It feels like the beginning of June was forever ago.

I have mostly been plugging away at composing and dreading July 1.

July 1 is the deadline for many things. I have to have all my syllabi finished and submitted. There are several Calls for Scores to submit to. I also leave on July 2 to head out to the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference, then the next weekend to the International Double Reeds Society National Conference. Getting ready for that trip is an ordeal.

Meanwhile, I still want to reach a certain place in the opera before I leave and get another lesson edited and uploaded to The Music Hub. I also need to go shoe shopping and get my hair cut, neither of which I enjoy. (I know, I might be a little weird, but I procrastinate on these things.)

John and I took a couple of days to go camping at Lake James, which is less than a half hour from where we live. It is a beautiful state park. The lake was formed in the early 1900s by damming up the Linville and Catawba Rivers and a smaller tributary, Paddy's Creek. These dams have provided hydropower for Duke Energy ever since.

We got a little bit of everything in two and a half days: cold, high heat and humidity, intense rain and thunderstorms, and pleasant weather for laying in our hammocks and reading. We heard that a black bear was roaming nearby, but we didn't see it (however, we were sure to lock up all our food in the bear bin like we're supposed to.) We saw a lot of deer and some wild turkeys, picked blackberries, and found a pair of sunglasses on a trail which looked good on John.

At night, we heard one Whippoorwill. But we heard a whole conference of Chuck-Wills-Widow bird calls. I had to look this one up, because they sound a lot like Whippoorwills. Apparently, they are not the same bird.

We also went hiking on a couple of small trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway and discovered a very large number of wild blueberry bushes loaded with ripening blueberries.

Can I get out there again before July 1??? And will they be ripe??? Because those berries will be both ripe and GONE when I get back!

In the Concert Hall - May

My piece Chili & Chocolate, for English horn and piano, will be performed at the International Double Reeds Society national conference on July 11.

I have compiled the pieces I will use in my recital program, A Woman's Place is By the Water, and have started practicing them.

In it are pieces by one historical woman composer (Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel) and six living woman composers, including myself. All the pieces are inspired by some form of water: oceans, rivers, waterfalls, and lakes. I am very excited about this program.

My plan for this is to perform in small venues and in home concerts. If you're interested in hosting a home concert or want to know more about what that involves, contact me!

In the Composition Studio

I'm working on my chamber opera, Mirrors. Things are going well. I'm almost done setting the text and have begun filling in the orchestration in some places.

On the Website

I got the score to Bridges up on my website. I still need to edit the video and get that up, but one thing at a time.

​https://heatherniemisavage.com/bridges-for-solo-piano/​

I was also able to get both lights "green" on my SEO (search engine optimization) plugin. This is a big deal. It's hard to do for musicians and (as with everything marketing) even harder for composers. But I figured it out. Hopefully this results in more web traffic to my site!

In The Music Hub

I now have six students in The Music Hub!

I have closed registration for the time being because I am focusing on getting some marketing done (this is the hardest part for me!)

But I am still adding new material. The Piano Accelerator Levels 1&2 are complete, and I have started the module on Scales & Chords. Students in the music hub have access to all the modules. By going through this module, they will have a solid understanding of scales and chords and will be able to play from lead sheets!

On the Blog & YouTube

Nothing new this month. Just a bunch of thoughts floating around in my head and a few voice notes on my phone about them.

On the Air

​I am very behind in the podcast, but it is not forgotten...I'm working on it! I hope to get it back up and running.

I was a guest on a podcast, but I don't know when the episode will come out. I will keep you posted!

In the Shop

Pop musicians have merch, so why shouldn't classical musicians?

I have created a logo that blends my musician self with my herbalist self and put it on various items.

The featured item this month is the insulated water bottle to keep your water cold in the heat! Heather Niemi Savage Logo Insulated Water Bottle | Zazzle​

(If you scroll down, you will find other products from the collection.)

On Film

Pics from camping, including reading on the dock at sunset. We were hoping to get a better view, but alas. Also, we got cold. The last 2 pics are from the marina down the road where we bought ice. The water past the parking lot is Lake James at regular depth, about 30-40ft max, which you can't even see in the picture (that gray is the roof of a building.) The white tank shows the high-water mark from Hurricane Helene: 110.7ft! I don't even know how that is possible. This whole parking lot, the building, everything was under water. It must have gotten as high as the bridge that was behind us.

Rhododendrons are native to NC, but we missed being able to see the massive bloom of the pink ones in early June. However, the white ones are now in bloom.

And this is the largest land snail I have ever seen. I estimate it was about 1-1/4 inches across!

We always play cribbage on our camping trips. In forty-four years of playing cribbage, this is the first time I've seen four of a kind! Have you ever seen four of a kind??? Let me know!

For Fun

I created a quiz titled, "What Kind of New Music Performer are You?"

One of the things that has bugged me for a long time is that there is no single definition of "new music" or "contemporary classical music."

​
While the eclectic nature of today's music world is welcoming to a lot of different styles, it can be hard to explain what you do, and I think a lot of people can get the wrong idea about new music. Or think that there is some sort of "hierarchy" where one style of new music is better than another.

So, to put some levity into this situation and also to make some sense of it, I created this personality quiz to find out what performers are looking to play and why. (I think it is easier to sort performers than composers.)

If you are a performer or conductor of new music of any kind, please try out this quiz! And if you think it is fun and insightful, please share it!

You can find it here: https://heatherniemisavage.com/what-kind-of-new-music-performer-are-you/​

Please forward this email to someone you think might be interested.

If you have performed one of my pieces, please let me know through this link:

​https://heatherniemisavage.com/report-a-performance-2/​

Many, many thanks for your support!

Feel free to email me: heather@heatherniemisavage.com. I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Music Making!

Heather Niemi Savage