I started playing the piano when I was 4 years old.
I was blessed to live in countries where classical music was a huge part of the culture.
Poland.
Germany.
Russia.
Music oozes through the cracks of the streets.
(in front of the Moscow Conservatory)
(in the Chopin Academy)
(at the birthplace of Chopin)
It was everywhere.
I lived in places that Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky lived.
That is a pianist’s dream!
I even rode in an elevator Tchaikovsky once rode!
Pretty cool stuff.
I was also blessed to have some incredible teachers.
Teachers who taught me about patience, discipline, taking things slowly, being in the moment, not being too hard on myself, performing in front of a bunch of people, the pay off of hard work, etc.
These are all qualities I feel have seeped into other areas of my life.
I often get the question, “How are you so disciplined?”
How do I wake up at 5am to meditate and workout?
How did I get through Ironman training?
How did I get through bodybuilding training?
I truly believe my early piano “training” transferred to other areas of my life. Other areas that require discipline in order to be successful. It’s not that hard for me. I just get in the “zone” and get it done.
I am currently preparing for a voice & piano recital with a dear friend of mine who is a soprano.
We actually met at our college audition 20 YEARS AGO!!!
CRAZY.
We never collaborated while in college and only reconnected in our adulthood as we both found ourselves back in the DC area.
Neither of us turned our music degrees into performance careers but still find great pleasure in performing. And preparing for recitals.
We rehearse on the weekends and have been for the last four weeks.
And this past weekend we both had a moment. A moment during rehearsal of “WOW. We are KICKING ASS with this crazy hard piece of music that should have taken waaaaaay longer to put together.” Go US.
Do you know why?
Because of our training.
Because of the high caliber of performance we were held to. Effective practice techniques. GOOD technique. Musicality.
We both went to the Oberlin Conservatory which is a part of Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH. A lot of Oberlin there, I know … LOL!
Oberlin is the oldest conservatory in the country. It is a top notch school with top notch professors. It has been in the highest rankings of conservatories in the country for decades.
We both got a top notch education.
And it’s paying off now.
Because we can sit down and put together a 60 minute recital program in the pockets of our day. 20 mins here, 30 mins there, an hour on weekends.
(a video I sent my husband of my practicing … he always hears everything through headphones!)
I come home after a long day of dealing with crazy children at school and then teaching private piano lessons to sit down and practice the piano while my husband cooks me dinner.
Sometimes with a few sips of wine (much more than that and my practicing is not that productive!)
I am TIRED by the end of the day. That is not my optimal time to practice.
But I get it done. And I use my time efficiently and effectively and put together the best performance I possibly can. Liszt. Beethoven. Gershwin. Ginestera.
As a freakin’ HOBBY.
Being a concert pianist is NOT my career.
I am an educator. An educator who likes to still perform every now and again.
And I credit ALL my teachers and ALL the music schools I attended (Peabody Preparatory, Oberlin Conservatory, Moscow Conservatory, Chopin Academy) to be able to pull that off and still feel good about myself.
So THANK YOU to all my teachers.
I know none of them are reading this. But still. THANK YOU.
Not sure where all that came from, but just writing what has been on my mind…
The past few days’ workouts:
Saturday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Do what makes you happy.