Hello everybody! Well, I haven’t been doing as well keeping up with the blog as I initially anticipated, but life gets busy and new habits take time to form sometimes… ;)
Happy New Year! I have a good feeling about this year. I spent New Year’s Eve in Rotterdam, Holland, where they light fireworks right from the streets in a way that is both terrifying and extremely exciting. I’ve never been so close to fireworks before, and while it felt actually a bit dangerous, it was a thrilling way to start this new year! I was on a mini tour in Europe for the last month of 2019 and the first half of January; my travels took me through Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and England. I was working on all-new songs for my upcoming solo album that will be finished this year! I performed in some really wonderful places and wrote songs at some unique and cool pianos with inspiring friends and mentors who are scattered all over the world. It was really special to connect with dear old friends, all musicians, making lives and careers for themselves all over Europe in so many different genres. It’s always inspiring to spend time with people who are bravely forging their own paths. And I’m very excited for all of you to hear the music that came out of it!
Now I am back in sunny Pasadena, and really loving my work with my students in my private studio as well as at Pepperdine this semester. I’m enjoying my first experience as Musical Director for the Pepperdine spring Musical Theater Scenes production! It’s an interesting thing about teaching, how some months it feels like there is a theme of what we are working on together, and this year so far, I’d say the theme of what I’ve been working on with my students is BRAVERY. Whatever age we are, it seems we all get to a point of struggle in trying to “fit in;” trying to be vulnerable and courageous in the face of judgement or rejection, trying to understand what our “type” is, what genre our voices are best suited in, trying to please the people in positions of power above us, etc etc. My hope for my students, as well as my friends, and truly, myself, is that we can find our bravery in the pure intention to be honest and communicate the stories that need to be told as authentically as possible. Our stories need to be told. Our truths need to be expressed. After all, that’s a large part of what art is about, right? Honest expression heals, inspires, and strengthens. Let’s be brave and strive for that.
I’ve been thinking of this quote a lot this year, and I feel it ties this blog entry off pretty nicely:
“There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” - Toni Morrison
May we all express our truths with BRAVERY in 2020!
With Love,
Kate