Alameda Music Academy?

I am looking for names for my new music school. Alameda Music Academy? I think that's going to be it. Anyone have any other suggestions? It has to work for cello, violin and piano students. I have been starting to slowly get some more students and would love to advertise and get the music school up and hopping...:-) I have lots of adult beginners and a few intermediate cello students. I have some new kids on piano, violin and cello, but would like to get some more. I would like to keep the back door open and let the students come in and out of my music studio all day long...

Colorado Suzuki Institute

Isabelle and cello friends backstage at the orchestra concert

Wow. That was a great trip! Isabelle performed a big solo at the Colorado Suzuki Institute Honors Recital. She's amazing. She's solid. She's musical. She has great dresses!

It was a tiring week though. I took Isabelle to four music classes a day. She had master class, rep class, musicianship class and --- da da da da! Orchestra! She was so excited about orchestra. They asked her to be in orchestra and it made here feel so happy and big! She really did do great in that class, too.

She performed on Wednesday in a lilac purple shimmery ball gowny kind of dress. Gavotte by Lully. She got tons of compliments all week and was kind of a star then at the camp. She loved that!

The musicianship class was really good too. It was a theory class. We used a computer program called Auralia by Sibelius, and she loved it. So we have ordered it for her.

The teachers were really fine.

We did some fun activities throughout the week. Ice skating, bungee trampoline jumping, mini golf, lots of swimming and hot tub at our Beaver Creek Resort called The Charter.

We had a day free before flying home, so we decided to go to WaterWorld in Denver on Sunday. It was very expensive to get in, but such a cool park. An hour and a half after we got in, it started to rain. The winds were blowing like mad. Everyone was running to take cover. It started to hail. There was actually a tornado! Unbelievable. We had rainbow colored umbrellas and after trying to wait it out for about ten minutes beneath a concession stand that sold funnel cakes with whipped creme (not kidding), we made a break for the car.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in a Holiday Inn pool and hot tub. We were very happy to get home to Alameda on Monday!

Yoshi's again and the Stewart Brothers

Lots of playing going on! Lots of weddings, memorials, recording sessions...driving to wine country alot. It's not too bad---like 65 miles...not so bad for some good gigs.

I did Yoshi's the other night with Ramana Vieira and her Ensemble. It was fun. Two shows, at 8pm and 10pm. By 11:30, we were exhausted. Scott came and brought Isabelle. She was coloring while the band played. It gives her great inspiration. She told me that she rated my cello playing that night as a 10. I'll take it!

The real fun was the recording session I did yesterday with the Stewart brothers. They are both dancers with the San Francisco Ballet. Both of them! Matt is recording a CD of his own original compositions. So he hired me in to play on some of the songs. I drove out to a house in the hills in Belmont with my cello, the home of OTR Studios.

From the minute I met these guys---they were smiling. They smiled the whole session. They had such positive energy, it was wonderful to play for them. Matt was the leader of the project, and Ben was a helpful assistant to his brother. Ben had played on the CD too- piano. Matt was the composer, the guitarist and the singer. He told me that he wrote these songs when he was backstage in the dressing room in between rehearsals and concerts at the ballet.

Well, they are both artists with a very prestigious ballet company, so I was not sure what to expect. But the music was fun---and I enjoyed playing on it. The last song we did, called, "Please Sir", sure sounded a bit like early Beatles...These guys were really great. It was one of those fun moments in the life of a freelancer- where you get hired, get paid well, get treated with respect, and all the years of hard work that you put into learning music and your instrument is highly appreciated.

Yay! Horray for the Stewart Brothers. Can't wait to hear the CD, and to go and see them dance.

Chapel of the Chimes Aids/Lifecycle Series

Bravo Isabelle! You did a great job last night. You dug into the Lully Gavotte with confidence to open the show at the gorgeous Chapel of the Chimes. You didn't miss anything, and you played it very musically. Then you played an Irish song which was fun. But the show stopper was the Irish traditional slow song, Star of the County Down. That was played beautifully honey. It even gave me chills. You are a true performer. Bravo, sweetie! I am so proud of you for giving your music to the world at such a young age.

March 2009

Butterfly Girl: classical-gypsy-circus-world cello music

I have been really trying to figure out how to promote my brand new CD "Butterfly Girl", and I have found something out. You know what? There's no one way to do it. You just have to go at it and plug away. Which is what I didn't do with my last CD "Night of a Thousand Rains". It's a beautiful record, but I never did any promotion for it, and I only sold it at gigs. This time, with this new CD, I am going to get into the promotion arena and try to get my music out there. It's going to be fun!

Whose on the CD? Here's a list: Marcie Brown on cello, Terrence Brewer on guitar, Katja Cooper and Steve LaPorta on percussion, Ana Nitmar and Ramana Vieira on vocals and the Agave String Quintet with Robin Lewis on guitar. A star studded cast. Also, a cameo performance by Isabelle Brown-Lyden on her cello and singing.

After doing some research, I have decided to start my own record label. It's going to be called "Classical Gypsy Records." How does that sound?

So, we here at Classical Gypsy Productions are working on a new website design that has the CD cover on the home page and is easily accessible for people who want to hear a little of it or buy it. We are going to go with a radio campaign and the CD will be sent around to college stations and world music stations. "Butterfly Girl" is classical-gypsy-circus-world cello music, but I guess it can be classified under "world music". Sure, why not?

I am busy getting promotional materials together to send out. It's alot of work!

But let's see, what else is going on?

I have a new string quartet, and it is going to be great. We met for the first time last week. The violinists are Julian Smedley and Ben Cortez, and the violist is Katie Wrede. The group can play alot of things that string quartets can't normally play. Gypsy jazz! Standards! And lots of improvisation. It's exciting. I will keep you posted on that group. First, we need a name. Anyone?

Also, the wonderful Portguese fado group that I am in, "Ramana Vieira and her Ensemble", are recently signed to a record label, "Pacific Coast Jazz". Our new CD is entitled "Lagrimas de Rainha", which means "Tears of a Queen." We have a CD release party at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley on Saturday, April 18th, and we are also playing at Yoshi's in Oakland on Tuesday, May 26th, at 8 and 10pm. Yay! Go Ramana!

With my little daughter Isabelle, who is now seven years old, I will be performing a March 14th Aids/Lifecycle Series concert. It's a Saturday night 7:30 show at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland. We will probably play a few Irish cello duets and then we'll break out Suzuki Cello Book 3 and show off her Lully Gavotte. Go Isabelle!

Oh, and one more concert I just added, another of the Aids/Lifecycle Concert Series shows. It's on Sunday, April 5th, at 4pm, at the Orinda Community Church. I will be playing a few selections for solo cello from my new "Butterfly Girl" CD. This is going to be videoed for my website, so I better be good!

Okay, that's the musical update for now. I should go play some music instead of just talking about it!

St. Marks Episcopal Benefit Concert

Last night Isabelle and I opened the show at 7:30 in Berkeley at St. Marks Episcopal. St. Marks is a beautiful church and we were very excited and a little nervous about playing. There were alot of people in the audience. I was trying to get Isabelle to think about the music and to go over the music in her head before we went up to play, but, being six years old, she just said, "Mom, I already know the music!", and continued coloring in her Hello Kitty book. Hmmm, maybe she has something there. Maybe it is better to do something fun and relaxing before performing, instead of stressing about the music that we know so well already.

We were called to the stage and our cellos were already up there so we walked up hand in hand and took a big dramatic bow, which the audience loved. We performed Schubert's Berceuse, Gavotte by Lully, (Suzuki Book 3), and then two fun Irish songs, the last of which is called "Star of the County Down." Isabelle played with determination and musicality. It was really fun. We were not perfect, but we made some magic, I believe, which was our goal. The crowd was very appreciative, and the clapping left a wonderful echo that filled the church.

Isabelle was very tired, but we managed to stay and listen to the entire first half. Valdez Hill played some lovely piano music. (He is the organizer of the event.) There was a flute trio headed by flutist Carol Alban that was really nice. A very macho tenor sang some Italian arias, and there was a student jazz trio. Last was a clarinet concerto performed by a young girl. This was a variety show kind of a lineup. It was a benefit for the San Francisco Aids Society.

Isabelle got all kinds of nice comments as we left the church. It was freezing outside! They handed us two teddy bears for performing, and Isabelle held them tightly as she fell asleep in the back seat on our way back to Alameda.

We are now planning our summer, or trying to plan our summer. One of my groups, Ramana Vieira and her Ensemble, has just signed with a record label, Pacific Coast Jazz, and a booking agent, Maria Matias, and so I am supposed to be ready for some tours of the east coast. But I have to book my own gigs and trips...so it is very difficult. I would like to take Isabelle to Beaver Creek, Colorado again this summer, to the Colorado Suzuki Institute, in June. It will be much fun! We love Colorado!

I have also been looking at the Strings by the Sea camp, in San Diego. This Suzuki music camp is run by a family friend: Karla Holland-Moritz. I have never met Karla, but she is a prominent San Diego cellist. Her parents used to come on trips with my family when we lived in Michigan. Her father, Helmut, played trombone in some of the same orchestras where my dad used to play viola. I remember sitting around campfires, telling stories and making jokes with her parents and my parents on Drummond Island, Michigan, where we used to vacation often. What a beautiful spot!

Anyway, I think it would be fun to try to go to Strings by the Sea in August. San Diego! I could drive us there, as it's only 500 miles. And, we could go to Sea World too, and maybe Disneyland...Wait a minute---this trip is getting a little bit out of control...my summer is getting too packed...help!

Monterey

Ramana and I on the water.


Hi everybody! Monterey was beautiful. I performed with Ramana Vieira and her Ensemble Wednesday night at a venue called Monterey Live. It was a sweet place and we filled the house. The audience was very receptive. Ramana sold some CD's to admiring fans, and I sold my new CD "Butterfly Girl" to some fans too. After the show there was loud music being piped into the house and I was trying to talk to the people that had enjoyed the show and that had bought CD's...but, I was losing my voice and had no volume at all. It was awful---I kept trying to shout over the music but could not find the voice to do so...

Ramana's group has a new record label- Pacific Coast Jazz, and so we were meeting with them, and with a possible booking agent after the gig for dinner. Donna Nichols was this great lady from PCJ--she reminded me of Holly Hunter---she was very spunky and fun. She was there with her friend Judy. I sat beside her but could barely talk, much to my chagrin. The booking agent's name was Maria---she wants to take us on and get us some bookings and some tours, so this was very exciting!

We stayed at the Monterey Hotel, this awesome old Victorian place in the center of town on Alvarado Street, and in the morning we walked down to the pier. What a gorgeous spot! I only wish I could take my little daughter Isabelle with me to the same area. She will love it! Not to mention getting her to the Monterey Aquarium, which is also within walking distance.

Last week there was alot going on musicwise too. On Tuesday I met with JoAnne Tobias, who is writing an article about me for Alameda Magazine. She talked with me for a long time. She is going to help promote my new CD in her article, and she is hoping to make it a feature. On Wednesady, I went on the Doug Edwards show on KPFA, and he interviewed me and played some cuts from my past shows at KPFA and also four or five songs from "Butterfly Girl". Later, I sold some CD's from my website to people that had listened and loved the music. Yay!

On Thursday, JoAnne Tobias' husband, Mitch Tobias, did a photo shoot of my cello and I. He had me up on this big concrete block next to the ocean out here on Alameda Point. It was very funny, as Mitch wanted me to dance with the cello and spin around with it. There was a big hole in the concrete and for some reason he wanted me near the hole---he kept shouting, "Great! Now spin! Near the hole! Closer to the hole!..." I think we got some good shots---??? Lucky to be still alive though!

I have to go to bed now---I have no voice and am totally sick....I hope I can fall asleep!

Christmas!

My favorite Messiah to play is at the Unitarian Church of Berkeley. The conductor, Bryan Baker, dresses up like Handel!

Wow- Christmas is already here. Unbelievable. We have inlaws in town. They are even in house. Help! No- just kidding. I really enjoy Scott's parents. Probably more than he does!

I have a Christmas Eve midnight mass to play, and then a church service on Christmas morning. After that, Isabelle and I are off to Lake Tahoe to ski. (If we can get over the pass!) It should be fun.

Not too many concerts coming up. Isabelle and I have two benefit concerts though. They are both for the Aids/Lifecycle series, to benefit the San Francisco Aids Society. One is on January 24th in Berkeley and the other is on March 14th. You can certainly check my calendar on my webpage at http://www.marciebrown.com/ to find out details. These are variety shows. Isabelle and I get to go first because they don't start until 7:30 at night. I am not sure what we will play yet. She might sing this year. But definitely we'll do some cello duets also. We are working on some great Irish music, so maybe we'll put some of that on the program. Isabelle is now working on Suzuki Book 3. She has learned the first two compositions and she is playing beautifully. But, as always, it is still a challenge to get her to practice. We pretty much try to practice every day, except on Sunday, when she gets the day off from cello.

The big surprise recently has been her vibrato. We talked about it a little bit this summer. She just started shaking her arm one day at the Colorado Suzuki Institute after watching some of the other kids doing it. Her teacher at the institute, David Evenchick, told me to just really exaggerate my vibrato when I played my cello around her. So I did that, and she now has developed this really great vibrato. I haven't told her anything about how to do it---I only encouraged it and told her how beautiful it sounds. She is very proud of that vibrato. Vibrato, at age 6!

The other big concert coming up is on Friday, February 13th at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto. It's a really nice concert series in this beautiful theater. I am playing there with Ramana Vieira and her Ensemble, my Portugese fado band. We are excited about it. We have a new CD that is almost out now, and a new record company, Pacific Coast Jazz, that is promoting it. We are also on the prowl searching for the right booking agent for the group. To find out more about that group, go to http://www.ramanavieira.org/ .

Butterfly Girl is here!

I got the new CD! It's very exciting, and I just want to give it out to everyone. Very bad for business... I can't listen to it because after writing the music, making the sheet music, arranging the music, rehearsing it, recording it and mastering it, I don't want to hear it ever again. But you can listen to it with a pair of fresh ears! I hope you like it! Seriously, the new CD "Butterfly Girl" is a fun listen. It's classical-gypsy-circus-world-cello music at it's finest. It combines cello, guitar, percussion, vocals, and a little mandolin and violin. Some of the performers are: Terrence Brewer, Katja Cooper, Ana Nitmar, Ramana Vieira and Steve LaPorta, and Robin Lewis and the Agave String Quintet. Oh- and also, Kelly Park and Reid Whatley make a guest appearance on the song "Lost in Isabelle". Go Alameda musicians!

I am working on updating my webpage---but, you can hear the title track on it right now. So, have a listen at http://www.marciebrown.com/ . Let me know what you think!

I would like to find a record label that would be interested in promoting the new CD, but I am not sure where to begin to look for that. In this economy...well...it won't be easy to find. But I am hopeful that someone will help me to share this soulful CD with the world! If not, then I'll just have to promote it and distribute it myself.

We played a party Wednesday night in Mill Valley for a new company called Newzonia...it was very interesting to say the least. It was a gorgeous giant house in the hills, with dark wood floors and picture windows with amazing views and outdoor fountains and hot tubs...the people seemed to be wearing kind of strange costumes...it wasn't clear what the theme was...it kind of reminded me of Rocky Horro. Anyway, the people were nice and very attentive. They seemed to love the fado music of the Ramana Vieira Ensemble. I enjoyed myself very much. It left me with the feeling that I love to perform and that if I could just be doing this kind of thing every night, I would be forever happy.

Last night I finished "The Soloist", a wonderful book by journalist Steve Lopez. It's about a bass player that went to Julliard and then had a mental breakdown and ended up playing a two string violin on the streets of Los Angeles. This story greatly touched me. I went to Manhattan School of Music in New York City for my master's degree, and then, after that, I played on the streets of New York for about six years. I fell in love with the street music and the musicians that made it. I wrote a fiction novel, based on truth, about a doo wop group called "Hot Ice" that I managed and ended up singing with. I fell in love with one of the men in the group, and the book is really about the duality between a classically trained well educated cellist and a street oriented doo wop singer. It's called "Four Part Harmony", and I sell an audio version of it on my website, at http://www.marciebrown.com/ . But my dream is to get it published in novel form. Anyway, this book by Steve Lopez touched my heart and, at times, I shed tears. For Nathaniel Ayers, the street bassist in Steve's book, and also for those I loved on the streets of New York City: Bobby Thompson, street singer, Jaco Pastorius, bassist, Charlie Barnett, comedian...