Once upon a time, I said yes to anything that came my way.  My packed calendar gave me a sense of importance.  But eventually the attraction of being booked to the gills faded for me.  I was tired of traveling.  Tired of staying in hotels and with host families for days at a time.  It was an epic endeavor to be sure the kids were taken care of while I was gone.  And I missed my family. I was burnt. For the past decade, I honed my sights on family and sanity and began a new phase in my life.  My desire was to consolidate my efforts and to eventually stop l ..read more

Trevor Wye's NFA presentation on Marcel Moyse's "50 Variations on the Bach Allemande" was as to be expected from Mr. Wye:  amusing, informative, and full of fun anecdotes, quips, and jokes.  The subtitle of this work indicates the book is "for the study of articulation, embellishment, trills, groppetti, and grace notes."   For this class, he had two of his students take turns performing (and subsequently being coached on) the variations.  Trevor Wye also played examples on both flute and piano as needed. Trevor repeated throughout the class that these exercises are "about the slur."  In his ..read more

This past November, I took a bit of a personal leap and made myself not only join but actually post in the Facebook group Etude of the Week.  In this group, each week an etude is assigned to prepare and post and members of the group can make comments on one another's offerings. My perfectionism was so deep that I never publicly shared video of any of my performances.  Of course, this lack of "sharing" is ironic considering that my performances are public and are shared live with countless people anyway.  For me, the difference between live and video was that with video, there is a way to be a ..read more

There is a "place" inside of our minds and emotions, a place where things feel good, safe, and "status quo."  This is our comfort zone.  It is a wonderful place to be.  It is the place where most of us love to stay as long as possible.  It's familiar territory in there.  Safe.  Predictable.  Full of "same-ness."  No real surprises.  Conversely, nearly everything else is what's outside our comfort zone.  Outside the comfort zone is full of the unknown, the uncomfortable, and even that which we fear most, whatever that is.  But it's also where the magic of progress takes place. The thing w ..read more

This past Thanksgiving, I put some energy into how thankful I am for music and the opportunity to both create it and to teach it to others.  I wrote a post on my Facebook Page and I would like to share it here as well: As a freelance artist, I rely on the trust of others in my work, whether it is for regularly scheduled orchestra work, a one-time show, a last-minute call to play something crazy hard, or many weeks in the pit somewhere. I am thankful for each and every opportunity, for the friendships I have developed with players in a great many places, and that all of these opportuniti ..read more