Jamilla's Dance-SHEET MUSIC

Jamilla's Dance-VIDEO

Friends from Sankyo

This year at NFA brought me the great pleasure and honor of meeting the man who designed my headjoint! As flute players know, the head joint is thought by some to be the most important component in giving your flute's 'sound'. Mr. Jun Hagata is a master artisan from the Sankyo Flute Company. I have played Sankyo for many years, but have been so impressed with my newest flute (I have had it about a year). Jun's warmth and kindness is heard through the beautiful tone my flute makes...I am very grateful to him and all the Sankyo artisans who make some of the finest instruments in the world! Almer and I were also so happy to reconnect with one of Sankyo's most respected representatives, Fumie! We met Fumie about a year ago but feel as if we've known her our whole life. She brings such joy to all she meets...we call her Almer's sister from Japan (she even speaks a little Bosnian)! Please enjoy these photos of our dear friends Fumie and Jun!

AlmaNova with Ali Ryerson and Maestro Jim Walker at 08 NFA

This year's National Flute Association Convention was especially memorable because it was the year that my flute professor and mentor from USC, Jim Walker, was honored with the Life Time Achievement Award.  For those of you who are not familiar with flute players, Jim is probably one of the few you have heard on a regular basis.  He is the number one flute player for all the movie studios...having played on hundreds of films including Jurassic Park, Forest Gump, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Not only is he a legend on the classical flute, but he is also one of the most outstanding jazz flutists in the world.  His band 'Free Flight' is a phenomenal group playing an unique blend of jazz and classical music!  Almer and I were very happy to attend this special event...we even got to have a jam session at the Sankyo/Gemstone booth with Jim and the great jazz alto flutist, Ali Ryerson on one of our favorite Chick Corea tunes, Spain!  Enjoy the photos!

The Big Apple

We love New York!  

This was our very first trip to New York City and I was so happy to visit the town where both my Grandmother and mother were born!  Even though we only spent one day, we saw a lot thanks to our super tour guide, Kevin Stoller!  I even got a chance to see Ellis Island...my great-grandparents came through there from Austria.  Hope you enjoy these photos we took in Central Park, Little Italy, and Almer playing guitar with a local in Long Island!

A Surprise in Pennsylvania

One of the highlights of our tour with Valencia Vas and Kevin Stoller was our encounter with one of the best sound engineers in the world.  Mr. Glenn Kern is the personal sound engineer for none other than Al DiMeola and Ian Anderson!  WOW!!!  Can you imagine how he made us sound!  We were all blown away by this great 'sound experience'.  When you play a live amplified show, you never know what you will get in terms of sound systems and PA's.  In this case it was beyond any of our expectations!  As you can see from the photos, Almer felt like a rock star...and Glenn made him sound like one!

AlmaNova with Valencia Vas and Kevin Stoller on the radio!

As part of our tour on the East Coast, we were fortunate enough to be featured on Pennsylvanian radio to promote one of our shows.  We spoke a little about how we came together as a band.  It actually is quite an unusual group...a classically trained soprano, flute, guitar and keyboard/piano who play cross-over!  Almer was the first to meet Valencia....he recorded a few tracks on her album, Reflections.  I was the next to join in and the keyboardist, Kevin came last.  So far we have had a great time on our first official tour together and we hope for many more in the future.  If a clip of our interview becomes available, we will post it!  

AlmaNova on tour with Valencia Vas and Kevin Stoller

We recently we honored and thrilled to share the stage with some very fine musicians.  Valencia Vas is a soprano whose began as an opera singer.  She now sings cross-over and performs original works.  Kevin Stoller is an exceptional keyboard player who has toured with the likes of Stevie Nicks.  Our first concert with Valencia and Kevin was in Huntington, Long Island in New York.  This was quite a thrill for us for many reasons.  The first of which being it was our very first time in New York.  Secondly, we were performing in a venue that had recently featured New York native and the piano man himself, Billy Joel!  Thirdly, we were playing for a very warm and receptive crowd!  Please enjoy a few photos we took during our sound check!  Also, don't forget to check out Valencia's website for some sound bytes!  

Tiburon

One of our favorite places to escape to is the beautiful and scenic town of Tiburon in Marin County just north of San Francisco! Before heading to Monterey, CA for a concert with Valencia Vas and Kevin Stoller, we were able to spend a few days of relaxation and fun! Enjoy the photos of Almer by the bay and Jessica enjoying her favorite cappuccino! We are off to NYC next week!

LISTEN: AlmaNova on KPFK-Global Village LIVE RADIO SHOW

Click here to listen to our live broadcast on KPFK!

AlmaNova with KPFK host John Schneider!

We had such a great morning with John Schneider, host of KPFK's 90.7 'Global Village'. We talked a little and played three tunes live. Almer spoke about his compositions and gave a small insight into the music and repertoire of Bosnia.

AlmaNova on KPFK-Global Village LIVE RADIO SHOW

Sir James Galway and Jessica's star student, Laura Lussier

As a teacher, it it always the greatest feeling to see your own students accomplish something great.  This weekend was no exception!  One of my best students, Laura Lussier (as pictured with the Maestro himself), was chosen to perform on stage at the Hollywood Bowl with Sir James Galway as part of his inauguration into the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame!  Laura was one of 20 young aspiring flutists in a flute choir representing the non-profit organization, Music Matters.  Please join me in congratulating Sir James Galway for his enormous contribution to the flute and its popularity!  

New sheet music available from AlmaNova

We are so happy to have finished up our sheet music and scores from the first cd 'Debut'.
Almer has worked very hard to compose and prepare all the parts for printing. Here he is working in our beautiful garden trying to escape the Pasadena heat!
If you would like to purchase the music from our website go to this link:
AlmaNova Publications

Student Recital

Aside from our performances, we are lucky to have some of the best flute and guitar students in Los Angeles from South Pasadena Music Center and Conservatory! They performed in a recital last weekend and made us very proud! Congrats, guys!....and keep practicing!!!!