On October 25, 2014, I headed down to Rock Hill, SC, to work with the orchestra students at Northwestern High School. Their teacher is Marsha Gross and she had recently invested in a quintet of electric stringed instruments to use as part of her recruiting and retention efforts for the orchestra program at the school. […]
NCSSM
Maputo and Interlochen
Hi all – Last week, I had the pleasure of performing with the Intermediate Jazz Ensemble at Interlochen, under the direction of David Kay, on the David Sanborn/Bob James tune, Maputo. The performance was a ball and the reaction to the NS Design CR4 violin in that setting was magnificent. There were a ton of […]
10 Practical Strategies at ASTA
Back in the middle of March, I had the opportunity to present an educational session to attendees of the American String Teachers Association National Conference in Louisville. The session, entitled, “10 Practical Strategies for Incorporation Electric Bowed Strings into the Music Classroom,” is designed to give teachers some simple ideas for getting your string players’ […]
Thom Sharp’s Nanigo with Solo Electric Violin
Hey all – For you string teachers out there: How about trying the tune based on West African rhythms called Nanigo, by Thom Sharp (Latham Music) with percussion section and electric violin? I did this piece at Interlochen last week and it was a huge […]
Strings Without Boundaries
Hi All. On Tuesday, June 28, I was in Pittsburgh, PA, at Duquesne University, representing NS Design at the Strings Without Boundaries Workshop. This is a great workshop each summer and I was really pleased to be there. As part of the day, I gave 3 presentations. First, I had the opportunity to speak with […]
Lamar Stringfield String Camp 2011
Lamar Stringfield Haydn Orchestra with Scott Laird on CR Violin Hi all – For the past two weeks, I have been teaching at the Lamar Stringfield String Camp at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. It was another great year at Lamar Stringfield with many fantastic moments. I am frequently asked how I incorporate electric strings […]
Great week at ASTA in Kansas City
This week, I have been at the American String Teacher’s National Conference in Kansas City. It has been a fabulous week of instructional seminars, exhibits, and networking for string educators and students around the from around the United States and even some from around the world. Electric bowed strings are always a big part of […]
NS Design Instruments and the Lamar Stringfield Summer String Camp
Hi all! Today, just a quick note about the Lamar Stringfield String Camp and NS Design Instruments. For the past two weeks, Meredith College in Raleigh, NC has been hosting the Lamar Stringfield String Camp, a day camp for students to focus on string playing, technique, and ensemble playing. Students may attend for 1 or […]
Underground Caverns
Hi all! the following is a video that was created by the NCSSM Distance Education Department. It centers around a performance of the NCSSM Orchestra and Ligon Middle School Orchestra in Wake County, NC. This was a really cool performance and a marvelous technological and artistic experience for the students of both schools. I think […]
Midwest Clinic Notes – Tuesday
Hi all. Today, I am the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. It is one of the largest annual gatherings of music educators and music companies. If you are a music educator and have never been to this event, it is really worth the effort to get here at some point. The string education sessions began this […]