The Summerglen Files

Every year, I hear all kinds of people knocking the month of January. Some say that, now that all the decorations are put away and holiday festivities are wrapped up, January feels dull and bleak and depressing. Others complain that it’s too cold, or that there’s nothing to do. But I think [...]

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Over several years of teaching private trombone lessons, I’ve noticed a trend among students to focus their practice on the ensemble music assigned to them by their band director at school, and shy away from doing anything else. Unfortunately, band music for young trombonists doesn’t tend to be very challenging…so when it’s all that kids [...]

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If you’re interested in creativity and education, here’s a highly enlightening and entertaining way to spend the next 20 minutes. In this video, creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson discusses creativity and the educational system–and hits the nail right on the head! His perspective on creativity really rings true with my experience in school, [...]

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Just a few hours ago, we had our first meeting of the Winter 2010 run of the Women Embracing Creativity course here at Summerglen. It was a great time, and it made me remember again why I enjoy leading this class so much. Every group is unique, and it’s exciting to learn how [...]

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If you missed out on the Friday Night Playgroup here at Summerglen, here’s a video wrapup for you to enjoy. We drummed, painted, and had SUCH a great time! Stay tuned–we’re definitely going to have more of these groups!

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Yesterday, we wrapped up our fall 2009 Women Embracing Creativity course…and as always, we had a great time. After doing several runs of the course, I’ve realized that my favorite part is almost always the final class meeting. Our last day tends to be bittersweet; after all, it’s time to leave the circle [...]

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Marching season is officially over: we’ve worked 5 competitions, pushed through 3-1/2 months of rehearsals, and given silly awards and hot pizza to everyone in the percussion and brass lines. After growing accustomed to the hustle and bustle of marching season, it can be straight up weird to see a relatively empty November calendar! [...]

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Earlier this week, I stopped by Andrew’s blog and was intrigued by one of his posts about balancing creative input and output. Andrew compares his creative expression to a conversation–just as a totally one-sided conversation gets boring, creating turns into drudgery if it’s always going one way. Reading his post made me think [...]

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This is a short little video with a powerful message! So…have you carried yourself like a wildly successful artist today?

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Greetings, Summerglen friends! We’re back from Millbrook Band Camp (aka, a week of marching around in the pouring rain), and getting geared up for the fall. There’s nothing like a solid week of drum cadences, drill, and 8-to-5 steps–for me, it means that the hot days of summer are almost over (thank goodness!) [...]

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