Musings of a Musician

The Salvation Army Church

Ron — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:18:56 +0000

After my dismissal from Broomfield United Methodist Church I was so burnt out on church that I didn’t want to attend anywhere. I just needed time to recover from the trauma of being fired and the unfairness, back-biting and other unpleasant things I witnessed at the BUMC.

A couple of months ago, we started attending the church at the Broomfield Salvation Army. I love it there. It is a very small congregation of about 20-30 people. The services are unpretentious and simple. The pastor, Captain Tom Fenton is a fantastic Bible preacher. He speaks straight from the Word and is engaging, entertaining and dead-on target. He minces no words…just tells it like it is.

The music ranges from acapella hymn singing to a family of professional brass players, the Stonebacks. Ron, the patriarch plays tuba. His wife plays French horn. Their triplet daughters play trumpet and are all completing masters degree work in trumpet performance. A fiance play trombone.

Their sound is so silky smooth and buttery. They can play fabulous pianos and spine tingling fortes. For the postlude on Sunday, the quintet play Sousa’s Semper Fi March. It awesome. Reminded me of when I was kid in Tallahassee. I can remember the FSU band marching down Monroe street in parades playing that march and others.

I am seriously enjoying the services at the Salvation Army.

CRS Invited to Open for Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Ron — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:06:27 +0000

I got some awesome news yesterday. The Colorado Repertory Singers have been selected by the Colorado Symphony to open for them at their Arvada Center concert on July 15.

Arvada Center Summer at the Center

As the warm-up act, we will have the stage from 6:00 – 6:45.

This concert is part of the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities “CenterFest Concert Series” sponsored by the SCFD and the Arvada Center.

This is a HUGE honor and we really have to put our best foot forward. I’m thinking about inviting all the singers that have sung with the CRS over the years and having a CRS Reunion Choir or CRS Alumni Choir.

I’m pumped for this one!!

Halfway Through Hell Week

Ron — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:57:50 +0000

We are now halfway through Hell Week with dress rehearsals tonight and tomorrow remaining before the show. After two late nights, I am dragging A$$. Hope I can recoup some energy today and store it up for tonight.

The show is coming along very nicely. I think the chorale is well prepared but they are still a little tense. I told them to relax and “Let the force be with them.” They will be super on opening night. There is something about reaching show opening that magically pulls everyone together, also known as “peaking at the right time.”

Northland Chorale “Hell Week”

Ron — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:15:23 +0000

I conduct the Northland Chorale from Northglenn, CO. (http://northlandchorale.org) We began rehearsing back in February for our show that is coming the weekend.

We just started “Hell Week” yesterday. Rehearsed from 9-12 Sat, from 2-6 today and will be rehearsing from 6-10 Mon, Tues, Wed and Thursday. The shows are Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Things have been going well. We had a great rehearsal yesterday. Everything seemed to be tight and very close to being ready for prime time. Today however, we took a step back. Could be because we were tired, but tired becomes a part of the process as we work through the week.

We crashed on Moses Hogan’s “Elijah Rock” and on the Eagles “Seven Bridges Road”. Both of those are tough pieces and we just haven’t found the groove yet. But we will. By opening night, we will be kicking butt with them.

These will be awesome concerts. If you live in the Denver area you should plan on attending. They are a great group to work with and I’m really enjoying conducting them.

Toastmasters

Ron — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:03:38 +0000

I joined a Toastmasters club back in October, 2009. This club has a great group of people that all work together and encourage each other to become better public speakers. I’ve won best speech and best table topics several times now. I’m getting a reputation for the stories I tell. I plan on putting the story speeches on this blog in written form.

It is really amazing what we can do when we are encouraged and work in a nurturing atmosphere. Even if one crashes and burns in a speech, the club members are there to catch them, dust them off and stand them back up.

We start at 7:30 and after the meeting we reconvene at Great Scotts restaurant down the street for fellowship after the meeting. I love Thursdays!

My Piano Student takes 3rd Place

Ron — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:56:59 +0000

My senior high school student, Chelsea, took 3rd place in the Senior division of the Broomfield Fine Arts Festival on Mar. 6. The competition is very strong and she played wonderfully. In the evening concert she playing the Adagio cantabile of Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata.

I was so incredibly proud of her. She will be attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She has been a wonderful student and I will miss her.

Kudos from a Mom

Ron — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:49:10 +0000

I received the following kudos from in an email from the mom of Josh, one of my piano students. Josh is very talented and incredibly motivated to learn. He is a joy to work with and works hard each week.

June 2008

He is still doing piano! We landed the most amazing piano teacher in the fall of last year!!!! He has also taken Joshua to new levels and pushes him in ways he was never been pushed before! If you are looking for a piano teacher, this teacher is the guy for you!!! His life is dedicated to music and he is truly a gift to us!! (Thank you Ron!!!)

Holidays of the New Era Nominated for Award

Ron — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:46:37 +0000

Today I received an email from ERMMedia announcing that Holidays of the New Era, Vol. 1 was one of four ERMMedia CDs to be nominated for the prestigious JPF award.

JPF, the largest music organization in the world announced the awards nomination this morning (June 25, 2009.) These nominations were selected from over 560,000 entries worldwide.

The Award Nominations from ERMMedia are:

BEST CLASSICAL CONTEMPORARY ALBUM:

***** FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT (Gustav Hoyer, composer. Hartford Virtuosi, Marcia LaReau, cond. Daughters of Eve Quartet.) ERMMedia Prestige CD [ERM6808]

***** HOLIDAYS OF THE NEW ERA – Volume One (Music of Brandon, Dal Porto, Golub, Karlen, Knight, Marshall, Mathews, Meachem, Pan, Powers, Reese, Schroeder, Stephenson, Stoop, Stroobach, Wagner, Ward-Steinman and Williams (Sing Noel). Kiev Philharmonic, Robert Ian Winstin, cond.) [ERM6806]

***** TALIBAN DANCES (Kiev Philharmonic, Robert Ian Winstin, composer & conductor.) [ERM5555]

BEST CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL ALBUM:

***** MASTERWORKS OF THE NEW ERA – Volume Twelve (Music of Abbott, Bagdazian, Barmor Rose, Bilotta, Blumhofer, Brickman, Clark, Constantinides, Dal Porto, Evans, Field, Garber, Gottschalk, Guthrie, He,
Jones, Korneitchouk, McMullin, Olac, Powers, Rudenstein, Sartor, Schroeter, Tarsi, Timpson, Stadig, Walczyk, Winsor, Worthington & Wylegala. Kiev Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Robert Ian Winstin, cond.) [ERM6827]

This years entries were selected from over 560,000 entries and from all over the world. Two years ago, ERMMedia won BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM with MASTERWORKS OF THE NEW ERA – Volume Two.

Awards will be presented on August 29, 2009 in Nashville. Our hearty congratulations to all of the composers featured!

Heart of Broomfield Award

Ron — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:38:50 +0000

Broomfield Community Foundation

Ron was a recipient of the 2008 Heart of Broomfield award presented jointly by the Broomfield Community Foundation and the Broomfield Enterprise at the annual Heart of Broomfield award banquet on April 6, 2009.

Heart of Broomfield:

Williams knows music is meant to be shared

Broomfield Enterprise Newspaper

By Julie Baxter (Contact)
Sunday, March 29, 2009

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Ron Williams would never tell you this, but he’s a bit gifted. Some would even call him a “musical genius.”

Williams, however, would just say he’s a lucky guy who does what he loves.

What he loves is bringing music to the masses.

And not just any music — the kind of music most people think is out of their reach, the kind that fills great halls and ornate ballrooms, the kind that has been delighting and daunting for hundreds of years.

Williams, along with being this year’s Heart of Broomfield Arts Award-winner and director of the Colorado Repertory Singers, is the driving force behind the annual Broomfield Choral Festival. The festival throws open the doors to all singers and all listeners. The festival is open to any singer who wants to participate. The culmination is a free show open to all, held as close as possible to the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The past two years it featured the works of Brahms and Beethoven.

“That’s really my one passion, to democratize music that would otherwise be inaccessible; the major choral orchestral works,” Williams said.

” … If you can fog a mirror, you’re eligible to sing.”

Whether they’re teenagers or octogenarians, Williams has a way of bringing out the best in singers, said Jean Rosecrans.

“He really is a musical genius, he has a way about him that makes singers feel really comfortable,” said Rosecrans, a past member of the Repertory Singers who is now with Broomfield-based ASTER Women’s Chamber Choir and president of the Broomfield Council for the Arts and Humanities.

Michael Williams, who nominated Ron Williams (no relation) for the award, said he has sung under some esteemed conductors, but none can hold a candle to Williams’ charm.

“He has a quality and approach that is engaging,” said Michael Williams, who is president of the Boulder Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “He easily captures your interest and somehow has a way of pulling out of a group of amateurs an amazing production. … It’s amazing the opportunity he provides to average people in the community, people like me.”

Marilyn Howard said Williams has attended national conductors’ gatherings and has not found another example of such a community-focused effort.

“And it works beautifully,” said Howard, a member of the Repertory Singers, which Williams also led on a trip to famed Carnegie Hall in New York City. “What an example of heart, what a beautiful example of giving.

“And what a risk he takes in doing that, but he does it. Why, because he’s so passionate about the music, he wants it to happen for everybody.”

Williams, Howard said, “is not just generous, he’s absolutely outstanding as a musician.”

And humble, too. “I don’t think he knows how to spell ego,” Howard said. “He truly is the exemplification of humility. And Broomfield has him.”

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Ron Williams would never tell you this, but he’s a bit gifted. Some would even call him a “musical genius.”

Williams, however, would just say he’s a lucky guy who does what he loves.

What he loves is bringing music to the masses.

“That’s really my one passion, to democratize music that would otherwise be inaccessible; the major choral orchestral works,” Williams said.

” … If you can fog a mirror, you’re eligible to sing.”

Whether they’re teenagers or octogenarians, Williams has a way of bringing out the best in singers, said Jean Rosecrans.

Michael Williams, who nominated Ron Williams (no relation) for the award, said he has sung under some esteemed conductors, but none can hold a candle to Williams’ charm.

Marilyn Howard said Williams has attended national conductors’ gatherings and has not found another example of such a community-focused effort.

“And what a risk he takes in doing that, but he does it. Why, because he’s so passionate about the music, he wants it to happen for everybody.”

Williams, Howard said, “is not just generous, he’s absolutely outstanding as a musician.”

And humble, too. “I don’t think he knows how to spell ego,” Howard said. “He truly is the exemplification of humility. And Broomfield has him.”

My Well is Dry

Ron — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:28:26 +0000

My well is dry. My creativity seems to have dried up. I haven’t written anything since I was fired from Broomfield UMC last June. Dry…totally dry. I’ll go down to the studio and listen to or review some of the things I have written, but I haven’t had the drive to write something new. It is totally discouraging, especially when I review some of the things I have written. I have done some very good work.

I’m getting the urge to write, but haven’t started to do so yet. I guess I’m afraid there will be nothing there.