Let's see...

I am sincerely proud of all my students. They are very hard working, they love playing their instruments be it tuba or euphonium, they attain many goals and constantly add to their list of accomplishments. I have one student in particular that deserves a significant amount of credit. Her name is Mary MacKinnon. Mary is an extremely hard worker. She's got a fire in her gut that pushes her to higher and higher levels of playing. She can't imagine doing anything else but play the tuba. It's evident not only when she tells you that, but more specifically in her actions and her accomplishments.

Mary has been offered...

* A full scholarship for graduate study at Boston University
* A full scholarship for graduate study at New England Conservatory
* A significant scholarship for graduate study at Northwestern University
* A scholarship to attend Le Domaine Forget - Music Camp in St. Irenee, Quebec CANADA
* Has been invited to the Semi Final Round (based on her submitted recording) of the International Tuba Euphonium Association's - Artist Tuba Competition.
* Mary has also been appointed as the tuba assistant at the Northeast Tuba Euphonium Workshop in Beverly, MA
* Mary will be attending Indiana University to study with Dan Perantoni for graduate school in the fall on IU's maximum scholarship!

These accomplishments only happen to people that have an enormous amount of dedication to what they do. I am EXTREMELY proud of Mary's hard work, dedication, perserverance, and accomplishments! I will miss her very much, but at the same time I am very happy for the opportunities that have been presented to her.

CONGRATULATIONS, Mary!

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I also need to mention a number of other students that I am equally proud of....

Tuba player Liam Sheehy (Tewksbury, MA) was selected to perform with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras this past school year - all three groups! Liam was also selected for Northeast Senior District Band and the Massachusetts All-State Band. I am very happy to say that Liam will continue to work with me at the University of Massachusetts Lowell as a music performance major.

Tuba player Stevie Mundel (Carlisle, MA) was selected to perform with the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, a rare opportunity for a ninth grader. Stevie was first chair in the new Eastern Senior District Band.

Tuba player Tom Regan (Salem, MA) was selected to perform with the Northeast Senior District Band.

NEW STUDENTS

Tuba player John Baylies (North Andover, MA) has been studying with me since early 2008. John has improved by leaps and bounds (prepared well by his previous teacher INNOVATA trombonist Brian Diehl!). John was selected to perform with the Northeast Senior District Band and most recently filled the vacancy left by Liam Sheehy in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Euphonium player Todd Isenstadt (Danvers, MA) has been studying with me since May of 2008. He is a very passionate music student that will be attending Northeastern University in the fall for Political Science while continuing to serious study of the euphonium.

Euphonium player Nicole Dwyer (Andover, MA) has been studying with me since July of 2008. Nicole was selected to perform with the Northeast Senior District Band and will continue working with me at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She has a ton of energy and is passionate about being a music teacher!

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IN OTHER NEWS...

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The 2008 Northeast Tuba Euphonium Workshop took place from July 5th through the 13th at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. It was a magnificent camp again this year. Every single participant was a pleasure to work with and all left better than when they arrived. The location was second to none and a great time was had by all. More to come at another time.

The Northeast Tuba Euphonium Workshop changed it's name! Starting with the 2009 workshop N.E.T.E.W. will become C.T.E.W. The Cosmopolitan Tuba Euphonium Workshop! The name of the camp has no relation to the Cosmopolitan Quartet that I perform in, although the quartet did have it's debut performance at the camp.

Speaking of the Cosmopolitan Quartet...composers Lew Buckley and Tony Zilincik wrote great pieces that we premiered at the Northeast Tuba Euphonium Workshop. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

So much stuff happening that I don't have the time to write more now. Will be back soon!

I have been working very hard to redo the entire TubaStudio.com website. Although this is an ongoing work in progress, it should be done in the near future with a PayPal option. Making it much easier to place orders.

Also, I have been working on the STORE section of this website. The store section will take you to a page of FEATURED ITEMS. This section is a collection of items directly related to me. It will include my CDs, the MILNARIK mouthpiece, the MILNARIK pouches, my Daily Routine book, the many works that Sanae Kanda has written for me and at my request, my brass quintet arrangements, and numerous other things as the become available. This will be the most unique and interesting part of TubaStudio.com as well. Except for the mouthpiece pouches, all of these items are only available through my STORE page or TubaStudio.com!

Work has begun on the next installment of my Daily Routine. It's called (oddly enough) ... MORE Daily Routine. These are exercises of advanced nature that should be done on a daily basis once the basics have been covered in the first book.

I am also working on another exercise book. Both of these books should be released in late 2008.

- In December our very good friends Jorge Ibanez (pianist/composer) and Debbi Welsh-Ibanez (percussion) and their daughter Katarina moved into the other side of the house Sanae and I live in. What a relief to have not only musicians living next door, but great musicians at that! Every time I hear that marimba I really take a sigh of relief. Much better than our previous situation!

- November marked the release of my Daily Routine book. It is a project that I'd been working on for quite sometime and it's been very popular!

- August marked the end of a long relationship with two educational insitutions - the University of Southern Maine (8 years) and the Lexington Public Schools after school lesson program (11 years). USM has been a special place for me. I will miss the many wonderful faculty there, and my weekly trips to Maine. I am very proud of the fact that my successor is Dan Hunter a long time student of mine that received his BM from USM and his MM from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

Leaving Lexington was one of the toughest things I've had to do. Jeff Leonard (director of bands) is one of the most outstanding music educators, role models and people that I have ever met. When the topic of Lexington comes up with anyone I can't stop saying enough good things about this man. He is 150% committed to what he does. He is the reason I stayed as long as I had. If you are a student and are reading this - and you are in music education - do your student teaching there! There's a waiting list, but it's worth it. Jeff Leonard is THE example of how to run a successful music program.

Although I've left these two great places behind, I am still on the faculties of UMASS Lowell, Tufts University, Brandeis University, Salem State College, and Anna Maria College. I also have a large private studio.

- July saw the completion of the 2nd Annual Northeast Tuba Euphonium Workshop. Both years have been career highlights. The people that have come to the workshop have been wonderful to work with and I cannot wait until the 2008 session. www.netew.com

- In June a bid farewell to the Cantabrigia Brass Quintet. I performed with Cantabrigia for seven years. I'll miss playing with the group - but the good news is that I'll playing with the great musicians of this group on other gigs.

- Later in June I decided to hang up my reigns with the Harvard Summer School Orchestra. I had been the manager of the orchestra for 12 years. During that time I was fortunate to perform as soloist twice - once performing the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto and once performing Sanae Kanda's "Five Pieces for Tuba and Chamber Orchestra"

- In May I finished performing for the entire season with the Orchestra of Indian Hill. I love working with this group and the administration is top notch. Bruce Hangen is an excellent musician/conductor and Kate Weiss-Gordon is an extremely hard working individual that is always fun to be around.

- In April I was invited to Florida to perform with the Key West Symphony! Although I managed to obtain a pretty serious sun burn, it was a great experience and I met a lot of wonderful people.

- In March I got to take a trip up to one of my favorite cities - Quebec City. My wife and I went up to Quebec to visit our dear friends Lance Nagels (tuba) and Jean Sutherland (piano). Both of these people are not only great musicians but they are two of the nicest, most sincere people I've ever met. We had a great time with them and wished we all lived closer together. Always a fun and relaxing time with them. We hate to leave when we go up there. Beautiful city and beautiful people!

While up there we visited the famous ice hotel! We didn't stay there, but we did the tour. An amazing work of art!

- February marked the unveiling of my own brand of tuba mouthpieces! I am so pumped about this, as well. This mouthpiece was designed to my specifications and the MILNARIK 1 model is my personal mouthpiece of choice on one of my horns. I LOVE it!

- Also in February, I officially resigned from the Portland Brass Quintet. I performed with this group for the last 8 years, and as a substitute player for 2 years previous. Although I miss playing with this group very much, I am fortunate to continue playing with Betty Rines (trumpet) and John Boden (horn) in another quintet called Brass Sect (founded in September 2006).

- In January Dr. Fidgety Dixieland Jazz Band recorded it's first CD. It has still not been released but should be out in the very near future. You can hear samples from it by visiting http://www.drfidgety.com

- Tomorrow is the debut concert of a new quintet I'm playing with - Brass Sect. The concert is up at the University of Southern Maine at 7:30pm (4/24).

- I recently got back from playing with the Key West Symphony Orchestra. Great orchestra, great musicians and fun hang!

- I am now teaching at Brandeis University! To learn more about the department at Brandeis check out the INSTRUCTION page of this site and click the logo!

Also, I've got a new tuba/euphonium quartet called TUBAFIED with a former student (Dan Hunter - tuba) and two current students (Patrick Nyren and Steve Lemieux - euphoniums). This is going to be a lot of fun! We're doing it to have a good time and expose more people to the tuba and euphonium. They're all great players and I'm pumped that we're going to get this going! We'll be doing some school performances later in the spring. Check the CALENDAR as new performances are added.

Dan Hunter - Student of mine for 7 years, is now a freelancer and teacher in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Dan studied with me from 10th through 12th grade and then at the University of Southern Maine School of Music - where he received his Bachelors in Music Performance degree. He then went on to get his Masters in Music Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he studied with Toby Hanks. He now lives in Salem, Massachusetts with his new wife Rosie.

Josiah Reibstein - Student of mine for 9 years, is now attending the Oberlin Conservatory. He is the first student that I have had that is a double major in classical tuba and a scholarship student in jazz tuba! I started him on the baritone when he was in 4th grade because his Mom said on my voice mail "My son has a PASSION for playing the tuba!" He switched to tuba in 6th grade - and the rest is history! Josiah is my first student on tuba or euphonium that has made Massachusetts All-State in 9th Grade. He subsequently made All-State in 10th, 11th and 12th Grade as well. He is studying with Ron Bishop (classical) and Robin Eubanks (jazz).

YEAH GUYS!!

NATALIE FRIEDMAN - [11th Grade - LEXINGTON, MA] - 2007 All-Eastern Band; 3rd Chair All-State Band (4th overall); Principal Tuba Northeast Senior District Orchestra (1st overall); Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (Senior Orchestra)

LIAM SHEEHY - [11th Grade - TEWKSBURY, MA] - 1st Chair All-State Band (2nd overall); 1st Chair Northeast Senior District Band (2nd overall)

STEPHANIE MUNDEL - [8th Grade - CARLISLE, MA] - Principal Tuba Northeast Junior District Orchestra (1st overall); Massachusetts Junior Youth Wind Ensemble

GREAT JOB!! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!

I am very pleased to announce that my successor is Dan Hunter, a fabulous tuba player and former student of mine. I am very proud of Dan's many accomplishments and I know that the group has found not only a great player, but a great guy as well!

Patrick Nyren. Patrick has completed his coursework at the University of Southern Maine School of Music. Patrick is one of my euphonium students and has really worked hard in the 4+ years he has studied with me. Patrick will walk at the May commencement ceremonies, but he's very happy to say that he has his diploma "in hand" already. Patrick plans to pursue graduate studies in music performance.

CONGRATULATIONS PATRICK!!

This quintet does not replace any of the other groups that we perform in. Brass Sect is different from our other quintets because it was formed to primarily perform music written specifically for brass quintet. Our debut concert is on April 24th at the University of Southern Maine!

The 2007 Workshop will be July 21st - 29th. More info at www.netew.com

Dan Hunter. Dan has completed his coursework Masters of Music Performance Degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Dan was a tuba student of mine for 7 years - first in high school and then at the University of Southern Maine. He works EXTREMELY hard and has accomplished much because of it! Dan is moving back to the Boston area in August and will be getting married in September.

CONGRATULATIONS DAN!!