Category: Life in the Arts

Report from home

While we’ve been practicing being “safer at home,” my oldest daughter Felicity has taken up photography. I got her a nice-ish camera last year for her birthday, but she never used it until now. Last week, she asked me to look at some pictures she had taken in the backyard. I was so delighted to see she was using the gift I gave her.

And her pictures were lovely: nice contrast, vivid colors, great clarity. I’m no expert by any means, but I just adore visual art – various periods, various styles and mediums. I guess I’m a visual art lover the way some people are music lovers: I don’t know much about it, and I’m not very good at it myself. But I’m game for a trip to a museum or gallery any day! I miss being able to go to museums and galleries and just walk around and revel in being physically surrounded by the brilliant artistry of gifted humans. Both my daughters are among my very favorite visual artists right now, so I’ve been surrounding myself with their art. Felicity has always been great at painting and drawing. Now she does photography, too.

While I was eating breakfast Monday morning, she came down stairs, already dressed with her camera hanging around her neck. She said, “Mom I’m going out to take some pictures,” and she went into the back yard. Usually, Monday mornings are fraught with stress and anxiety and dread about school. But on this day, she was full of curiosity and lightness and peace. I followed her outside and watched her learn from her environment. She was trying to shoot a bee sitting on a cactus flower. She would flinch and squeal when the bee would fly toward her. She got frustrated when she couldn’t get a clear shot. She kept trying, then she decided to shoot something else. I felt like I was observing my daughter learn in a class being taught by a silent, wise, and wonderful invisible teacher.

Maybe there’s a teacher at work in all of us… And what if that teacher has always been there?…

Can you just imagine that poor teacher after all these years…

COMPOSITION
I’m working on my “Kwanzaa Songs,” my “Te Deum” for choir and organ, and my “Three Moody Sketches for Piano.” And I continue to make plans for the recording of my album of Sacred Choral Works this summer (unless we’re still on lockdown, in which case who knows when it will be).

CONDUCTING
I’m leading virtual choir rehearsals on Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with my students at Harvard-Westlake and Requiem by Maurice Durufle with my choir at Neighborhood Church. Actually, there has literally been no physical conducting involved! because the video delay is so bad. But there is still so much singing we do together, even though we can’t really hear or see each other all at once. These sessions are the highlight of my week. This is where the power of audiation shines brightest. This is where the spirit of what we do as choral artists is most potent. Seeing each other engaged in this work on our computers, despite the fact our hearing and seeing is limited, is indescribably humbling and powerful.

SINGING
No upcoming performances. I’ve just been using Garage Band software along with my phone recorder to capture and mix my singing. I’m working on music for next week’s church service, which is being streamed live on Zoom and posted later on Facebook. I also have a few fun little personal projects that keep me busy.

PIANO
Suddenly, I have time to practice! I’m learning Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 1. I’m also reminding myself how to play Invention no. 1 by Bach, Austrian Song by Patcher, and Toccata by Khachaturian. I’ve begun to teach Natalie about posture and hand position. She plays everyday, teaching herself songs by wrote and making up little songs of her own. She’s exploring triads, inversions, and octave displacement (though she has no idea that’s what she’s doing! There goes that silent, wise, and wonderful invisible inner teacher again). She says she wants me to teach her how to read music next week.

FLUTE
I suddenly also have time to play my flute! I’m working on improving my tone and fingering by playing scales and exercises. Wow, it’s really hard for me to play those higher notes because my embouchure is so weak. I need a lot of practice!

COOKING
Just kidding! I don’t really like to cook. Thank God for Vincent and Felicity!

Upcoming events

Live events have been placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we’ll be back! Keep an eye on the Events page for the latest news.

Singers are athletes (and gamers)!

I live with a family of gamers. Therefore, I too am a gamer. Video games don’t come naturally to me, but I can get by and have fun. I also like watching my family members play video games from time to time because I love to see the excitement and joy it brings them. I play and watch video games with my family to show them that I appreciate the value and meaning in the games they play. But recently, my husband got me into a game I love to play myself.

I love Doom!
I mean, I love playing the XBox oneX version of the 2016 reboot of Doom. The first time I ripped off a demon’s arm from it’s socket and used it to pulverize that same demon’s skull into a million bloody pieces, thereby increasing my health meter, I was hooked! The music is epic and the graphics are incredible. Here are all the lessons I’m learning from Doom that are applicable to my life as a parent, musician, and teacher:

Chores and projects are like demons coming to reduce your health meter.
Slaying demons increases your health meter.
Sometimes you don’t have enough energy in your health meter to slay the big demons.
Sometimes you have to slay a few lesser demons to build up your health meter so you can take on the bigger demons with full health.
When the demons are upon you, keep moving! Never stop moving!
You can’t jump to a higher ledge if you’re not looking up!
When the pace slows down and the demons are at bay, take time to reorient yourself and enjoy the beauty of the martian surface around you.
Take time to search for hidden pathways and find secret treasures like keys and weapons upgrades that can help you slay demons more efficiently.
As you advance, the demons get, bigger, uglier, and harder to slay.
Sometimes you just want to shoot some random inanimate objects. It doesn’t advance your mission, but it’s entertaining and enables you to practice your aim.
As the demons get harder to slay, your weapons become more potent and your health meter lasts longer.
When the game ends and the credits roll, you won’t remember all times you died. You’ll think back on the good ol’ times you had slaying all those demons with your mad skills and cool weapons.

Many thanks to my husband for enabling my discovery of the art of video games. It’s amazing how well concepts and skills used in video games can translate to our everyday life and work. I’m glad my kids get to play so much – they’re learning a lot!

A scheduled life

I’ve struggled this month to think of what to share with you. Honestly, I’m just working a lot. My work as choral director at Harvard-Westlake School and as director of music at Neighborhood Church is very fulfilling. But it’s hard. I wake up early and come home tired. My commute is long, and there always seems to be some extra problem I have to solve or some difficult circumstance I have to deal with. Plus, I have occasional performances, film sessions, composition projects, choral clinics, festivals, meetings, and all sorts of professional activities that can quickly fill up my calendar and drive me into the ground if I’m not careful. So to avoid wearing myself out, I’m practicing keeping my priorities in order, setting clear boundaries, saying “no” to that which causes undue grief, and saying “yes” to that which feeds my soul. (And saying “sorry” when I mess up!)

My family is my #1 priority, so Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evenings are for family. Unless there’s an important appointment or a special performance or something, we usually do chores, play video games, go shopping, and watch TV (football, if I have my way!). I do not schedule meetings, rehearsals, or work-related events during family time. This time that I spend with my family is the most sacred time of my week and is critical to my health and well-being. Tuesdays are Bell Choir days – I get to have fun making music at Neighborhood Church without having to be in charge of anything! (Our Bell Choir director, F. Thomas Simpson, is phenomenal!).

Wednesday is date night. Thursday is church choir night (or a marathon day, because I work at least 14 hours on Thursdays). Friday evenings are for “me time” (I can do whatever the _ I want! (But I usually choose to be home with my family).

Sure, there’s room for flexibility here and there, but not much. And yes, there are times when I screw up and double-book myself or overschedule my calendar to the point where I have no time to rest. It’s hard to be disciplined and stick to the plan. But by prioritizing my activities the way I described above, I have a better shot at getting the exercise, nutrition, rest, and renewal I need in order to maintain a healthy existence.

Maybe I just needed to write this out to remind myself of how I’m supposed to operate. I suspect lots of performers struggle with this sort of thing, and hopefully it will be helpful. Thanks for reading.

Collaborative fundraiser — now through Sept 29

Tonality + Planned Parenthood LA Music Video Collaboration Crowdfunder

Now through Sunday, Sept 29 — Online

This week, I donated to Tonality’s crowdfunder to support their partnership with Planned Parenthood. The video at the heart of this project features my composition, Lady in Blue.

Our goal is $5,000.

Please join me and help carry Tonality’s social justice message into the minds, ears, and hearts of all who would listen. Click here to donate. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Learn more

Need a home for a critter?

With the start of the new school year/church year, we’re trying to declutter our home. Time for a fresh start!

If anyone needs a large pet cage on wheels, we have one we’re trying to sell. We kept pet rats for almost 2 years, and they were the best little pets we ever had. Now, this could serve as new digs for one of your little friends…

Contact me for more information.

Mini-memorial
Here’s a song I wrote when our pet rat, Pip, died. It’s called “Pip, You’re Alright”: