You MUST hear the New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve concert. (Plus: A Required Listening Assignment)

***Required Listening Assignment is at the end of this post***

Most of you know that I believe listening to live music is one of the most important activities for young musicians.  That's why I'd like you to check out this video.  From now until January 9, you can watch the New York Philharmonic's "Live from Lincoln Center" New Year's Eve broadcast.  I'm having trouble embedding the video on here, so click here to go to the PBS website.  If the link doesn't work, here's the website:  http://www.pbs.org/programs/live-from-lincoln-center/

I love this concert for many reasons:  it's my favorite city, since I grew up in New York and later returned to go to grad school in the city, my favorite orchestra playing some of my favorite pieces by two of my favorite composers, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin.  To top it off, my amazing former teacher, Ricardo Morales, is the soloist playing the famous opening lick of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  So really, for me, this is one of my favorite concerts ever.

You can watch the video in it's entirely, but if you'd like to listen to individual pieces, you can do that too. Here are the pieces with the timed locations on the video:  
Bernstein, Overture to Candide  02:55
Gershwin, Concerto in F    10:00
Bernstein, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story  1:00:00
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue  1:30:00

REQUIRED LISTENING:  At the 52:00 minute mark, there is a feature on the clarinet solo and an extended (several minute) interview with Mr. Morales. PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS and the BEGINNING 2 MINUTES OF RHAPSODY IN BLUE. I will be asking questions about this in your lessons this week (next week for Tuesday students).