Welcome!
Thank you for stopping by! The first iteration of this site was Stark Raving Cello: a Blogger site where I took turns opining, explaining, and ranting about whatever came into my 28-year-old brain. The name of the blog was accurate!…
Dear Lara
This piece originated as an assignment that sort of went rogue and proceeded to take over my life. It’s taken a long time—too long—to get it out into the world, but that’s a story for another day. Today, I want…
Pause
You may have noticed the April posts are not happening, and March was pretty sparse, too. I do have a lot written in drafts, but I’ve decided it’s probably time I stop giving my best work away for free. While…
March 2026 playlist
Oof. Take care out there, tender hearts.
the unexpected Alysa Liu tie in
SERIOUSLY have you ever seen someone skate like her? Ever? I’ve been enchanted by skating ever since I was a kid, practicing taking off from different edges of my feet on the patio whenever the Olympic coverage would go to…
Cellists I love: meet Sonya Moomaw
I’m about to do a monster day of writing and recording today so hopefully Thursday/Friday sees new YouTube and podcast stuff. In the meantime, I’d like to share a young cellist who caught my eye at last year’s Sphinx competition.…
February 2026 playlist
Never mind me, I’m just listening to one of these tracks on repeat. Can you guess which one?
Range, part 2: asking better questions
Hey friends! As promised, here’s the next installment of my examination of David Epstein’s Range, specifically relating it to what we’re trying to do as musicians. I’m dividing it up by chapter to keep things clear. Before I get underway,…
Join the Spring Salon!
Attention musicians, actors, dancers, and other creatives! I am holding a salon later this year, date to be decided to best fit the participants’ schedules. Previous iterations were more like casual master classes with only string players, but this is…
reading not your thing? now playing: vlog and podcast editions now available!
Over the years, I’ve become sort of compartmentalized in the way I consume information. I no longer zone out on Insta (though I do post there with some regularity), and I only lasted about 3 months on TT. When I…
know thyself: the dreaded dissapearing practice
I’ve talked about this before, usually in the context of structuring your practice. Since I’ve done a ton of that, I thought devoting some time to describing the issue itself in some detail might be helpful, so that wherever you…
mini post: an outrageous Popper 29
One of the things I love about working with advanced students (my studio is about 2/3 semi pros) is that they keep me in touch with the gnarliest parts of the repertoire. Just today, I’m getting to revisit Beethoven 6,…
process: what it really takes
I’ve been in conversation with a few of my more advanced students lately. They’ve adopted many elements of the Practice Modes I’m building a book around, and while they certainly clear the terrain in terms of not allowing gaps in…
mini post: park your brain somewhere new with tv practice
If you’re trying to make physical changes in your playing, I highly recommend the following, with the caveat that different brains find different scenarios pleasurable. If playing with your attention split causes calamity, it’s not a problem with you. This…
New Year and Jan 2026 playlist
I have deemed 2026 a year of distillation: to live more faithfully in line with hard earned and well-considered authenticity. And for the moments when those aspects do not inform me, I will be still, and I will listen. I…