This Horse Trailer Conversion to Camper is part of an even larger project called Bach in the Woods. This is a video I put together showing the process of the conversion thus far since starting October 2022.
I am a professional musician and not a carpenter but I have learned to do things here on YouTube and am happy with my design and how it is coming along. I wanted to make a camper I can tour in that would also have room to stand up, sleep, eat and most importantly play and practice the piano! I grew up raising horses and thought a small two-horse trailer would be the right fit for my needs. I found this used one in Kansas and drove the 250 miles to purchase it. My only carpentry experience up till now was turning a portable shed into a music studio. My goal with this camper is that I will travel to all 48 states where I can perform in National and State Parks the 48 Preludes and Fugues of JS Bach. Bach in the Woods should be on the road this spring 2023 and if you have suggestions for where I might find an audience for these concerts, please comment. The music in this video is not Bach, however it is me playing Etude no.12 of Philip Glass.
Music has taken me around the world and my journey has been amazing !
Currently Senior Vocal Coach at Opera in the Ozarks and former member of the Opera Department at University of Central Arkansas, LOUIS MENENDEZ has been active in the world of opera for more than forty years as a vocal coach, conductor, pianist and educator. He was appoint to the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1988 and the following year Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts appointed him vocal coach and assistant conductor. Over the last four decades he has assisted over 200 opera productions and conducted more than 35 operas with companies throughout the US and Europe.
Summer programs where he has taught, conducted or coached opera include The Israel Vocal Arts Institute, Tel Aviv, The International Institute of Vocal Arts, Chiari Italy; The Spoleto Festival, Spoleto Italy; Sarasota Opera, Opera in the Ozarks, California Music Festival, San Francisco, University of Minnesota Duluth Opera Training Program, Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, NYC, Sherill Milnes’s VOICE Experience,Tampa; Lingua e Canto, Sant Angelo in Vado, Italy; The New York Opera Studio, Vassar College.
Born in Manhattan NY and raised in Sussex NJ, Louis Menendez spent his formative years playing piano and training horses.
In HS he played for and accompanied the choir. When His High School choir director discovered he had not had piano lessons and was self- taught up to that point she saw it necessary to have a little talk with his parents. The very next week his journey of lessons with the best piano mentors began.
His first teacher was Aurora Ragini-Martin who was a student of the great Harold Bauer and had studied with Paderewski. She prepared him for a college audition which brought him to his next mentor, Anne Yanko-Liva who was a student of Rosina and Josef Lhevinne at Julliard. He holds a BM in piano performance from Wilkes College in Wilkes-Barre PA. Before attending Temple University for his Masters in Music with a concentration in Accompanying and chamber music he worked for a year with Nina Lelchuk in NYC.She always demonstrated technique by playing on his forearm and allowing him to rest his hand on top of hers while she played a certain passage. This was due to the fact her she had not yet mastered the English language. His lessons where sometimes four hours long with a break in the middle where she would scramble some eggs for him. The lessons were intense and ended only when she felt he had reached his limit for the day. This was a very old- school method.
She prepared him for graduate school auditions and it allowed him the opportunity to accept a full fellowship at TU where he continued his piano studies with Natalie Hinderas, ( a former student of Olga Samaroff and Edward Steuermann) and Alexander Fiorillo ( a student of Victor Babin and Vladimir Horowitz). Just prior to graduating from Temple, Mr. Menendez was offered a position on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music as staff Pianist by Gary Graffman. At the time he was the youngest faculty member at CIM. He served in both the Instrumental and Opera/Vocal Departments as pianist and assistant conductor for five years. Always having a preference for vocal music and opera he also joined the faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts where for 8 years he served as coach/accompanist and assistant conductor.
At present, he and his Border Collie Mix, Olivia, live in North West Arkansas just outside Eureka Springs in a small Cabin in the Woods.
Thank you for watching....many more videos to come.
Peace and Love to you,
Louis Menendez
@MystroMenendez