A Decade in Review
Do you ever take a few moments to take stock on where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished? I took a little time this month to reflect on the last decade and all of the crazy things that changed. It put so much in perspective for me and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next ten years.
Wow, 10 years. It feels like it simultaneously flew by and limped by. There were periods of the last decade where time felt like it stood still, and months that flew by in the blink of an eye. The last 10 years were big for me. In 2010, I had my undergraduate degree and was freelancing in Minneapolis, playing mostly musical theater and performing and recording with bands. I had a part time job at Apple as the person everyone yelled at when they couldn’t figure out how they screwed up their iPhone. I started last decade feeling a little lost and unsatisfied, and finished the decade with more drive and purpose than I ever imagined I would possess.
10 years ago. My band WIVE performing at the 501 club in Minneapolis, about 1 week before I moved to Oklahoma (July, 2009).
Its funny how sometimes you feel like you have stalled. Like all of your friends (and social media acquaintances) are whizzing into the future adorned with success and you are just sitting around hoping you’ll get called for a little work, or that you’ll do something productive that day, or that your life even has meaning or purpose. Sometimes I feel like nothing is changing, that everything has stagnated and that I have achieved nothing. Occasionally, I get lost in these periods of life and forget to take stock on how far I’ve come. Taking time to reflect on the past decade gave me some much needed perspective on this journey called life. I laugh at some of the little “fails” that in hindsight are no big deal, or would have led me down a path I realize now that I do not want, but at the time felt life-shatteringly tragic. I’ve grown so much grit and resilience, perspective, drive and passion. I said goodbye to many toxic relationships, and hello to many wonderful people and opportunities. Can you relate to any of this? Do any of these feelings resonate with you?
Below, are a few of the highlights from the past 10 years of my life.
Places I lived:
Minneapolis, MN
Norman, OK
Tulsa, OK
Los Angeles, CA
(a total of 7 different addresses)
Degrees and Training completed:
Proof that I have a DMA
Masters of Music
Doctor of Musical Arts
Suzuki Training
Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine Certificate
Books read:
207+ I started keeping track in 2015 but I definitely read books before then. See my recent blog post about my recommended books from those years).
Races:
at the LA marathon in 2019.
2 marathons
6 ( I think?) half-marathons
at least 10 5Ks
at least 3 10Ks
1 sprint triathlon
The Hood to Coast relay race (2012)
1 dressage show
1 local hunter jumper show at Sonrise Stables in Oklahoma.
Jobs Held:
3 college teaching jobs
1 conservatory prep position
3 different Sistema-program positions
Orchestra positions won:
performing with the Tulsa Symphony in 2016.
5 successful professional auditions (and several unsuccessful auditions) + other freelance orchestra work
Other Work:
Applied for and denied from multiple college jobs and grant opportunities
Worked in a Cheese Shop (and learned a ton about fromage)
Was an Assistant Music Librarian at a professional orchestra
Sat on multiple orchestra and non-profit committees
Sad points:
RIP Papa Larson.
Lost both of my grandfathers
Lost our family dogs Chester and Suzy
Jeff’s father and step father passed away
Forced to upend a long-term musical relationship with a teacher who was inappropriate and borderline abusive.
Highlights (in no particular order):
Met Jeff and made a life together
Adopted Blanche
Started ActiveViolinist.com as a way to start musing on musicians health and violin stuff.
Created corpßonore - sound | body | wellness a podcast and publication for musicians health and wellness
Won the concerto competition twice.
I wrote a dissertation about violin and yoga (you can access it here)
Placed 3rd in the CICA International Concerto Competition.
Played at SXSW twice
with Me and My Arrow at the Pizza Luce Block Party in 2011.
Performed at the Pizza Luce Block party in Minneapolis with Me and My Arrow (6000+ people in attendance)
Traveled abroad to Nigeria, Egypt, Costa Rica, Mexico, England, Wales, Europe for 2 musical tours - 2010 with WIVE, and 2019 reunion shows with A Whisper in the Noise and Ostinato.
Saw some incredible live performances
Bows at the Cacti performance with Tulsa Ballet in 2017.
Discovered Iyengar Yoga
Met some of my closest friends
Started playing at the Oregon Coast Music Festival
Performed Cacti with the Tulsa Ballet
Had a Me Time Monday at the Philbrook Museum
Interviewed by Sidelines Magazine about violin and horse riding.
Wow! When you write it all down, or most of it at least, life really gets put in perspective. I’ve been rejected from so many things, but I’ve also had some incredible experiences. I’ve “lost” many opportunities but also “won” so many. Looking back and taking stock has lit a fresh fire for the future. If that’s what I did last decade, what can I do in the next ten years? I feel so much more strongly about what I want to accomplish in life now than I did then. I’m so excited for the next chapter to unfold.
When you look back on the last decade? What do you see? What patterns pop out for you? What are you most proud of?
Book Recommendations 2015-2019
Over the past 5 years I’ve read 207 books. I can’t believe it! I feel so proud of that number. I’ve been keeping track of the books I read so I can compare notes with my Nana. Here are my favorite books from the last 5 years. Please leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or having any reading suggestions. I love talking about books.
I shared this on my Instagram, but then realized I have several readers who are not on social media. In case you don’t know, I have a yearly book reading challenge with my Nana. I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on some of the most enjoyable reads since we started our challenge 5 years ago. Just an FYI, I read pretty much anything from fiction to non-fiction and everything in between. I think reading plays a huge role in how I view and interact with the world at large and want to share some of my favorite books with you in case you are looking for something good to read, or agree (or disagree) on some of these selections.
In case you were wondering, here are my reading goals and track record since the challenge began:
2015: 27/25 books read
2016: 31/30 books read
2017: 39/33 books read
2018: 52/40 books read
2019: 58/50 books read
Total: 207/178
I am totally shocked and impressed by my own reading abilities. in 5 years, I more than doubled my yearly reading.
Anyways, I’ve read some fantastic books over the years and thought I’d share my favorites here. I will move backwards in time with my selections and I’m not posting any reviews, but drop a comment at the bottom. I love talking about books.
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
The Menuhin Tour of San Francisco Part 2
The second installment of my Menuhin treasure hunt around CA (the world?). This is his family home beginning in 1923. Beautiful!
This is the second installment of my Yehudi Menuhin housing obsession. If you want to visit the first, click here.
1043 Steiner Street. The home of Yehudi Menuhin beginning in 1923.
Jeff and I drove to Northern California for Thanksgiving this year (which was amazing in case anyone is wondering - I am now obsessed and can’t wait to return) and picked up my gal pal Kat on our way to Sonoma County where we rented a cabin in the woods for a few days. We stopped briefly in San Francisco but stayed just long enough for me to go on an Active Violinist field trip to hunt down yet another home where Yehudi Menuhin resided.
Fortunately, Kat lives blocks away from Menuhin’s early family home (both of them) so it was easy to stop by and snap some photos and made a good excuse to stretch our legs after a few hours in the car.
Menuhin and his family moved from 732 Hayes Street to 1043 Steiner Street at some point in 1923 (according to Humphrey Burton, most likely in the autumn). These residences are walking distance from each other and very close to Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies so I can only imagine what they might cost to purchase or rent these days.
Burton writes;
“By [1923] Yehudi’s potential as a performer would have been sufficiently evident for them to buy a residence appropriate for their future needs. The handsome two-storey wooden house, 1043 Steiner Street, still stands on one of San Francisco’s attractive hillsides. It boasted a double living room, normally divided by sliding doors into dining and living rooms but capable when opened up of seating sixty guests an an informal concert - an astonishingly grandiose concept for a young couple of limited means with three very small children. But the Menuhins loved entertaining…and they needed somewhere for young Yehudi to play for their friends.
There was a small room off the kitchen where the boy did his daily practice. Marutha did not oversee his work so much as overhear it while she prepared the meals. At the back there was a yard with some trees and a swing. They built a deck on which they erected a large tent and there the entire family slept, in divided sections, apparently all the year round, because the ingenious Moshe let out the upstairs bedrooms to lodgers…In the basement Moshe created a large garage where he rented parking spaces to pay off the $5000 mortgage on the new house at $50 per month.” (24-25). [1]
We pulled into San Francisco in mid-afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was beautifully sunny, and still a little damp from the rain the previous evening but the light was so special and the temperature was perfect. We strolled through the park to take a look at the house on Steiner Street. It is well maintained but missing any commemorative plaque for the violinist - which, again, feels quasi scandalous. Who will remember the greatness that passed through those doors if the city does not commemorate it appropriately? Jeff and Kat encouraged me to knock on the door and ask for an informal tour but I felt too shy so we tried to go next door to Chateau Tivoli, a bed and breakfast to see if the staff could give us a clue about the current residents. Interestingly enough, from 1898-1917 the bed and breakfast was the private residence of Mrs. Ernestine Kreling, owner of the famous Tivoli Opera House, the first place where opera was sung on the West Coast. In the early part of the 20th century, the neighborhood was largely Jewish, and after 1917 was sold to the Emanu-El Sisterhood as a home for single girls, and subsequently housed many and various Jewish organizations. [2] The things you learn when you start digging!
Stay tuned for the next installment of Menuhin trivia. I’m not sure what it will be, but it will arrive soon.
Sources:
[1] Humphrey Burton, Yehudi Menuhin, A Life. Northeastern University Press: Boston, 2000.
[2] https://www.chateautivoli.com