Try Again

Yelling to get a child's attention equals I lost.  Teaching takes practice so tomorrow I'm going to try to turn awareness of others into a game.

New Students

This is an exciting time of beginning an adult cello studio.  There are several trials this week and this evening was the first lesson with one of them.  It is also inspiring to me to meet adults who are interested in learning something, and it is really fun to take them over hurdles they never imagined doing.  And adults are really cool in that they have already experienced a lot of life.  They have stories and complex emotions, and yet there is still so much more that cello can teach them.  It's a reminder that I too can learn these lessons from the cello as an adult.

I am really excited to meet each of these new people, and excited at the idea of having a group of adults all beginning at the same time, capable of having a group class together and sharing in that social aspect of learning and growth as well, supporting one another in this journey.  It is a really exciting thing to think of, going forward.

Day in Westport (remembering the board)

It has been a moving day.  From a sincere exchange on the bus with a former opera singer (about growing older, contending with one's body, finding a new career, and sharing the new found calm), to the tour I received of Westport Connecticut from a potential employer at the Suzuki School there (the beaches, the million dollars houses, the moss on the trees), to all the new students and their parents that I met (to the mother that sent me a heartfelt email about my lesson with her son), to the cab driver that shared his working day (after day after day) life with me after having been laid off from a payroll management job at a non-profit.  It has been a day with my cello, a trip up the coast to try on a new potential job.

I would like to take this position, if the numbers can work out.  There are so many possibilities here, in this life I'm living.  Driving through the New England rain with a committed Suzuki teacher was a centering 45 minutes for me.  Taking in hours of green and committed students was a different life than my current teaching situation.  I'm considering another position as well in the city (still uncertain if there is really an offer), and in two weeks doing an audition for Teaching Artist Apprenticeship not knowing if that is really something that I would be able to do given these other possibilities or the direction in which I want to go.  There are a lot of options.  The fire is starting.  But I have to be centered with what I want, what I envision.

Stepping Into Something New

Spring time seems to be the time that people become interested in cello lessons.  I have three trial lessons this week.  That's up from zero the past two months.  And there are some teaching prospects for the coming year as well.

I am wondering what my future will be for the school program where I am teaching.  It has been a challenging year, and yet so rewarding to see the work that has been done.  It is exciting to see students playing the cello, when 7 months ago they couldn't.

And yet, coming away from the belt test I am reminded of a teaching focus that I would like to strengthen in myself.  It is something that I think can be quite natural and yet it needs practice.  When I see my students struggle with finding good posture, or fluidity, or intonation, I remind myself of my own ability to see where I want to be, combined with my inability to be there.  Teaching and learning require the pointing out and the following, the realization and the actualization.  Neither is instantaneous.

I recorded my students for them to do their own self evaluations and for me to do them as well.  It's funny to frame something, to see it set apart of the the run-up of the day and the week.  Here is this perfect little person, full of many parts, from their family, from their family's past, from their school and peers.  Sometimes trying, sometimes distracted.  Seven perfect little people, doing things they once couldn't do.

When you teach it must be in service to your students.  It is not about you.  It must come from your love for them.  -Master D'Amico

More Pittsburgh

Took an audition this morning, but didn't advance.  With every audition there is something to learn.  I know my music well and can play it well, but something is happening at the point of auditioning that needs examination and reflection.  

Afterwards, a native Pittsburgh cellist suggested a place to walk that had some restaurants and shops.  I also took a detour across the river.  It's a beautiful city.  Ben and Jerry's only had a few flavors, but one of them (vegan peanut butter chocolate cookie) would have been the choice among hundreds.  And then I took a walk to Point State Park to see the start of the Ohio river and look down to Cincinnati.

River walk, north side of the Allegheny River

Meeting the three rivers, looking to Ohio

Weekend So Far

I am now in Pittsburgh, a beautiful city that reminds me a great deal of Cincinnati.  A cab driver took me to the Airbnb where I'm staying by way of a paper map, a magnifying glass to read it, and a touristic approach to all the buildings we passed.  I'm on a big hill overlooking a city, a spot that I can only imagine would cost millions of dollars in Manhattan, but here is covered with tiny winding streets and small modest homes.  These pictures don't quite do justice, but it's an idea.  

 
Yesterday's belt test was a very full day.  It left me feeling both peaceful and reflective. Tomorrow is an audition, another event to round out this incredible weekend.