I am now officially married to Theresa and we are now the Sens family! It was a crazy summer leading up to the wedding itself and I am so grateful to all of our friends and family that made it awesome. A big shout out to the Metro Brass Quintet and CJC big band for making the ceremony and reception musically awesome, and badass. I did play some accordion as a shtick for the tosses, but mostly just enjoyed the wedding. 
Looking towards the fall and playing year, plenty is going on with the CJC Big Band, Des Moines Community Orchestra, and the Metro Brass Quintet along with my j-o-b and everything else happening. Also, a new Accordion may be in the mix soon, which is really exciting. It turns out I really like playing the accordion, which I knew, but I also see myself doing it more and more in the future. A polka band, or something else, is probably in my future. 
It's pretty wild to look back 3 years when I only knew 2 people in Des Moines to where I am now, and I'm really glad that everything has turned out so well. 
I'm getting too mushy, so it's time to sad goodbye for now. Thanks for visiting, and stay classy as always.
​John Sens

I'm happy to announce that I am getting married! The lovely lady mentioned awhile ago accepted my proposal in early January and we are to wed in August. We'll be featuring many of my friends in the musical entertainment for the wedding, and I have to say that I am really blessed with a lot of wonderful people in my life.

Musically, things keep rolling right along! I played button accordion at Wallace Elementary school for a walk-a-thon fundraiser, which was a lot of fun. The expression on some of those kids faces were priceless. Some were as surprised as if they had just discovered that the world was made of candy!

The Metro Brass Quintet has a busy month coming up in May, including performances at Prairie Hills Assisted Living, Grace United Methodist Church, and at the Des Moines Farmer's Market! We had our 2 year anniversary on 4/26/2016, which is a great milestone for my time here in Des Moines.

Finally, I am looking forward to the Final Des Moines Community Orchestra concert done in collaboration with the Central Iowa Wind Ensemble (CIWE). I'm playing Euphonium, which is a definite challenge based on the part, and also a delight. It's such a pretty sound!

Anyway, that's all that's up right now - Take it easy faithful reader!

John Sens

I achieved my goal of posting before a year had past!

I had a wonderful summer and fall with the Metro Brass Quintet at the Des Moines Farmers Market, several bank client appreciation events, church services, and Ben McCartney's recital (he's one our own!)! My ongoing performances with the Des Moines Community Orchestra and the CJC Big Band have also continued to be fun and enriching; what a blessing to be a part of such wonderful groups!

I have been playing more accordion lately as well, including a 70th anniversary party for the Urbandale Lion's Club and another event in December that's coming up (I'm the surprise guest, so that's all I can say).

I have been very fortunate to be asked to play a solo recital at the First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, MN with Tim O'Shields joining me on piano. I'm set to play a variety of Christmas music of a lot of different styles, so it should be a very fun and interesting performance! It's always a pleasure to work with a skilled pianist that can follow me while I play, rather than drag me along.

I'm looking forward to the New Year and what 2016 has to offer. Hopefully more music and cheer.

Have a great holiday season and New Years! I'll try to post prior to Valentine's day (Fingers crossed).

John C. Sens

It was a great year! The Metro Brass quintet continues to grow and gain coherence and a following here in the Des Moines area. It's hard to say how glad I am, but I'll say it anyway - I am glad! We've done a lot of playing in the area and recently performed at the Norwalk Library for a fund raiser:

http://www.iowalivingmagazines.com/2015/02/11/check-it-out-13/


Not only was it a lot of fun, I also got to compose 3 new works for brass quintet based on the artwork of Bob Kling, and Indianola resident and wonderful artist.


Besides that, I'm performing with the CJC Big Band, Windsor Brass, a trombone quartet, and the Des Moines Community Orchestra. 


Also, I met a very special girl in December 2014 which has added a lot more richness to my life, and a guaranteed audience member; both great things.

That's all for now! I'll try and update sooner than a year from now.

John

It has been a whirlwind two months! We've gone from deciding on our name to having multiple performances around town, a logo, a sign, a bunch of music, a website, a recording, and even plexiglass wind guards for our stands! Phew!

It has totally been worth it and worth all the time and the moderate stress. It's great to lead such good and contributing players, and to play at such a high level from the get-go. We are looking for more places to play and things to do in town, so hopefully we can keep up our head of steam and keep going uphill. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. . .

On another note, my accordion playing has really taken off! I bought a new diatonic accordion up in Minneapolis that is a leap above my first accordion (sorry baby) and have started playing on the street in downtown Des Moines. I absolutely love it. I essentially get the current minimum wage to practice, experiment, and interact with all sorts of people. I'm already way better, and things will only go up from here, barring a drunk guy stealing my instrument. Good thing I took some Judo classes.

Anyway, sole/avid/non-existent reader, I wish you well until I post again. Thankee kindly sai!

Hey Hey Hey avid reader!

Today, the brass quintet I've started has officially selected the name "The Metro Brass Quintet" as its name, which sets in motion a whole lot of events. Most importantly, we can put together our promotion materials, recordings, and events with a consistent name and identity. I am stoked to bring a lot of exciting, high quality music to Des Moines and the surrounding area with a group of fun, skilled, and young players.

Stay tuned for more information, and feel free to email me for the latest developments!

Johan Sens

Hello Reader!

I hope that you are doing well. A quick update on my performing life in Des Moines, IA!
I've been fortunate and have met a lot of great players here in Des Moines and got to play with the Des Moines Big Band, the CJC Big Band, the Des Moines Community Orchestra, and am now a regular member of the Windsor Brass.
I'm hoping to start up a chamber brass group soon and start playing around the community. How nice would it be to to hear some live brass music while walking around the river? Assuming that we actually get approved by a vendor, the arrests should be at a minimum.
Well lone reader, if you have any thoughts feel free to share them!!

-John Sens

Hello lone reader!

As you probably know if you read this, but will learn if you finish this sentence, I have accepted a job in Des Moines Iowa as a Compliance Specialist with EcoEngineers. We help renewable fuel producers across America with meeting government requirements and making connections. It's a great job and the people I work with are a wonderful blend of personalities.

But wait, didn't John just get a Master's degree in music, I hear someone say. Maybe. Yes, he did, but he also earned a degree in Environmental Studies back at the University of Nebraska Lincoln which is a great background for this position.

I believe that balancing work, art, and life is an important goal, and that my work at EcoEngineers will enhance my music making abilities. While it does cut heavily into the time I can spend gigging and practicing, it also provides income that allows me not to worry about money in comparison with trying to gig for a living. Also, the experiences I have in my work are much different than my previous music experiences, so it's giving me a new pallet of emotions and experiences to draw upon. I'm going to really try and see if this is the balance I need and want w.

I'm still settling in and getting used to the big move from Minneapolis to Des Moines, especially since I packed and moved my entire life in about a week and a half!! Ah!

So far so good, and the music will never stop. As silence is what we paint on, I'm stretching out a lot of canvas during this transition. Thanks to everyone for their help, and stay in touch!!

-JCS

Hello hello hello!

Welcome to my blog/website! I want to make this a useful website for anyone interested in hearing me play, working with me, or taking lessons with me, so I'll continue to expand and incorporate useful features as I develop the site.

Today's update was the creation of the studio page and all of the files and links therein. It was a chore to format a few of the documents correctly and change the size, but I've had to do that before so it was just tedious. My policies, several routines, and scale sheets are now available to be downloaded and should be useful to anyone looking for a new routine or information about taking lessons from me.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions and I'll be happy to consider them!

- John