My birthday was on October 1.  I share that birthday with Jimmy Carter.  AEJ shares her birthday (January 5) with Walter Mondale, so together, we’re a semi-successful Democratic presidential ticket.

By coincidence (or, maybe it wasn’t coincidence at all, but a gift), John Corigliano had a world premiere performance with the New York Philharmonic on September 30 – my Birthday Eve.  AEJ and I made plans to drive down to NYC for the performance, plus a pre-performance dinner with Jerry Junkin (Director of Bands at UT-Austin).  Jerry’s wife, Stephanie The Magnificent, was planning to join us, but had to cancel, so in her place, three people were invited (it takes three people to equal one Stephanie) : Gary Green (Director of Bands at the University of Miami, where I’ll be in mid-November, for a performance of Harvest with Joe Alessi), Kevin Sedatole (Director of Bands at Michigan State – and the person responsible for Asphalt Cocktail), and Joe Alessi (not sure who he is – I couldn’t figure out if he was the guy from the Alessi utensil company, or some trombonist).

All of us, minus Joe Alessi, met up for pre-dinner drinks. (I went with the Grey Goose Citron and tonic.)

After cocktails, we walked down to La Grenouille – a classic French restaurant that’s been around since the early 1960’s.

You know if the waiter is wearing a bow tie, it’s a nice place.

Either that, or it’s a Chippendale club.

In this case, though, it was not a Chippendale club.  (We’d be saving that for after dinner.)

First up: an assortment of fresh breads. Buttery breadsticks, and some spectacular gougéres. (Sidebar: all photos are from the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens on a 5D Mark II body. The restaurant was very dark, so some of these shots are a little grainy, having been shot at ISO 3200.)

Next up: another small complimentary offering from the chef – a bit of carrot ginger soup.

My first course was this wild mushroom risotto. I love a good risotto, and this was a good risotto. Check out the slivers of parmesan.

Kevin Sedatole had this salad, but I forgot to ask what it was. Is this the foie gras salad with duck prosciutto? We’ll pretend it is, because that’s probably what he should have ordered.

Jerry Junkin opted for…

AEJ’s first course was the farm-raised poached egg with leeks. As she does in life, she wins the “Prettiest Award.”

For the main course, I think all of us — except AEJ — ordered the same thing: La Grenouille’s famous grilled dover sole with mustard sauce. The waiter filets the fish at the table.

And well-fileted it was.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture with the mustard sauce, which was possibly the highlight of the night. I got distracted by the smell, and started eating before I could get a picture. Oops.

AEJ ordered something that wasn’t even on the menu: cheese souffle. (Being the lifetime recipient of the Prettiest Award does have advantages.) Holy hell, cheese souffle is a wonderful thing.

Her souffle came with a side of some weird spiky green.

More free treats from the chef! This was one tasty madeleine.

For the main dessert, AEJ went with yet another souffle, successfully completing the Egg Dinner Trifecta.

Here’s the gang – minus the always camera-shy AEJ. Left to right, this is Kevin Sedatole, some short dude, Gary Green, Joe Alessi, and Jerry Junkin.

Jerry Junkin is probably the best host in the world, even when he’s hosting from a city that isn’t his home. He set up the dinner, invited a great group, and most impressive of all: he had a car waiting for us to take us to the hall. *

* may or may not be an accurate picture

Off we went to the concert.

The premiere was wonderful. Corigliano’s work, “One Sweet Morning,” was written for the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. (There’s a great story about the piece in the New York Times.) The piece delivered both the visceral impact and ravishing beauty that I love so much about his music.

After the concert – more food and drink. The last thing I needed was more food, so I stuck with drink.  (One almost always needs more drink.)

I told John that I loved his piece, but I was a little hurt. “I was really hoping you’d stick a little of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song into the last movement of your 9/11 piece,” I told him. “I mean, it is my birthday.” He insisted that it was in there. I’m guess I’ll take him at his word.
Here I am with John Corigliano.

This was one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a long time.

Last week, I – with love, mind you – realized that a perfect last line for a haiku would be:

Why bother?  It’s band.

Again, I thought this with love.  And like just about anything else that comes to mind, I posted it on Facebook, adding “now I just need the first two lines. I’m pretty sure one of them mentions tuning a harp.”

Here are some of the responses to the challenge.  Between my original Facebook account and my new one, there were 77 responses. Most surprising thing: most people still know the syllabic requirements of a haiku.

The harp’s in the case.
Is it in tune? Do we know?
Why bother? It’s band.
– David Rakowski

The C extension.
Does your double bass have it?
Why bother? It’s band.
– David Rakowski

david rakowski
writes top-notch band haikus, but —
why bother? it’s band.
– Carl Schimmel

Some integrity
Or artistic posturing?
Why bother? It’s band.
– Ken Thompson

Finally, first chair –
A contrabass player’s dream!
Why bother? It’s band.
– Rob Deemer

I wrote a harp part.
Fortissimo with trombones.
Why bother, it’s band.
– Jim Stephenson

B-flat clarinets; my ears bleed sweet suicide. Why bother? It’s band.
– Michael Markowski

At night rehearsal
I forgot deodorant!
Why bother? It’s band.
– Rebecca Anderson

Oboe out of tune;
Quick, the harpist needs a ride;
Why bother? It’s band.
– Robert Sloan

The French horn can play
Just as low as the bassoon?
Why bother? It’s band.
– Brian Brown

“I think I would like
some subtlety”, said Maestro.
Why bother? It’s band.
– Jim Stephenson

It’s a Powell flute!
The sound … is like gossamer.
Why bother? It’s band.
– David Rakowski

standing at beer case,
pondering buying the Harp,
Why bother? It’s band.
– Lois Hicks-Wozniak

Times music critic:
“President’s Own? Carnegie?
Why bother? It’s band.”
– Scott McKenzie

and finally…

Composing for hours.
Music is going nowhere.
Wrote haiku instead.
– Brian Balmages

I recently finished “Drum Music,” my new percussion concerto.  (Did you read the huge post about the creation of the middle movement?) Now I’m trying to make a piano reduction of my Soprano Sax Concerto.  I get a lot of requests for this (as in, more than two?), and also for a piano reduction for “Harvest: Concerto for Trombone,” and these both seemed like impossible requests.  How do you reduce things like a percussion break to solo piano?  I’ve no idea, but that’s the current task.  I managed to do the piano reduction for the third movement of the sax concerto, “Metal,” inside of a day, but that’s the easy movement to reduce.  Next up, I’ll try the second movement, “Felt.”

I’ve finally updated the Travel and Performances pages of the site. If you’re doing one of the non-rental pieces, please email me to let me know when, and I’ll add your concert to the list. (I only know performance information for the rental catalog.)

The fall travel begins in a few weeks. Here’s where I’ll be…

September 27-28 : Downers Grove South High School in Chicago. In a first, I’ll be working not only with their wind ensemble as they prepare “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” but also with their marching band, whose show consists of “Hymn to a Blue Hour,” “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” and “Strange Humors.”

October 9-12 : Tennessee Tech University. Eric Willie, the percussion professor there, will give the world premiere performance of “Drum Music,” my new percussion concerto, with Joseph Hermann and the wind ensemble.

October 16-20 : Miami University of Ohio. They’re doing “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” “Asphalt Cocktail,” and “Hymn to a Blue Hour.”

November 2-6 : University of Minnesota Duluth. This is a big festival with multiple ensembles, and among them, they’re performing “Redline Tango,” “Hymn to a Blue Hour,” “Strange Humors,” “Xerxes,” “Sasparilla,” “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” and “Foundry.” That is probably way too much me.

December 5-7 : Temple University. This trip will include performances of “Harvest: Concerto for Trombone” and “Hymn to a Blue Hour.” The soloist for “Harvest” will be Nitzan Haroz, Principal Trombone for the Philadelphia Orchestra.