OK Folks,
Time to post your bios (yes, everyone needs to do this, even those who have never posted before) so everyone will have an idea about with whom they will be spending 40 hours of flute playing in two weeks.
I'll go first. Kim Pineda was born in Pasadena, California. His childhood was filled with all the usual things a child has in a loving home, and recordings of classical music and jazz were a regular part of the day. After a few episodes with local, county, and federal law enforcement officers, Kim discovered a better way to be a rebellious, reclusive teenager: playing and studying early music. This choice, however, was not without consequences. In addition to the ribbing about playing recorder, Kim's non-musical friends were a little concerned about his priorities. "You want to play a broke flute? Why not get a good one?" Described as looking more like a piano mover than a professional musician, some say a sight gag ensues when the biggest person in the ensemble walks on stage with the smallest instrument. Studying music led, somehow, to the study of zymurgy, US and European history, and, of all things, an interest in the history of politics (some governmental things haven't changed in centuries). When not involved in music, Kim and his wife Marika enjoy cooking, gardening, and birding. In their spare time they read non-fiction, try new recipes, and watch stimulating, informative, and occasionally depressing movies and documentaries on DVD.
4 comments:
OK you asked for it!
Bio for Ernie O’Byrne:
Interest in the natural world has always been a part of my life, mostly desert animal life, growing up in San Diego, California. Working at a Santa Barbara County Park solidified my interest in plants, after graduation from college in 1970 with a BA in Philosophy. After moving to Eugene, Oregon in 1973, I planted trees, logged and did various odd jobs before Marietta and I met, were married, and started landscaping. We eventually began to grow many of the plants that we were interested in using on jobs and had excess, of course, and one thing led to another—the nursery was born in 1992, first open only by appointment, then one day a week, then three days a week, and now we are closed, except for a month and a half during hellebore season (end of February through March). [the website is: www.nwgnursery.com ]
We both are confessed plantaholics and are totally captivated by the wonder and beauty of the natural world. At the nursery we specialize in the rare and unusual and have a breeding program for hybrid hellebores. Increasing the color range and improving the form of double hellebores is a current interest.
In our garden, we are very eclectic, growing a wide variety of plants in various microclimates, many from expeditions and various seed exchanges from around the world. The garden and nursery are about an acre and a half with woodland gardens, a grass and conifer garden, rock garden areas, perennial borders, a dryland garden (no water in summer) and a small pond. Some particular interests are hellebores, arisaemas, podophyllums and conifers.
Both Marietta and I are self-taught, never having had formal training in horticulture. We are lucky in having very similar taste and ideas about the development of the garden and usually agree with each other in garden decisions. We both like to weed and both reject the frantic pace of modern life, especially TV (which we have never owned) and its negative impact on our culture. We see gardening as a small step in restoring sanity to a troubled planet.
I have played flute (modern) since I was 7 and had parents who were able to provide 10 years of private lessons with Fritz Baker, 1st chair of the San Diego Symphony. Finally, in high school, I reached a plateau with the practice time I was putting in (1 ½ hours per day) and decided that I really didn’t want to go the professional track and couldn’t take up any more of my teachers valuable time. For the next 20 years I played sometimes more, sometimes less. About 10 years ago I finally went over to the dark side and decided that, since Baroque music was my favorite period, why not jump in and get a Baroque flute? I bought a Rod Cameron Grenser over the internet and when it arrived I actually thought that there was something wrong with it. Bb???!! not there—G# even worse. So I took a lesson and was told that it was a very nice instrument and that that was NORMAL. Normal? Obviously I had a lot to learn besides new fingering. Luckily I found Kim and the NFBFBC—that WAS the NO FRILLS BFBC. Now there are SOME frills so Kim changed the name and the rest is history. I even sold my beautiful Haynes this year because I wasn’t playing it anymore and wanted—what else—a new traverso!
Other interests are camping and hiking, spiritual awakening (www.ishafoundation.org) and growing and preparing the majority of our own food.
Sorry this is so long, but the first part was already done for slide talk bios. Just skim over it, if you aren’t interested
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