In Fall 2014, I was lucky enough to be invited to play Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto, K. 191 with Sac State’s University Orchestra under the direction of Leo Eylar. The Mozart concerto is the piece that follows bassoonists around for their entire careers. A teacher once told me: There are two types of auditions: ones that ask for the Mozart concerto, and ones that ask for a concerto of your choice, which means play the Mozart concerto. I’ve worked on the Mozart concerto on and off since high school, have played it for countless auditions, and have performed it with piano accompaniment. […]
The library at Sacramento State boasts a feature which is, I believe, unique among American academic libraries: a Japanese tea room. The Sokiku Nakatani Tea Room, which was dedicated in 2007, was the gift of an anonymous donor and is named after a long-time Sacramento-area practitioner of Chado (more on this term soon). The tea room sits in the library’s basement, with windows looking out onto a small adjacent garden that is cleverly tucked away from the hustle and bustle above. In addition to housing a collection of tea ware and tea preparation utensils, the tea room periodically hosts tea […]