Goodbye, Jorja
After a year almost entirely away from the violin, I began to find that I’d missed playing. I decided to apply to graduate schools, and...
There's Room For Us All
This is what music is to me. This is what is meant to be. It’s for everyone. There’s room for us all. We can weep, wail, sing, celebrate, da
Lost Items
Anxiety is this dark, vague, lurking presence in my chest. I smell a hanging malodor in the air around me, try to ignore it till the...
BCP: Epilogue - Thank You
The typical narrative we think of for a concerto is one of striving, which is perfect for Beethoven. It's an epic story of one lone...
BCP11 Fair Trade
Today's post is just a short thank you to the students of Scott Goranson, orchestra director at Davis High School. It was incredibly fun...
BCP#10 Facing Fear
Beethoven wrote his Concerto for Violin in 1806, toward the beginning of his incredibly productive middle period (1803-14). In 1802, he...
BCP#9 Craft and Improvisation
I ended yesterday's entry with young Beethoven whittling at his art. The other word for this is practicing. There is a framework that...
BCP#8: Making stuff up: A Tale of Redemption
None of Beethoven’s biographers can find evidence of much social connection between him and his peers as a child. There are no tales of...
BCP#7: Love vs. Fear
Since I spend so much time alone in my practice studio, I like to surround myself with things that will inspire me while I'm there. Lots...
BCP#6: It's a Dance (or Conversations with Dead People)
I spend hours of every day alone in a practice room. It's just me and the violin, learning how to work together. Or it's me and the...