Percussion

Much to the chagrin of her supportive parents, Jennifer Triplett Pickering brought her first snare drum home at the age of twelve.  Six years later, she graduated with honors from the Louisville Youth Performing Arts High School.  Mrs. Pickering now holds degrees in music performance from Indiana University and Temple University, and has studied with Gerry Carlyss, Anthony Cirone, Alan Abel, Angela Zator Nelson and Doug Howard.  In 2005, Jennifer served as a percussionist and assistant stage manager with the National Repertory Orchestra, and has performed with orchestras across the United States.  Mrs. Pickering currently serves as principal percussionist of the Dallas Civic Wind Ensemble and the Dallas Millennial Choirs and Orchestra, and works as a freelance musician in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.  After many seasons as a superfan and volunteer, Jennifer is thrilled to join the Astraios team in their outreach program to Frisco public schools.  She lives with her family in Carrollton, Texas.

Natasha begins by splitting the tube cane with a razor blade, then cuts the cane down in size using a guillotine.  She planes the cane and then gouges it; both steps remove thin bits of reed and create the shape of the curve.  The cane is then put on an easel, scored in the center, and folded over.  It is placed on a shaper to be cut into the exact shape of the oboe reed.  Oboists use pre-formed tubes that fit onto the oboe (whereas bassoon reeds are all cane and fit onto the bocal), so Natasha then ties the cane onto the tube.  She uses beeswax to coat the thread and make it easier to manipulate, then wraps the thread tightly around tube and cane. (Doesn’t she have a pretty selection of colors?)  The reed is then meticulously measured, scraped, and clipped open.  It will be left to dry, and further scraped to find the best sound.  Just like bassoonists, oboists will “crow” on the reed to listen for the correct sound:

Oboe reeds can be made in the same time as a cupcake, but Natasha points out a reed made this quickly has a fairly short life span.  Normally, she would take about 3-4 days to make a good concert reed, but oboe reeds are still very fragile things.  Michael can get a good month out of a bassoon reed, but oboe reeds may only last a week.

(In between steps, Natasha made a chocolate cupcake with a salted caramel swiss buttercream frosting.  Violet (grey tabby) and Archie (orange) kept a careful eye on the proceedings.  If you don’t already follow Natasha’s baking blog, now is the time to do so!  The coffee and donuts cake currently featured was up for auction at our Gala Concert.)

The dust had barely settled from the brass concert before we were turning all our focus to our first ever gala concert.  Our hope was to create a completely unique event–like all Astraios concerts!–that proved that elegant events can still be informal and fun.  We held it at the Frisco Heritage Museum, which not only hosts memorabilia from the founding of the city of Frisco, but is also the temporary home of the Museum of the American Railroad.  Guests were free to wander the museum, eat dinner, chat with other guests, and listen to the concert.  The music for the evening’s program was all written since the founding of the city of Frisco, and covered everything from popular tunes (Gilbert & Sullivan’s “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”) to more standard classical fare (Aaron Copland’s “Quiet City”).  Special thanks goes to Daniel Kelly, who suggested we commission a brand new work to celebrate the evening.  Given our odd combination of musicians that night (two flutes, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, trumpet, and percussion), a work written just for us seemed the perfect way to close the evening.  Daniel introduced us to David Horace Davies, a local Texas composer, who agreed to write our first-ever commission.  He produced Fast Track, a work inspired by the history of the fast-growing town of Frisco.

We had a wonderful time at this concert and all the guests seemed like they enjoyed themselves as well!  Thanks to all the performers, who are truly amazing people and wonderful musicians; thanks to our audience, for coming to a one-of-a-kind event; thanks to those who donated items to the silent auction, for believing in our cause; and thanks to all our donors, who trust in the work we do.

Keep scrolling down to see some pictures of the evening.  You can also see a full gallery of the evening on our Facebook page.  If you’d like to hear Fast Track, be sure to visit our Music page!  Now we’ll be hard at work on next season.  More soon!

Guests mingle before the concert begins.

The concert kicks off with Aaron Copland’s “Quiet City.”

Christopher Curtis performs Gilbert & Sullivan.

Our silent auction room with a view of historic Frisco.

Guests and musicians mingle.

Brian Zator performs Jonathan Ovalle’s “Dreamscape.”

Libby Vanatta was the lucky winner of the chance to play the triangle with Astraios. Brian Zator is amused at her attempts!

Composer David Horace Davies talks about his brand new work, “Fast Track.”

The world premiere of “Fast Track.”