I’m writing this while waiting for the flight at Dallas Fort Worth airport and reflecting back on this weekend at the International Trombone Festival. I heard some incredible music, had some great laughs with new colleagues, some deep talks with Nora Wilson (who absolutely crushed the performance of Arcadia Trombonica, more on that later), and if we’re being honest, ate some incredible barbecue. Let’s start … Continue reading ITF 2024 Reflection
How can it be that it be that I haven’t updated this website in seven months? Wow, we’d better get started. 2017 was an amazing year, both personally and professionally. Let’s start with the personal stuff: My son was born on November 4th! He’s just the best. I started grad school and am actually doing university right. More on that later. I made some of … Continue reading The Past Year and the Next!
After weeks and weeks of researching, reading, recording, filming and editing, my new show launches today. The original “Into the Score” ran from 2004 to 2007; it was a time where I was a very different person, or at least I thought I was. If anyone who’s reading this knows me personally, you’ll probably know that I’ve been interested in video game music for the … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – New Show, Same Nerd.
I can’t even believe it. The original Into the Score podcast ran from 2006-2010 (about) and, after ten years, it’s coming back in a different form. More details to come, but it’s happening everyone… it’s really happening. -K Continue reading Into the Score – RELAUNCH
As I was leaving the band room one day, I heard a booming teenage voice. When I got out the door, the hallway was lined with people watching a large young adult cursing and throwing his body around. The shop teacher and another teacher on duty stood at the end of the hall in case something went seriously wrong. A hundred pairs of wide Grade … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Radical Empathy
Disclaimer: I’m not a counselor nor an expert, but I talk to a lot of kids about a great many things related to their well-being. Here are some patterns of experience paired with elements of mental health that I’ve learned from pro-counselors. This is one perspective that may challenge you and that’s okay. Allow yourself to be challenged, then consider it or never think about … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – It Depends on the Room
In a really wonderful turn of events, I won a competition this past month! My very first one! It was the 2015 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition (*whew!*) and my piece for concert band “The Meeting Place” took home the prize. I really like that tune, and so do a lot of my students – more than many of my other ones, actually. The funny … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Keep on Keepin’ On
I got to spend some time in Canmore, AB (Canada) this past weekend. You know, this place: It’s a really beautiful town, but I really didn’t have a hot clue where I was going most of the time. I’m a pretty nervous driver when I’m in a place that I don’t know very well, so I was being extra observant and extra careful. Most of … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Driving Lessons
I’m trying to remember exactly when I was playing Final Fantasy X for the first time. It came out when I was in Grade 10, though I first saw it when my cousin showed it to me at my grandmother’s house in Gimli, the town where I grew up. But even still, I don’t think I started really playing it until I was university, which was … Continue reading BEAT ALL THE FINAL FANTASIES – FFX
A few years ago, two of my very good friends made a New Year’s Resolution to say yes to anyone invited them out to something, hoping to embark on some new adventures and live a little more. “Want to go out for drinks?” Yes. “Want to go snowboarding next weekend?” Yes. “Want to come to the beach in fifteen minutes?” Yes. Yes. Yes. And so on, … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – The Year of No
