Expert Music Services for Media and Stage

With a lifetime of experience as a performer, producer, composer, and designer, and a deep understanding of stagecraft and technology, Bruce Richardson brings a wealth of creative inspiration to every project.  contact Bruce...

• TMEA 2008 Report

  February 2008

  Despite some rain and gloomy weather, the 2008 Texas Music Educators Association Convention was a total blast.  I was hosted by my good friend Key Poulan, and between meetings, had a great time catching up with old friends and colleagues at the Key Poulan Music booth on the Exhibit Floor.  It's wonderful to see my old school classmates doing so well.  Scott Coulson's Poteet High School Wind Ensemble was selected as this year's 4A Honor Band, and they knocked it out of the park with an exciting, precise, and musically expressive performance.  The standing ovation seemed longer than the last piece!

  Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting fellow composer John Mackey.  He seems to have a piece on just about every band's concert program these days, and we had an opportunity to catch up over cocktails a couple of nights this year at Swig.  His piece Strange Humors was the closer on Scott's concert, and they played the living **** out of it!!

  We had a great reunion at the Mariott for all the ne'er-do-wells from my alma mater, East Texas State University (now rather obscenely renamed Texas A&M University-Commerce...yuck).  I managed to sell over twenty copies of Sohmon III, and it was nice that my fellow alums were willing to open up their wallets and support the school--crappy new name and all.

  One of the biggest highlights for me was seeing my dear mentor Jim Keene, who was at the convention doing some clinics on score study.  He looks great for 150 years old (just kidding...he's not a day over 97).  Seriously, I learned more about running an ensemble from this man in three years than I have been able to apply in a lifetime.

  You can't attend TMEA and come away uninspired.  I feel really fortunate to have been educated in this Texas.  There's nowhere else in the entire country that places more importance on music education.

• Sampledaddy exhibits at NAMM 2008

  January 2008

  After launching my new virtual instrument company, Sampledaddy, I had about two weeks to get my act together and exhibit for four days at the NAMM 2008 Winter Show in Anaheim.  I was hosted by Tascam, and shared booth space with my good pals Mark Belbin (Wavelore) and Larry Seyer (who has more Grammys than I have brain cells).  We demoed our instruments by day and plotted world domination over generous libations by night.

  Tascam was a great host, and we had a great location right by the Sennheiser Stage.  One of the peripheral highlights of the exhibit for me was hearing the AMAZING Debby Holiday perform two unplugged sets.  You've heard her work on the title track of Courtney Cox's series Dirt, and she has some video up here and there on the web.  But there is something about this girl...when you're in the same space with her, there is an energy present that's indescribable.  I've seen video of the show, and you can't catch it and play it back.  So, if you're in the LA area, you owe it to yourself to find one of her shows and get there.  You can thank me later.

  On Monday, after the show, I attended Craig Sharmat's lovely L.A. Composers' Dinner, and about twenty-five of us had a great time dining and chatting as the sun set over Marina Del Rey.

  Best of all, on the way in I found a little tailor's store having a sale, and copped an absolutely slamming silver wool/cashmere suit for beans.  A very, very good night.

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