Mucic as Medicine

Check out the following article from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/arts/music/29gure.html

Otherwise, perform

Ooh. Well, it has been a while. I've been off musicking. Teaching, planning, playing, then reading and thinking about the big career....Just as I posted a blog about being dissatisfied with only one thing a day, I started to feel like consolidating all the work I do as a teacher into one regular, benefit-paying, vacation-day accruing job. Yes, a school teacher.

As I was searching for ribbon for my coffee-filter jellyfish tentacles, my husband asked if I'd like to be a kindergarten teacher. Maybe. The idea of having a pet guinea pig in my classroom sounds very cool. But, do I have that kind of energy? I come home from teaching preschool music exhausted right now, and my back yearns for physical therapy, or a least Pilates. It's hard enough to stay awake, much more to get myself to the music stand and plan for the rest of the week.

I hear different things about being a schoolteacher - that it's great if all you have to do is teach music, that it depends largely on your school and principal, that it's all-consuming. My biggest objection is that I would not have time or energy to be a performer. It has always been this way - I have always felt so at home on the stage. This is the decision I made 12 years ago when I declared myself a performance major, to which my flute teacher said, "Well, if you can do anything else, do it. Otherwise, perform because you can't stand not to perform."

There it is. These days I'm experimenting with a Native-American flute, hoping to incoporate it into my solo set. My husband and I are collaborating on our business website. I'm facing the music stand and practicing, and I'm desperate for this $8000 flute...oh, and this cool shakuhachi headjoint for my flute, it's only $800. I have no clue how to come up with that money, but I have to perform. I also have to connect to people beyond playing, and for me education fills the gap. I sense, however, that there are more venues than just traditional classroom education or community service-style outreach. More next time...

...because musicians are a most curious thing

Would you agree? Do you take a deep breath before reciting the laundry list that is the answer to "Where do you work?" I certainly do. Today a new 8-yr old flute student asked me "Is this your job?" and foolishly I answered that it was only one of them. Amazed, she replied, "You have two jobs? Wow!" Wow is right. It's both a curious and somewhat amazing thing to be connected to 5 preschools, 3 private flute studios, and random freelance jobs.

I've worked just one job at a time before and I think it bored me. It's hard to remember because it was such a short period of time. As my good friend Cookie proclaimed (somewhat frustrated), I don't think I'm one of those people who can only do one thing all day long. How does that fit in this world?

The impetus behind this blog is to explore what it is to be a contemporary musician, although I'm curious about the artist in general too. I want to hear how your experiences have shaped your identity as a musician or artist. How does your current identity compare to other ideas (your own or others) of what a musician is? What do you do for a living? How does it suit you - or does it? What are the trade-offs, if any? Do find it difficult to explain yourself to people who are not from your artistic field?

next time, more on my beliefs....