Shooting Stars

Earlier this week, I had an eight-year-old student bring this into her lesson – her first composition.  At our last lesson, I asked her to try making up a few of her own songs that used some of the same musical elements she had recently learned (quarter notes, half notes, legato playing, and changing registers).

“Shooting Stars” is a piece for right and left hand in 5/4 time (how cool is that?!), spanning four octaves.  There are repeated rhythm patterns as well as tonal patterns and the ascending tetrachord in each pattern combined with the shifts in register really exemplifies the title.  Notice the “key” in the top left hand corner that indicates hand position (modeled from our lesson book, The Music Tree).  Up to this point, the songs in the book have only included black keys; I love the initiative it took to create a new piece on the white keys!

I’m so proud!

Purpose

This week, I want to live with purpose. 

I want to tackle my ever-growing to-do list with purposeful effort, use of time, and decision-making.  I want to make great things happen for the WCMW this week (currently putting together some very exciting [and adorable!] sponsor/donor packages!). 

I want to finish reviewing my 2011 financials and file my taxes this weekend.  I want to update my grade book so I can give back the stack of papers and quizzes that have invaded my workspace.  I want to refuel by exercising and spending more time outside. 

I want to spend my working hours working with purpose so that I can be true to the boundaries I’ve set for my personal life.  I want Friday to be more like this.  I want each day to count for something.

I read a quote yesterday that reminded me how powerful purpose-driven days can be:

“Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart.” – George B. Hinckley. 

Let’s live this week with purpose, meaning, and intention.  Be intentional about the way you work.  Eliminate distractions.  Make decisions.  Work hard.  Invest yourself in what you do.  Go forward with purpose.  Let’s do this!

This Week

This week:

• We enjoyed several sunny, warm days and afternoons with the windows open.

• I made banana pudding for the first time.

• We got a little carried away and tried to grill out one night. (We gave up and cooked inside once it got cold enough to see our breath.)

• I attended an awesome branding webinar that got me all kinds of fired up for the months to come.

• We gave an informal lecture recital to an audience of almost thirty enthusiastic listeners (recap coming soon!).

• I encountered a few instances of plagiarism in my students’ papers.  Though struggling with how to deal with it, I am determined to turn this into a teaching opportunity.

• We finished our federal tax return.

• I introduced SD to the (southern?) expression, “Land sakes alive.”

• We haven’t driven the car since Saturday!  It is so nice to work from home.

• I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with my children’s choir by teaching them Irish hymns and two Irish group dances!

• I got the latest Elle Decor in the mail and I plan on carving out some time this weekend to skim through it.

• We had some awesome teaching moments.

• We spent some time preparing for our WCMW webinar next Monday, March 19!  Sign up here – it’s free!

Happy weekend, friends!

Surround Yourself with Those Things

"In order to lead a fascinating life - one brimming with art, music, intrigue and romance - you must surround yourself with precisely those things." - Kate Spade Art.  Music.  Intrigue.  Romance.  Who wouldn’t want to surround themselves with these things?!

We all have days where we feel surrounded by those less-than-pleasant people, places, or tasks.  Take control of the things you choose to surround yourself with and make sure they’re the things that inspire you and fire you up.  For me, that means escaping to the empty conference room on my lunch break (with a wall of windows where I can look out on the world) so I get that necessary 20 minutes of solitude in a busy teaching day.

When working from home, I surround myself with good music that keeps me focused and working hard and a little inspiration board hanging over my desk to refresh my energy and attention span.  Five-minute detours to Pinterest also work to clear my head and inspire my creativity.

The people I choose to surround me are encouraging and inspiring – they work hard and challenge me to constantly reevaluate my priorities.

Lead a fascinating life.  Who’s stopping you?

Dinner Conversations

I love dinner conversations with SD. 

Though our meals might range from gourmet (think étoufée-style shrimp and grits) to KFC (think fried chicken and macaroni and cheese) and more often than not, we eat at the breakfast nook rather than at the dining room table, I love this time of the day we get to share together. 

Sometimes, we talk about the things that happened during the day; other times, we listen to our favorite radio show online (since it’s not syndicated on our NPR station) and play the “name that tune/composer/style period/nationality” game. 

And some nights we get caught up in nerdy intellectual conversations about music teaching and learning.

And I love every minute of it.

Tonight, over plates of apple pancakes, raisin bread toast, and cheese grits, we started talking about our students and the progress they made in their lessons this afternoon. 

“My student is solid.  She can play in E Major now – four sharps!” Steve said. 

“My student said tonight that she sometimes finds it easier to sight-sing her music before sight-playing it – yes!” I said, excitedly. 

We talked about our own experiences with learning to sightread and the effects of singing on the audiation skills (the ability to hear and comprehend music silently) and musical development of instrumentalists.

Our conversation lasted through dinner and our dish-washing/drying time. 

It’s just so interesting to me to reflect on our musical pasts: comparing the ways we were taught, sharing experiences we’ve had, and exploring the ways we’ve developed into the musicians we are today.  It’s amazing to watch part of this process unfold with the students I see each week – to watch them make connections, to let them figure out a new rhythm pattern on their own, to see them light up when they realize the freedom they have in learning to transpose.

This is my everyday. 

Every class, every lesson, every rehearsal is an opportunity for me to be a better teacher and present new information in the clearest way I can. 

I want to inspire, encourage, and challenge my students to work hard, practice hard, set goals for themselves, be curious, try new things, and never stop learning.

Image Credit: Last year’s WCMW.  Find out all that’s in store for this year right here.

March: Getting Organized

March is the month I get into major organization mode. 

It’s been a few months since I’ve done any major planning (I tend to do the bulk of this work for school and choirs in the summer and again in December/early January) and this midpoint in the semester seems to be a good time to reevaluate, catch-up, and refocus on the next few months (the final stretch!). 

This kind of work is not necessarily “fun” but it’s absolutely necessary and I have such a feeling of accomplishment when I can check these things off my list! 

This year, March is the month for taxes, grading, WCMW planning, and preparing for Easter.

Taxes

A necessary evil, I swore last year I would never do my own taxes again and, well, here I am.  After spending too many hours than I care to count this weekend crunching numbers with H&R Block At Home (and working through 3.5 federal returns – don’t ask), we are done with the Federal return.  Next weekend, we’ll tackle the state(s). 

A few tips for fellow freelancers who are brave enough to attempt this on their own:

• Keep track of your mileage (gigs, self-employment teaching, medical, professional development) and add it up in advance.

• Save receipts of things you can count off against your business (for me, that means sheet music, website costs, office supplies, and travel)

• Certain bills can be deducted if they apply to your business (i.e. percentages of phone and internet and a portion of rent/utilities for a home office)

• Keep track of equipment you purchase/use for your business (computer, phone, external hard drive, printer, etc.)

• Collect tax documents from employers, banks, investment companies, and lenders in advance (many post them online instead of mailing them log in and get the information you need before sitting down to complete your returns).

• If you make estimated tax payments throughout the year, make sure you have a list of the amounts and dates.

• Review your credit card statements in advance to be sure you didn’t miss any expenses that might be deductible.

Mid-Semester Grading

This week is Spring Break at the college.  Spring Break as a college student meant a combination of sleeping and vacationing.  Spring Break as a professor means grading 32 essays (5-pages each), 25 quizzes, 3 group projects, and 13 playing exams.  What was I thinking?!  Well, I was thinking that this would be the perfect week to lay low, dress in comfy clothes, curl up on the couch, and catch up on grading.  Hopefully, by the end of this week, I’ll have all mid-semester projects graded and ready to give back (meaning I will finally have a coffee table again!)

WCMW Planning

The Westminster Chamber Music Workshop is a series of free chamber music events in Westminster, MA.  Each event is designed to be educational and entertaining for community members of all ages! 

This year, Steve and I are planning four music events, one for every Saturday night in May.  Running a small organization of any kind is a lot of work but lucky for us, we love it! 

We have two small grants from local cultural councils to help us provide these concerts at no charge to the community and we recently announced our exciting line-up of guest artists.  March is our month to get the word out, send guest artist contracts, garner sponsorships, and begin designing our print materials.

Easter Preparation

Any church musician knows that Christmas Eve and Easter are the biggest services of the year. 

This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 8 which means we are in full prep-mode this month!  We have special music planned for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and two services on Easter Sunday (that’s four services in 8 days!)  Of course, we have more to practice than just introits and anthems; special services often mean special choreography and yes, we practice these things in rehearsal! :-)

Here’s to March – a month of getting organized, making decisions, and making excellent things happen!

Simplicity

"Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci In my class’ study of American Transcendentalism last week, I got to remind them of Henry Thoreau’s famous quote: “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”  You see, simplicity really is the ultimate form of sophistication, as the quote above states.  That’s why the impromptu “vacation” we took on Wednesday night, though as simple as could be, was better than ever.

“I think you need a vacation,” Steve said to me as we walked in the door.  I dropped my book bag and stack of papers to grade and kicked off my shoes.  “That sounds GREAT,” I said.  “What do you have in mind?”  A little while later, I was in my pajamas and we were sharing take-out pizza and watching a movie we picked up from the library.  It was perfect.

Sometimes, simplicity is all that you need.

Within the security of grace

Earlier this year, I shared my goals for 2012. Among "make more decisions" and "pursue excellence," I wrote:

- Keep the faith. Think positively even when surrounded by negativity, stay strong even in the midst of frustration and weakness, find new ways to actively build my faith throughout the year, commit to worry less.

As such, I thought I'd share an expression of faith that's been on my heart lately. This year, the season of Lent spans the entire month of March. It is a solemn time in the church year, a time of self-reflection and sacrifice (giving things up). A few weeks ago, our pastor shared this thought with the congregation: "Lent is a time to examine ourselves as God sees us, within the security of grace." It resonated with me. "The security of grace" is a thought so comforting, so freeing. It's not an excuse not to do my best, it's motivation to try again, to forgive again, to move forward. It's a simple reminder that my whole life fits into the palm of His hand. We can choose to live in this security of grace every day. What will you choose?

2012 WCMW Schedule of Events

Steve and I are so proud of and excited about this year’s Westminster Chamber Music Workshop (WCMW)!  We have four great events planned for May 2012.  Each event is designed to be educational, entertaining, and fun, combining the performance of music with insight from our esteemed guest artists (see more here).  Our mission is to provide excellent musical opportunities to people of all ages and as a result, all events are FREE of charge and open to all!  If you’re in the area, we hope you’ll join us! THE SAMIRAH EVANS JAZZ TRIO Saturday, May 5, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

Co-presented by CenterStage at FSU.

Originally from the Great South (New Orleans, to be exact) and currently from Brattleboro, Vermont, Samirah Evans is a dynamic performer with a voice described as “smoky-sweet” by the Times-Picayune.  Joined by two members of her “Handsome Devils” band, you’ll enjoy an evening of sultry, fiery, and foot-tappin’ tunes that will have you dancing out the door!  Click here to read more about Samirah.

COMMUNITY SING with DR. SUSAN CONKLING

Saturday, May 12, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

Rich with tradition dating back to the early 20th century, the Community Sing is an informal musical event designed for all ages – no experience and no preparation necessary!  We hope you’ll join us for an evening of good, old-fashioned singing.  Come be a part of the fun!  Click here to read more about Susan Conkling.

THE SAXOPHONE QUARTET directed by LYNN KLOCK Saturday, May 19, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

We are so pleased to welcome not one, not two, not three, but four saxophonists for a concert of quartet music!  For those of you who have never heard a saxophone quartet play live, you’re in for a real treat!  The concert program will include a wide variety of music written for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone.  The quartet is coached and directed by master teacher and performer Lynn Klock.  Click here to read more.

THE COPERNICUS DUO Saturday, May 26, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

We are thrilled to introduce the members of the Copernicus Duo to you – meet David Bebe and Jamecyn Morey, a husband and wife duo active in the realms of musical performance and music education.  The Copernicus Duo, featuring David on the cello and Jamecyn on the violin will present our final concert of the 2012 season.  Join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening of music!  Click here to read more about David and Jamecyn.

Image Credit: personal, Andrew Kielbowicz, David Pope, personal

The Art of the Spiritual

Some of you may remember my posts on our lecture recital last spring: The Art of Song.

Steve and I were asked to put together a program for the Women’s Fellowship at church last April so we chose three art songs from three different periods, talked about the genre (music for voice and piano), the composers who wrote this kind of music, the texts they chose to set, and our process of preparing this music for performance on the saxophone and piano.  We had a wonderful audience!

In just a few (short!) weeks, we’ll be giving another lecture recital of sorts, this time on the history of the spiritual.  We thought it might be fun to choose a few of our favorite Gospel tunes and explore a little bit of the history behind this well-loved genre.  With musical classics such as “Wade in the Water” and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” if you’re in the area, we’d love to have you join us for a fun, engaging program of performance and conversation!  The event, free and open to the public will be held on Monday, March 12, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Westminster.

Hope to see you there!