Hiatus

‘Tis the week before Christmas, and I’m goldbricking. My right hand practice sessions have been sporadic. Frankly, I think I’m suffering a temporary burnout. So I’m shutting down this blog for two weeks. I’ll come back to the task with a renewed spirit in January. Perhaps the new year will bring better things.

But lest you think I’m down, allow me to review the last week or so. A week ago Saturday, I performed with two of my young students in a recital—one of them did his first performance in front of an audience. On Monday, a thirteen year old student of mine played for a masterclass at the Cleveland Institute of Music run by graduate students of Jason Vieaux. She performed Villa-Lobos Etude 8, and I’m told she did very well. (I couldn’t be there, as I was working that evening.) On the same day, I learned that one of my adult students was selected to perform for a Vieaux masterclass in January. (I sent him and e-mail saying that if he played well, he might get a full ride to the Curtis Institute of Music. He wrote back that he always appreciated my sense of humor.) Tuesday I had a group of six beginners perform for an audience of over 1000 people at a Catholic School where I teach. In a delightful coincidence, I found afterward that at the same moment I was onstage with my students, a former student of mine was doing her Master’s recital at the Peabody Conservatory. Saturday I went to Guitars International to help my thirteen year old student select her first handmade guitar. With her new Vazquez-Rubio spruce top in tow, she, her father and I then had dinner at a nearby restaurant and discussed her future, as she’s recently decided that she wants to pursue music as a career. This morning one of my students and I performed for a Christmas program at his Baptist Church. (If you want to get your blood going on a cold Sunday morning, a Baptist service will do nicely.) And tomorrow morning I’ll visit the school of a first grade student of mine, where he and I will play for his music class.

All in all, it’s been a good week and a half. Times like this remind me of why I love my job. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, though I might trade my paycheck for that of a hedge fund manager.

Merry Christmas to all, and I’ll see you in 2012.

——[My next update will be January 2, 2012]——