Alaska, part II

Thank you Seattle airport for free Wi-Fi! It is making my 5 hour layover much more enjoyable and productive!

It was a bit sad to say goodbye to Eric and his parents this morning heading out of Fairbanks, Alaska! The rest of the group is staying until this evening, but since I have this random BYP gig in Germany I had to book a totally different itinerary...which meant leaving at 7am :(  Eric's parents (who hosted all four of us in their lovely Alaskan home) were really genuine and generous people. When we came home from the gig late last night, Betsy had made us loads of treats...including homemade Buckeyes (an Ohio candy made of peanut butter and chocolate! my fav!) and traditional Norwegian pastries. We spent each night of this trip visiting with them, and we really feel like we have family in Alaska! I hope we can repay the favor in the future :)

The last 2 days in Fairbanks were a lot of fun. On Friday, after the rehearsals, Anders/Daniel's masterclass and a group dinner, we drove about an hour north to a natural hot spring! It was snowing all day, but Eric and Fi said that they would brave the white roads, and hualed us all up to Chena Hot Springs. Thank goodness for winter tires and determined personalities, because they got us there and back safely! And...it was amazing!!! I've never been to anything like it! Plus, it was beautiful with the huge white snowflakes landing on our heads. This is the best photo that I could capture:

We were totally relaxed after the dip in the warm water. Thanks Fi and Eric for the trip!

The next morning, we were not able to get into the hall until about 3pm...which meant a lazy morning. We were thankful for the break in the schedule, and even more thankful for the food provided by Eric's parents. Homemade French Toast, and all the fixin's...YUMMMM!!!

Dress rehearsal:

The crew during the run-through of Ionization. Very serious.

Chaz rockin' that snare drum part. diga diga da da, da 

Maracas! WOOOOHOOO! 

After the dress rehearsal, we went to a cafe and had some soup and hot tea, trying to overcome the drop in temperature. Now...as I'm sitting in the airport looking at the greenery outside, it's hard to imagine that there is so much snow and ice in Alaska! I promise, there is!!

The concert:

We opened our half with my new marimba quartet! 

Charles wrote a marimba/vibe duo that was beautiful!

The Swedish Folk Tunes were a HUGE hit! Anna was a star, and we were all so happy with the result! It was exciting to bring the cultural aspect into our music. 

We ended the concert playing Anders' new piece "Gigue" It was definitely a great night for 

The Arctic Connection.

Hugs all around! Great performance by everyone involved! 

Enjoying a drink at the campus pub with the Fairbanks dudes. 

It was an enjoyable 4 days in Fairbanks! The 30 hour trip was worth it, and I am so proud of the way Jake, Charles, Anna and I presented ourselves and our music. Collaborating with 64.8 and Morris was rewarding and I'm sure we'll all work together in the future!

Alright, time to go find my gate and mentally prepare for the flight to London. More soon! :)

other side of the Arctic

We made it...4 flights and a lot of random naps later, we are in Fairbanks, Alaska! We were up at 4am, and in the taxi by 5:25am. It was early, but I knew that traveling with Anna, Jake, and Charles would be a lot of fun. We have spent so much time with each other the past year and a half, we can predict each others moods (good and bad!) At the same time there is never a dull moment because one of us is always cracking a joke, dancing around, or making up a song...and that's without any alcoholic influence. 

There was an issue with our baggage at the Luleå airport...Jake and I both packed for 2 months of traveling, and were a bit overweight for our luggage. However, we are silver members on SAS airlines, so I travel with overweight baggage all the time! But, I guess the 6am crew was not feeling so generous, and the we had to repack our stuff. As silver members we are allowed 2 bags at 23 kilos, but not 1 bag at 28 kilos. Strange! So....we were totally those people unpacking at the airport (luckily Jake brought an extra duffel bag, so we stuffed all of our toiletries in it and checked it!) Then, we were running a bit behind, and they angrily called our names over the intercom...which is quite hysterical seeing that there were only about 15 people in the entire airport. Great start to the morning!

Once we were en route, everything went smoothly. Lovin' our in flight meals....

The Stockholm - Chicago flight was a bit crazy. There were about 15 kids in the cabin...and evidently it is ok to let children climb over seats and scream at the top of there lungs repeatedly. I will one day write a book about in-flight etiquette.

Anna's first steps in the US were at the Chicago airport! Woohoo! We are only half way through the day....

I guess I put my camera away until we arrived at Fairbanks. It was another 4 hours to Seattle, then 4 more to Alaska. Whoa! Intense, but nothing was delayed and we were smiling...most of the time :)

We were greeted in Fairbanks by snow, freezing temperatures, and our awesome friends Fiona and Eric!!

We decided we need a beer to relax after the long journey, and needed to catch up with Fi and Eric!

We are staying at Eric's family's house, and it is absolutely lovely! We woke up bright and early head into the campus for some rehearsals. It is definitely colder in Fairbanks than in Piteå right now! crazy!

We stopped at a fantastic coffee shop, that we will frequent throughout this visit. Mmm...bagels. :) 

 After rehearsing, the four of us headed to the little Alaskan museum that they have on campus. Beautiful views of the landscape on the way...

Stuffed bear...better than running into a real one :)

Someone made this outhouse into a piece of art. We still thought it was an outhouse.

Day 2 in Alaska...morning at Eric's. Anna shows Chaz some yoga moves. We performed and gave our masterclass, so it was important to be loose and relaxed!

The house is so cozy! The morning view is fantastic! 

Yes. Eric cookin' breakfast and Jake ironing. Gender rules broken!

Ensemble Evolution doing some last minute preparations for our performance/masterclass. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures while we were presenting. It went really well, though! A lot of non-percussion students were there and they were very responsive to what we had to say and complimentary of our playing.

 

 We had a lovely Arctic family dinner at a Thai restaurant to end the day.

 

Now, I'm sitting in Morris' office, and will leave soon to attempt to drive on the snow and pick up Anders and Daniel at their hotel! Wish me luck :) We'll then rehearse Ionisation (the first percussion ensemble piece) and enjoy Anders' and Daniels' masterclass. This evening we plan on heading out to a natural hot spring to bathe a bit! So excited! Our concert is Saturday, and I need to start taking pictures of the actual "work" we are doing :) 

jet settin' fool 2011

In about 8 hours I'll be en route for a fantastic 2 months of music making, traveling, job searching, and relaxing with family.

The tour will begin with a 30 hour transit to Fairbanks, Alaska. Last March, Ensemble 64.8 (the ensemble in residence at the University of Fairbanks Alaska, directed by Morris Palter) attended and participated in our percussion festival here in Piteå. Now, it's time for Ensemble Evolution to make the journey to the other side of the Arctic world. Charles, Jake, Anna, and I will be picked up by our taxi at 5:25am tomorrow and be on our way! We'll give a masterclass, Anders will give a masterclass, and we will perform together as "The Arctic Connection" on Saturday. It will be great to see Fiona, Eric, and Morris again...and see the Alaskan landscape for the first time!

Next, I'll leave Fairbanks on Sunday morning to make another long transit back this way...to Germany. I'm playing with a select chamber group from the Baltic Youth Philharmonic for a sponsor event on Tuesday! It may sound a little crazy to fly across the world for one small gig, but I love playing with the BYPers, and this event will be very unique. I'll write more about that after the fact :) BYP's website

On Wednesday, November 9, I'll hop back on to a flight (or 3 to be exact) and head over to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC.) I'll meet back up with Anna, Jake, and Charles and will be networking like crazy during the convention. There are so many friends and colleagues that I can't wait to see! And...so many stories from Sweden and abroad that I have to share :) PASIC website

After the four non-stop days at PASIC, the crew and I will head to Cincy to have a much needed "rest day" at mom and dad's. I can't wait to see them!! Mom has already planned what we're having for dinner and where everyone will sleep. They are really excited to meet the guys and Anna...my family over here.

We'll need our rest, because the next 9 days will be filled with driving and gigs! My duo with Jake has some great momentum happening, and I was able to put together a great University using our repertoire from "Compose. Perform. Inspire. New Voices in Percussion Music"

On Monday, we all drive up to Columbus and visit my alma mater. We'll have to say goodbye to Charles,  as he's working with some other schools in the area, and needs to come back to Piteå for an opera project with our friend Gisli.

Jake, Anna, and I will perform at Ohio State that night (Anna is singing Swedish Folk Songs with us along with our normal repertoire.) It'll be so great to play at my alma mater and hang with Susan and Joe!

After the evening performance, we'll get back on the road for the 2 hour drive to Cleveland. We'll be staying with our great friend Kristen who hooked us up with a gig at The Happy Dog; a bar that only serves gormet hot dogs and beer! yes! We'll be apart of a program call the "Classical Revolution." Can't wait to perform in that atmosphere!

Wednesday will be a travel day; 7 hours to Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Frank Kumor and his percussion studio were our largest donor in our Kickstarter campaign, and their reward is a live performance of the repertoire. Should be fun!!

We'll perform at Kutztown at 11am on Thursday, and drive to upper-state New York just after. Our good friend, Amy (yes, the same Amy that introduced Jake and I in Paris!) is the teaching fellow at Bard College and is hosting us for a performance/clinic for the composition and percussion students on Friday. It will be great to hang with her and check out what she's doing!  

After all of these gigs, and time in the car...we'll have to let our hair down a little. We're spending the weekend in NYC to visit friends and see the sights! This tour will be Anna's first time in the States, and she's getting to see it all!

We won't party too hard tough...on Monday we will play at New York University for their percussion studio. It will be fun to connect with new colleagues and end tour travels in the big city.

Tuesday, November 22 is the official last day of tour. We'll drive the 12 hours back to Cincy...Jake and Anna will drop me off at my parent's, take a nap, and drive up to Chicago to return the rental car, and board their flights (Jake to Texas, and Anna to Sweden) Hope we are still friends after all of this time together!!

I'll then take the rest of that week to catch up with family and say many, many thank-yous for the opportunities to see so much of the world and meet so many amazing people! It will be a very special Thanksgiving!!

Jake is trying to organize a Texas tour for the first week of December, and it looks promising! Hope it will be warm down there! Then...I'll spend the second week of December with my high school band. I'll be soloing with them (along side a brass quintet of alumni) at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. It will be fantastic! We played at the convention my sophomore year in high-school, and it was one of the big moments that made me want to pursue music professionally. Can't wait to take the stage with Mr. Snyder again!

The rest of the month will be filled with high-quality family time and future-figuring-out! I plan to leave Piteå in June of next year, and need to decide where to make my next move :) Sky's the limit!

I hope to blog during the next few weeks, so stay tuned! Now...let's try to fit everything into this ONE suitcase! AHHH! :)

The concert!!!

Jake and I couldn't be happier with the premiere of our new duo repertoire. It was definitely a race to the finish, but we are really proud of the final product. Can't wait to see what is next for us as a duo!




Maria Finkelmeier and Jacob Remington (Evolution Percussion Duo) premiere seven new works in Piteå, Sweden.

Program:
Skylight by Dave Hall (@ 0:50)
Getting to Know Maria and Jake (@ 11:00)
Lemuria by Csaba Zoltan Marján (@ 13:30)
Plato's Cave by Casey Cangelosi (@23:35)
Tango Passacaglia by Jacob Remington (@34:32)
Bunker by Baljinder Sekhon (@44:45)
Echo, Part II by Maria Finkelmeier (@57:10)
Thankyou Speech (@1:08:45)
Break by David Skidmore (@1:10:50)
Outtakes/Interviews/Credits (@1:17:10)

October 13, 2011; Studio Acusticum; Piteå, Sweden

About this Concert:
Compose. Perform. Inspire. New Voices in Percussion Music

In the spring of 2011 Maria and Jake initiated this commissioning project using a crowd-funding platform called Kickstarter. They contacted four young composers who each have a unique compositional style and forward thinking approach to new percussion music. Supporters from around the world donated between $5 and $1000 to the project and received awards correlated with Maria and Jake's career. The duo reached their funding goal in May after advertising relentlessly through Facebook and numerous other media outlets. The money raised went directly to the four composers, and the creative process was put into motion. Casey, Dave, Baljinder, and David spent the summer writing their pieces while the duo eagerly anticipated the opportunity to discover what each composer would create. Then, Maria and Jake spent four weeks working to bring this music, along with Csaba's and their own, to life.

Special thanks to the fantastic production team (all names are listed at the end of the video!)

Promo video!

We've gotten the music and put together an amazing production team for the concert! Check out the great promo video that August and Kendy shot and made for us!



Watch the concert LIVE on Piteplay.se!!
October 13, 2011
7pm (Swedish time)
Tweet your thoughts! #evolutionduopremiere