(973) Kindred spirits

Post #973
[Private journal entry written on Wednesday, October 10, 2012]

I attended the music teachers association meeting this morning . . . this is the group to which I switched my membership this past summer due to all the ruckus that occurred with the other group of music teachers nearly a year ago.

I didn’t attend the new group’s meeting last month, which was the first meeting of the new school year. So, when I showed up to this meeting, I was welcomed warmly by all the members. They repeatedly expressed to me that they are glad I am now officially part of the group.

During the business meeting, they were asking for members to perform in the teachers recital at next month’s meeting. This recital is a very informal event . . . the members play for the other members whatever pieces they have been working on recently. Typically, no one from outside the group attends. It’s not expected that the pieces are to be performance ready . . . it’s just a fun, relaxed time of sharing.

They were concerned that too few teachers would sign up to play. So, I signed up to play the piece I’m preparing for my upcoming student recitals (How Great Thou Art, arranged by the Christian pianist, Dino Kartsonakis).

After discussing the recital, we moved onto other business . . . I sat quietly, absorbing the details of business meeting . . . and then, I had a brainstorm . . .

Photo by Martin Chen

I was surrounded by highly skilled musicians, many of whom are able to play multiple instruments . . .

The piece I recently composed, Pieces of Me, is arranged to be played by two pianos and two other instruments (viola, oboe, French horn, etc.) – there are four parts . . .

I wondered if three or four of the other teachers would be willing to play a part of my piece so we could perform it as an ensemble. I decided that I would ask around once the meeting was finished and while everyone was packing up to leave.

As I was waiting for the meeting to wrap up, my mind wandered back to my time with the other music teachers group . . . there would have been no room for such an idea . . . with me being such a “not-legitimate” teacher and all . . . the idea would have been shot down immediately . . .

In reality, I didn’t know if this group would be any more accepting, but my felt-sense was that they would.

When the business meeting and the educational program concluded, I headed over to talk to the man coordinating the recital program and I asked him about my idea . . . I told him that I could send him a pdf of the music and an audio file, as well, so he could see if it is something that he would be okay with . . .

He looked at me with a rather strange expression, then he said, “Well, I don’t need to ‘approve’ it . . . if you would like to pull together an ensemble, we would sure welcome that contribution to the program . . . it sounds like a really neat idea!”

Oh . . . wow . . . just like that, my brainstorm was accepted and embraced . . . wow . . .

So, I checked with the lady who would be hosting the recital to see how many pianos she has in her studio . . . she has a grand, a studio upright, and a digital keyboard with a number of voices. Then, I started asking around to see who plays what instruments . . . I found one lady who plays clarinet and she suggested that I contact another teacher who plays clarinet but who was not at the meeting . . . . the guy coordinating the recital program said he could play the strings part on the digital keyboard . . . two other teachers said they would play the two piano parts . . . they all thought it was a cool idea and were very excited about being a part of it.

And, just like that, my brainstorm became a reality . . . it’s really going to happen! I love it!

Later in the day, I contacted the second clarinet player. She said that she hasn’t been to a meeting in two years, but that the ensemble performance sounded so fun that she would commit to showing up just to be part of it – she simply had to get in on it!

So, I created pdf files and audio files for each of the parts and sent them out to everyone so they could become familiar with the music over the next month . . . all the parts are so simple that the teachers could easily sightread them. But, I figured they might like to be a little familiar with the music before the day of the performance since we aren’t going to get together ahead of time to practice . . . we’re just going to “wing it” and see how it turns out.

I love it!! This is awesome!!

I’ve never heard one of my own compositions performed by another person, so this will be a first for me . . . what a treat!

I invited to mom to come to the recital . . . she said she would come . . .

So, after feeling down about the money stuff, this was a spirit lifter, for sure. I’m even feeling hopeful around the CASA stuff . . . I have the sense that I will find a way to come up with the money I need to get me through the training period . . . I’ll find a way . . . I know I will . . .

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I had hoped to find some time today to send a response to Lori’s email. But, my day has been a non-stop rush. So, this evening, I sent a quick email to her to let her know I received her wonderful and courageous email and that I would respond in a thoughtful manner on Friday (the next time I will have enough free time to do so).

I’m tickled to have found a kindred spirit in my 3D world! I hope we can kindle a meaningful friendship . . .