11/24/2025

It’s been a long deep dive since I was small and sat at our brown baby grand piano and my dad brought out his beautiful sterling silver CORNET. He wanted to be buried with it. He was my first teacher, and I took it all the way to easily getting my Masters in solo piano performance! but the next year I quit. Needed to pay the bills. It was a struggle to learn and rabidly practise the vast solo repertoire. I fought a daily battle of ‘should I quit or not’. Chamber music had not been a thought until I moved to SLO and the San Luis Chamber Orchestra opened their doors to me as soloist over a ten plus year collaboration. What I realized: it was more the connection with others, under the spot light of live performance, studying scores like a truth finder, weaving the notes written by extraordinary composers with the musical sighs of my fellow instrumentalists that I really enjoy. So now, I have found a rewarding cozy niche for myself playing chamber music…… Happy Practising…….

10/2/2025

Welcome to my blog Wonderful rehearsal today with Geoff. We played Franck, Brahms and Beethoven violins sonatas. Boom boom boom. now making pasta with John. Cheers ya’all, and hi to Michael.

1/22/2017

Still warm with the glow of pink power at the Women’s March! at the Piano twas I for a public concert. About seven hours ago. In a lovely white Chapel downtown San Luis Obispo. Was Reaching Higher, and sharing the Masters: Beethoven Sonata Op. 109, 3 Rachmaninoff Preludes, to help us all feel better. From memory; adding the occasional banter in between, feeling strong and free. What made the experience so delicious and heartfelt, is that breakthrough has happened. I am tasting the apple, after circling around it for so long. Having dreamed dreams of finding that Musical Spartacus who would be interested in me: and She is here. Forming the point in my pencil, the lift to my jaunt, the stars to my sky. (provided of course that I heft the stones to sculpt the damn design in the first place)…. Like having traveled on a desert with sand and the occasional pebble and bliss, to being in color, lying on lush grasses, with sweet sweat mist and endless skies. She got my language and I got hers. I am both rider and horse. Mixing the exquisite language of Beethoven; with a wee bit of me; my arms, body, hands fingers guided by Zeus (ahh, an exaggeration, of course, but my ideal)….. My power and the fresh assertiveness of it took my breath away. The depth of the focus, the ease of remembrance of notes and confidence just playing the piano was heartwarming. The thrill of really listening to the music as it is coming out of me, adding the spontaneous dust of the God’s and sharing it with beautiful listening souls tastes divine. life hangs a bit heavy now after that bright light of comfort and joy… endless music to still learn. thank you for listening. many more miles to go before I sleep. with gratitude and love.

12/12/2015

140 days:  Bach and Bartok, SB Public Library

friends, I will chronicle my musical journey from practice room to concert stage.  140 days until SB performance; a lifetime to learn to play the piano perfectly.

there are so many challenges and distractions, especially at my age.  But i love the storytelling in music, as well as the parallel growth in my life.  as my beloved piano teacher and friend Botso Korisheli said: did i do enough each day?…are my fingers, mind, body, strong enough to express who i really am?…am i disciplined enough to do the work?…did i study enough to know what the composer wants to say?…can i create the web of self confidence and the aura of inspiration?…am i connecting my heart to my finger tips to the listener out in the audience?…can the hours in the practise room ‘fly by’ productively instead of trudge on endlessly?…can i be a kind, focused, patient, harmonious, loving woman?  can i let in the light?… can i keep looking?…can i expect good?

happy practising,  msg