It was the first time I had been to New York and it was fun walking around and exploring the city and watching some concerts.  While I was out there I saw "The Diva and the Fiddler"  a violin soprano duo for free at the Austrian Cultural Center.  Later that night I saw "Tony Malaby's Paloma Recio" with Ben Monder on guitar, Eivind Opsvik on bass, Nasheet Waits on drums, and Tony Malaby on sax which was a pretty great concert. 

Then the next morning took the 11 hour amtrak train ride up to Montreal to audition at McGill.  Montreal is a beautiful city and I got a really good deal on a hotel room that was a short walk to campus and to the train station which made life super easy getting to my audition and back to the train station.  

I was the first one to audition at McGill at 10 A.M. which luckily wasn't TOO early (though I was up at 6:30 getting ready).  It was great to read some encouraging facebook messages and emails.  I'm super thankful that I have so much support and no matter what happens it's always good to know that we're looking out for each other and want to see our friends succeed!  Plus my wife and my family have been absolutely awesome too.  It felt great playing that morning, whether I was what they were looking for is a different story, but I felt really comfortable and gave an honest performance.  Which is honestly all I could ask for.  

I had the day free and hung out and read and relaxed, then the next morning took the train back to NYC.  Then I hung out in NYC for another day and did some sight seeing and then went to see Ari Hoenig's last set at Small which is very cool, and then saw my friend John play a jam session following which also also a good time.  

Then the next morning I flew back to Minneapolis and got back to Eau Claire.  I've been busy keeping up with my teaching responsibilities.  I did a jazz clinic at Menomonie High School doing some rhythm section work getting them ready for a concert on Monday featuring my former jazz professor Mr. Baca.  I work with a lot of the kids in winter drum line so it was really fun to see them playing their actual instruments and getting a chance to hear them play some different music!  They sounded great and should be proud of what they're doing!  

I've also been doing a lot of work at Northstar Middle School and then I switched from doing group lessons at Chippewa High School to doing Ensemble Coaching and led them through a sectional which was very fun.  I have a good feeling about it and I'm excited to see how it works out!  

I've also been busy prepping for the Menomonie Winter Drum Line season.  They have their first show in a couple weeks and want to make sure they feel comfortable and are playing and marching well going into their first performance.  They show is coming together and I'm super excited to see their show on the floor!  I unfortunately won't be able to make it to their first couple shows because of auditions, which I'm pretty bummed about, but I know they will do well!!  

The Chippewa Valley Jazz Orchestra has their history of the big band concert coming up and I've just started preparing for our first rehearsal on Jan. 30th.  It took us a while to narrow down the music because there is so much great stuff, but we got it ironed out and settled on what I think will be a pretty fantastic concert on Saturday February 19th.  

The next grad audition I have is North Texas, then the next week I will be flying out to Denver and driving up to Greely for Northern Colorado, then finally I will be having a lesson and auditioning at Miami.  

I'm not sure how long it will take to find out from the schools, but I'm hoping to know where I'll be going around March!  (though with the way things happen, I'm sure it will be more likely around April or May).  

I've been pretty busy with teaching and grad travels so I don't have too many gigs lined up for February but I'm hoping to be getting out a bit more in later February and early March so keep a look out as I'll try to keep my gig calendar updated!  

All the best