Rigo Murillo

Crisis Measures - What we can do to stay afloat

2008-11-25T15:27:00.004-06:00

After only a few minutes of network news, one may think that the world as we know it is doubtlessly going to end. I believe that is partially true. Our world and lifestyle, choices, and spending habits are most likely to change somehow. The economy that surrounds us is certainly changing. But, what can we do to remain sane and happy through this tough season?

There are several thing I am going to do to stay afloat and still enjoy life. I will share these resolutions as personal statements:

I will NOT PANIC
The worse things have happened to the best people. Yet the greatest have managed to stay calm and keep control and choose to thrive instead of falling apart.

I will not attribute my happiness to people, places, or, God forbid, things!
Honestly, we have had so much of that in America. Too much, in my opinion. I will learn to be content and happy for life itself, not its derivatives.

I will be thankful
It is so easy to overlook where I have arrived. I will appreciate people and friends around me. It will feel good.

I will thrive
The only way not to fall behind when the race is tough is to accelerate.

I will sacrifice and give
Yes, it will come back to me.

Plácido Domingo thanks God for 50 years of belcanto

2007-08-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

Acclaimed as one of the greatest tenors in the world, Plácido Domingo will be celebrating his fifty-year-long carreer Saturday with a concert in Guadalajara, Mexico. The performance is part of the inaugural activities of the Auditorio Metropolitano in the state capital of Jalisco. Domingo will be singing for an audience of more than 11,500. The tenor will be joined by the Orquesta Filarmónica de Aguascalientes, one of the most prominent Mexican ensembles.

Fifty years have passed since he young singer began to delight audiences with Zarzuelas, a Spanish genre of operetta. "Around this time fifty years ago, I began to sing and to face audiences every four or five days, and sometimes more often," said Domingo, speaking about the celebration. "It is difficult to arrive to a place, but it is even more difficult to remain in it. I give thanks to God for all these years because I am still singing, I mean, I don't know what will happen, it is very uncommon," he said.

in recent years, the opera icon has made incursions into conducting, career that he hopes to continue beyond the end of his singing activities. Domingo is the general director of the Los Angeles Opera, post he has held since 2000.

Profile

Plácido Domingo, born in 1941, Spanish tenor and conductor, widely regarded as having the greatest tenor voice of his time. His voice has a dark, glowing quality, with great strength at the bottom of the range. Domingo has toured major opera houses around the world performing in more than 100 different roles. He began a second career as a conductor of opera during the 1970s. Domingo published his autobiography, My First Forty Years, in 1983.

For much of his career Domingo has pursued a hectic schedule, singing 70 to 80 performances each year. The secret of his endurance lies partly in his musical intelligence and training, and partly in the natural musical ease that characterizes his singing. He learns parts quickly and needs no coach. While the highest notes do not come with complete ease, the smoothness of Domingo’s technique and his warm, golden sound are universally admired. He has a further asset as an opera performer in his physical appearance. Over six feet tall, darkly handsome, and a committed and conscientious actor, Domingo has been able to create tenor heroes who not only sound plausible but are visually compelling as well.

Early Years

Born in Madrid, Spain, Domingo moved with his family to Mexico in 1949 and began studying voice, piano, and conducting at the National Conservatory in Mexico City in 1955. His parents were both singers in zarzuela—a form of Spanish musical theater. The young Domingo appeared in his first role in 1957 as a baritone in zarzeula, not as a tenor. He sang his first baritone role with the Mexican National Opera in 1959 but was advised to become a tenor and made the switch later that year.

In 1961 in Monterrey, Mexico, he sang in his first major role, that of Alfredo in the opera La Traviata, by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The same year Domingo appeared in the United States for the first time, with the Dallas Civic Opera in Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. In 1962 he married soprano Marta Ornelas, and from 1962 to 1965 the two performed with the Israeli National Opera, singing mostly in Hebrew.

International Star

Domingo’s first appearance in New York City was with the City Opera in 1966, where he sang the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. His debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, in Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, followed three years later. Thereafter, he debuted in major opera houses around the world, establishing his international reputation in several performances in the early 1970s: Vasco da Gama in L’Africaine by Giacomo Meyerbeer in San Francisco; Arrigo in Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani in Paris and New York; and finally in the role he has made virtually his own, the title role in Verdi’s Otello. His performance in Otello was filmed by director Franco Zeffirelli in 1986, by which time Domingo had starred in several other opera motion pictures and videos.

During his career Domingo has commanded a remarkable range of roles—from the light, delicate sound of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore to the fierce, dark demands of Verdi’s Otello. As his voice deepened and darkened over time, he turned in the late 1980s and the 1990s to the operas of German composer Richard Wagner, which require a more powerful tenor voice than Italian operas do. In 1992 he performed at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, where he sang the title role in Wagner’s Parsifal.

In popular music Domingo recorded Perhaps Love, an album of duets with popular American singer and songwriter John Denver in 1981. He has also made a number of recordings of popular Spanish songs, including Always in My Heart (Siempre en mi Corazón, 1983), which received one of the several Grammy Awards he has won. During the 1990s Domingo recorded bestselling Christmas albums with popular American singers Diana Ross and Dionne Warwick. In 1990 he joined Spanish tenor José Carreras and Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti in the first of the so-called Three Tenors concerts. The tenors have regrouped every four years since 1990 to sing at the World Cup soccer finals.

A busy performance and recording schedule has not prevented Domingo from taking on other responsibilities. He is noted for his charitable work, especially for raising millions of dollars to help victims of a 1985 earthquake in Mexico City. Since 1996 Domingo has served as artistic director of the Washington (D.C.) Opera, and in 2000 he undertook the additional post of artistic director of the Los Angeles Opera. In 2002 Domingo was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. That year he was also made a commander of the French Legion of Honor and awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. In 2007 Domingo announced that after singing tenor roles for nearly 50 years he would fulfill a dream before retirement by taking on the demanding baritone role of Simon Boccanegra in Verdi’s opera of that name. Performances were scheduled in 2009 for Berlin’s Staatsoper, La Scala in Milan, and Covent Garden in London.

References: MSN Encarta

Chamber Music at Dallas Museum of Art

2007-04-18T15:28:00.000-05:00

Hi,

This weekend, my friend, cellist Jolyon Pegis and friends are having a FREE chamber music recital at the Dallas Museum of Art, featuring Brahms' music. The concert is part of the Fine Arts Chamber Players Bancroft Family Concerts season (www.FineArtsChamberPlayers.org).

I attended one of these concerts last year, and it was very well worth it. All you have to do is go to the museum. The entrance to the museum is free, and the concert admission is free, too. This makes a good cultural trip to downtown Dallas. I am sure you will enjoy this concert, as well as the museum's exhibitions.

As a piece of advice, you should get there early to get a good seat. Last time I listened to Jolyon and other prominent local musicians play last year there was a full house, with people standing in the back of the auditorium.

I hope to see you there.

Rigo.

Here is the detailed information:

2006-2007 BANCROFT FAMILY CONCERTS
NO ADMISSION CHARGE
(Concert lasts about an hour)

Horchow Auditorium, Dallas Museum of Art
1717 N. Harwood

Saturday, April 21, 3:00 PM
Outstanding Dallas Symphony cellist Jolyon Pegis and friends perform an all Brahms chamber music program full of beautiful melodies and rich harmonies.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Announces Jaap van Zweden as New Music Director

2007-02-01T11:20:00.000-06:00

DALLAS - The Dallas Symphony Orchestra today announced the appointment of Jaap (pronounced YAP) van Zweden (pronounced van ZVAY-den) as music director, beginning in September 2008.

Van Zweden will begin a four-year contract as full-time music director beginning with the 2008-2009 season. In his first year he will conduct 12 weeks, escalating to 15 weeks in years two, three and four. As music director designate next season (2007-2008), he will conduct two full weeks of the DSO's five-week Texas Instruments Classical Series Beethoven Festival, including Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 6 in October followed by Symphony No. 7 and Symphony No. 8 in November. Van Zweden returns in April 2008 to conduct the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the world-renowned Dallas Symphony Chorus in the Verdi Requiem. During that same season, he will oversee auditions to fill vacancies in the orchestra.

Jaap van Zweden's most recent appearance with the DSO was in February 2006, as part of the Texas Instruments Classical Series. Van Zweden won over the musicians, search committee and audience with his masterful interpretation of music by Brahms, Ravel and Wagenaar. Critics were also hugely impressed, with The Dallas Morning News critic Scott Cantrell commenting, "Sell the farm, mortgage the children, cancel the cruise. Do what you have to do to get to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's concerts this weekend."

Of this appointment, Fred Bronstein, president and chief executive officer of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, said, "Jaap's enormous musical intensity and depth, and striking chemistry with the orchestra was immediate and palpable. We are thrilled to be the orchestra that will introduce this very special talent to American audiences."

Jaap van Zweden said, "Although limited, my experiences in the United States have been wonderful, both musically and personally. Coming here to now lead a great American orchestra begins an exciting new chapter in my life and career. I am energized by the challenge and honored by the appointment."

Although famous in his native Holland, in the United States van Zweden is a relatively unknown conductor, having conducted only once in this country prior to his 2006 DSO guest engagement. Emanuel Borok, concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and member of the music director search committee, commented, "This appointment is a fantastic choice for this orchestra. Mr. van Zweden has the ability to shape the sound of the DSO and push it to a new level of excellence. His brilliance onstage is energizing."

Blaine Nelson, chairman of the board of governors, stated, "As a member of the search committee and on behalf of the board, I am truly thrilled with the choice of Jaap van Zweden, who we believe will not only invigorate the orchestra but the entire community of Dallas." The search for the music director was far-reaching and was conducted without a set timeline. Finding the best person for the position was paramount with key focus placed on each candidate's artistic excellence, leadership ability, unique vision for the orchestra and, most importantly, chemistry with the orchestra musicians. The search committee was also challenged to find a candidate that had the strength to bring his or her distinctive stamp to the sound of the orchestra.

Roger Enrico, chairman of the symphony's music director search committee, explains, "We went to great lengths to ensure that this search was conducted without any preconceived ideas and that we looked at each candidate based on the needs of our orchestra and our vision for the future. After careful study of van Zweden, it was clear that he was absolutely the best choice for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra."

Born in Amsterdam in December of 1960, Jaap van Zweden began his musical career studying the violin. Van Zweden entered The Juilliard School at age 16 as a student of Dorothy DeLay and, at age 19, was invited to join the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as concertmaster. Van Zweden, who spent the next 16 years as concertmaster at the Concertgebouw, began conducting part-time in 1994 and performed his last concert as a violinist in 1997. In 1996, he was named chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 2003. From 2000-2005, he also held the position of music director at the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. Van Zweden has been a frequent guest conductor of many important orchestras in Europe, Asia and Australia, including the Royal Concertgebouw and Orchestre National de France; Munich, Rotterdam, Oslo, St. Petersburg, Tokyo and Hong Kong Philharmonics; England's London Philharmonic, Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra of Cologne and the Danish Radio Orchestra, among others. With the Residentie Orchestra he has recorded all nine Beethoven symphonies for the Philips label. In addition to van Zweden's music directorship with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, he will retain his current positions as music director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Kamer Filharmonie (2005-2013), and principal conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra of Belgium (2008-2011).

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has a rich 107-year history of artistic excellence. Eminent music directors such as Antal Dorati, Paul Kletzki, Georg Solti, Eduardo Mata and Andrew Litton began laying the groundwork for important elements of today's DSO, including extensive touring and recording, special community and education concerts, and the building of the world-renowned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, financial stability is a key element of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's success. Since inception of its 10-year strategic plan, A Bold Plan for Greatness, in 2003, the DSO has demonstrated three consecutive years of balanced budgets, growth in ticket sales and a rise in donations to their highest level ever, including a more than 50% increase in an endowment that now exceeds $110 million.

###

About Jaap van Zweden:

Conductor Jaap van Zweden becomes music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, starting with the 2008-2009 season. His other titled positions include music director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Kamer Filharmonie (2005-2013), and principal conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra of Belgium (2008-2011).

Through the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden will be introduced to American audiences. While well-known to European, Australian and Asian audiences, the only other American orchestra in addition to Dallas that he has guest conducted is the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (1996). Having joined the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as concertmaster at age 19, he spent the next 16 years being inspired and mentored by Solti, Haitink, Giulini, Harnoncourt and Bernstein. As a matter of fact, in 1990, it was Bernstein who asked him to take over a Mahler Symphony No. 1 rehearsal, while Bernstein listened from the hall. Bernstein's pronouncement was that he was a born conductor and should pursue it. With this encouragement, the Juilliard-trained violinist began studying conducting in the Netherlands and performed as violinist and conductor with several orchestras between 1994-1997.

In 1997, Jaap van Zweden made his decision to conduct full time, played his last concert as a violinist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performing the Shostakovich 1st Violin Concerto and was named the chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra where he remained until 2003. In 2000, he added the music directorship of the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague to his credits, a post he held until 2005.

Since 2001, he has guested with, and been re-invited to, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capital de Toulouse, Munich Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra, Bern (Switzerland) Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic, among others.

Apart from an extensive symphonic repertoire, opera also plays an important part in Jaap van Zweden's career. During recent seasons, he has conducted La Traviata and Fidelio with the Nationale Reisopera in Holland and Samuel Barber's Vanessa in a concert performance at the Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. In the 2006-2007 season he makes his debut with the Netherlands Opera conducting Madama Butterfly, and future projects with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic include concert performances of Lohengrin and Tristan and Isolde.

A prolific recording artist, Jaap van Zweden has recorded all of the Beethoven symphonies with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague for Philips, and is in the process of recording for Octavia all of the Bruckner symphonies with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, of which numbers 4, 7 and 9 have been completed.

Born in 1960 in the Netherlands, Jaap van Zweden began his violin studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory before entering The Juilliard School in New York at age 16, as a student of Dorothy DeLay, and supported his way through school by winning various violin competitions. He was married in 1983, and he and his wife Aaltje have four children ages 22 to 12.

The van Zwedens are very committed to bringing awareness and acceptance to the cause of autism, and in the Netherlands have established the Papageno Foundation, devoted to bringing music therapy into the homes of autistic children.

Chamber Music

2006-07-21T06:16:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody,

I am having fun teaching a chamber music class at the Southwest Suzuki Piano Institute this week. It has been a blast to me and the students. The classes are for pianists to learn to play with other musicians in small ensembles. We have been applying some principles of good ensemble playing like cuing, internalizing tempo, keeping the tempo constant, style, and sound matching.

We are in O'Donnell Hall at SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. Our chamber music recital is Friday, July 21 at 12:45 PM. Free, and... beautiful music on your way.

Thanks to everybody in the classes for putting in the effort necessary to make beautiful music together.

Thanks to all chamber music students and their families.

Rigo Murillo.

Audio Update

2006-05-19T13:12:00.000-05:00

Amazing Grace: Blues / Improvisational Violin

2006-05-19T12:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a somewhat dreamed version of Amazing Grace. Totally "improvised," it came out of what would be called jam sessions with my friend, the extraordinary pianist, Denny Hahn.

Denny and I had discover a few years ago that we really could "sinc" and connect musically. One day, we just started to play ... just play some great well-known Gospel hymns. We just let ourselves be directed by the Spirit, and... wow, it was good. Later we polished and defined how many times we would play the verse, chorus, etc. and how we would shape the mood. That was it. A totally impro-arrangement, nothing written down except for the song's sequence.

This is part of a Medley of hymns we did and played in a concert. Amazing Grace was the last piece.

Click on this link to listen to it (it's a wma file):

http://violinsong.com/audio/Amazing-Grace.wma

Dallas Symphony Summer Season

2006-05-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

June 2006

HELLO SUMMER…

DSO GOES CASUAL, GETS CULTURAL

AND PRESENTS

A WORLD PREMIERE DANCE AND MUSIC CELEBRATION

June 2-3 Hispanic Cultural Festival

Gérman Gutiérrez, conductor

Santa Fe Quartet (June 2nd)

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan (June 3rd)

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra's annual Hispanic Cultural Festival is a two-day long celebration and this year we're calling it Latiendo al Ritmo de mi Gente (Beating to the Rhythm of our People). Friday night's free concert featuring the Santa Fe Guitar Quartet and Conductor Gérman Gutiérrez. Then on Saturday night Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan takes the stage along side the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for an unforgettable performance that can only be found at the Meyerson.

Tickets for the Santa Fe Quartet performance are free, but patrons must call 214.692.0203 to reserve their seats. Tickets for Mariachi Vargas are $15.00 - $85.00. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com.

June 7 & 14 Target Presents the Parks Concert Series

Danail Rachev, conductor

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

DSO Assistant Conductor Danail Rachev has big plans for our two June parks concerts. Starting at 8pm Maestro Rachev and the DSO present a musical evening in twilight with music from Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Aaron Copland and Irving Berlin. The June 7th concert takes place at Campbell Green Park at 7000 Campbell Rd, Dallas. The June 14th concert takes place at Kiest Park, 2179 W Kiest Blvd, also in Dallas.

These concerts are free. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com.

June 9 City Arts Celebration

Danail Rachev, conductor

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

As part of the City Arts Celebration weekend June 9-11 the Dallas Symphony is proud to present a free concert at the Meyerson. Featuring both classical and pops selections this show is sure to get the celebration off to a great start.

This is a free concert. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com or DallasCityArts.com.

June 10 Casual Classics Concert Series

Danail Rachev, conductor

Anna Zhang, piano

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3

Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1

Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D major

Join the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the first performance in our Casual Classics Concert Series sponsored by The Dallas Foundation. Come as you are and enjoy an early start time (7:30) and no intermission. Two Beethoven favorites start and end the concert, with a piano concerto from Liszt in between. Don't worry about dinner; we've got a special pre-concert BBQ planned for everyone who thinks they have a big enough appetite.

Ticket prices range from $10.00 - $50.00. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com. Extra charges apply for BBQ dinner.

June 11 Family Concert Series

Danail Rachev, conductor

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The DSO is roundin' 'em up for this delightful re-creation of the rambunctious Wild West. We'll meet an array of colorful characters -- cowboys, gunslingers and the like -- as we thrill to the music of great American composers such as Copland (Rodeo) and John Williams, and gallop into the sunset to Rossini's William Tell Overture.

Ticket prices range from $10.00 -$30.00. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com.

June 16 African American Cultural Festival

Vincent Danner, conductor

Najee

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The incredible Najee is the headliner for this one-night only performance. Performing alongside Conductor Vince Danner and the DSO, Najee takes a pure jazz approach to this special evening.

This is a free concert. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com.

June 17 Casual Classics Concert Series

Danail Rachev, conductor

Emanuel Borok, violin

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Mozart: Divertimento in D major

Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in C minor "Il Suspetto"

Tchaikovsky: Sérénade mélancolique

Debussy: Prélude à l'Après-midi d'une faune

Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)

Saturday night is the perfect time to spend inside listening to the cool offerings of Conductor Danail Rachev and the DSO. Five different selections offer up a varied program than sure to please any classical music aficionado.

This concert starts at 7:30pm and is preceded by special summertime BBQ.

Ticket prices range from $10.00 - $50.00. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com. Extra charges apply for BBQ dinner.

June 22 Distinguished Artists Series

Dan Alcott, conductor

Dallas Black Dance Theatre

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The DSO continues its series of ground-breaking collaborations with local organizations as it joins the Dallas Black Dance Theatre for a world premiere ballet based on the rich heritage of African-American music and dance. Members of the renowned company will dance on an extended stage as the orchestra performs Jonathan Bailey Holland's original score- a new work that resonates with jazz, gospel, blues and hip-hop influences. Don't miss it!

Ticket prices range from $25.00- $100.00. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com.

June 24 Casual Classics Concert Series

Arild Remmereit, conductor

Kit Armstrong, piano

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 Scottish

The final casual classic concert for June features a Mozart piano favorite and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 Scottish. This concert is an excellent preview of what Vail audiences will hear at the DSO's farewell appearance at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

Ticket prices range from $10.00- $50.00. For more information call 214.692.0203 or visit www.DallasSymphony.com

How to play violin concerto fast virtuoso passages well.

2006-05-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

My teacher, Sergei Gorbenko (from the Russian violin school) always had a quite simple solution to most problems with fast passages: Schradick. It is like his antidote for all dexterity problems. I always though that sounded very simplistic. BUT IT WORKS. Schradick exercises, practiced properly, work in many diferent levels. It can train the hand muscles for akward passages, increase accuracy of intonation, promote dexterity, and even bow control under difficult left hand difficulties.

I also have a very effective way to get warmed-up quickly and get my fingers in shape for fast violin virtuoso passages(for me, at least). I play a series of trills with all fingers in all possible finger patterns, with increasing speed on all strings. I do this at least in first, second, and third position. It will take you a few minutes and may be boring, but at the end, you will be ready to face those dreaded passages.

Rigo.

Great Suzuki Violin Book!

2006-02-22T08:26:00.000-06:00

I have been studying Jennifer Burton's new Suzuki violin book: Sharpen Your Tools. I have been pleasantly impressed by the amount of thought she put into it. This Suzuki technique book will help in practicing violin technique by giving the parent and student four to six activities aimed to strengthen a specific set of skills, all on one page. The skills covered in Sharpen Your Tools range from posture to left hand technique, to tone, to bow control. The book is focused on the "pre-twinkle" level throughout the early book 1 level.

This book is a wonderful asset for parents, students, and teachers alike. If you are serious about your child's progress of his/her violin skills (especially in Suzuki early level), I strongly recommend you to get this book and show it to your teacher. I am sure there will be a lot of activities and exercises from this book that you and your child will benefit from.

To order the book, contact Jenny Burton at:

Burton Suzuki Studio
P.O. Box 570007
Dallas, TX 75357

Email: sharpenyourtools@hotmail.com

Until next time,

Rigo Murillo

Mexico Trip Photos

2006-01-11T08:12:00.000-06:00

This is one of Downtown Mexico City's most beautiful buildings. "El Palacio de Bellas Artes" or Fine Arts Palace. The National Symphony orchestra plays there. There is a museum inside, plus the building is made almost totally from marble.

One of the statues besides the Palacio de Bellas Artes

Suzuki Violin Lessons Web Site - Updated

2005-12-16T14:24:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

I have changed the look, feel, and features of my violin studio web site. I made these changes to further reflect my embracement of the Suzuki philosophy of music education.

Now you can access it by typing suzukiviolinlessons.com. Also, if you or your child are one of my violin studio members, you'll find that I have included a "members area" with information related to the studio's activities. To enter, email me for a login name and a password.

Temporarely, the former address of http://academy.violinsong.com would take you to the "old" website, which contained links to the new violin studio home. Now, if you go to the "old" address (http://academy.violinsong.com), you might find that it already takes you to the new web site. However, all you have to type in the address bar is suzukiviolinlessons.com. You can bookmark this address on your browser for easier access.

Thanks for your support and...

Keep practicing... even through the holidays!

Rigo Murillo
http://www.SuzukiViolinLessons.com

The Number One (#1) Factor for a Good Web Site

2005-12-14T14:48:00.000-06:00

Graphics? ... No!
Flash animations? ... No!
Color schemes? ... No!
... What, then?

- - - C O N T E N T - - -

OK, but, what is content?
Content is what will keep your visitors on your web site for a while. Information about you or your organization, articles, comments, news, links to other sites, etc. Of course, the content has to be readily available to access by a good and logical organizational system (navigation bar). But content is king.

The three-second barrier
If your site is very visually attractive, they'll be impressed for about three seconds. If you want to engage your visitors for longer than that, you'll have to offer something they are interested in. That something can be information about you or your products or services if you are a business, articles on the subject of your web site, news pertinent to your audience, practical advice, recipes, etc.

Give your visitors directions and road signs
As I mentioned earlier, you also have to appeal to your web site visitors by making it easy for them to "grab" the content they are interested in. A good and simple organizational system will do the trick. It doesn't matter if your web site is a five-page brochure or a 200-page content-driven monster. The content must still be easily accessible at your visitor's fingertips. If your web site is a cyber-maze with a hard-to-navigate flair to it, forget it! You'll have to work on it or have a professional web designer conceptualized it from the start. Good web design starts in your head with good and logical definitions of the organization, purpose, style, desired audience, and foremost, the content. The navigation bar is the key.

They should hear it through the grapevine
Furthermore, content is as important for the search engines as it is for your visitors. Search engines will "crawl" your web site "to see what's in it." Simple, eh? They don't care about your pretty graphics (unless they contain precious alt tags) as much as they care about what words and phrases are in your content. Then, they can "tell" about "what you've got" to your prospect visitors through their searches on Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, or MSN.

Take action
If you think your web site needs a little boost to attract or retain visitors, you should consider adding more interesting and related content. If you think your visitors tend to not find what you have on your web site, consider re-designing your web navigation system. Over all, fresh content will always be a winner when it comes to receiving visitors.

Lost?
If you need more help on how to design or structure your web site, click here for a consultation on ways to improve your web site's functionality.

Disfunctional Web Design?

2005-12-14T12:48:00.000-06:00

Perhaps you know what I'm talking about. Yes, you are probably right! Those web sites you get lost at. Or the kind that you never can get back to the initial page you entered at. If you are on the "visitor side," you have a great solution: Close your browser and go somewhere else. If you are on the "owner side," however, you might lose a lot of , money, business, or good impressions by knocking out your visitors/customers.
A good web design will help both the site's owner and the visitor have a good time on the Internet.

More on that later.

If you wonder what kind of web design would do the trick, I suggest you visit Happy Cat Web Design.

The "Mother Song" Method

2005-10-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

Much has been taken by numerous music education scholars from Shinichi Suzuki's approach to music learning. The Suzuki method is based on the notion that all children learn to speak their mother tongue easily without having to formally study the language. He began to apply the basic principles of language acquisition to the learning of music, and called his method the mother-tongue approach. The ideas of parent responsibility, loving encouragement, constant repetition, etc., are some of the special features of the Suzuki approach.

As listening plays the most important role in the acquisition of basic musical knowledge, the kind of sounds the child listens to when he/she is growing up will determine the nature and quality of the sounds produced by the child's voice or instrument. In the same manner we as children speak our parents' language and accent, we as musicians mimic the musical sounds that we hear as models.

I am privileged to have a mother who not only is a nurturing, loving, and encouraging person; but who also is a wonderful singer. Though she never walked the venue of being a professional singer, she possesses a wonderful lyric voice that touches the heart. Her vibrant singing voice exposes a perfect pitch center and a well-controlled and expressive vibrato.

I remember many times hearing her sing, enjoying her voice's beauty and expressiveness. I always wanted to somehow imitate those melodic lines emanating from her musically well-rounded voice.

As a child, I always liked music and played recorder, harmonica, and guitar. I remember very vividly when I first hear my first violin teacher play at a school event. I thought, "That's it! I want to play violin!" That day, I found the answer to my desire to imitate my mom's wonderful singing sounds. After some talking over and asking for lessons, I managed to leave my guitar studies in exchange for a thriving desire to learn to play the violin. I began my musical journey to melodic exploration and deeper musical expression.

Thanks mom! Thanks for the nurturing experience of your musical voice.

In various occasions, I have been labeled by my colleagues and listeners as a "romantic violinist," or someone who they perceive is an ideal "inspiring singing violinist." I know that I am very unlikely to be enlisted along with Permlan's sound and flawless technique, or Heifetz's solid and knightly interpretations. I have always had a deep respect for both of these masters' accomplishments and superb artistic capabilities. However, one thing is certain: If my violin's sound and melodic lines have inspired some, it is due to the wonderful, God-given gift of having a model for good nature, sound and musical expression I have had in my mother.

Though my exposure to the Talent Education movement and encounter with Dr. Suzuki's mother-tongue approach began much later, I can say that I have experienced the reality of Suzuki's method through my childhood search for the musical sounds I heard from my mother's enchanting voice.

I am grateful to God of having such an experience with the "Mother-Song" method.

Thank you mom!

- Rigo.

The First Musician in the Bible

2005-10-24T15:23:00.000-05:00

Question:

Have you wondered who was the first musician recorded in the bible? What instrument did he play?

Answer:

Jubal, Harp and "Organ" (it was really the flute, which the King James translates as"organ")

Jubal had a brother named Jabal, who was a country cowboy/camper, and an old-fashioned one (he used tents).

He also had another brother who was a welder, Tubalcain.

Genesis 4:20-22 (King James Version):

20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

Lamech and his wives, The skill of Cain's descendants

One of Cain's wicked race is the first recorded, as having broken the law of marriage. Hitherto, one man had but one wife at a time; but Lamech took two. Wordly things, are the only things that carnal, wicked people set their hearts upon, and are most clever and industrious about. So it was with this race of Cain. Here was a father of shepherds, and a father of musicians, but not a father of the faithful. Here is one to teach about brass and iron, but none to teach the good knowledge of the Lord: here are devices how to be rich, and how to be mighty, and how to be merry; but nothing of God, of his fear and service. Present things fill the heads of most. Lamech had enemies, whom he had provoked. He draws a comparison betwixt himself and his ancestor Cain; and flatters himself that he is much less criminal. He seems to abuse the patience of God in sparing Cain, into an encouragement to expect that he may sin unpunished. (Ge 4:25)
- Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible -

The Real Purpose of Music

J. S. Bach, the proliferous composer of the late baroque period once wrote;

"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul."

Let's keep focusing on the good and greater values of music!

-Rigo Murillo

Somebody's Thought

2005-10-18T09:08:00.000-05:00

Anybody can become somebody. However, not everybody believes that. If you believe that anybody can become somebody, you probably will. In fact, you can't become somebody if you think you're just anybody. But everybody who believes and acts upon the notion that anybody can become somebody certainly will.

Just for thought.

Violin Studio Group Lessons

2005-10-18T08:52:00.000-05:00

Hi.

My studio's violin group lessons will start in November. They will take place on Saturday at 10:00 AM at our home in Rowlett. We will be working on music for the recital in December as well as on other material for the upcoming concerts.

My Blog

2005-09-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

Finally after much debate, here's my blog! I hope you enjoy reading and posting to it. I will try to keep you as informed and current as possible.

Artistically,

Rigo.