Category Archives: Grand Ideas

What is this all about?

Today I have been thinking about this blog, and what I want it to reflect.  I sometimes forget how far reaching my audience can be!  Of course, I KNOW that anyone can read this, and Yes, I do have the address in my email signature, but I am excited to know that people ARE reading it!  Thank you.

That said, how can I keep people reading this?  How can I make my blog worth reading and interesting, without being too offensive?  I have no intention of offending people, even you brides who want your weddings outside in October!  (Seriously though, do remember that it is not always beautiful and pleasant then, so PLEASE have a back up plan, even as simple as having portable heaters).  I don’t even want to offend conductors or reviewers, even though as a musician, you are not always my friend.  We are all on the same side however, in that we want to grow our audiences, and we want people to love music as MUCH as we love music (oh, and we do, we DO!  and we feel if you just understand the music even a little bit like we do, you will love it too!)

I think though, my main point of this blog, is to satisfy my urge of writing things down, my urge to be heard, and perhaps to entertain and inform.  If you learn something you didn’t know about violin, violin teaching, violin lessons, weird internet women (that would be me), or…anything at all, then perhaps your day is just a little bit better.  I consider the search for more knowledge, on all subjects, to be of utmost importance.  Learning makes us better.

So there you have it.  First, do no harm.  Second, learn something.  No reader left behind!

The semester begins!

I had my first Suzuki Pedagogy class of the year on Thursday.  Most of the class was spent settling on deadlines for various projects.  Lucky for me, I get to record another private lesson AND a group class…I don’t even teach group classes, so the thought of this makes me a WEE bit nervous.  My only redeeming thought is that the recordings from last year weren’t nearly as awful to do and watch as I thought they would be, so maybe it won’t be that bad.

I’ve (almost definitely) set a date for a Quartet recital at the end of February!  We will be playing at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, and I’ll keep you all posted as to personnel, repertoire, etc, as it unfolds.  I have so many repertoire ideas, it’s a challenge narrowing things down now, and making it into a (somewhat) cohesive program.  It should be fun for us and our audience as well.

Happy Holidays!

I am doing some traveling over the holidays, and I know many other people are.  I wish you all safe and happy travels!  If you are staying put, stay warm 🙂

I finished up the Christmas gig season with something a little bit different.  It was a CD release party at a church in Chesterfield.  The style of music isn’t really my thing, kind of contemporary Christian, but Jon and the band knew their stuff and sounded great.  I took home an autographed copy of the CD (by Jon Garrett, entitled “To Find Love There.” ) Too bad I wasn’t actually playing on the CD!  Anyway, this was a few days ago, and I am mainly writing about it because I woke up this morning with one of the tunes in my head…

I did make it through an entire Christmas season without performing “Sleigh Ride.”  This is probably the first time in 12 to 14 years that has happened.  I actually consider this a negative thing, but there’s always next year!

The new year will bring big plans and (hopefully) happenings.  I do have some projects planned (chamber music concert, perhaps a solo/duo recital, possible CD more for fun than profit…) in addition to the usual teaching, Suzuki pedagogy class (another semester) and playing.

This has been a sad year for me and my family.  My grandfather passed away almost a year ago, and my boyfriend’s sister’s husband passed away in September.  The older I get, the more I realize, that’s how life is: sad things happen, and yet time just keeps ticking, and you have to keep doing what you are doing.   I do hope, however, that the next year is better overall…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, my dear readers!