We had an amazing trip to visit Anna while she is studying in Shanghai, China. Visited old gardens, the city center (old & new), and even Shanghai Disney. The hotel was great, getting around the city was easy (especially with Anna as a guide), and saw lots of great sights. My favorite part was probably the Metro because it was clean, expansive and easy to get to pretty much anywhere.
I have always loved going to Toronto as it has all the big city happenings, and is only a couple of hours away. I took a field trip in early October for the first time since the pandemic and had a blast.
I’m a sucker for design and layout, and spent the first chunk of time exploring Union Station, which has been undergoing major renovation for quite a few years. There are so many cool places tucked away on different levels, and finding them is fun. The renovations are still underway but much progress has been made.
After Union Station, the next stop <had> to be the CN Tower. I still get excited riding the elevator up, and the views are awesome. A lot of renovation has occurred there as well, and work is underway on a new and expanded glass floor. The current glass floor is partially viewable during the work.
Next up was a new venture out to Ontario Place via the Harbourfront streetcar from Union Station to the CNE. I plotted a path to walk back downtown from there, and hoped to explore some new places. I was not disappointed. There is a terrific walking path system, and along it went by a numerous parks and public access areas, and discovered/learned about the Toronto Music Garden. What a treasure of a public space with beautiful gardens and views.
Back downtown, it was time for a break at the tasty Steam Whistle Brewery. After that, it was a short subway ride uptown to The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar where an amazing duo was performing a set. Dinner and some nice conversation with the players rounded out a super day. The hour-ish ride back on the GO Train to Burlington Station was uneventful, as was the drive back home after that. I learned long ago that it is much more enjoyable to train in from outside the city than deal with downtown traffic.
Below are an array of pictures and a few videos from the day. I’m looking forward to the next time Toronto is Point B!
I had the opportunity to attend the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) annual convention in Anaheim, California in January 2020. A shout out to Williamsville alumni whose donations helped to make the trip possible.
The NAMM Show brings together the entire music industry from around the globe. It is a massive event. The NAMM Foundation holds music education focused sessions, as well as the Grand Rally for Music Education. The Conn-Selmer Music Administrators Collaborative was also meeting in Anaheim. So, with the stars aligning for me to attend, off I went.
My experience caused me to think about the state of the music industry and how much more music there is for students to access than the typical traditional school band/chorus/orchestra experience. Now that I have a little more time to unpack my thoughts amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and possibly because of the pandemic, there may indeed be a major shift in the near future. I’m not pushing for change, but rather wondering what is possible.
I am going to share my thoughts through a series of clips which represents my time exploring the show over the course of 2 days. The entire event is 5 days, and WAY too much to digest.
To start, here is the show map, to give an idea of how expansive it is:
An American football field is 57,400 square feet. Looking at the exhibit hall square footage available on the Anaheim Convention Center site, I guesstimate that there are 22 football fields worth of space, and they were all full of vendors and products. And those 22 fields do not include the additional several football fields of space in the adjacent hotels either.
So here we go with a short tour of some of the things I saw and heard. The first stop is the All-Industry Drum Circle on Friday evening, in the outdoor Palm Court:
On Friday night (and every night), there are multiple concerts on the Yamaha Grand Plaza Stage. Tower of Power was the feature for Saturday night as an example. While I was at the stage Friday, this was what was going on:
Saturday morning was the Grand Rally for Music Education in the Hilton Hotel (next to the convention center). This event, sponsored by the NAMM Foundation, celebrates and promotes music in the schools. First up was the presentation of winners of the first ever A Capella at NAMM contest and a performance by the grand prize winners, UCLA’s ScatterTones:
And the feature performer at the Grand Rally for Music Educaiton? Bobby McFerrin with Gimme5!
While walking around the show floor, there are performers literally everywhere. In this clip, the performers are in a booth for Solcor Audio. I love the combination of the melodica and electric cello, as well as the tune:
There is no shortage of classical performances and instruments as evidenced by this clip from the show floor in the string instrument area:
There is at least a football field worth of entertainment technology to see and learn about:
The DJ business is well represented as well:
One never knows when one will come across a saxophone quartet…
or a clarinet quartet…
…or a multi-talented soloist!
Just when one thinks they’ve seen it all, one stops by the Careers in Music Summit to hear a talk and performance by trumpeter Jonathan Dely and the guest he invited to the stage, former New York Yankee and incredible guitarist Bernie Williams:
Guitars play (pun intended) a large role at NAMM and the manufacturers make sure the music is always rockin’ – here is the Gibson hall on Saturday early evening:
There is no shortage of pianos to be found, including the Roomful of Pianos performances on Friday and Saturday evening:
There are continual sessions and workshops on recording and sound engineering – this stage featured “Mix with the Masters” – hourly appearances by pros demonstrating how they do their craft:
So that is my brief tour of my experience taking in NAMM. I’m tired just thinking back on it, but it was awesome! One small anecdote of the ‘who’ of NAMM – while watching the above demonstration, one of the speakers did a shout-out to none other than Alan Parsons who was walking by on the way to his booth. Incidentally, his sound recording curriculum, The Art and Science of Sound Recording, looks pretty cool.
So where does this leave my thinking? Here are some reflections and questions: