On our trip to Italy this summer, we had a free day, and my daughter Leah and I, along with some colleagues, went on an excursion. Someone from our group recommended we eat ice cream in the city we were visiting. As Leah and I separated from the rest, we followed suit and ordered ice cream at one of the multitude of parlors. Leah ordered four different flavors, and I went with three. To our amazement, each scoop grew to fist size, and our ice cream cone rose like a tower. Things got even better when the server photographed Leah’s beautiful ice cream cone and complimented the combination I had chosen. Leah and I looked at each other, and what came next was, of course, us trying to eat the ice cream we had unknowingly ordered, never expecting its huge quantity. As the ice cream melted and dripped on the ground, we laughed and giggled as a woman passing by cried out, “Oh, my God!”

After a long summer of traveling, practicing, playing, rehearsing, and performing, I am finally home now.  I have gathered a library of experiences, meeting people, making music with them, and enjoying nature at its finest in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Italy. I took part in two chamber music events and a couple of viola da gamba workshops. Even though I learned a great deal, I am relieved to be home and ready to fall back into my routines.

The last several months have been intense, with familial events involving my daughters.  Preparations for the university entrance examination for my younger daughter, preparations for a competition with her clarinet quartet, and my older daughter’s diploma examination. One exiting and the other coming in, this is how it has always worked out with my daughters' educational journey.

As the church bells of the parish church chimed in Raach am Hochgebirge on Sunday, May 24th, the tones of our viols echoed through the windows of the community center playing music of Giovanni Gabrieli. Our two groups, intermediate and advanced, working all weekend separately, came together as two choirs for the culmination of this intense workshop in consort playing. The course began on Friday, May 22nd, and ended after lunch on Monday, May 25th. Our instructor, Michael Brüssing, organized and conducted the entire program.

The view from my windows of the sun shining in the garden and the surrounding fields is uplifting to the spirits as I begin my morning routine.

As usual, I have been busy rehearsing and performing this past weekend. I acquired some new insights through my activities and want to share them with you.

It has already been a couple of weeks since the Lower Austria Youth Symphony Orchestra performed Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. My daughter played the first clarinet part. The performance was a beautiful, charming rendition of this fine work, played by young musicians. Every time my daughter completed her solos during the concert, my older daughter and I delivered secret and silent claps as we gave each other knowing looks.

The forsythias in our region have officially announced the arrival of spring, having already bloomed, signaling warmer days ahead. I have a sense of relief each year when their yellow flowers first appear.

Performing on stage for a musician is a vulnerable place to be. I always thought of it as communication with the audience. The performer places a great deal of themselves out there. And the first time I had to record my pieces for a competition application, I felt a barrier. For me, the barrier was the lack of an audience. It seemed that there was no feedback. Playing for an audience seems to me similar to the direct experience in personal relationships. Should there be real communication in human relationships where friendships are formed,  issues are resolved, or understanding is achieved between two parties, then the direct approach would be the best path to take. And the latter is my preferred method.

Preparing for a concert usually involves physical preparation, such as practicing for hours on end and attending rehearsals and coaching sessions. However, apart from practicing and playing in the privacy of your home or practice room, how else can you prepare for a concert?

Today, I am grateful to finally be over a terrible flu, an illness I battled over the past couple of weeks. During that time, I somehow managed to keep up with my cello playing for an important assignment coming up, but did not have enough strength left for the viola da gamba. So I did not practice the viol for about a week. And tonight, I picked up my bass viol and hoped for the best. The fact that I had kept up with my cello playing paid off, and it felt like I had never really stopped playing the viol either.

Too many times, I have heard music enthusiasts express their dismay at their own progress after two years of piano lessons, as their hopes of making a career in music dwindle to nothing. Then they contemplate quitting altogether.