The break between the end of Fall semester and the beginning of Spring semester was a couple days shy of one month! Not long enough!!!
In that time, I had four performances, Christmas, a trip to Florida to see my in-laws, writing 2 syllabi, continuing to work on my app, finishing a piece, and - most of all - a trip to South Bend Indiana to see the South Bend Symphony perform my piece Daughter of the Stars.
That kind of schedule is a bit crazy; I have to be honest. And there were points where I wondered what I was thinking trying to cram all that in.
But sometimes you just have to DO. Make it happen. People say, "Prioritize!"
Well, prioritizing is for the birds when it's all important and all has to get done.
When I get overwhelmed, I just take a deep breath or two and say, "Don't worry, it will all get done." And somehow, it does.
Well, not ALL of it. Like housework, for example. Housework does not get done. I wonder why...
But we eat, mostly healthy food. And we are clothed with clean clothes.
So, good enough. (I have to give much credit to John!)
The trip to Indiana was amazing. I didn't bother to check where the symphony was performing because, one thing at a time, right?
First, make sure the weather is OK for traveling (I did NOT want to get caught in a snowstorm around Lake Michigan!)
Next, make sure the hotel is booked and you get there.
THEN figure out where to go for the rehearsal. It was of no import to me to know ahead of time where the venue was, because I was going to need GPS from the hotel no matter the situation.
It turns out the symphony was playing at Leighton Hall on the campus of the University of Notre Dame! This was on a bucket list I didn't know I had!
I never even imagined stepping foot on the campus, and then there I was walking around like I belonged there!
The symphony did such a wonderful job with my piece. The Maestra, Fernanda Lastra, took the piece a bit slower and pulled out all the tenderness. It felt like the orchestra and the audience together were holding something extremely precious.
I was able to meet several orchestra members and make some connections.
I also chatted with audience members after the concert. Some of them told me my piece was their favorite in the concert (shh....don't tell anyone!)
Of course, that is, in part, because it incorporated the tune Shenandoah, and any time you give the audience something they already know, they feel smart and like it a lot.
I am extremely grateful to Jennet Ingle, the principal oboist of the SB Symphony, who curated the concert and chose to include my piece! I told everyone it was a big deal because that was the 1st concert which included one of my pieces that someone had to buy a ticket to attend!
In other news...
I finished the last movement of my piece Bridges for solo piano. I am looking forward to premiering it in its entirety when Paul Pulsipher and I put on our recital. Our January 24 date in Nashville was snowed out. If you haven't heard, 2/3 of the US had a bad storm last weekend!
We only got ice and a dusting of snow in my immediate area. We did not get as much ice as expected, which we are very grateful for. Widespread and long-lasting power outages were predicted, but we did not lose power at all.
That said, school is still out because the roads are still icy.
The north sides of the mountains and hills do not get much sun, so there are places where it will take a while for the roads to be passable.
I created videos this week in lieu of going up to Boone to teach, since in-person classes were canceled.
I now have a fair amount of experience making videos teaching music between snow days and my app...
