Barrage in Arizona: The Gilbert Show--or--A Homecoming Without Corsages & Boutineers

The setting in which I'm writing this blog post is unusually poetic:

We're somewhere in Kentucky, driving through the Appalachian Mountains, whose copper, bronze and gold palatte reminds me very much of all those Bob Ross paintings I saw growing up as a child. It's overcast and slightly drizzly as we go through small coal mining towns...the type where looking too "trendy" (by mainstream American standards) gets you funny looks as you take a booth in the Applebee's next to your hotel. I'm listening to the strikingly poignant soundtrack of (500) Days of Summer. All things considered, it's pretty much a perfect setting for reflecting on the craziness of this past weekend in Arizona.

Saturday night was the much-anticipated "hometown" show (though the show, technically, was in Gilbert and I'm from Mesa, my house is only 15 minutes away from the venue, so we'll ignore that tiny fact). It's tough to say what exactly my expectations were prior to the show, but I think it's easy enough to say that regardless of the fact that I didn't have any specific expectations, any expectations I could have had were met. And far exceeded.

Let's start with the easier parts to describe. Firstly, Highland High School's orchestras were so unbelievably great. They were, without a doubt, the most well-prepared and talented group, in my opinion, with whom Barrage has worked with since my joining last summer--other members of the band echoed this sentiment as well, so it's not just a personal bias. Bill Bitter and Amy Bennett really have a phenomenal program on their hands. We were all blown away by their rhythm, intonation, and musicality (props to the violas: I can't remember the last time I heard such musical pizzicati!).

[A few hours later...]

I now continue this post after lunch, a nap, and travel through more of Kentucky, Virginia, and now Tennessee. In terms of scenery, it's much of the same: fall is permeating every inch of the Appalachians. Fortunately, however, the sun has come out (which, in turn, calls for a change of music: now it's Liz Carroll's "In Play"). Here are some pictures from a stop we just made somewhere in Tennessee:

Back to Gilbert, where fall colors don't exist.

I'm very much in awe of the whole experience. In the autograph line, all sorts of people from my life pre-Barrage appeared out of the woodwork: former teachers, former students, role models, neighbors, and acquaintances, confidants & close friends from all sorts of outlets. People kept coming up behind me, touching my shoulders, and saying things into my ear as I was signing CDs and posters for some other concert-goer in front of me.

In those moments, I felt so loved/humbled/thankful/appreciated/supported

/surprised/impactful/emotional/ecstatic/overwhelmed. There's really no effective way to describe it. I am not capable of capturing in words what it's like to have years of work and dedication pay off in exactly the way I hoped it might. As I told my mom before heading to the show, it's like I had been working the past 11 years, since I first saw Barrage on PBS in 7th grade, for that night. It's weird.

I'm not sure how to end this post...I feel obligated to finish with some pithy (and humorous?) anecdote about the importance of hardwork or perserverance or coal towns of Kentucky. I don't know if I have just the right one. I guess I can only offer the following:

To those of you have helped and believed in me along the way, thank you.

Barrage in Arizona: The Tucson Show

Last night was my first Arizona performance with Barrage down in Tucson, which is about 1.5 hours away from my hometown of Mesa.

It was unbelievably fun. I will admit, however, I was incredibly nervous--not only because I had friends and family there, but also because all of the head officials from Southwest Strings, our sponsor, were there as well. Plus, we were doing the concert as a charity performance for OMA--so the pressure to perform well was on!

It was nice to have such an enthusiastic AZ audience after the absurdly tiring schedule we'd had the day previous. I really have found throughout the years (and the Barrage managers have echoed this sentiment) that arts audiences in Arizona lean toward awesome.

That being said, I can't wait for tonight's sold-out show in Gilbert! I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up in such a supportive arts community here in Mesa--not only will quite a few of my former teachers be present, but also a bunch of kids from the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, the community orchestra I grew up in as a kid that first got me hooked on fiddling. It's very strange to be coming "full circle"...I've somehow, by many strokes of luck and good fortune, ended up doing the very thing I've wanted to do since in was in MYS. And now I will, in turn, be playing for those kids, who are going through the same musical experiences I had at their age. It's hard to capture that feeling in adjectives, but I think it's appropriate to describe it as a mixture of odd, humbling, and incredibly exciting.

Here are a few pictures from last night's Tucson show:

The autograph line.

With Allison Kellis, a good friend and fellow ASU violinist I've known since MYS.

My friends Kelley and Nora with the Barrage violinists.

With Hayley Ivins, a former (and current) role model.

Arizona Day 1, 2, and part of 3: Dinners, Photo Shoots, and Video Shoots

Tonight's the show in Tucson--thought I'd try to squeeze in a quick update about the past 48 hours or so of craziness here in Arizona!

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After arriving in Phoenix on Wednesday morning, I spent most of the day assisting my mom in preparation for the Barrage dinner at my house on Wednesday night (e.g. vaccuuming, making a playlist on her iPod entitled "Beef: It's What's For Dinner,"etc.).

It was pretty much awesome having Barrage over for dinner. My mom made my favorite soup, and with my dad's hard work in the backyard and the near-perfect weather, it probably couldn't have been more wonderful. As I told John, one of our managers, having been a huge Barrage fan prior to joining, it was pretty much a "dream come true" to have Barrage hanging out at my house; John then sardonically noted that it probably actually resembled more of a nightmare, as in, "Now they're at my house! Am I ever going to get away from these people?!"

Please note the pumpkin centerpiece my dad carved with the Barrage "B" logo.

Wednesday was also Kristina's birthday, so my mom baked her a chocolate cake!

Mandatory group photo with the band, all three managers, and one of two sound guys.

The next morning, Kiana and I drove down to Tucson to meet up with the rest of the gang (who had left for Tucson the night before--I stayed with my family and Kiana stayed with her grandparents).

Kiana and I before the drive.

We met up with everyone at Southwest Strings, Barrage's main sponsor (they provide our violins, bows, cases, rosin, strings, etc.). Upon arrival we all changed into our new costumes (!) and did a photo shoot in their studio. After individual and group photos, we headed over to Sahuaro High School here in Tucson, the location of tonight's benefit performance for OMA.

We arrived at the theatre for what was to be an incredibly tiring night: my first video shoot with the band. Not having previously known myself what actually goes into a video shoot, I'll give y'all a quick synopsis: you basically end up performing the same number over and over and over again, with the camera at different locations (e.g. fixed downstage right, fixed downstage center, hand-held close up, on a giant pole so you can get those shots from up above, etc.). And keep in mind, there's no audience...so, not only are you not actually performing for anybody, but you also don't have any energy off of which to feed (a good audience always helps provide performers with more stamina).


We were at the theatre filming from 5 p.m. to midnight, with short breaks for dinner, two trips to Starbucks, and touch-ups with the make-up artist/hair stylist backstage. Though unbelievably exhausting, it somehow ended up being incredibly fun. I can't put my finger on an exact reason why, though...I think the fun just came from the prolonged hours of delirious work with a hilarious group of people. I especially enjoyed when they'd be doing hand-held camera shots, so we'd know when we weren't in shots...because then we'd usually goof off while playing (e.g. making up absurd choreography, making ridiculous faces, etc.).

Note the camera rig for shots from above.

We even have new backdrops!

The crazy schedule continued this morning when we headed over to the local CBS station (KOLD 13) for an appearance on the noon news.

Right now we're on a short break at the hotel, and then it's over to Sahuaro for an educational program this afternoon and the show tonight!

There's no place like home. Seriously.

Though I'm not fully caught up to the present in blog entries about Barrage happenings, I wanted to try to actively blog over the next few days while I'm home in AZ. I have about 2 posts to put up that will be chronologically before this one, but it's more interesting this way.

I wrote the following this afternoon while on a plane to Phoenix.

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Right now I'm on a plane headed to Phoenix for Barrage's first official trip to Arizona since my joining over a year ago.

It didn't really hit me until yesterday when I was sitting at lunch with Charlie and Jason that we'd actually be going to my home. At that moment, I felt a surge of immense happiness and excitement...the kind where the only way you know how to deal with it would be to scream at the top of your lungs. However, custom dictates that doing this type of thing in a quiet Japanese restaurant is far from civil. So, erring on the side of socially-appropriate judgment, I merely shared my out-of-the-blue happiness in conversation with Charlie and Jason.

Then, last night we played a show in Tomball, TX (about 40 minutes north of Houston). Because of the flight schedule into Phoenix, Kiana and I flew out of Houston this morning and the rest of the band is flying later today out of Dallas. It then occurred to me when I was leaving the venue that the next time I would see the rest of the band would be tonight at my house. Weird. Incredibly exciting, but weird.

You know when you have something you really want to share with someone, be it a story, a picture, a present, or something of that nature? And it's something into which you've put a lot of effort and of which you're very proud? That's the feeling I have. But I haven't been able to share it with so many back home for over a year. To be fair, however, I knew going into Barrage that this would be the case. So, this feeling that set in yesterday is mainly one which I'll be forced to deal with for only 5 days.

It's like you watched Santa put your Christmas presents under the tree and then your kill-joy parents said, "No, Tommy, you can't open those presents just yet. Not for another five days." Not cool.

National Treasure 3: Less Nicholas Cage, More Annette & Charlie

A few weeks ago we were performing just outside Washington, D.C. and had the opportunity to spend a full morning sight-seeing in the city.

As Annette had never seen D.C. before, Kiana and I took it upon ourselves as the resident Americans in our little self-initiated sight-seeing group to show her the national treasures. Though we only had a few hours, we attempted to tackle as many of the big sights on the National Mall as possible.

Below are some of the pictures from our quick trip.

Annette, Kiana, Charlie and John (one of our managers) in front of the Washington Monument.

Annette marvels at the size of the Washington Monument, directly underneath it.

Annette on the Mall.

Arizona pride at the WWII Memorial.

Kiana and Annette at WWII.

Michigan pride at WWII.

Charlie, Kiana, Annette and myself.

Annette, who lived in NY for 3 years, displays her NY pride.

Though Charlie has no affiliation to Kentucky, we had just visited Louisville (which is awesome), so we felt inclined to show our gratitude with this photo.

Annette at Lincoln.

Annette marvels at the Mall.

And, of course, no trip to D.C. would be complete without a trip to the White House.

Taylor Morris and the Chariots of Fire: a public service announcement.

Though I myself have never seen all of "Chariots of Fire," I did at some point in my childhood see the memorable intro to the movie.

In my mind the idea of "running on the beach" had become glorified. Though those runners are clearly working hard, something about exercise on the beach seems rewarding--desirable, even. They just make it look so easy.

After staying in a beachside hotel in North Carolina a few weeks ago, however, I've now learned one more life lesson: running on beaches is hard work.

Very, unbelieveably, strenously hard work.

The American cinema-based-pop-culture psyche got it all wrong; they got it wrong in that I-didn't-know-I-had-muscles-in-that-part-of-my-body kind of way.

That being said, though, it was expectedly rewarding. I'd definitely recommend it...just don't go into blindly like I did.

On the beach in North Carolina.

Building "Barrage: Animado!"--very little blood, buckets of sweat, and a few tears, too.

After a nice six week break in July and August, we returned to tour for the much-dreaded, much-anticipated, ever-popular "show build."

That's right. Good-bye to "Barrage: High Strung" (for now), and hello to "Barrage: Animado!"

With 12 new songs, a new stage set-up, and a new violinist (!), Animado has thus far been a trip, to say the least.

Let's start from the very beginning (...a very good place to start).

The beginning of Animado actually started with the departure of Sarah Bennett, a violinist who had spent two years with the group. She's on scholarship at the New England Conservatory in Boston and had to return to finish her bachelor's; her final show was in Idaho at the end of the summer tour. Because Sarah was the closest to me in age (23), we had been really close in the band. I was really sad to see her go, for multiple reasons. Suffice it to say: Sarah was a phenomenally talented violinist and singer, and just a riot to be around.

Sarah's departure, however, provided me with some firsts: I am no longer the "new one," and I'm also no longer the youngest. It's definitely a weird transition, to go from being the resident newbie, to being one of the "others" (I don't know what to call them/us...regulars? veterans? oldies?). It's odd to see someone else going through everything you went through just a year prior: the constant feeling that you're "not good enough," the frustration of not being able to "get it" as fast as you'd like, and all of the effort that goes into tackling the workload of memorizing a giant folder of music and hours of moves.

Said folder of giantness: orange tabs are new Animado pieces, blue are High Strung, green is celtic music for summer festivals, and yellow is miscellaneous.
Christmas music (marked with red tabs) is in a separate folder.

This tour started with meeting Kiana Weber, the newest addition to Barrage, in Florida, where we built the new show. Kiana, only 19 years-old, just finished her second year at the University of Michigan where she's working towards a Bachelor's in Violin Performance. Not only is she a great violinist and singer, but also a remarkable fiddler--it's been really musically stimulating having her as a part of the band. [And in retrospect of this post, the enthusiasm and dedication with which she tackled joining this band was remarkable!]

We spent two weeks with Brian Hansen, Barrage's main choreographer, at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Clearwater, Florida. Every day for 2.5 weeks, we were at the theatre from 9-5 (and sometimes longer) rehearsing our music director and running around the stage like crazies trying to learn all of the new choreography. (And when we weren't at the theatre, we were usually at the hotel stressing about all that we had to remember for the next day...that, or we were at the beach.) It was, without a doubt, incredibly taxing, both mentally and physically. Some of the new music is incredibly technically-demanding, and trying to keep up the energy in rehearsal all day was definitely a task. (However, it definitely helped that there was a Starbucks just down the block!)


Being stationary for 2.5 weeks provided unique opportunities and a nice diversion from life "as normal" in this group, i.e., in a new hotel every few nights. Living in hotel suites with furnished kitchens meant we didn't have to eat out for every meal (as we do 99% of the time). This also meant that we spent quite a bit of time "hanging out" in our living rooms. You might think that we spend a lot of time "hanging out" normally; with our normal touring schedule, however, we usually don't have too much time to just relax in comfortable couches and chairs. That being said, one of my favorite events from the show build was the "Family Dinner Night" that Jason and I arranged in our room (in conjunction with the rest of the band).

Two pots of pasta.

So we like place cards and small candles (courtesy of Annette)...no big deal.

One more final note of importance from our show build in Florida: I got to do my very first TV interview as a member of Barrage! Kristina and I went down to the CBS studios in Tampa to appear on Studio 10 with Holley and Jerome (similar to Regis & Kelly but local).

My favorite part of this picture is that both Holley AND Jerome
managed to have their eyes closed...

Friends & Family

In Columbia, Maryland, one of my best friends since elementary school, Kim, came to the show. It was especially crazy having Kim come because apparently I gave her the videotape of “Barrage: World On Stage” to watch after I first saw it in 7th grade. I was thrilled, then, to hear that the show was “even better than she expected”!

July also provided the first opportunity for my family to come see the show. It was a strange scenario to have been performing in a band for over a year and never have had my parents see me in the show—especially, too, since I always talking about it to them on the phone!

We performed in Redlands, California, which is only about a 5.5 hour drive from my hometown of Mesa, AZ. Most people think that it’s crazy my family would drive 5.5 hours, but when you live out West, you’re used to driving long distances to get other places (San Diego is about 6 hours away, LA and Albuquerque are both about 7). Not only did my immediate family come, but also my friend Molly, as well as my grandma and her boyfriend, who flew in from Utah! We performed at the Redlands Bowl, as a part of their summer concert series (it's the oldest, free outdoor concert series in the country).

L to R: Mom, me, Dad, Grandma, Brother, Grandma's boyfriend

With Molly.

With my brother Scott.

Mom and brother with the band after the show.

And in yet another “small world” experience, I found evidence of my friend Nick, on a plaque at the Bowl, who won a competition there back in high school!