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Slow exposure shot of Farm Island Lake, taken on May 14th. I love the neighbor's bobber trail in this image! (F 8, 30 sec, 50 ISO) #52weeksofphotos #farmislandlake #onlyinmn
I’ve enjoyed seeing all of the photos of last night’s Super Flower Blood Moon. Here’s my contribution! #52weeksofphotos #fullmoon #moon #bloodmoon #bloodmooneclipse
I love band swag. Tonight it’s my West Salam HS jacket at the cabin! Congrats to @todd.zimbelman and the West Salam HS Wind Ensemble at the state championships!
First place!!!
Incredible ACDA 7/8 Honor Choir today! So proud Peyton, and thank you @jennjohns91 for the help and encouragement! ❤️
Over 30 years as the Aitkin High School band director. Congratulations, Chris Halvorson! Wonderful job by all of the students, too!
Very thankful the Charles Weise and the MJW Symphonic Wind Ensemble for a wonderful performance of Traces of Amber Sky - I really enjoyed putting this together with all of you! AND, the MJW Concert Band did a beautiful job with April! My daughter Peyton has really enjoyed playing in this group. Thank you, Geneva Fitzsimonds and Michael Moeller - what a fun and musical experience these past two years have been for her! #tracesofambersky #april #mjw
A project a few years in the making has finally concluded. Thank you to Arris Golden and the MSU Concert Band; your premiere performance of “The Long Light After Time” was incredible! It was a tremendous honor to have been included on the concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of the MSU Band program. The entire performance by the top three groups was ridiculous, including wonderful premieres by Zhou Tian and Ivette Herryman Rodriguez. Congratulations to all involved!!! 💚
A clip of a brand new piece of mine called The Long Light After Time, written to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Michigan State band program. Arris Golden and the MSU have been a blast to work with!!
MSU bound!
This afternoon is it; get out and see this amazing production!!! #highschoolmusical #mommamia #52weeksofphotos
So I’ve missed a few weeks of #52weeksofphotos, but I’ve been quite busy conducting. Rest assured, I’ve still managed to use the camera a fair amount. In fact, I’m finishing up with a really fun project. I took all of the headshots for our local high school musical. Additionally, I took a bunch of action shots at one of their dress rehearsals. These students are absolutely incredible. If you are anywhere near Aitkin High School, you need to see this show. It starts tonight and runs through Sunday afternoon. Congrats to all on wonderful job!
Today was a first: I conducted an honor band with Peyton in the trumpet section. Definitely a memory I’ll keep with me forever. We were working hard up until the concert - the band played beautifully! - so I didn’t think to take any pics, but thankfully, Peyton’s selfie game is strong! 😂 Many thanks to MBDA for the invitation!
More progress! Electrical rough-in, insulated and drywall! Oh, and it’s now heated! #L91Studio
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at one of our rehearsals last week (YouTube link in bio and comments). It’s the South Dakota "Clark" All-State Band giving a full run of the piece of mine they eventually premiered titled, “Among the Aspens.” One of the goals of the commission was to write a work that was widely accessible to all of the bands in the state (and beyond!). In other words, a musical, expressive work that just happens to be at the easier end of the grading scale. In this case, I believe we are firmly at grade 2: a grade level I haven’t truly achieved since I composed “April.”
I’m incredibly proud of the way the students performed Saturday on the premiere and beyond.
Please share with anyone that might be interested!!! The music will be available next week, so please put it on your list for future programming! #amongtheaspens #allstate #band #newmusic
Many thanks 2022 South Dakota “Clark” All-State Band on an unforgettable time this weekend. Your performance was absolutely amazing, and perhaps even more importantly, you are simply wonderful people. I’ll miss all of you! ❤️
Especially memorable was the world premiere of new work of mine, “Among the Aspens,” commissioned by the Phi Beta Mu - Sigma Chapter of South Dakota in honor of their 60th Anniversary. The commission was roughly six years in the running, and I can’t wait to finally share this one with everyone!
And last but certainly not least, thank you to all of my fine friends that helped put this week together. It was extremely well-organized!
#allstate #amongtheaspens
Happy Birthday, Peyton!!! I can’t believe you are 14 already. Sorry to be traveling on your birthday yet again, but sending lots of love from South Dakota! ❤️
The South Dakota Intercollegiate Honor Band left it all on the stage today! It was a concert I won’t forget. Thank you to student musicians in the group; it was a privilege to work with all of you. ❤️
I’d also like to give a special shout out to Bethany Amundson, Jake Wallace and Kevin Kessler for bringing me in and being such fine hosts!
Enjoying an hour away from the podium after spending the day with 93 incredible musicians. Thank you South Dakota Intercollegiate Honor Band; your concert tomorrow will be incredible!
Fanfare for Athena - Grant
Vignettes of Mount Vernon - Perrine
Beneath the Canopy - Nishimura
And Sings the Tune Without the Words - Perrine
Glow - Greene
“Goodnight kittens and goodnight mittens.” (F 10 1/200 50 ISO) #wormmoon #52weeksofphotos