Avaloch Farm Music Institute

Hello everyone!

The Meadowlark Trio is currently at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in New Hampshire for our residency, and we just cannot believe how amazing this place is...  I mean, we're here, so it must exist, right?  haha  but really, I can't believe somewhere this beautiful and divine can actually exist. But you know what they say, pictures are worth a thousand words, so let me just show you around a lil bit.

This is the view that greets us every morning in front of our rooms as we walk outside a few steps to the dining area.  Our chef Will creates magic in the kitchen, literally. and we are so blessed to have incredible food every single meal.

but let me show you where we live first.  Here is the lounging area, which looks like it's straight out of a magazine, doesn't it?

April and I are sharing the Debussy Suite, and Tim is in the Mendelssohn Suite, but as you may expect, he is at our place majority of the time haha

and this is my bedroom.  I mean.  Can it get any cuter?!

Right under our living quarters is our studio - the Stravinsky Studio!

it's really an incredible place to work all day, every day!  and that rug is simply divine, let me tell you what.. I know, because I'm usually on there sprawled out during every break  haha

Anyway, let's now go to the hall where we eat, perform, and sometimes, rehearse and record.

Right in front/next to the hall is this porch, and because the weather has been so wonderful, we've spent a lot of time chilling here in fantastic company, discussing music and listening to amazing recordings.  It really is a heaven for musicians...

I really appreciate all of the antiques that are everywhere.  It was built on a farm, so there are a lot of farm related antiques, and I love all of them!  haha

once you actually go into the hall, here is our little rehearsal/recording space in the corner with the most beautiful piano!  April is IN LOVE with it.

on the other side of the hall is where we enjoy our chef Will's magic.  I mean, the food here.  Ohh myy goodnesss.  It is so good.  And it's really healthy too, but what gets me in trouble are the cookies and the cakes...  mmm  they really shouldn't have it out all day,, my will power isn't that strong  haha

doesn't it look like it's straight out of Pottery Barn or something?  So beautiful!!

We take frequent walks here because,,, well, we have to burn off some of the calories we are consuming..  haha but also, why wouldn't we?  it'd be silly to not explore this incredible property Avaloch Farm is on.

See what I mean?  this is a few minute's walk from where we are living.  It's a boathouse, because, yup, you guessed it.  We are next to a lake.

An incredibly beautiful one.  Sorry the picture doesn't do it justice..  I'll try to take a better one later haha

We are just starting to see the turning colors on leaves, and it's so beautiful already! I can't wait to see fall in full-swing in New England soon  =)

oh, and have I mentioned that we are on an orchard too?  yup.  so many apple trees!  and grapes too!

and the corn field was only around for a day before it got harvested, but it really reminded us of our time in Nebraska where everything began for us as a trio   =)

We feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity to come here as a trio.  No place like this exists here in the U.S where musicians can come to really focus on one another without having to worry about life's distractions.  we are surrounded by incredible nature, amazing food, and wonderful company (including the 4 legged ones).   How could we not be inspired?!

We have a couple more days here at Avaloch, and we plan on enjoying it to its fullest!  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

--Janny

Garth Newel :: Last couple of days

Hello everyone!

The larks were in California for the past week at Capo International Chamber Music Festival, and we were so busy that I didn't have time to open my laptop even once.

It was really an incredible week though, getting to meet and work with so many amazing musicians and working with such good kids  =)  Capo blogging will be coming soon, but I wanted to squeeze in one more  Garth Newel post before moving on to our Cali adventures!

I got to play the Schubert Rosamunde Quartet with these amazing folks, and I'm so glad that we got to play together!  =)

Garth Newel also had the most amazing 4 legged companions (at least 3 different ones were always around, and we absolutely loved it!)

Ben and Alan's 'Gay couple pose' with Zoe  haha

and Sky playing fetch with a rather large stick.. haha

Sky is so well trained that she knows to not go into the kitchen.  so she'll stay in the doorway, like so, and beg, but will never enter fully!

and beautiful Arpine  ;)

Rachel and I discovered that we are actually,,, like,, the same person  haha  we like the same things, we are interested in the same things, and we are going to be in the same studio at BU!

on one of our last days together, we celebrated by sight reading Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence!

There's really nothing better than playing incredible music with people you love!!

our attempt at a serious photo..

this is more like it  haha

it was such a great group of people, and I feel so blessed to have had the chance to meet everyone!

Til next time!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

--Janny

Garth Newel :: Lake Moomaw

Hello everyone,

We happily slave away all week/weekend rehearsing and performing, but usually, we have the Mondays off here at Garth Newel.  Well, technically we have every Monday off, but you know how it goes... There are only 15 of us as fellows, so if we want to have extra rehearsals, it's pretty easy to find each other and say 'let's rehearse!' and no one ever says no to that.  I mean, it's chamber music, how can you say no, right?

But last Monday, we managed to have the majority of the festival agree to no rehearsals for half of the day and sneaked away to Lake Moomaw!  It's a lake formed by the Gathright Dam on Jackson River, and we heard that it was beautiful, so we decided we must go visit (and I mean, with a name like that, how could we resist, right?)

We took three different cars to the lake, and somehow, all of us got lost.  Each in our own way.  But at least the road we explored in our lost-ness was gorgeous.

and when we finally got to the lake, the view was totally worth being lost and driving around dirt roads for an hour.

Welcome to Lake Moomaw!

the Garth Newel folks!  well, the two cars who got there together... the other car got uber lost and came an hour later..  poor chaps.. haha

We spent the half a day learning how to swim in the water, which was incredibly warm for a mountain lake water, playing frisbee, and giving each other massages on the warm sand.  Yup, it really was as good as it sounds  ;)

Then, some of us hopped out of the lake and struck out to go for a little hike.

I could be totally happy living near somewhere like this 'when I grow up'.  =)

When we returned to the lake, we found that the other car had finally made it to the lake!!  actually, we heard Tim's shouts of joy in the mountains before we even saw them at the lake  haha 

It was such a nice, relaxing day spent at an incredibly beautiful spot in the Virginia mountains!  

Now,,, back to rehearsing and performing until next Monday..   haha  ;)

I hope you are having a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

--Janny