Perseverance, part 2

 Hello everyone,

I have realized over this beautiful, lazy winter day that perseverance still follows me (let's hope I still follow it!) in 2013.  One of the adventures which have been part of the Eastman experience is my time on the podium.  Here is a glimpse of what I did this past Tuesday. (You can click the link to see it.).

This week also brought a terrific realization about the limits of even the greatest perseverance.  Doing everything, everyday, at once, is not persistence.  It's insanity.  Trying to accomplish courses, assistant conducting an opera, doctoral comprehensive exams, and job auditions in the same semester is a little insane.  So - I am being more humane to myself and extending - humanly only - my time in Rochester.  I want to really finish the doctorate well, and take the next steps in a way that is reflective to who I am (and who I have become as a result of Eastman). 

Conducting used to really scare me.  Me against all those other people, who make a lot of noise, and I'm used to controlling everything with my hands.  Now, it is less scary.  It's been a good week for "process."  I've been keeping at it.  It's gradually gotten easier.

When I first looked at a conductor's score, I was in awe, but it also felt oddly natural.  As I'm studying, part of the process is like taking apart one of these amazing sculptures.  How are these Chihuly installations attached, anyway?  It's similar to gestures or counterpoint in a lot of music.   Figure out the thread, and you've got a work of art.