August 29, 2020 - September 26, 2020 - Winds: Ashley Jarmack, Jonathan Sacdalan, and Jonathan Stehney
August 29, 2020 - Ashley Jarmack (Flutes) & September 26, 2020 (Double Reeds)
Our tour of the orchestra continued. We were through the strings section, and now onto winds.
Ashley Jarmack came in for the first time as a mentor. During the one rehearsal I'd met her at, I knew she was incredibly personable and talkative. The thing I liked about her was she was an extreme pro who didn't take herself too seriously. This translated very well to relating to the students. Better than I thought it would.
As she logged on to mentor on flutes, her sound on Zoom wasn't set right. Our acro-yoga and scuba instructor (who was an expert in a lot of things, not technology) enjoyed setting Ashley straight. But this immediately humanized Ashley, and made her extremely accessible to the kids.
Over the years, we've come to work with Ashley many, many times, both as a mentor and in recording sessions. And I won't lie. She will be my first call always. Because not only does she bring great lessons to the kids, she practices music in advance, clearly communicates when she may have a conflict, and has zero ego. She creates such a gorgeous tone that it is hard for me to imagine a recording session without her.
Ashley would return to teach double reed instruments: the oboe and English horn. We honestly could have had her do a majority of the wind sessions. She is one of the only female "doublers" and plays Lisa Simpson's sax solo on tour with Danny Elfman frequently. We've spotted her in the pit of the Oscars as well.
Jonathan Sacdalan is my clarinetist of choice. He is so incredibly polite when you work with him. He thanks you for "the wonderful food" at rehearsals. When you make a mistake, he always asks and never makes you feel dumb. (I feel dumb naturally, but Jonathan never makes you feel that way.) He gives the most awesome and complete lectures on clarinets. And he has the best mastery of his instrument. When we don't have him on a session, you can hear it in the recording. Best. Hire. Always.
I did not know Jonathan Stehney. He was referred to me by a bassoonist who had retired (who was also a referral.) There's always a little trepidation and excitement when working with someone new. But as things mostly happen in Inception, there was nothing to worry about.
Jonathan, a former child actor, was delightful on both the bassoon and the contrabassoon. He unlocked the possibilities for the young composers who were really locked into their Sibelius sounds.
Ashley and the two Jonathans also killed it when it came to playing the live-written music of the kids, further encouraging exploration and composing out of the box. Any time we had the privilege of working with them live, it would just underscore the reason to hire them.
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