The Summerglen Files

Greetings, Summerglen friends! So, it’s been quite a long time…5 months or so really, since I took an unplanned sabbatical from the Summerglen blog. It was weird; one day, I just didn’t want to write anymore. And trombone tips videos? Blegh. If I tried to make myself get on here and write or record because [...]

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Yesterday, we wrapped up our fall 2009 Women Embracing Creativity course…and as always, we had a great time. After doing several runs of the course, I’ve realized that my favorite part is almost always the final class meeting. Our last day tends to be bittersweet; after all, it’s time to leave the circle where we’ve [...]

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1. Practicing good habits, even in the face of chaotic schedules, is a good thing… 2. but there’s no reason to beat yourself up if you get a little off-balance. Just keep on keeping on. And above all: 3. Where there’s an active schedule, success is somewhere nearby. Either the success made you busy, or [...]

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Our newest issue of The Summerglen Times is hot off the presses! With Thanksgiving coming up, we’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude, especially in terms of how it relates to young musicians. When you’re learning to play an instrument, it often can be easy to focus on the negative–all the bad auditions you have [...]

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Often, people comment on how fun my line of work must be. After all, I get to “play” for a living! While it’s true that being a musician is a super-cool job, it’s definitely not all fun and games. Like my grandmother said, “The work must be done in order to play.” As an independent [...]

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In times of trouble, I’ve found that expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to keep myself moving in the right direction. It’s the opposite of being jealous of others, and quickly staves off even the biggest case of the “poor me’s”. As a musician, it can be easy to whine. Especially when you’re [...]

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