There is something about the middle of summer that makes me feel like it’s time to gear up for a new beginning of sorts. In fact, when I was in college, I gave up the typical January New Year’s resolutions for several years and exchanged them for a similar ritual right before the start … More A Time for Renewal
In the midst of my dilemmas about time management in the past few weeks, I’ve had a few impactful realizations. Check out my latest blog post entitled “Learning to Stop Feeling Guilty.” … More Learning to Stop Feeling Guilty
It’s been a long time. Way too long. I keep telling myself that I won’t let so much time fly by in between posts, but the last year and a half or so has been a bit crazy, to say the least. Ironically, when things are happening more frequently, that’s probably when I should be … More Embracing Transition
There are times when my students teach me lessons unwittingly. Several nights ago, my youngest violin student–a kindergartener–groaned about having to play the violin that day. Whenever she is overly tired or is having an off-day for various reasons, she becomes quite vocal about questioning why she chose the violin. “But it sounds baaad,” Carissa* … More Stepping Back to Move Forward
First of all, thank you to all who have submitted scores and given your feedback on this Call for Scores! In only three short weeks, I received over 85 submissions for solo viola works. Although there are several submissions that have captivated my attention and are still potential candidates for future repertoire, I have narrowed … More Call for Scores Results Announced!
Deadline: All submissions are to be received by September 22, 2015. Instrumentation: Unaccompanied viola. May include electronics. Eligibility: Composers 40 years of age and older who consider themselves to be emerging in their careers. Examples of emerging composers may include, but are not limited to: composers who have changed careers, those who have had a … More Call for Scores for Emerging Composers
This summer I spent two weeks at the St. Mary’s Summer Composition Intensive in Notre Dame, Indiana. My favorite part of the Intensive was the fact that it encouraged me to experiment with composing in ways that I hadn’t before, such as writing site specific music or electronic music. Each day, our morning would consist … More Noodling around in Notre Dame
