Bocelli and Friends

On Friday I played in Andrea Bocelli's Valentine's Day Concert with members of the Austin Symphony. This concert will stay in my memory for many years as the largest audience I've played for to date. The Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas campus is used for basketball games and concert events and is the largest venue in the city. I would imagine there were 10,000+ Bocelli fans in attendance.

What surprised me more than the huge audience was how much the event spoke to me. I grew up listening to Andrea's music and have always enjoyed it (although some musicians will disagree). But I was amazed at how a man that had to be led on stage by the conductor and sometimes ran into the microphone could open his mouth and command the attention of thousands. Through love songs and famous arias from the opera literature, he has captured an audience that might not have listened to classical music in the first place. I commend him in making our artform more attainable to the masses, and especially for overcoming such obstacles as blindness for the greater good of music. Bravo!

Shepherd School Symphony plays Shostakovich

Tomorrow evening, February 3rd at 8pm, the Shepherd Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert of grand proportions. Repertoire includes Shostakovich's 7th (Leningrad) Symphony, which happens to be his longest work at around 70 minutes and was written in the shortest amount of time. If you haven't gotten a chance already, check out my blog post about the symphony. It provides some insight on the events that caused Shostakovich to write such a moving work.

Also on the program is Bartok's 2nd Violin Concerto with the Shepherd School concerto competition winner from last year, So Jin Kim. Although the piece is extremely difficult, So Jin's artisty is breathtaking and shouldn't be missed.

If you cannot make it to the concert, it will probably be streaming at KTRU.org . Tune in at 8pm. 

New Year, New Website, New Experiences

Welcome to my new personal website! Here you will find everything there is to know about my music. Feel free to check out my bio, recordings or my performance calendar under the schedule section. And if you feel like talking to me, click the contact tab and lets chat! 

Along with the new website, this semester brings a wealth of new and interesting experiences. I am currently organizing this semester's New Art, New Music event at the Rice Gallery, which is a very exciting process involving new compositions from Shepherd School composers and a very abstract new art installation...more details soon. Also, school has launched into full swing and February 3rd will be be the first Shepherd School Symphony concert followed by a busy season of summer festival auditions. If you plan to attend any of these concerts, please let me know! I'd love to talk to you afterwards. 

Best wishes for everything that is new in 2012. 

Dawson