Managing The Body That You Have
This week, cellist Julian Lloyd Weber announced that he will no longer perform on account of worsening spinal disease in his neck which has caused his right arm to weaken. "After…
PA Shorts: All People
Think of a typical college/university area recital. Well, that's not what happened last Wednesday at the Piano & Strings Area Recital. Yes, there was a piano on stage in the…
PA Shorts: Finding Waldo
“You need to find Waldo,” I said. It was true. Maggie was working on polishing the Bartok Sonatina and it needed character, action, detail, and nuance to truly come to…
Those Awkward Disappointments
Zack Rosenblatt / Arizona Daily Star Last Saturday night, after our Wildcats lost to San Diego by a single point in overtime, there was a scuffle between students and police.…
Letting Distraction Go
There are times when all of us are easily distracted by bright and shiny objects—diamonds, texts, emails, the slip of a finger, the person sitting in the front row, your…
Taking My Own Medicine
Last Wednesday evening I played a recital with Soprano Cynthia Sanner. It was a privilege to play the repertoire she had chosen—some works were new to me and others I…
PA Shorts: On Forging A Personal Musical Connection
I'm always encouraging students to find something personal in their music—something from their own lives and experience. Often, they look at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my…
PA Shorts: A Pianist, A Halfpipe, & A Snowboard
"Amanda," I said, "You have to spot your landings before you get there!" She looked at me for a minute and then said, "" We talked about the fact that…