We’ll be playing a 15-minute set tomorrow night, including two of our new Bach and Shostakovich transcriptions. The program is part of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Young Soloists’ Competition, which Paul won back in the day.
You can watch a live webcast at this link. We’re on around 7:45–hope you can be there.
Tag Archives: Zadie Lawler
Flat Tires, Marimbas, Pancakes
Ever notice how changing a tire…
…is like setting up a marimba?
It was made quite obvious to us yesterday, when Paul’s car had a flat. It caused quite the delay in our day, but at least allowed us the excuse of lunch at the Original Pancake House, which was right next door to the tire place.
Interestingly, this is the second flat tire I’ve experienced recently with a current collaborator who was once a member of Tales & Scales. Here’s Neil Parsons changing his tire on the last day of the Arts Midwest Conference:
Where's the Flat Tire Fairy when you need her?
My niece, aka the Flat Tire Fairy, earlier this year.
Shostakovich D minor fugue, LIVE
Paul and I recently received the official CD of our Yellow Barn concert. We were listening to it yesterday, while driving around in the first snow of the year, and it seemed that Shostakovich’s D Minor Fugue was particularly well matched to the wintry surroundings.
Click here to listen to an excerpt from the fugue, featuring alto flute. And here are a couple of snowy pictures to give you the full effect:
(Note that Paul is holding the CD!)
Postcard from Flamarimba Camp
Dear Mom and Dad,
I had a nice time at Flamarimba Camp. I stayed up past lights-out one time, but don’t tell the counselors.
Mostly, we practiced for our show this weekend in NYC with the International Street Cannibals:
We will be playing our new versions of two Preludes & Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, with live capoeira. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that is sweeping the nation. Seriously!
Also, we did two school shows, and they went pretty well. The kids really liked the music, and asked very good questions. After the second show, a girl raised her hand and said,
I have a comment. You have good fashion.
Not bad, even if it did come from a second-grader in a school uniform.
On our breaks from practicing, we watched Flight of the Conchords and Fawlty Towers, and a sad-but-hilarious video about life as an orchestral percussionist.
Paul had a cold, but that did not stop him from showing off his new concert snare drum. Hopefully he will be feeling better by Sunday. See you at the concert!
Love, z
PS. Please send cookies.
PPS. Preferably chocolate chip.
CMA: the haiku
Our friend, Jeannie, has been on a haiku bender lately. Upon hearing the news of our CMA showcase, she sent us this celebratory haiku:
My friend and her friend
Will perform at CMA.
This year I will go.
CMA
No, not the Country Music Awards. (Last I checked, they don’t have a category for flute & marimba.)
Chamber Music America is the industry organization for small ensembles, and the big news is that Lawler & Fadoul have been selected to do a showcase performance at their annual conference in January!
The Conference takes place in New York City, and is 4 days of showcases, concerts, panel discussions, exhibits and networking.
This will be our first showcase at CMA. We will be playing some of our old favorites (Ravel’s Habanera, Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea, and a tango by Piazzolla) as well as two of our new transcriptions (Bach’s G Major Prelude & Fugue from WTC 1 and Shostakovich’ A Major Prelude & Fugue). You can hear a preview of the action on our audio page.
Keep an eye out here and on our schedule page for practice showcase performances—we’d love to play our pieces for you. (In fact, if you’d be interested in hosting an informal house concert, let us know!)
Welcome to our new site!
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to the new internet home of Lawler & Fadoul. Please check out our audio and video clips, the programs we offer, our outreach page, and our schedule of upcoming events by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page.
This is also the new home of our old blog, Kissyboots Rising. All of our old entries are below, and we will adding new ones all the time.
Stay tuned for more about our Yellow Barn Residency, our NSO In-School shows that begin in mid-November, and more, more, more.
Yellow Barn Residency, Day 3: Can Phones
Day 3 of our Yellow Barn residency:
We’ve been experimenting with can phones as a way of expediting communication between pods, and as a diversion from the 10 hours a day of rehearsal. Check out the video, which includes a cameo by our coach and colleague, the awesome Christina Dahl, and features our recording of Ravel’s Habanera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7kO8XjOeKk?fs=1
And, if you’re in the area, come to our concert! Christina is playing too.
Monday, October 11
7pm
United Church of Putney
15 Kimball Road
Putney, VT
$12
Yellow Barn, Day 2
As I mentioned yesterday, Yellow Barn strives to create “an environment conducive to undistracted study.” Let’s see how they do in a back-to-back comparison with New York City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNK1EYsh1A0?fs=1
Yellow Barn Residency
We are here in beautiful Putney, VT, doing a residency at Yellow Barn. We are refining, rehearsing and performing our brand spanking new transcriptions of Bach and Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues.
Holy Smokes it’s gorgeous here:
Paul and I drove up separately, and each realized that we did not bring any sort of recording device with us. Immediately upon our arrival, however, Anna presented us with a Zoom to use! That was the first sign that this is going to be an awesome residency.
The next sign that this was going to be an awesome residency was the Pods–the music practice buildings where we are to rehearse. It’s as if someone said, “Now what would you like in a practice space? Abundant light? A beautiful view? Solar power? Climate control? Check and check.” Here’s a me practicing there the first night:
Here’s the same view, in daylight:
At Yellow Barn, they strive to create an “atmosphere conducive to undistracted study,” and there will be more about that in future posts. Today, we practiced and rehearsed a full 10 and a half hours. That’s more than 10, in case you were wondering.
Have another look at the Pods:
Paul and I each have our own Pod. Here’s what we look like to eachother:
I have only one suggestion for the folks at Yellow Barn: how about a zipline from Pod to Pod?
If you’re in the area, please come to our concert on Monday!