Category archive

Just a thought

I’ve noticed that many of my students who are ready to start teaching hesitate, citing lack of experience. Part of the issue is that they associate teaching with taking payment (insert hilarious comment here), and feel they have no right…

Reminder!

Just a quick reminder for my New York peeps. I’ll be around tomorrow to give a little workshop, featuring the amazing Mike. Details here: I’d love to see you! New post to come within a few days. Many stick figures…

“why”

One of the things I never get asked that my adult beginners always get asked is why they play the cello. Depending on the company, the primrose path can lead to some pretty ugly places. Try not to feel put-upon. Look at this guy. Some…

Free Master Class in New York!

Hey New Yorkers (and other hardy Tri-Staters): I’m going to be giving a master class in SoHo on Sunday, November 14th. The flyer (click to enlarge and download) lists a 4:00 start time, but that may move an hour or…

The Audition.

This is what my life has been like recently. Everything always happens at once, but of course the audition has been the focus of my efforts. So last week, I did it. After practicing for months, chronicling my process, I…

Spice for the recipe

In the baseball game of Audition vs Emily, the pitcher is kicking the dirt on the mound, leaning forward to consult the catcher’s sign, and has risen up: coiled and ready to pounce.  Less than a week till the audition,…

Practicing with marteles

Just a quick response to Terry’s question about practicing with martelés in the previous post. My apologies to those of you who get this on RSS or other subscription and got this yesterday with the very Kermit-like still frame before…

The comforts of home

When I decided to take a break from Los Angeles, things were on the rough side. I couldn’t seem to hold onto enough students to make the ends meet, I was still healing from my surgery, and it felt as…

Oniony practice

There are many ways in which practice, especially as a rumored professional, evokes the oniony images. First off, it makes you cry. ha. What I’m after today are the peeling layers, ever-emergent, even at this stage. With a few weeks…

a lot for a little

I was watching SportsCenter this morning and found myself unexpectedly cheered by the sight of Giants pitcher Barry Zito. No, I haven’t traded in my allegiance to the Phillies. It was his socks. Allow me to explain. There are certain…

Oh shift!

I wrote a wee little article about shifting over at Tom’s blog, and thought a mini exercise might be just the thing to accompany it. One of the points I was driving at is the sense that a shift is…

An experiment

newsletter 1 It’s a little rough, but as I start to migrate the blog over to the site, I’m thinking about making some changes. This came into my head this morning, so I thought I would knock it out and…

Report from the field

Day 2 (my last) of Cosi Fan Tutte: “some assembly required” is upon us. I spaced and forgot my USB cable, so none of the nicer real camera photos are going to be up until I get back to Brooklyn at…

la doleur exquise

Based on what I’ve seen @ Twitter and the contents of my email inbox, it seems like this past week beat the crap out of the ol’ CelloFamily. Not to toot my own horn *pulls out sousaphone* but I give a…

Mixed bag o’ stuff

Part of the reason I’m going to be revamping my web presence is because numerous people who know me well say my website makes me seem mean. It’s a tricky thing: sounding structured and “together” while trying to show just…

Auditioning, “Oops” edition.

The audition pieces are chosen for very specific reasons. They want to see you hold down a sense of time when rushing is what feels good, they want to see huge flexibility in dynamic range, tone quality and color, intonation,…

Auditioning

I’m taking some auditions around town in a month or two, so that means more than ever, routine and repetition rule my life. I love it: the sense of purpose and direction, the hours that seem to disappear, the wondering…