A Whole Note

I recently wrote this Thank You/Note of Support to the Locked Out Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra. Thought it was fitting to post on here.

A few months ago, musician and violist (get it? Musician AND violist...) Sam Bergman, wrote a blog about society’s obsession with amazing moments at different events. He wrote about how a home run in baseball can be easily built up to an incredible moment, yet easily forgotten within days or weeks of the game; he drew the same comparison to music, where the audience often expects something amazing and may lack satisfaction with a “regular”, high quality performance. While I agree with the message that came from his blog post, I must take a moment to sit back, think about Mr. Bergman, and smile with a sort of “I told you so” grin (even though I never did such a thing) because this has been a night I (and he) may never forget.

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The First Day

When I was entering my first year of teaching, I remember being asked countless times, "Are you ready for the first day?"  Ready I was!  I had my best shirt and tie picked out, a new pair of red Chuck Taylor's to balance out my freshly ironed black dress pants, and I even had a few lessons planned.  Of course, I had the room set up, music in folders, lessons planned, etc, but it's fun to think back to getting ready for that first day in a new profession.

This year, as I enter my fifth year as a teacher, I still planned out that new shirt and dress pants but I did not have them planned weeks in advance.  This taught me a valuable set of lessons, lesson number 1: try on your outfit.  Yes, those wicked cool charcoal colored pants that I bought were mis-marked.  I mean, I tried a similar pair on in the store but needed a longer pant length; and those new pants?  4 inches too short and 2 inches too narrow.  Damn.

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F is for Focus: Part 1

What a week for the healing power of classical music!  Okay, maybe not literally, but I was suffering from a bit of a chest cold last week and after two wonderful orchestra performances in the last 4 days, I am starting to mend.  It could have been the extra rest and the chicken noodle soup, yes; or, it could have been the sounds of Rhapsody in Blue or the (fast version) of the Shostakovich 5 finale that rid my lungs of this hostage taking cold.

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Did you miss me?

Something interesting happened today; on my drive down to Owatonna (part of many interesting events from the past three months) I found myself listening to a piece that I have always dreamed of conducting.  I have spent literally hours listening to this piece; daydreaming about the future I know to be attainable, yet distant...  I turned it off.  I turned it off and realized that for the first time in a very long time, I am more excited about my present than my future.

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Glowstick Symphony

The signs that summer vacation is looming are quickly becoming more obvious than those for the failed rapture.  I had my final band concert of the year last week and the students (and their teacher) are having a hard time trading their daydreams of golfing and bicycling for reappearing concerns over the intonation issues at m9 of Pomp and Circumstance or the Star Spangled Banner; and who could blame them?  The students have been hard at work over the last few weeks and I'm pleased to say that their hard work paid off with their last concert.

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Another Brick in the Wall

It’s hot, sticky, perspiring, and fantastic!  Even though my colleagues and I are sweltering away in our classrooms (our high temperatures over the weekend clocked in around 65 degrees, while three days later we skipped past our first 80 degree day and hit 92 degrees), I can’t help but enjoy this heat.  I had a romanticized conversation with my fiancée last night about waking up on my own terms, going for a long bike ride, reading a good book, napping, and then practicing my chip shot in the back yard with an ice cold… lemonade and the smell of burning charcoal.  Pair this with the occasional vacation, teaching symposium, or bachelor weekend in Las Vegas and you’ve got the makings of a great summer vacation.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the need (or lack of need) for summer vacation.  Many of the articles that I’ve read touch on the same overall principals:

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Engaged and Still Having Fun

You know that look, that look of confusion beyond the realm of current consciousness; that look, which’s only condolence is, “someday they’ll figure it out…”   We’ve all seen that look; but seeing our students “figure it out” years down the line is not quite as satisfying as when we “figure it out” and look back to the days of our own obliviousness.

This isn’t a story about someone placing a ten dollar bill on the rail of a pool table and my brain, a la Homer Simpson, thinking “Doh!  I wish I had paid more attention in high school geometry!”  No, this story is much more subtle; this isn’t a slap-in-the-face epiphany, this is a realization based on years of personal and professional growth.

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