Feelin' the Burn

April 26, 2008

The best thing about living in New York is the endless opportunity to see some of the world's finest talent. I've been able to take in a good dose of Broadway plays and musicals in the past while, and time after time, I continue to be in absolute awe of the calibre of talent that is being presented live on stage. Virtuoso's at the forefront of their respective crafts, if you will, thrilling and stunning audiences night after night.

I'll rarely pass up a free ticket, even if it's a ticket to a concert featuring a world-class group of musicians that I had not previously heard of. This past Thursday, myself and fellow Turtle Julie, attended Bowfire - The Total String Experience at the historic Beacon Theatre in Manhattan's Upper West Side. A leading venue for top rock concerts, having seen headlining acts like Bob Dylan, Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones rock the stage over the years, Julie and I had little idea as to what we were in for.

Bowfire is composed of ten exceptionally gifted fiddle and violin musicians that sure know how to create a high quality music experience. Taking the audience on a musical journey of Jazz, Classical, Bluegrass, Celtic and Rock, combined with impressively entertaining step and tap dancing (did I mention they were multi-talented musicians who effortlessly fiddled and tapped at the same time?), made for one smokin' hot evening of entertainment. By the end of the night, the chosen venue could not have been more appropriate... Bowfire rocked out a wicked rendition of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir for their encore performance.

Chewing on spicy cinnamon gum (an apt choice of flavor to keep with our firey themed evening, not to mention our über-spicy Thai food prior to the concert) may have failed to keep our jaws from dropping to the floor throughout the concert, but the newly fueled inspiration we both left the concert with, gave us the fabulous idea to create our own spectacular high-energy stage show. Picture this... dueling-pianos, a spinning stage, with pyrotechnics and laser lights ablaze. The name? Fingerfire, but of course.

http://www.bowfire.com/

Check out Bowfire!

Streets of Philadelphia

April 22, 2008

If you ask any seasoned New Yorker how often they like to escape from the constant and flurried movement and activity of this city, you're bound to hear the same response time and time again... "get out of here as often as you can... if not, well, good luck trying to stay sane."

In the days leading up to this past weekend, I found myself quickly rising to my tolerable level of perturbation. The slightest and most ridiculous things were getting under my skin, agitating me beyond belief. Maybe it was just a case of spring fever, maybe I'm more homesick than I once thought, or maybe I was becoming just too annoyed with the kitchen cockroaches who like to pay me a daily visit while I enjoy my breakfast. Whatever it was, I was desperately due for an escape.

Leaving the city of culture took me to the city of ideas and firsts... the country's first capital and the site of the first public bank, hospital, public newspaper and stock exchange, to name a few. Philadelphia welcomed me not only with scorching 30 degree Celcius weather, but also with a completely different feel and vibe from what I've become accustomed to in the past eight months. Though the City of Brotherly Love may be in a stage of hip and urban reinvention, I have to admit that despite walking all over the map, from the Museum District to Penn's Landing, the Old City Historic District to the upper crust Rittenhouse neighborhood of resolute old money, not every city can be a walker-friendly city like New York.

Getting away, even if it was just for a couple of days, certainly helped to shallow the waters of the pool of turmoil New York can very easily push you into. But since I was getting a little tired of treading water, it felt surprisingly good to be able to walk it all out in new and unfamiliar, but at times, shady territory. My initial impressions of the city may not take me back there anytime soon, but realizing I ceased to sample the quintessential Philly Cheesesteak, I could be visiting again at some point in the future. I'll be sure to rent a car though next time... some of those city streets just aren't meant to be walked alone.

City Hall, the largest municipal building in the country

View of Philadelphia's skyline and City Hall in the distance

The Philadelphia Museum of Art's monumental staircase, famous for its appearance in Rocky

Elfreth's Alley, the oldest residential street in the Nation

Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was debated and adopted

The Liberty Bell - an international icon of freedom and independence, and its famous gap, which was the result of an attempt to fix a crack which destroyed the bell's tone

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge arching over the Delaware River

Energizer Turtles

April 13, 2008

Putting in nearly 24 hours of work over the course of two days is a tad much, to say the least, but when it's for a good cause, well, there's not a whole lot one should complain about. This past Friday and Saturday played host to Turtle Bay Music School's 4th Annual Perform-a-Thon, our premier fundraising event wherein Turtle Bay students, staff, faculty, alumni and members of our community gathered together to participate in two exciting days of non-stop music making. From trumpet to cello, harp to violin, and guitar to piano, performers of all ages and abilities but their best music notes together to ensure that everyone who walks through Turtle Bay's doors, is able to achieve their greatest musical potential.

This event has long been a cornerstone fundraising opportunity to help the School raise funds for music scholarships, provide financial aid to underprivileged but deserving young students, enhance our public school music programs which annually provide music education to more than 1,300 public school students throughout the five boroughs of NYC, and continue to grow our unique community outreach program, The Saturday Music Project. This new music initiative provides families with little or no access to music, with two years of music appreciation classes and instrument instruction, free of charge.

At the end of it all, the hard work and team effort from everyone at the School made the event a huge success. And while it was difficult to get up off of the chairs that we all collapsed on when the two-day event finally came to an end, I'm sure we all would have liked to get up and click our heels at the initial count for our grand total - over $14,000 - not bad at all for a small community music school with a big heart. We are, afterall, just turtles who keep performing and performing and performing...

Performing at the Perform-a-Thon with my awesome teacher Paula. In only my 3rd performance of my 6 months playing the violin, my nerves got the best of my bowing... the sound resulting from my shaky arm surely gives a whole new meaning to the musical term vibrato.