A Word about our Conductor

Hello friends! Ring Finger here - I am thrilled to be returning for my second year as conductor of PlayaPops. As a community-focused musician, I strongly believe in music's role in building strong communal bonds with those around us. I also have participated and led many projects which include creating art in new and unique spaces, to reach audiences on whatever level they choose to engage.

Outside the Black Rock Desert, I am an active performer, music educator, and New Music advocate hailing from Reno, Nevada. As a founding member of Reno Modern Brass, a New Music-focused brass ensemble, I have helped to commission and premiere over a dozen works written by local composers since the group's founding in 2018, including many interdisciplinary projects combining newly-written music with nature, history, astronomy, and visual art.

As a trombonist, I've performed many times with groups such as the Reno Philharmonic, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Reno Jazz Orchestra, and many others throughout the region. I have appeared as a featured soloist with Ruby Mountain Symphony (Elko, NV), Hickman Brass Ensemble (Reno, NV), and Toccata Symphony (Lake Tahoe).

I've received degrees in music performance and education from The Boston Conservatory and University of Nevada, Reno. When not teaching elementary music or playing trombone, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two daughters (11 and 8). Hobbies include jogging, riding bikes, and coaching his school's award-winning LEGO Robotics team.

-Ring Finger

Hello lovely PlayaPops musicians!! It is so wonderful to be almost back with you again for my second year of flapping my arms in front of you. Holy shit, we're less than a month away. Many of you have already started to look at the music - THANK YOU!! I have a few notes to help guide your practice.

  1. MUSICIANS! We're a little thin on the low end. I am sure many of you know of someone in your camp (or other camps you know) who might still be able to fill in with PlayaPops - if they can work the set up in the time we have left, please encourage them to join! We're not in trouble by any stretch - actually we're looking to have a pretty good group this year - however we could use a few more double basses, tuba players, and cellists. Put those feelers out and we'll see what we can do!
  2. PARTS! We made the decision last year to purchase all the scores (THANK YOU to those of you who donated!!!), for 2 reasons: 1) so anyone who wanted to perform with us COULD, regardless of their ability to afford parts, and 2) so that people who are able to be flexible with parts [vln 1 doubling on vln 2, or trombone doubling on cello] could. If you are one of those people and you don't mind running off some extra parts just in case we need to shift some things, please go for it!
  3. ORGANIZING! You already know this, but it's hella worth it to put all your music in plastic sleeves, and get all of that in a binder. Bring some chip clips or whatever to keep your music on the correct page when the wind picks up.
  4. SET LIST/ORDER - I'm giving it some thought, I'll send another message in a few days with the order so you can get your shit together.

It's About Time, Here Comes the Sun, Wish You Were Here, Radetzky, Imagine, Can Can, New World - Listen and play along! No big surprises in any of these as long as you prepare and listen for the tempo/key changes. I may ask you to cover missing parts or parts that need a little bit of a boost.

David Bowie - This is one of the tougher ones. We might make some cuts in here. Take special note of the repeated syncopated rhythmic pattern in "Let's Dance" if you have it - starts with a dotted eighth note, you know what I'm talking about. Just practice singing along, sizzling, and air-playing. VIOLA - big solo in "Space Oddity," make sure you're ready for it! This song within this medley may just be my favorite part in the whole concert, so be prepared to play it with great joy.

Also Sprach - be prepared to spend some time on this one! We'll need a double bass/tuba/trombone player to cover the timpani part unless we find a timpanist... If we cut any single piece, this one might be the one, but still prepare the shit out of it!

Change Gonna Come - If anyone REALLY wants to play a solo on this one, let me know! We're still seeking that perfect vocalist that can sing the words, but the solo part is printed separately and can be for the taking. And sorry the MIDI file is weird, that's just how it goes sometimes.

Star Trek - We'll have to take the pencils out and mark some rehearsal #s when we meet, but long story short there's a file for the WWs and brass, and a file for the strings. If you ever play the melody, make sure you're practicing WITH A METRONOME. We won't do this too fast but you'll need to be comfortable with where to breathe and where not to breathe so you can stay with the beat.

Nimrod - If we can pull this off it will DEFINITELY be my favorite on the whole program. This one will tend to DRAG, so while playing along, focus on drawing out the music without falling behind the beat.

Ummmm questions? Comments? Feel free to reach out!

Love you all,
Ring Finger (aka Paul)