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My teacher is right
Of course my teacher Josh Fadenholz is right; it is better to have two pieces on the road to perfection than a lot of pieces more or less sloppy. Discipline! But also a little time for the pretty pieces that are on hold right now, like Rustles of Spring by Christian Sinding.
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My weekend begins
Luckily I have Fridays off and my weekend begins on Thursday evening. Discipline! I had my piano lesson today. Discipline was the watchword. Playing with dynamics and other nuances, playing triplets and then eighth notes correctly: I need to focus on the Bach and Beethoven and crawl before I walk. Hands separately, line by line,…
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day after my birthday
Well, we did have the cake in Class Voice and sang Over the Rainbow and Shenandoah; Pete picked me up and took me to the Guardians. We were probably just 30 feet behind home plate and noticed that the ump put his hand on the catcher’s back when hunkering down for the pitch. No one…
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My birthday
Hi everyone! Melissa Sue Anderson of Little House on the Prairie fame has exactly the same birthday. I got a carrot cake at the Food Pantry, and maybe we’ll serve it up for Class Voice. Went into a practice room, played a few Grieg lyric pieces and Beethoven Sonata #20, Bach #14, Rustles of Spring…
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Matthew 20:1-16, Vineyard Workers: it’s not too late
The parable of the workers in the vineyard was the Gospel reading in church yesterday. The idea is that those who come to salvation late in life get the same reward as those who come to faith early in life and bear “the heat of the day.” In my twenties and thirties I scoffed at…
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Saturday after the concert
I made homemade fresh beets, boiling them for 45 minutes and then running cold water over them and peeling them, slicing them and serving them to myself with margarine. I also cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed our living room. The noise was loud and I was moved to say “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh” on a note that complemented…
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This is a Video I’d Like You to See
I find this very beautiful.
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a bonus
Before the concert I began talking to a trio who sat at my table. The older man looked familiar; I asked him was he a fiddler? Neither of us recognized the other; it had been more than 13 years, and he had grown a beard. We talked of dissertations and Program 60. Finally I asked…
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Cleveland Orchestra plays Amadeus
Well, on a balmy September Friday night days before my birthday I treated myself to the Cleveland Orchestra/Cleveland Orchestra Chorus’s performance of the movie Amadeus. It was beautiful and got a standing ovation, with Richard Kaufman and Lisa Wong the conductors. I could see all the strings up close from my seat in the middle…
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My jingle
For Songwriting class, I wrote this jingle/song about Amazon: You are amazing AmazonYou can get anything you wantBoxed up on your porch in daysAmazon you do amaze Morning noon or late at nightYou’ll find a shirt that looks just rightAnd place your order on your phoneIt’s easier than dog eats bone. When it’s almost time…