purple rain

candelabra wanted

One of my long-term students is following her heart and moving with her husband to Nepal to do some missionary work. While I’m sad to see her go, I’m thrilled to be the recipient of her amazing keyboard! Woo hoo! Now my students can tremble at the magnitude of my piano incompetence. Here are some […]

Benning and Blackerby- a traveling cellist’s best friends.

Flying with any instrument is a challenge. Flying with a huge instrument is a HUGE challenge, especially with the bizarro security antics going on around the country. So when I excitedly accepted my cousin’s request to play for her wedding (love theme from the Princess Bride, natch), the first thing I did was contact my […]

rewiring project

    I’m always deeply touched by stories like this, (where thousands of people are getting together to make a kid’s wish come true)– and I think part of it is because much of my childhood involved dealing with lots of people coming together to do terrible things. I spent my formative years assuming that […]

chattin’ with Lucy

I have no idea how Lucy has such technical know-how, but this just happened (you may need to click to enlarge):   The fundraiser got me a huge start towards purchasing Henri, and I have a sense that things will work out with time. If you missed the Indiegogo campaign, donations can be sent directly […]

priorities

“I don’t want to hear myself cry”. I find incredible depth in those words, and in their timing.             Ellen took it to the next level.  PS: She rocks the half sleeve like a boss. What a lovely creature.

I have the best students.

As a thank you for helping him choose an instrument, one of my students drew this for me: a Marine playing the cello.   This could not be a more timely reminder of what’s important. I really do need my students as much as they need me.

memorial day, 2012

Excerpted from Rupert Brooke’s sonnet 1914: III : The Dead Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead! There’s none of these so lonely and poor of old, But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold. These laid the world away; poured out the red Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be […]

what do you play for?

…and by play, I mean “do your thing”. I know this blog is read by all kinds of people who have nothing to do with cello: members of the military, lindy hoppers, business owners, retired folks (whose schedules are now more crammed than they were pre-retirement). In terms of answering this, I teeter between the […]

from the big man himself

Whoa. Click to enlarge what Santa had to say in response to our letters!