Sunday, January 15, 2017

Heading Out to DC. . . but it's not what you might think

My good friend Annette and I are heading out to DC. No, we are not marching on Washington. We not staying for the inauguration ball. We are teaching at the Levine Workshop tomorrow. Suzuki piano. It's actually about the opposite of politics and I'm sure we can all use a little of that right now. Whatever your opposite is. . .

While I'm out there I'll try to investigate if it was the Russians that hacked our Suzuki Association of Minnesota website back in December. Just kidding, and not making light of serious stuff--you have to laugh a little or you will cry all day. I actually think the Russians might be tampering with my google calendar as well. It's probably for the best.

Two thoughts here: I love teaching these workshops. It's my absolute favorite thing to do. You get 15-20 minutes with little kids. Just a few moments to try to make a difference. Some little ideas to play more expressively or physically easier. Richer tone. Some little idea to make practice effective and fun. We need them to leave loving music more than when they walked in the door. I've got my flashcards and trinkets. I'm so excited. I also get to talk with parents about practice. This is my life folks. Practicing with kids. I'm chuck full of insecurity about a million things in life, but this is not one of them. This is something I can shout from the mountain tops with full authority. I know how to practice with kids over the long haul. Thank you Karen Bartman for the invitation. Karen worked with Calvin out in Colorado for several years and I still remember everything thing she said about Beethoven Op. 79. Aside from that, there was the cutest girl in their masterclass playing Clair de Lune and she was all kinda flirty with Calvin but he wasn't there yet and it was pretty funny. He was all about the metronomes. . . all the different metronomes. Institute memories.

Second thought: Mary's New Year's Resolutions. I'll let you process that a little. It's hard to treat all the stuffed bunnies with equal love when you are packing for a trip. That's the first conflict of interest I note. She only took ten to Arizona this weekend. Also, bins of stuffed bunnies are tricky to "process" as well. Baby steps, but I'm proud of her intentions--really proud--and I'll try for a few myself.

Here's to the best 2017 we can have.

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