Tweet Tweet!
August 27, 2010
I really apologize for my recent lack of blogging- so much exciting stuff has been going on that I ran out of time to update my own site! Unforgivable, I know.
I’d like to take a moment to thank WordPress for (finally) adding some awesome sharing options, including Twitter and Facebook buttons. Sweet!
Try it out, and if you’ve got some WordPress action going on, get it on yours as well!
Tweet, Tweet, party people!
-Calisa
Warm Reviews
June 8, 2010
I recently performed at the San Francisco Arts Medallion Luncheon at the Four Seasons Resort. Guitarist Jonathan Mendle I played a variety of repertoire during the reception as guests entered the ballroom and mingled about. We were honored to play for the luncheon and even more honored by the comments we received. Guests even stopped us while we were playing to tell us how much they enjoyed the music!
It’s rare to be able to receive praise after a performance such as this. Usually you walk in, play, and go home wondering if you made a difference to anyone that day. Did people like it? Hate it? You rarely know.
Below is an excerpt from one of the emails that was forwarded to me regarding our performance. It’s so nice to hear back from people about how they felt!
“I wish to thank you for providing the Guitar and Flute duo. They performed beautifully as well and they were at the entrance to the reception and were the delight of all our guests. Please convey to Jonathan and Calisa our deepest appreciation for their wonderful music.
[We were] very touched by the young artists from the Conservatory of Music that performed. It was such a wonderful gesture of the Conservatory… It all worked out perfectly and these musicians were the highlight of the entire event.”
This is one of those emails that makes all those rehearsals worth it! Thank you so much to everyone who came and took the time to let us know how much you appreciated our performance!
Calisa
Varèse and the Pacific Rim Festival
April 24, 2010
As part of SFCM’s New Music Ensemble, we had the priviledge of attend UC Santa Cruz’s 2010 Pacific Rim Music Festival on Wednesday, April 24th. Along with Nicole Paiement’s “Ensemble Parallèle,” we performed an all Varèse program.
The Mercury News wrote that the Pacific Rim Festival opened with a “special concert of rarely performed music by the influential French-born composer Edgard Varèse. His concept of “organized sound” and his use of new instruments and other non-traditional sound sources greatly influenced the contemporary avant-garde.”
I was involved in the performance of Edgar Varèse’s’Desèrts, a dark, haunting piece written for chamber orchestra and tape. The first piece ever written to use recorded sounds, it was premiered in 1954 to an audience that called it “the music of the time of the H-Bomb,” and protested it’s performance for several minutes.
Desèrts has not been performed many times since it’s premier in 1954. Even the composer wasn’t entirely happy with the work, as he felt that he was never truly able to create what he envisioned. Nevertheless, it is incredibly important to honor the historical significance of this composer and his contribution to music. He had a huge influence on post World War II composers. Since the premiere of Desèrts, composers have incorporated the use of pre-recorded tape into live performances with increasing frequency and success. For example, one of my favorite composers, Ian Clarke, has written a number of pieces for flute and tape (or now, flute and CD). I was lucky enough to be the first person in the US to premiere his piece, TRK’s, aside from the composer himself.
Cheers to Varèse for paving the way for using pre-recorded sounds, and cheers to Nicole Paiement, director of the SFCM New Music Ensemble, for having the courage to perform such a historically significant work. It was an honor to play it, and an equally great honor to perform at the Pacific Rim Festival!
-Calisa
BASOTI Opera
April 20, 2010
I am proud to announce that I was chosen to be the principal flutist of the BASOTI Opera this summer. BASOTI is short for the “Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute.” They will be performing Mozart’s opera, “The Magic Flute,” in San Francisco from June 20th-August 1st.
I am so excited to have won this audition. It was my first professional audition that I’ve ever taken, and I’m so very honored! I rushed to the audition while at my first rehearsal for a fantastic chamber group, The New Spectrum Ensemble. It was a crazy day, but was such a rush! I love getting to play music all the time like this.
While I would absolutely love to be a part of this incredible opportunity, I will not be able to accept the position due to a previous engagement. I know the production will be beautiful and I truly wish that I could be a part of it. I’m looking forward to seeing the performances and to whatever lies ahead for me next!
Best wishes,
Calisa
Amanda
April 1, 2010
Last week I taught Amanda, my friend’s younger sister, who I haven’t seen for years. She started playing the flute in the fall and has been struggling a bit since then. The flute is one of the most difficult instruments to learn, since most new flutists can’t even get a sound out. Understandably, this causes a lot of frustration in the beginning.
Amanda was such a joy to work with and by the end of the lesson, she was tootin’away! We turned that frown upside down and got her moving in the right direction. She inspired me to be a better musician and a better teacher. It was a truly incredible experience.
I knew when we finished that I wouldn’t see her for another long period of time, so I was wondering how she might continue after our meeting. Would she go back to her initial frustrations, or hopefully continue to find some joy in the flute?
Then I got this email from her family:
“I just wanted to let you know that Amanda is super excited about the flute! She practiced for an hour yesterday and was sitting up and articulating and having so much fun! Thank you so much for reinvigorating her interest in music! We were getting so worried that she would completely lose interest because of her teacher. We had so much fun too! 
“
And that is 150% the reason why I teach. My heart is overjoyed.
Thank you, Amanda, for reminding me why I love what I do so much.
-Calisa
Beethoven and Britten
February 18, 2010
Last weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to perform Beethoven’s 6th Symphony and Britten’s Sea Interludes with the SFCM Symphony Orchestra. What a program!
I knew I’d love the Beethoven- it’s a classic! Did you know that he wrote it while he was going deaf? It’s his “Pastorale” Symphony; he basically walked outside and imagined what nature sounded like and put it into one of the greatest masterpieces of all times. It really is some genius writing.
But the Britten absolutely blew my mind. What a monster! I loved every second. I’ll try to get a recording of us and post it here sometime soon, but it is really amazing. I was frustrated because I felt like the orchestra had so much untapped potential, but we pulled off a pretty successful performance. Well, two performances, to be exact.
The conductor made a special visit to my teacher’s office today to tell him how impressed he was with my performance of these two pieces today. That was definitely nice to hear
This weekend I’m performing with the New Music Ensemble. We are playing Varese, “Deserts” for winds and percussion. It really taps into the extreme capabilities of each and every interest and is a wonderful piece in its own right. Again… not too easy! We are performing it at the Pacific Rim Festival next month as well.
Between these concerts and the 4 auditions earlier this month (i.e. last week), I think school is definitely keeping me on my toes.
Oh, and I’m almost done with the National Flute Association Young Artist’s Competition CDs. Just a couple more things I want to re-do tomorrow and I’m all set! Phew!
Next week: Skydiving!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day
Much Love,
Calisa
February
January 27, 2010
Fasten your seatbelts, February 2010 is gonna be a doozy!
The schedule is as follows:
January 20th, Civic Symphony of Chicago audition CD (recorded and sent!) ((I realized this qualifies as January, but I thought I should add it in))
Saturday, January 30th, 10:20 am- Tanglewood Audition (also technically January…)
Tuesday, February 2nd, 6:40 pm- National Orchestral Institute Audition
Wednesday, February 3rd, 6:20 pm- National Repertory Orchestra Audition
Friday, February 12th, 8:00 pm- San Francisco Conservatory of Music Symphonic Orchestra. Program to include Beethoven Symphony No. 6, Britten Sea Interludes, and Walton Violin Concerto.
Saturday, February 13th- National Flute Association Young Artist Competition and Orchestral Masterclass applications due. CD includes: Prokofiev Flute Sonata, Sancan Sonatine, Telemann Fantasy No. 6, Bach St. Matthew’s Passion, Beethoven Symphony No. 3, Gluck Dance of the Blessed Spirits, and Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Saturday, February 13th, 8:00 pm- San Francisco Conservatory of Music Symphonic Orchestra. Program to include Beethoven Symphony No. 6, Britten Sea Interludes, and Walton Violin Concerto.
Saturday, February 20th- San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble Concert. Works by Varese, Harrison, Schulthorpe and Susa.
Sunday, February 21st- San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition. Performing Martin Ballade from memory.
Saturday, February 27th- Cannot come fast enough! Wish me luck.
Calisa
Nutrition
January 21, 2010
Do you ever feel like certain people come into your life at the same time for a purpose? I do. Between my two roommates, one is studying to be a nutritionist and the other is a marathon runner and coach for Team In Training. They both run, go to yoga, and eat vegetables 24-7. Literally. No sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol, no processed foods. It’s pretty impressive.
Then I went to the acupuncturist, and he told me I should cut out sugar because it heightens symptoms of anxiety.
Then my friend Jessica, who I’ve known since I was born, has started a new blog with the purpose of helping people with nutrition and exercise. She’s a fricking badass mofo, guys. She just started it, but I think it’s something to keep an eye on.
http://marathonmunchies.wordpress.com
Considering all these things happening at once, I feel like it’s probably a sign that I should get my eating in order. Not for weight, which is never a motivating factor for me, but for overall good health. I’m tired of eating something, not feeling good, and then wondering exactly what it was that made me sick. The egg? The cheese? The fat? I don’t know!
My roommate wants me to cut out everything except vegetables and meat for 2 weeks. Then slowly start adding things back in. Dairy for a little bit, then carbs, etc. That way I can find out exactly what is bothering me.
However, this means that I don’t get to eat cheese! That’s terrible news. But it’s just 2 weeks. It would be a fun experiment…or not.
Now I’m craving brussel sprouts!
-Calisa
Let’s Help!
January 14, 2010
So, it turns out that when you make a donation with your credit card to a charity, credit cards still charge the transaction fee. This results in about $250 million dollars profit a year for them. Even more during a major crisis, such as the one in Haiti.
The only credit card company in the US that doesn’t do this is Capital One. I do not have a Capital One card, but if you do, use it! That way 100% of the profits will go towards the cause.
If you are like me and you don’t have Capital One, well, making a donation is still really important! Google makes it suuuuper easy to donate for relief efforts in Haiti if you go here:
And, if you’d like to donate more, say $50 to the Red Cross, American Airlines will give you 250 miles as a thank you!!
Could come in handy for flights later on.
Even $10 helps. Let’s do what we can
