Over the past week or so, I’ve been thinking about how I can connect more to the pieces that I’m learning for my upcoming new music recital. To that end, I’ve been reflecting on my friendships with the composers, incorporating what I know about the composers’ other works, score-studying (this includes drawing pictures and coloring!), and reading the program notes for the pieces (if provided). For a couple of the pieces, the program notes provide most of the insight necessary and I only need to apply my life experiences and imagination to have a clear enough picture to present a musical and honest interpretation of the piece. Other pieces, though, have pushed me far outside my comfort zone and I still struggle to find ways to relate to them. 

​While I’ve been pushed outside of my comfort zone, various conversations with the composers have made me realize that some of them have been pushed out of theirs as well by this project. From writing for instruments that are less familiar, to playing with smaller scale pieces, to writing in an entirely different style, I’ve been fortunate to hear about it. These revelations have added an entirely new layer of connection between the composer, performer, and audience: we’re all out of our comfort zones. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s pretty cool that we can all share that experience whether we're the composer, performer, or listener. It may even be good for us. 

Hello again! It's been months since I've blogged, but life happened and got hectic! As I've been working, I've thought of any number of blog posts that I could write, but have needed to prioritize my time. Now that life is settling down and I only have 3 projects going on at once, I thought it was time for me to sit down and write again. (And figure out how to integrate pictures into a blog post without it turning into a formatting nightmare.) I've also added social media icons to my website to help facilitate connection and openness with the people I want to reach. To that end, I have icons that allow you to email me, request to follow me on Instagram, and follow my twitter account. Since I blog so infrequently (maybe I'll finally become more consistent at that?), I want to provide other ways to share important or humorous moments from my adventures when I don't have the time to sit down and write a blog post about them.

As I was looking through previous blog posts, I realized that I haven't really talked about teaching yet. I currently teach 10 students between two different studios and I'm constantly learning from them. In fact, the twitter account I mentioned before exists mainly to share their insights and wisdom...or random things they say during their lessons. Like the time that one student told me that her violin is a baby violin and mine is a grown-up violin and I almost had a quarter-life crisis because children perceive me as an adult. Or the time a student non-sarcastically called me "ma'am" during a lesson... multiple times. Or the time one of them started singing about how "violin is awesome when your bow is straight!" While I typically share the silly things, I'm also learning something from every lesson I teach. I have to know why I'm having them do everything I have them do (yes, they'll ask!), and I have to be able to articulate it clearly so they can try it. I've also discovered how much of a responsibility it is to display my best posture, technique, and musicality for them because they imitate what they see and hear.I'm really lucky to have extremely creative and inquisitive students who challenge me to be equally creative and inquisitive. My students each have their own perceptions of the music they make and of music in general and their joy at making music inspires me when I find myself in a rut. 

Aside from teaching and playing with social media, I'm also preparing to play a fantastic program with the Amarillo Symphony next week (one word: FIREBIRD) and learning music for my new music recital. After some delays, the recital date is set for April 10th in Norman, OK. It's a privilege and altogether new experience for me to perform a program of music entirely by composers that are living (and that I actually know). For someone who plays an instrument where a majority of the repertoire is by deceased composers, I appreciate that I can actually have a conversation with these composers about their pieces, their musical philosophy, or even life in general. These pieces are stories and I get to be the first person to tell them! I'm excited to have this level of connection with the pieces I'm playing and their composers. I think my favorite aspect of this kind of collaboration is being able to work with people that I'm lucky enough to call friends, as well as colleagues. I'm living the dream, people, I'm living the dream!