Category: Music

Check out this cool event I have the pleasure of being a part of! A bunch of us formed a backing band to play behind some of the most amazing local rappers. Doors open at 9pm, and the music begins at 10am!

Come check us out! We start tomorrow night, Friday April 8, 2016, from 9pm to Midnight! I’ll be playing sax and doing sound.

The Calypso Group hired a bunch of us musicians to learn two sets worth of David Bowie music, and we did it! It was a great experience to be part in a band with some of my favorite musicians:

• Rob San Agustin – Drums
• Bert Delgado – Bass
• Mike Hartendorp – Guitar/Vocals
• Rich Borja – Guitar/Vocals
• …and myself on Keys/Sax/Flute

We also had a couple guest singers come on stage for a few sings: John Leon Guerrero and Edgar Flores.

Many of us weren’t really Bowie fans getting into this. I think Mike was the only one who listened to Bowie extensively. The rest of us are definitely big fans now after putting on the show. Some videos will be coming up soon with footage from the event. Stay tuned!

Probably one of the most rewarding concerts I’ve had the honor of playing for! I got called in last minute to fill in for 2nd oboe (thanks to my student Jia Jia for letting me borrow her nice oboe). We’re going to be playing Liszt’s Preludes, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, and Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto (performed by Guam’s own Dave Duenas).

I think my favorite part about this concert though is playing alongside Kendra Johnson. She got her master’s degree in Oboe performance, and I’ve never played with anyone with such a beautiful tone. She’s also super friendly and full of great information and loves to share advice, so it’s been just a great experience overall. Check out her website at http://www.kendrajohnsonmusic.com!

Performance dates are February 27 at 7:30pm and February 28 at 3:00pm at Lotte Hotel Guam.

I, alongside PBS, spent my Sunday recording the Guam Territorial Band and Guam Honor Band at the Cars Plus showroom in Maite. I used about 10 mics this time instead of the usual 2-4 that I use.

I mic’ed the front with two condensers as well as two floor mics. I then mic’ed the entire percussion section for added clarity. I brought my 24 channel mixer though, so if the space permitted, I would have used more mics…especially since the trumpets weren’t really coming into the mix.

It was a new and fun learning experience for me regardless :) The recording was for a telethon to be aired on PBS Guam (Channel 12) Thursday night, April 30, from 7pm to midnight. Enjoy!

Catch the Guam Symphony Society at Southern High School Auditorium (GATE Theater) this weekend!

• Saturday, April 11, 7pm
• Sunday, April 12, 3pm

I’m playing 1st trombone on a couple of the pieces, and honestly, it’s giving me a real run for my money, because well, I can’t read tenor clef all that well (getting better though), and also because the notes are insanely high! I’m usually hovering between High F and double High Bb, sometimes going lower, and rarely even going higher. Coming from a sax player, it’s quite challenging, but I’m always down for a challenge >:)

See you there!

This was probably one of the greatest musical events held on Guam by a local non-profit. It started out with a small VIP cocktail party with drinks and food. There was also a pretty cool photobooth that gave away frames with your pictures.

You know, it’s actually been a while since the event, and I wish I had blogged about it right away. The truth of the matter is, though, that I was busy doing sound during the event that I missed most of it.

The sum up, it was a very classy and well attended event. The music by the GTB was some of the hardest we’ve ever played, and we managed to pull it off. In between GTB’s set, Cantate came up to do a few Chicago tunes from their concert not too long ago.

We also had major support from big names on the island, and we spread the word that GTB has one main mission: to ensure that music education keeps growing on Guam.

Personally, it was one of the most musically rewarding concerts I have ever played for. It was probably mostly because I played some really hard pieces on trombone, an instrument I picked up not too long ago, and did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!

Anyway, to the future of music education!

I am so mad. There was air conditioning issues with the Southern High School auditorium which is home to GATE Theater. The parts are there, but they aren’t able to make the repairs until next week. Because of this, they had to cancel the last couple nights of Grease.

There are no words. Hundreds and hundreds of cumulative hours of work had gone into putting together this show, but now they had to cut the run short all on a count that GovGuam and DOE can’t get their act straight.

They had better not run the auditorium into the ground again. It was closed for almost 10 years in the past because they didn’t know how to upkeep it. This is the best auditorium that Guam has, and it would be a shame for it to go away again.

The Guam Territorial Band will be playing a concert at the Lotte Hotel Guam banquet room in the bottom floor. I’ll be participating as Trombone! We’re going to be playing a pretty great set of songs in their amazing new facility, and on top of that, it’s FREE! Come check it out if you have time.

There will also be a nice, short encore of Chicago (the band) tunes from a band that we put together for a concert last month :)