January 2025 playlist
I just canNOT get enough of Mk.Gee. His music has been in my head since October.
Emily Wright
Resolutions, big and small
Just a short post on this last evening of 2024 to pass on something that has helped me remain motivated and satisfied with my progress through pandemics, spine surgeries, moving to a small town with no gig scene or in-person…
December 2024 playlist
This list skews heavily Christmas-y, mostly quiet. Wishing you and yours peace and abundance in these wild and uncertain times.
Requests for merch!
I forget that I have a TeePublic store; or rather, I forget to tell people I have a Teepublic store. I add things throughout the year, and also am happy to take requests for artists and other personalities you’d like…
Back! Plus new podcast episode with Erica Sipes
I’m still recovering from the trip to Los Angeles and working out some plans for a group class that should start in February, but in the meantime, the next episode of the LC podcast series about performance anxiety is up,…
New podcast episode!
This is the first in what will be a series where I explore performance anxiety through a number of different lenses. In this episode, Carly and I chat about perfectionism as it relates to performance and a novel form of…
Adding to your lexicon: tenuto
Behold! The mighty tenuto! Language of origin/root: Italian, tenere meaning to hold. I’m starting this series with tenuto because I went three decades without truly knowing what this small but transformative line atop or beneath a note really did: I…
November 2024 playlist
Enjoy!
Lonely Cello voice inbox!
In the coming weeks, the podcast will surge back to life with new interviews and episodes focusing on every possible aspect of performance anxiety: what it’s like, how and why it manifests, strategies that help, strategies that…don’t help…As well as…
Reconsidering practice, part 2: Quality
The four aspects of excellent practice as I see them are: Today I want to talk about quality. Each of these elements contributes something powerful and distinct to the quality of your work. Right off the bat, sort these concepts…
Practice streaming
Once a month, I’m going to stream a practice session on Zoom that is free to join, and afterwards, you can ask questions about anything you saw/heard or your own practice! The next practice stream will be on Tuesday, October…
Reconsidering practice, part 1
In trying to come up with a grand unifying theory of performance anxiety, I proposed (at a talk I gave this summer) that the likelihood of its debilitating effects exist on the axes of two main components: preparation and self-concept.…
Rot or Not 1: Brisa Suave vinho verde
This is NOT rot! Delightful, semi-effervescent vinho verde. If it’s called vinho verde, it’s from Portugal, and although the literal translation suggests “green wine”, in practice, it just means young wine, not aged very long. Lower alcohol (as is the…
Introducing: Rot or Not
In 2015-16, there seemed a real chance that my spinal issues would cost me my career in music. My mind raced, trying to imagine a skill I was already in possession of that could become a new full-time profession. The…
Intro to Practice Modes
Students frequently ask/beg/lament: what should I practice? How much? In what order? For how long? Should I write it all in a journal? Count my reps? While these are decent questions, I think the better one to ask is “how…
October 2024 playlist
Scaffolding your shifts
There are a few ways to approach shifts, each featuring subtly different orders of operation. The approach I’ll be talking about in this post is commonly known as old finger shifting. This name always makes me chuckle, as I imagine…
Relaunch imminent!
First off, if you’re here because you were looking for the Tamarack Arts website, hi! In the next month or so, this site will relaunch with a new, simplified look, and will gradually populate with new posts, events, podcast topics,…
September 2024 playlist
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!…
Lesson notes: things you don’t need to worry about as a student
If you have practiced, have faith that your instructor can see your work! Hitting a wrong note or three Take a moment and be reasonable. What do you think being a student is like? Why do we take lessons? Where…
August 2024 playlist
Lesson notes: one common thing you definitely should not do
Perhaps the most important thing a well-intentioned adult student can do is get out of their own way! Something I’ve noticed about adult learners is this tendency to—out of a completely wholesome desire to be polite and show their dedication—absolutely…
Heads up!
Things have been quiet here, but behind the scenes, I’ve been working furiously. The remainder of 2024 is set to be a busy time. I’m slowly populating the calendar here: Top of the list is submitting a proposal for…
New podcast: women composers with the wonderful Wendy Velasco!
Wendy is an absolute institution in the Los Angeles string world, and her latest project to catalogue and promote the work of women composers is just one example of her tireless efforts to make a difference in the music community.…
Lesson Prep Minisode!
If you have lesson anxiety or find it hard to strike a balance between caring about the result (essential!) and holding yourself accountable for every tiny flaw (misery!), have a listen to this. Lots of love to all the tender…
Finding Walden
There is a nature preserve not too far from where we reside that has a bench with an excerpt from Thoreau’s Walden pressed into it. In the spring and summer, the place runs wild with ferns, soft moss and lichen,…
New Podcast Episodes!
Making a podcast is such a cool way to have conversations with interesting people that you’d otherwise have no excuse to talk to. One thing I really miss about being in an academic environment is having (and hearing) discussions with…
oh my god, you guys, part 3
read part 1 here and part 2 here! I had beaten P to the house by only a few minutes, and figured that a surge must have done something to the power. It was incredibly warm and I was covered…
oh my god, you guys, part 2
read part 1 here. The route from DC to Litchfield county has a number of variations, most of them involving whether to cross into NY via Manhattan or Yonkers. Strangely, it is frequently faster to go through Midtown, but I…