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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Rome Festival Orchestra 2014

Today is an unusual post. I am not writing an article about how to be a better Suzuki parent or teacher. Instead I am making an appeal to my readers and friends.

I am raising funds for 8-10 of my university students to travel to Rome, Italy in summer 2014 to participate in the Rome Festival Orchestra. This is a three-week program, and the students will learn a great deal of demanding repertoire. In additional to orchestral performances, the students will be presenting several staged and costumed opera suites and at least one full-blown opera production. The students will also perform chamber music works and participate in recitals. All of this music-making takes place in the heart of the city of Rome, within the shadow of the oldest part of the city and within walking distance of the Vatican. The students will have opportunities to visit places of historical and cultural significance, including museums.

The students will return home with renewed enthusiasm for their music studies as well as with a new maturity that comes from the travel and educational experience of living in a foreign country, especially a country of such great musical and historical significance.

How can you help? Please visit the following link to read more about my campaign to raise the necessary funds to make this experience happen. Then consider joining my campaign to fund this experience. You can find out much more information by visiting: my campaign.

I have set my campaign for 60 days to reach our goal. Thank you for your consideration. I hope to report great success in the coming months.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Happy birthday, Dr. Suzuki!

How fitting that today, the birthday of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, I would be having lunch with the parent of a student who attended our former Texas State University Suzuki string Institute! We plan to revisit old, friendly memories about our fun!

Thank you, Dr. Suzuki, for bringing such a joyful dimension to my life. 

Monday, October 7, 2013

Monday Morning Check In: Where are You?

Well, I am obviously not here. After a whirlwind schedule of recitals and performances in the past six weeks, when I finally found a few spare moments, I decided it was best not to try to cram them full with more activities. No, I did not straighten up or dust my house. I did, however, make enough meals to last me through this week of symphony rehearsals in the evening. I also found time to practice for my upcoming performances in the next three weeks.

While I did contemplate writing a Monday morning blog post, I finally made the decision to let it go for this week. I did come up with a few topic ideas that I would like to address sometime in the next week or two.

Did you know that horses breathe through their noses and not through their mouths? That means that horses will "drown" if their noses are clogged up or covered by water. Think of me as a horse this week, as I struggle to keep my nose above the waterline.

See you soon. Send good thoughts my way. It has been a roller coaster these past two weeks!