tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211748252009-11-06T23:12:04.782-05:00Claremont Triohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08513181249554022946noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-51557680521990972872009-11-04T00:09:00.015-05:002009-11-05T13:46:07.256-05:00

Vermont is one of my favorite states, maybe partly because that's where my Mom grew up and so I have happy memories of visiting my grandfather there. It's also just so beautiful, especially in the fall!Recently, we were able to go up and play a concert in my mom's hometown, Northfield, VT, and also perform for the students at her old high school. This was all organized by Tad Dana, a good friend

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-71696304858932689892009-10-25T23:50:00.009-04:002009-10-26T18:46:00.303-04:00

Last week we played a benefit concert for Young Concert Artists, the wonderful organization that helped us launch our touring career when we were first starting out. The benefit was very graciously hosted by Luciana and Robert Duvall at their beautiful property in Virginia. We played works by Mendelssohn, Paul Schoenfield, and Astor Piazzola - a Tango to honor Luciana who's from Argentina and

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-84676997257060511922009-08-30T22:40:00.015-04:002009-08-30T23:30:40.414-04:00

Even though Minnesota is the state that brags about having 10,000 lakes, I have to say that New York has a number of very beautiful lakes of its own. Our summer festival tour this year took us to some very beautiful examples including Lake Luzerne (near Saratoga) and Canandaigua Lake (in the Fingerlakes region). What could be better than waking up to the sound of water lapping at the shore or

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-83489958697490747812009-08-20T16:48:00.003-04:002009-08-20T17:17:50.849-04:00

This weekend, we are headed for Canandaigua, NY. Canandaigua is a city located on the northern shore of the third largest Finger Lake in the state of New York. I hear it is pretty and charming, and I have no doubt this is true as my husband and I have spent time in recent summers at our friends' lake house in the area! This will be the trio's first appearance at the Canandaigua Lake Music

Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16848419200824973069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-55563451769715261602009-08-14T00:12:00.003-04:002009-08-14T00:35:33.559-04:00

There's not much to like about Chicago's O'Hare airport, but I am a pretty big fan of this tunnel. Connect on United, and you're pretty much guaranteed to have to run through it.

emilynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-36926690346356256782009-07-08T11:41:00.002-04:002009-07-08T12:14:35.860-04:00

Please join us for our next concert at Lake Luzerne, NY! We are in the process of updating our schedule on our website so please bear with us -- we promise we have upcoming concerts! In the meantime, let me invite you all to our next concert on Monday, July 13 at 8:00pm. We will be performing at the Performance Lodge at the Luzerne Chamber Music Festival in Lake Luzerne, NY, located in the

Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16848419200824973069noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-47356815309134356992009-05-20T14:31:00.010-04:002009-05-20T15:31:36.580-04:00

I suppose it was hard to come up with unique names for all the cities and towns in the United States. Probably that's why there are so many repeats of popular names - i.e. Manhattan, KS, Minneapolis, KS, Syracuse, KS, and El Dorado, KS. But we also discovered some creative town names in Kansas such as Liberal, KS, Ransom, KS, and my personal favorite: Peculiar, KS. I wonder what it's like

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-16529535458988705162009-04-29T23:41:00.006-04:002009-04-29T23:56:49.622-04:00

We Claremonts took a special ride in this unusual limousine to attend a pre-concert reception in Garden City, KS. Normally we decline the pre-concert socializing, preferring to block time to focus and prepare for the concert, but in this case we made a rare exception. Snazzy.... ;-)

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-91291789165867375252009-04-24T00:32:00.009-04:002009-04-24T01:16:05.946-04:00

Last weekend we got to play a concert in San Juan at the historic Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center. The hall was really beautiful, but it's hard for anything indoors there to live up to what's outdoors...We had some time to walk around in Old San Juan, which is awesome - kind of old European in feel - with brightly painted houses, narrow cobblestone streets, and impressive 16th and 17th

emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-17490887374481339402009-04-23T23:49:00.022-04:002009-04-24T01:04:06.091-04:00

When it was still 40 degrees in NYC on April 16th, it seemed like the perfect week to head south and play a concert in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We'll have to thank our management for setting that one up! And since one of Aaron's best friends lives in San Juan, I was able to convince him to come along on this trip (it was a hard sell but I'm very persuasive).San Juan is beautiful, especially the

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-18675662098371096242009-04-13T02:09:00.010-04:002009-04-13T02:52:55.734-04:00

I am always looking for a good excuse to visit my parents in Vancouver -- beautiful city, home-cooked meals, great dim sum, fresh seafood! Ok, ok, so I do not actually need an excuse to visit my parents, but I do need one to hop on a flight for 6 hours. So, when I looked at my calendar a little while ago and saw the upcoming concert in Seattle, I quickly booked myself on a flight into Vancouver

Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16848419200824973069noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-54086733166456355532009-03-30T23:00:00.007-04:002009-03-31T01:52:36.775-04:00

It's always fun to see our name up on a good old fashioned marquee. This picture was taken by Steven Hegarty, one of our most loyal (and long-suffering) fans. Steven has attended Claremont concerts in tons of places, but this time he drove all the way from Connecticut to Georgia to hear us! (Well, he had a few other things to do down that way, but still...) I am a longtime fan of Steven's

emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-28686897599061639872009-03-10T22:52:00.003-04:002009-03-10T23:09:20.514-04:00

Last month I posted some US State Trivia up here. Thanks for your responses! For those of you still wondering:1. Name 4 states with panhandles. (There are apparently 9 in total, including 1 which has 2!)According to Wikipedia, Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas each have one panhandle. West Virginia has two.2. Name the North Dakota city that rhymes

emilynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-5139028903111876732009-03-07T15:21:00.005-05:002009-03-07T15:31:50.157-05:00

Few things make the Claremont Trio (Julie in particular) happier than ice cream. And free ice cream at the end of a long day of travel is about as good as it gets. Here was the list of flavors that were on offer at the Silverhorn Motor Inn, complete with some no sugar added options.And these weren't puny little servings either but heaping bowls full!Awesome!

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-55677489460223094942009-02-27T16:48:00.003-05:002009-02-27T16:54:29.385-05:00

When we checked into the Silverhorn Motor Inn in Kellogg, Idaho, we were greeted by Zoe:"Yes, well, Elaine is out back looking up your reservations. In the meantime, would you like some free popcorn and ice cream with your movies? The large selection is catalogued in those binders behind you."Silverhorn Motor Inn is a very dog-friendly place indeed! And yes, it is true, free movies, popcorn

Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16848419200824973069noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-25377643734609246782009-02-24T23:34:00.004-05:002009-02-27T17:56:22.934-05:00

-We left before the Superbowl and came home (yesterday) after the Oscars.-Our tour of rental cars included a Saturn Aura, a Chevy Impala, a Ford Fusion, two Toyota Camrys and a Toyota 4Runner SUV for snowy North Dakota. (I must say I'm glad we're over the Chrysler 300 phase...that car has such bad sightlines and for months that was all anyone would rent you for a full size). -We flew on Delta,

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-17010306093753422002009-02-19T14:18:00.017-05:002009-02-19T14:45:13.925-05:00

The past week has taken us to many different corners of the United States and occasionally the changes in climate and terrain are a bit shocking for us and for our instruments.Palm Springs has it all with gorgeous snow capped mountains and palm trees.They are harnessing the power of their wind with an impressive field of wind turbines:Driving north through California, we saw some other great

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-83023626975368874212009-02-18T23:40:00.005-05:002009-02-19T14:56:28.067-05:00

1. Name 4 states with panhandles. (There are apparently 9 in total, including 1 which has 2!)2. Name the North Dakota city that rhymes with "Why not".3. Name the only 6 states we've never performed in. (Hint: that number will be down to 4 by March 5th.)

emilynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-52179942046991065022009-02-18T19:43:00.004-05:002009-02-18T22:37:43.612-05:00

So, everyone's wondering, what did Aaron send, if Chad and Kai Yu sent such nice things??? Well, he sent an awesome box with a couple of my favorite NY bagels (from Absolute Bagels on Broadway at 108th St.), the best dark chocolate bar in the world (Ritter Sport Halbbitter - don't be fooled into getting the "Dark Chocolate" version for Americans which isn't nearly as good as the original German)

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-11814966835557502042009-02-15T04:31:00.012-05:002009-02-15T05:05:00.177-05:00

Well, it could have been worse. We ended up flying most of the day, and we ended up with delays and impossible connections necessitating switching airlines, and we ended up (unexpectedly) on US Airways, which no longer gives out anything free, even cups of water.However, we got lucky with our gate agent. She bucked the coorporate "charge for oxygen" philosophy and laid out some free Valentine's

emilynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-66913486679660526222009-02-14T04:00:00.004-05:002009-02-14T04:10:15.512-05:00

*Sigh* Another Valentine's Day away from my husband! I was lamenting the sad situation this morning when there came a knock at my door. I thought to myself, "Oh, the housekeeping staff didn't see my 'Do not disturb' sign. Argh." However, it was not the housekeeping staff at all -- it was a hotel clerk holding a big box. Hmmm...In this wonderfully big box, there were all sorts of Valentine's

Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16848419200824973069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-37323513635325639082009-02-14T03:35:00.013-05:002009-02-14T03:58:36.822-05:00

While I was sitting down to relax and eat a light dinner before our concert in Shelton, WA, I noticed a wonderful poster on the wall of an office at the high school:This is apparently called a Happy Bunny poster (or art grid). This was the first time I had seen one, and I had such a fun time inspecting all the little statements. Which one suits you and which one would you use the most? :)

Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16848419200824973069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-90002139559838221552009-02-13T02:13:00.003-05:002009-02-13T02:42:16.926-05:00

In southern California we noticed signs advertising "Pads and Commercial Lots" and wondered what the "pads" were. Bachelor pads?Gotta love my iPhone... I quickly found the Wikipedia entry for "pad site":"A pad site is a freestanding parcel of commercial real estate located in the front of a larger shopping center or strip mall. Desirable because of their visibility to consumers, accessibility,

emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-74107597816465618092009-02-10T03:06:00.014-05:002009-02-10T04:02:06.316-05:00

Though I grew up in Massachusetts, I have lots of relatives in California and since we're touring the west coast this month I've had the chance to see some of them. John, Frances and Tyler took me to lunch at Google where John and Tyler work. The Google-plex is pretty awesome (complete with a beach volleyball court and an herb garden) and the cafeteria food was delicious. Sorry no pictures -

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21174825.post-70304083532922917262009-02-10T02:42:00.008-05:002009-02-10T03:05:23.315-05:00

We had a beautiful, clear day for our flight from Seattle down to southern California and so I had to pull out my camera on the plane. This first one is Mt. Rainier:Here are some more mountains in the Cascade Range:Progressing southwards:And a beautiful landing into Long Beach, CA:

juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18128814294523048864noreply@blogger.com1