Newsletter updates

Jan 17, 2018

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, I am super behind in promoting my concerts and letting ya'll know what is happening in my little part of the world in terms of music. I hope you all had a nice break and great holiday; I spent mine in Boston, and avoided traveling completely.  This was nice because I have plenty of travel coming up with the music the next couple months! 

Bert Seager and The Why are back this week (er...tomorrow!) playing at their north-shore home base, Spice Thai Restaurant. Myself, Rick DiMuzio, and Max Ridley will work our way through Bert's great original chamber-jazz tunes as we prepare for Music Mountain in CT later this summer. 

After that, I gotta shed some serious marimba for my first gig with Portland Symphony in Maine. They're doing a cool program that includes the massive Strauss tone poem, "Ein Heldenleben" and the 2015 work, "Eating Flowers" by Hannah Lash. I haven't played any of Lash's music before, but the short Soundcloud MIDI recording sounds interesting. Lots of notes!

Ishna, the Celtic group I play drums and bodhran in led by Ciaran Nagle and Tara Novak, is headed back to South Carolina a couple weeks later to perform at the Newberry Opera House. This was a super fun gig last year and will be our first concert of 2018.  And two days later, back at the Agganis Arena at Boston Univ., we will help kick off Geeks Who Drink "Geek Bowl 2018," which is kinda like a "national championship" tournament for bar trivia. Over 1,000 players from 47 states participate. There will apparently be tons of beer, questions, answers, and the $ proceeds go to the Boston charity, Artists for Humanity. 

And last but not least, some Orchestrotica news! 

This month is the 100th birthday of Juan Garcia Esquivel, so I have been fielding interviews this week from the press in Mexico including
Excelsior and our old pals at Ibero 90.0. We've also been added to Spotify's Official This Is: Esquivel Playlist which is nice too. The radio interview was in English, Spanish, and Portuguese at the same time which kinda reminds me of Esquivel's music at times! 
The Boston Globe recently wrote an article as well about Juan's music which I enjoyed, although I guess the writer didn't realize Boston is home to the only live Esquivel Megaband–no mention of us, lol. Anyhow, hopefully Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica will celebrate Esquivel's 100th with a concert later this year in Boston, so let's see you top that, 
Boston Globe! Actually, I have to give the
Globe credit: they have given us a lot of publicity over the years and do some great reporting, and I'm happy that the author gave Esquivel a nice mention on his birthday. 

Prior to all that though, my touring with the main ensemble formation, the quintet, continues into yet another new state: Florida. (Yes, I did time it that way, going to FL in February!) Please share our dates below with any friends; we're hoping to make a nice splash on our first trip down south. My goal is to get the group touring in performing arts centers in all 50 states before I am too old to hold and play four-mallet vibraphone, so we are slowly eating our way down the list! 

Upcoming Events

	Thu, Jan. 18 @ 7:00 PM	The Why @ Spice Thai Restaurant	Ipswich, MA Map
	Tue, Jan. 30 @ 7:30 PM	Portland Symphony @ Merrill Auditorium (Tickets)	Portland, ME Map
	Thu, Feb. 15 @ 3:00 PM and 8:00pm	Ishna @ Newberry Opera House (Tickets)	Newberry, SC Map
	Sat, Feb. 17 @ 8:00 PM	Ishna @ Agganis Arena (Geek Bowl)(Tickets)	Boston, MA Map
	Sat, Feb. 24 @ 7:30 PM	Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica @ Center For Performing Arts Bonita Springs (Tickets)	Bonita Springs, FL Map
	Sun, Feb. 25 @ 3:00 PM	Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica @ Venice PAC / Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota (Tickets)	Venice, FL Map
	Fri, Mar. 2 @ 8:30 PM	Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica @ South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (Tickets)	Cutler Bay, FL Map