This is finals week at CSU, the end of the semester, and the end of the academic year. I hope it was a good year for all of you! At CSU, it was a busy year of teaching, performing, and planning for next year. I am very proud of the work that our students have […]
Why do we spend countless hours in a small practice room, chamber music rehearsal, or orchestra or opera rehearsal? Is it for the grade, the approval, the sense of understanding a technical/musical issue that has been bothering us for weeks? All of that is part of the answer, but is it all of the answer? […]
“It’s pretty far, but it doesn’t seem like it” ~ Yogi Berra For me, that quote relates to the upcoming end of the semester. If you’ve had Spring Break, I hope it was one of rest and rejuvenation; if yours is still to come, I wish the same for you! Seven weeks left of the […]
It’s a LEAP YEAR, and I have been thinking about time and time management of late. Feb. is always a very busy month, with Colorado All State Orchestra on campus for three days, and then the whirlwind that is audition season for the next academic year. I am very pleased with the quality of viola applicants, next […]
Happy New Year to you all! I hope the holidays were a time of rest and recharging before the spring semester. Classes at CSU start tomorrow, and it is going to be a wild ride: presentations at the Colo. and Wyo. Music Educators Conferences, classes, and teaching. That’s just between now and the end of […]
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! The end of the semester is coming up very quickly here, two more weeks of lessons, coachings, concerts, and classes, and then it will be time for finals. Looking back, the start of the semester in Aug. seems so long ago, and the fall break seemed a […]
“Mastering music is more than learning technical skills. Practicing is about quality, not quantity. Some days I practice for hours; other days it will be just a few minutes.” ~ Yo Yo Ma We are approaching that stage of the semester where the urgency of practice time takes on a whole new meaning. There are […]
Today’s post begins with a quote from Yogi Berra: “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical”. Berra, who played for the New York Yankees, died recently at the age of 90. He was known for his humorous quotes; check out brainyquote.com for more. Why this quote? Because as musicians, we can […]
My recital went pretty well – thanks to my colleague Tim Burns for such a wonderful collaboration. I’m already thinking about next year’s program. Stay tuned! So what do you do in the week following a recital or concert? Do you take some time off, do you get caught up on other projects? I’d […]
Down to the wire… Translation: my recital is on Sept. 28, and I am still in tinkering mode. I always try to be in “performance mode” several weeks ahead of a concert, but occasionally I discover that something needs to be changed. It might be a fingering, it might be a bowing, it might be […]
