was a typically busy day followed by the Final Concert which was located at Washburn Towers.  This too was a long concert.  The event was special because all the students' families were there.  The long goodbye started right after the concert and didn't end until I physically forced (slight exaggeration) the kids into our van the next morning.

Maya, Kelsea (left) and Julie were ensemble partners.  Kelsea and Julie were in a different repertoire group than Maya, hence their costumes.

 The roomies.  Here are Marie and Elizabeth (sisters), Abby and Jamuna.  They shared a suite in Bennett Hall dormitory.









Mr. Brian Lewis is one of the most esteemed faculty members at Sound Encounters. Both Maya and Kelsea were quite fortunate to have been selected to be in his master class.  With them is one of their BFFs, Izzy.









Below is Mr. Barg, the conductor of the orchestra and symphony.  In this case I'm not sure who is the bigger fan of the other -  if that doesn't make sense what I mean is they clearly like each other.

Saturday morning we finally hit the road home a bit before 9 AM.  Due to Missouri River flooding and interstate highway closures we took a longer and slower route home.  After about 14 hours and 830 miles we made it home safely.  Yesterday we rested.

Happy Birthday Pop-Pop

Today is Pop-Pop's birthday but we cannot seem to get a call out of Ottawa.  It has been storming off and on all day.  During orchestra rehearsal there were a few loud thunder claps, one of which came at just the right time in the music.  The conductor, Mr. David Barg, is a nice and friendly man.  The kids love him.  Here's a shot:

It's not a great shot of Jamuna but she's in there.

Things are starting wind down here and one can sense a bit of growing sadness among the students.  Tonight is the second ensemble recital then tomorrow will be the last day of classes. Tomorrow night is the final concert after which a lot of the kids will head home.  We plan to leave early Saturday morning.

I should add that at last night's ensemble recital both Abby's and Alex's ensembles preformed beautifully.  After a little fuddling around I was able to record the performances on my fancy, regular camera (not a video camera).  It has its limitations but can record high-definition video so I thought I'd give it a try.  I'll video performances with it tonight, with the benefit of some experience and a glance at the manual.

Brian Lewis Master Class

Maya has been very fortunate to have been selected to receive master classes with Brian Lewis.  He is quite fun and engaging, and clearly quite the master of both performance and teaching.  We were treated to a faculty concert Monday evening which featured Brian.  As an encore he played one of his signature pieces called The Hot Canary.  Take a look:



Now, imagine it ten times better in-person, in a nice theater, with an orchestra backing him up.  It was a blast. I should mention that I didn't know this clip would be on YouTube but we were discussing Monday's performance earlier today and he mentioned there was a take of it on YouTube, and that he wasn't all that thrilled about it (but what the heck, it's there).

Here are a couple of shots of Mr. Lewis and Maya at work earlier today:

In addition to master classes the kids all participate in an ensemble.  Half will perform tonight and the remainder tomorrow night.  Most of my gang are coincidentally scheduled for tomorrow night but Abby J. is playing tonight.  We will be watching them all with great interest.

Abe in Arkansas

Abe is spending a few days with his Arkansas grandparents this week while the girls are at Sound Encounters.  He was up and fishing around 5:30 AM yesterday, catching at least five large fish by 9:00 AM.  He tried to send a photo of the fish via text message but I was not able to view it so I asked him to take a photo with his iTouch and email it to me.  He did, and this is what I received:

To be honest, it was not what I expected.

Capture the Flag

A long tradition (decades ?) at Sound Encounters is a game called Capture the Flag.  The campers are divided into two teams each with a "flag".  They hide the flag somewhere on the large campus and the opposing team tries to find it an bring it back to their home territory.  If you get tagged by someone on the other team you are taken to jail for a while.  There are more detailed rules but I think you get the picture.  To my unskilled eye it looked like a bunch of kids sprinting around in the dark barely avoiding injury.  Oh, everyone had on either a green or orange glow bracelet.  Here are a few shots of the famed event:

Proud Papa

I know I shouldn't say so myself, but my kids are such angels when they are asleep.

Crazy Hair Day and more...

This day started out like every other day that we have been here except that I received a call from Miss Jamuna asking me to find some crazy hair bows.  Apparently she instigated "crazy hair day" at camp and felt she should set a good example.  Here's a shot of the outcome.  [I suppose everyone knows that you may click on any photo for an enlarged view.]

One of Maya's classes is called Orchestral Excerpts in which the students are exposed to, well, orchestra excerpts.  The objective, I believe, is for them to learn a bit about the process of auditioning for an orchestra position or any other competition in which they will be required to play standard excerpts.  Whatever it is about it is informative and fun.  I caught a bit of class today.  Her teacher is Mrs. Gold.

As I was walking around campus (Ottawa University) I snapped this random shot.  The campus is quite beautiful and peaceful.  The grounds are carefully landscaped and manicured.  Photos don't really convey how nice it is.  The science building is featured here.  I'll try to get some better shots if I have time.  One might think I would have lots of free time but I seem to be busy most of the day running from one errand to another.  No complaints.  I love helping out all the kids that are here; the dozen or so that I know and the rest that I don't.

The big event of the day was a special master class that Maya had with Ms. Sandy Yamamoto.  She was quite nice and made a lot of great comments about Maya's playing of the Bruch Concerto, 1st movement.  Of course I am videotaping all of Maya's master classes because little of what is discussed makes sense to me and that which does is quickly forgotten.  I'm doing my best.

Lastly, I have noticed on nearly every single building entrance there is a big sticker forbidding water pistols.  What's up with that?  I guess some administrator or faculty got a little wet one day and couldn't take a joke. Now we all have to pay.  Not fair.