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It has come to my attention that my post, “Zen and the Art of Auditions,” did not sit well with a few of you. Specifically, at least a few of my colleagues in Montreal. I’m feeling conflicted about this, because on one hand, I don’t love the feeling that I’ve pissed people off. I always try my absolute best to write with honesty, integrity, compassion, … Continue reading The Solution (to the Problem with Auditions)
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Dear friends, I am writing to you from the other side. I have climbed up the giant A, admired the view from the top, and am now on the blissful descent back into freedom. Yesterday, I took my 10th, and dare I say, final, audition for the Montreal Symphony. I went into it with one simple, albeit radical goal, when you consider the messaging that … Continue reading Zen and the Art of Auditions
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Last week, I was in the middle of a warm, luxurious writing session at my boyfriend’s place in the Vermont countryside, when I got a call from my mom. “Are you going to take the audition?” Her question crept into my neck and shoulders like the first winter freeze, tightening everything that was soft just a moment ago. Are!You!Going!To!Take!The!AUDITION????? Every word an air-borne brick, assaulting … Continue reading The Trouble With Auditions, part 2
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I am at that point in my audition prep where I’m in a terrifying race against my body—trying to squeeze in enough osteo and massage therapy and physio appointments; and ingesting enough teas and…calming medicinal substances…to off-set the hours of practice that are making my left-shoulder hang stubbornly 5 inches lower than my right; my ring and pinkie fingers on both hands go completely numb, … Continue reading The Final Stretch
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For decades, we have been telling ourselves that we need to be perfect if we want to satisfy our audiences. But AUDIENCES DON’T WANT PERFECTION. They want to see themselves reflected on stage. They want humanity. Continue reading How to Fill Up your Concert Halls
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I have wanted to play in a professional orchestra ever since I was 16 years old, when I played Don Juan in the first full-orchestra rehearsal of the 2002 National Youth Orchestra of Canada. I had watched my mom play viola in Symphony Nova Scotia since I was a baby, because she raised me by herself and often brought me to rehearsals, plunking me down … Continue reading The Trouble with Auditions
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If I drink 2 beers these days, I wake up with a hangover. I don’t normally drink that often, but lately I’ve been hopping out to a lot of social things, and they tend to go hand-in-hand with booze. Last night, I made some tea, put it in a thermos and threw it in my bag before biking to a bluegrass jam in a friends’ … Continue reading Don’t Bring Tea to a Bluegrass Jam
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As much as I wanted to stay in last night as I was drifting to sleep at 6:30pm on a cold, dark, rainy, windy eve… I put on pants, left the house, got on the orange line, met my friend Scott on the Berri Uqam platform, traveled together on the green line to Homa, got off and walked up the empty street and into what … Continue reading Concert in a Bathtub
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Of course I’ve enjoyed many a fire before. I grew up right on a beach in rural redneck Nova Scotia where nightly summer bonfires were as inevitable as the attending drunks who would stumble into our yard to pee. But this wasn’t just any standard burning of rotten wood and Bud Light cartons, I was burning my creative demons. Continue reading The Restorative Power of Burning Things
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Yesterday for the first time in years, I played violin at a funeral. I hesitated when I was asked to do the gig a few days ago, by a dear colleague for a death in his family; because of the horrible travel time to pay ratio on a precious Saturday off, yes, but also… I cry when other people cry. I used to tease my … Continue reading Music for a Funeral
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