A Weekend in "Music City"

Hello friends!

Well, I'm BACK in Philly after an awesome trip to Nashville, TN, "Music City," for a jam-packed weekend!  The purpose of the trip was three-fold:  to visit with family, to run in the Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon with my two uncles, and to explore Music City! 

The Race!
The race was fabulous and inspirational!  First and foremost, I beat my personal goal of running this, my third half marathon, in under 2 hours!  Also, my Uncle Chris ran in the half with me--it was his first half and he did great!  AND my Uncle Michael ran the full marathon and finished in excellent time, making us all proud!  After finishing the half, it was truly touching watching the full marathon runners finish.  Watching runners of every age, race, physique, and unique stride finish a full marathon, 26.2 miles, in under 3.5 hours only reinforced my belief that you can do whatever you put your mind to.  This applies to music, too!!  All you need is the drive, the passion, and the dedication to meeting your goal, and anything is possible!  Now I am all too tempted to indeed complete a full marathon by the end of 2010...

Uncle C, Me, Uncle Michael Pre-Race

The Music!
While in "Music City," I did of course also get to experience some of the excellent live music that Nashville has to offer.  On Broadway, I had the privilege of enjoying some traditional country, "honky-tonk" style music, which was taking place in every bar along the strip.  One place of particular note, "Robert's Western World" http://robertswesternworld.com/, is a great spot--part boot-shop, part bar--I highly recommend you check out if you're ever in Nashville.  Somewhat off the beatin' path, at The Basement, we got to see some world class musicians (Michael Rhodes, Josh Leo, George Marinelli, Reese Wynans, and Pete Abbott) play together in a group called "The Purifiers."  Some of the most rockin' original tunes I have heard in my lifetime!

A look down Broadway

Robert's

Inside Robert's

The Purifiers playing at The Basement

More pictures from the weekend can be found via my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2183944&id=6103848&l=61a9ac6cf4 or official pictures from the race, as well as a video of me crossing the finish line, can be found here: http://nashville.competitor.com/results/ (my bib # was 8449)

And a big "thanks!"
Huge thanks to my Uncle Chris and Melody for hosting us and for helping to pull such a nice weekend together!  And thanks to all my friends and family who helped support me in my training for the race!  If you get the chance, get to Nashville!

And with that, night y'all!
~Tina

Neumann University Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble: Musical Styles

Hi Friends!

Wanted to let you all know that I will be performing this Thursday night with the Neumann University (not just a college anymore, haha!) Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble in their spring concert.  The concert will take place in the Meagher Theatre located in the Thomas A. Bruder, Jr. Life Center on the Neumann University campus.  The concert begins at 8:00 p.m. and will be conducted by Dr. Rick Sayers, a.k.a. the coolest director I know!
I pulled the following description from the University's website:  "The Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble join forces to present a variety of musical styles and instrumental combinations at this annual event."  Sounds really formal, but really it's a bunch of students and some volunteer community members getting together to play music and having a fun time doing it!  So if you happen to be free this Thursday, come out and support the music program at Neumann!  

Since I mentioned it, the "volunteer community members" as Rick so lovingly refers to us as are as follows:

Tina DiCroce (that's ME!) on alto sax
Andy Hutton and Bob Tokonitz on trombone
Jim Hoeffer on french horn (big shout-out to Jim!)

A funny sidenote (or at least I find it funny):
A while back, when I used to work in the administrative offices of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, I actually had both Andy and Bob call me, at work, and when asking to speak with me, introduce themselves as "Andy, the trombone player" and "Bob, the trombone player."  Completely separate incidents, in the same week.  Needless to say, my co-workers started to wonder about me after that... haha!  No idea why they both called me in the same week, or better, at work, but hey it resulted in a couple jokes at the time... and a really uninteresting blog post four years after the fact!  So sorry!

Anyway, some additional details about Thursday night's concert at Neumann:
Admission: General $8; Seniors/Students $5, Neumann Students with ID and children under 12 FREE

Hope to see you there!!
~Tina

World Premiere Children's Opera: "The Crowded House"

Hello friends!

I am excited to announce that this month I will be performing on clarinet--as part of a woodwind quintet and piano pit orchestra--for "The Crowded House," a World Premiere Children's Opera.  Composed by Michael Dutka, the production will run for two weekends in April at the Barnstormers Theater in Ridley Park, PA. 

A description of the production from the Barnstormers Theater website:
"Bring the whole family to enjoy this delightfully whimsical children's opera! Imaginations will be ignited by visions of Princesses and Knights, singing sunflowers, dancing goats, and of course, a Good Witch! A classic rabinnical tale is adapted musically by local composer, Michael Dutka. A World Premiere that is not to be missed!!"

Dates for the production are as follows:
Friday and Saturday evening performances: April 9th, 10th, 16th, & 17th at 8 pm
Sunday matinee performances: April 11th & April 18th at 2 pm

Please visit the Theater's website for more details on purchasing tickets and for directions to the theater.

 
 
       
Hope to see you all there!  ~Tina

Album review: Allison Miller's 'Boom Tic Boom'

As a female instrumentalist with a special passion for jazz music, who performs from time-to-time with local big bands, this article was inspiring!  Enjoy!

Album review: Allison Miller's 'Boom Tic Boom'

~Tina

"Children of Eden" at Bonner High School

So, I am a little behind posting about this, considering two weekends of performances have already gone by...  In any case, Bonner High School in Upper Darby, PA is currently performing Children of Eden, composed by Stephen Schwartz--some of his other works include Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked.  For those of you not familiar with the show, I have included a plot overview and synopsis by Carol de Giere below.

"The musical Children of Eden is now in the top 20 of musicals most frequently licensed by Music Theatre International, which is unusual for a show that never played on Broadway.  It's popularity has spread by word of mouth.  The score is a favorite of many Schwartz fans and includes a vast range of styles beyond "typical" broadway.  The love song "In Whatever Time We Have" is thought to be the most popular Schwartz song performed at weddings.  (<-- this happens to be my favorite song in the show! -Tina)

Children of Eden is perhaps the least describable Schwartz musical because it holds meaning on so many levels.  The excuse for the story is Genesis--both the first books and the story of Noah's ark.  But audiences immediately experience that the relationships between Father, Adam, and Eve has more to do with earthly families, their immediate challenges and their generational legacies."

For anyone interested, the remaining performances will be held:
Friday, March 26th at 7:30 pm &
Saturday, March 27th at 7:30 pm

For high school students, they perform the show very well!  There are some pretty cool clarinet solos, too!  ;)

Have a good week everyone!

Musically,
Tina

Harmonious.ly: Connecting Music Teachers & Students!

I recently signed up for Harmonious.ly, a website that helps connect music teachers and students.  I thought I'd pass it along, in case anyone out there is either looking to take music lessons, or is a music teacher looking to connect with potential students. 

Of course, if you are looking for piano lessons, look no further than right here!  :)

You can view my profile by visiting the following link. Enjoy!
http://harmonious.ly/teacher/432

Musically,
Tina

Excellent Clarinet Repair in Philadelphia!

If you are looking to have a clarinet repaired and you are located in the Philadelphia area, take it to Sarah Bresnahan! I had a clarinet emergency, and not only did she respond to my e-mail within one hour of writing to her, but she was able to repair my clarinet that same day!  She is very kind and accomodating and I will take my clarinet to her for any repair needs I have in the future! 

Sarah is currently spending her summer abroad in France and Buffet, but when she returns in August she will be well-equipped to repair other woodwind instruments as well!

You can contact Sarah at fixmyclarinet@gmail.com
Visit her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Sarah-Bresnahan-Clarinet-Repair/66698639066