“Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people…
I awaken around 3:30 this morning with these words on my lips. I think to myself, “That sounds like a familiar lyric.” I open my voice memo app and record that line and this one as well: Let Kindness and…
Production has begun on the Winter Recital to be held, Sunday, December 6 via a Zoom gathering. Save the date on your calendar. Send me an email to request an invitation. The standard performance practice nowadays is for each individual…
The Summer Jazz Academy from Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is going on now. It started July 20 and continues with classes for two weeks through Saturday Aug 1. I listened to a great class on Monday, Fundamentals of Jazz…
It all started with regulations on the nightclubs in New York City back in the 1920s. In 1926, the city council passed a law that imposed a 3am curfew and outlawed dancing in clubs without a special cabaret license. You…
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra offers the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival every year in May. It is a festival of high school jazz bands playing from the library of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. This year is the 25th anniversary of…
Last night I dreamt that I was playing my flute and clarinet in the Rose City Wind Symphony. I had both instruments on my lap and took turns going from one to the other during the rehearsal or concert. Today,…
A friend recommended this documentary to me recently. I finally got a ’round tuit’ and thoroughly enjoyed this movie based on the memoir by Linda Rondstadt, Simple Dreams, A Musical Memoir. I hadn’t realized the amazing voice Rondstadt had until…
Times like this [Can you say pandemic?] call for alternative performance modes. With all of us under stay-at-home orders, group performances are out of the question. Our Spring Recital dates (April 26 and May 3) came and went without our…
My students have been working hard these past few months. Video lessons started on March 13. Last Sunday, May 3, we gathered for a Spring Music Celebration – by video conference. Celebrating Students I took this opportunity to celebrate the…
It has been six weeks today since I have seen a student in person at my studio. I am feeling the loss of connecting with my students and making music together. It’s also been six weeks since I’ve had a…