Michael Hosford

I hate to see more bad news out of San Antonio. These musicians have been through so much. 😢

Big Bunny - YouTube Seven delicious episodes of the web series Big Bunny by Amy Winfrey. Delicious!

accidentally searched “big bunny” instead of “bad bunny” and wound up going down this whole other bunny hole… 😂 🐇🕳️

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Folds on the Kennedy Center 3 weeks ago: I was sick to my stomach when I quit because I knew they were going to run it into the ground. No one that they were appointing had any experience in arts administration, but that was never the point. The point was to take that, run over it, and move on.

MLK was only 39 when he was killed. Growing up, I thought that was old. But I’m 43 now and I’m stunned by the burden he shouldered at such a young age. I’m also a lot more aware of how hard it is, at any age, to carry the hopes and dreams of an oppressed people on your shoulders, as so many do.

Here are 10 #anagrams of “Suor Angelica” I came up with during the last 2 shows:
Sugar Cane Oil
A Soul in Grace
Arousing Lace
I Can Argue, Sol
U Canaries Glo
Courages in L.A.
Saguaro Incel
Glue Ocarinas
I, Oracle Angus
I, Orange Lucas
#opera

me, standing in front of a Walk for Peace banner that’s taped to the side of one of their support vehicles

Checking out the #WalkForPeace2025 at their stop in Charlotte, as long as I’m in town for work with Charlotte Symphony. It’s chilly— real feel of 27°F— but I can feel the love ❤️

I’m enjoying telling people that I won’t be able to do <whatever thing> until next year. 😜 It barely qualifies as humor, but at least I’m amusing myself. #dadjokes

Ruin two bands by combining them?

Phish Styx

PERCUSSIONIST: Maestro! Help us out here! What are we doing in measure 110?
CONDUCTOR (puzzled): You're not doing anything in 110.
PERCUSSIONIST: That's correct.
CONDUCTOR: 🫤

VSO threatens former violinist with legal action after speaking out about abuse allegations vancouversun.com/news/vso-thr...

a plastic measuring cup approximately 2/3 full of ice. an ice spike, ~1.5” long, protrudes from the ice at a ~50° angle to the surface. near the tip of the spike, a tiny second spike has forked and grown parallel to the original for the topmost 1/8”.

ice spike that formed overnight in our makeshift rain gauge a few days ago

slightly unfocused image of a bespectacled trombone player with mouth hanging open. His gaze is directed at a music stand which is out of frame on the left. (Photo credit: Jeremy Fleming, who is an excellent photographer, but this is a perhaps unimpressive portion of a good photo.)

Out of literally hundreds of photos taken at one of the Greenville Symphony's Holiday at Peace concerts, this is the only one in which I am visible. It was taken just as the whole band was shouting "Pennsylvania six five thousand!" which is why I look like a slack-jawed yokel.

The Power of Petals | Our State Neighbors in Swannanoa planted thousands of flowers to help their community envision a more hopeful future after Hurricane Helene’s destruction.

I just found this article (published 3 months ago) about my neighborhood's recovery after #Helene, featuring a few of my amazing neighbors! #grovemont #swannanoa #asheville

alternative performance idea for “Sleigh Ride”: rogue trumpeter does horse whinnies the whole time

so maybe we'll be doing the original ~8-minute piece that BSO did with Fiedler, rather than the originally-published version that's only ~5:45? 🤔 I guess I'll find out soon.

intriguingly, we got this note with our music: "Be aware that the version of Anderson's a Christmas Festival is different than the past. It has additional material." I searched for more info but all I found was this (which is interesting enough but didn't answer my questions):

this week I get to play A Christmas Festival, The Typewriter, Bugler’s Holiday, and Sleigh Ride, all on the same concert! 🎄🎺🛷

Nutcracker matinee was one of the reduced orchestrations. Evening Nutcracker is the full original. Switching between the two is a bit brain-scrambling. 😬

The sign on the outside of a corner shop reads “VICKS VAPOR & HUB”. Just behind it is the defunct Brooklyn Night Club & Lounge, and in the background looms the impressive Bank of America Corporate Center.

flirting with trademark infringement in #charlotte

The front door of a quasi-Colonial style brick house. The brick exterior of the house is painted a creamy off-white and the door is hunter green. The 5 steps are made of red bricks and are (over)decorated with at least 25 gourds of various colors.

A whole lot of gourds in Myers Park #charlotte #gourds

wow, what a journey… approx 1hr, in one continuous movement, and gripping!

At Black Mountain College Museum in Asheville, about to hear a performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7

ok, for the 2nd performance let’s see if we can get through it without any ringtones 😃

About to premier Amber Ferenz’s “The Things We Say To Death” with the Asheville Symphony. 

Eight new Emojis added in iOS 18.4: (top row, L to R) Face with bags under eyes, Fingerprint, Flag of Sark, Root vegetable; (bottom row, L to R) Leafless tree, Shovel, Splatter, Harp. [Image from Apple/CNET]

disappointed to find out that the 8 new Emojis added in iOS 18.4 do not include a trombone. (cool that there's a harp though, I guess.) 😞

🚨Silicon Valley Crosswalk Buttons Hacked, Speaks As A Sad Elon Musk

Who did this?🔥

HBD Florence Price! @jenwang.com and I recently had the pleasure of performing one of her recently rediscovered works, Abraham Lincoln Walks At Midnight, with our choir: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgvE...

Echo Mountain Recording to Close After Nearly 20 Years of Award-Winning Work — Echo Mountain Recording After nearly two decades of shaping the sound of countless artists, Echo Mountain Recording will close its doors at the end of 2025.

sad news for the #asheville music community.

Waze needs a “never send me this way again” button 🚦🚧 🚙🤬