I'm excited to have been selected for a scholarship to attend the LSA Workshop West this year at the University of Victoria, on Vancouver Island from August 6-12, 2017! This year's lute faculty consists of Robert Barto, Elizabeth Kenny, Sylvain Bergeron, Ray Nurse, Travis Carey (who will be teaching a class on lute building!), and Phillip Rukavina.  

This will be my second time participating in the LSA's summer festivals, and I can't wait to be there! There will be lecture classes, masterclasses, private lessons, and daily concerts, and I will have the opportunity to perform in a recital with the other scholarship recipients, too. AND I'll get to help build a lute!

After doing a lot of research, I've determined that it will be cheapest for me to drive from Dallas to Vancouver; thence, by ferry, to Vancouver Island. I am no stranger to long solo road trips. Although I have driven some pretty incredible distances unaccompanied in the past (Dallas to Chicago in 18ish hours. Never again.), this will be the single longest trip I have ever undertaken, without question. Well travel'd in these Contiguous United States as I may be, this trip will cross off 3 of the remaining 5 states of this Union which I have yet to visit: California, Oregon, and Washington.

My pilgrimage will take me around 47 driving hours (for contrast, the furthest I have driven in a single go was Dallas>Chicago, and it took me a little over 18 hours in one sitting*). For this trip, I am hoping to split up the drive into 4 days of driving, and I hope to be able to visit with some friends and family along the way. I hope to see my close friend Russ in Denver (you bought Derelict Hands' "Eyes to the Future," right? Yeah, that one) I will also get to meet my nephew Max for the first time in Sacramento!. I hope to also make a detour to San Francisco to meet Mel Wong, the luthier who built my instrument for me. From Sacramento, I will take I-5 north through Portland and finally arrive at the University of Victoria. 

There are still a few things that need to be done in order to be ready for the festival; the scholarship covers my festival tuition completely, but I still have to pay the room and board ($730), and I'll be renting a car to make the trip ($250). If you would like to help me get to the festival, I will be accepting donations of any denomination through my YouCaring fundraiser here. 

I am hoping to schedule some fundraising recitals around DFW in the lead up to the festival, and I'd like to try and do a few house concerts along the road to Vancouver. Keep an eye out for updates on the YouCaring page, on this blog, and at my facebook page!