Low Eh!

My practicing changes frequently, based on my upcoming gigs, my interests at the time, and reminders of lessons past. Here’s what I’ve been working on in September 2026.

1. Musicals! I finished my run on Great Gatsby, and almost immediately jumped into James McGowan’s new musical, New Life. I love playing in musicals! Being part of a production that includes the dramatic, and visual arts, on top of great music is a great experience. For New Life, we recorded the cast recording in the summer, and it was available through this first run of shows – check it out here. It’s a recording and show that I’m so incredibly proud to have been a part of. On top of the production as a whole, one of the aspects of the music that was the most fun was being part of the single-line melody section with Cendrine Despax on violin – who was a perfect foil to my bass clarinet and tenor saxophone.
2. Articulation. The musicals have demanded more variety in my playing than in the past, and one of the elements where I felt that I needed to be more consistent in was my articulation, especially in the extreme registers – altissimo clarinet, low D-C bass clarinet, altissimo tenor saxophone, and low B-A’s on baritone sax. I’ve been trying to conceptualize my low notes feeling further away, and my high notes being closer to the mouthpiece. Also, I’ve been dealing with my note lengths – staccato notes being really short, and tenuto notes being very long. Contrast is key!
3. Tone. I think every woodwind player works on their tone daily. Over the last months, I have been tasked with playing jazz and classical clarinet, Tower of Power baritone saxophone, bass clarinet from sensitive to edgy, and blues/rock to fuzzy jazz tenor saxophone. Listening to relevant music is so important to me to get into the headspace of each sound, but I have also found that playing along to recordings has been a huge help and influence on the way I make sound on my instruments.