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…
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…
Artist Portrait: Ola Gjeilo
Say hello to composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo. Ola's concert works are performed all over the world and he recently finished a residency with the Phoenix Chorale. Both of his…
Resolutions: Salvage & Recycle
It happens to all of us. We set goals and start out with such good intentions. Then, the world gets in the way and, little by little, we lose our…
Playing With Wolfgang: My Dog Ate My Minuet
The first time I ever worked on a Bach dance movement I felt like I had encountered an alien landscape. I had grown up on Bach chorales but somehow those…
PA Shorts: Boundaries
"You can’t fill up when you’re holding your breath. And writing is about filling up, filling up when you are empty, letting images and ideas and smells run down like…
Creativity & Method: Redux
It's the start of the school year and with it has come much discussion among colleagues, questions from new students, and personal observations about transfer student readiness. I have read…
Smart Choices
Do you judge yourself as you practice? Those negative inner thoughts are human nature. Sometimes voices from the past echo in our heads. Sometimes, the thoughts have nothing to do…