As a reminder, here are the remaining dates in the Winter/Spring session:
Mar. 4
Mar. 18
Apr. 1
Apr. 15
May 6
May 20
Group A meets 3:45-4:25; Group B meets 4:30-5:10

If you are going to the March 11 LAGQ concert, I would like you to pick up the Latin Grammy nominated album Interchange just released by the quartet. It's always best to go to a performance with some familiarity of the music...add this to your normal listening rotation! Let me know if you need help getting a hold of it. Find it at Amazon.com

PS: Bring your copy of the CD to the concert to have it signed!

I've had a busy couple of months playing and want to give you a little update of some highlights:
*December 2011: Released a CD with The Dream Songs Project, voice and guitar duo. You can order and listen to samples here: www.thedreamsongsproject.org
*January 2012: Applied for funding for commissioning a new piece for voice and guitar and a series of performances. Awards announced in late March.
*February 18: Madison performance at Farley's House of Pianos with The Dream Songs Project. I hope you can all make it!
*February 23-26: Several performances in the Twin Cities including a CD release party on Sunday, 2/26.
*March 20: Invited to play at the American Composers Forum Tuesday Salon--a gathering of composers and performers and public to hear new works and discuss with the artists.

Be sure to check the Concerts and News page for more events. Just a little plug for my own performances!

I think everyone knows by now that there is a studio-wide challenge to practice every day for 100 consecutive days. This may sound like a lot at first, but I think it's a completely manageable amount of time. My main goal in issuing this challenge is to get all of the students in the habit of picking up the guitar every day. Some days this may just be to play one review song while other days will be more productive practice sessions. In any case, getting the guitars in hand is the big goal. I've handed out guidelines for making this work and charts for keeping track. Make it fun with stickers, coloring, and maybe some extra rewards throughout the process. Let me know how it's going and if you need extra tips. At the end of the 100 days, we'll have a party (pizza party and bowling party were mentioned). Hope to see everyone there!

PS: Leave comments below if you come up with a great way to make this even more successful. So far I've heard of quite a few students who have made it past 10 days!