Letters From the Editor

Editorial: Looking for Rainbows

Editorial: Looking for Rainbows

This weekend, we passed Day 50 of shelter-in-place (or “pause” as we’re calling it here in NY State).

There are a few things I’ve learned so far:

  • You can get a lot of things delivered.

  • Teaching online is not as limited as I once thought.

  • That being said, Zoom fatigue is real.

  • I can give Steve a haircut.

  • Time is passing very slowly. Also, what day is it?

  • I can make pizza rolls (trying sourdough this week — wish me luck!).

  • Puzzles are a great way to pass the time.

  • Music is a gift we can give and receive right now.

Editorial: Learning How to Adapt

Editorial: Learning How to Adapt

What a month it's been.

My heart is with all those who are isolated and alone during this time. All those who are feeling the effects of the economic downturn, who have lost their jobs, their security, their peace. For those who have lost their health and those who have lost a loved one.

Who would have thought a few weeks ago that we'd be where we are today?

Social distancing. Staying home. Teaching online. A new normal.

Editorial: The Power to Choose

Editorial: The Power to Choose

Every day, we make thousands of tiny choices.

We choose what to wear, what to eat, what to say, how to respond to the changing world around us. We make decisions in music and teaching, what to write, what to play, what to focus on.

We are inundated with options and possibilities, a dizzying array of information and ideas.

We feel an obligation to make the "right" choices, a responsibility to make choices quickly and efficiently, to be decisive and smart.

Editorial: Happy December

Editorial: Happy December

Mix-and-match wrapping paper.
Bubble wrap for packaging.
Winter Berries stamps.
Cantata rehearsals.
Appetizer recipes on Pinterest.
(Endless) to-do lists.
Amazon packages.
Christmas cards to stamp and address.
Cookie swaps.
Shipping deadlines.
Various versions of Jingle Bells in lessons every week.

These are the things our December days are made of.

Real-life December means we're behind on our Advent calendar. Because part of me feels like if I don't turn the cards over, the days won't go by so quickly.

It means a stack of holiday sheet music (sorted by level) to bring into lessons and holiday-themed activities for studio class.

Editorial: What If We Did This Every Day?

Editorial: What If We Did This Every Day?

"What's the best thing that happened to you today?" I asked over coffee last week. He thinks for a moment before answering.

The reply is usually as simple as the question itself:

A moment of creative inspiration
A feeling of accomplishment
A kind word

It's a simple question and a meaningful daily practice. One that tilts our perspective toward the positive. It's an invitation to recognize those small moments that may be too easily forgotten, dismissed as too small or insignificant, lost in the shadow of something bigger and more dramatic.

(Because we all have those moments in our days.)

But what's really important? What do you want to remember?

Editorial: Lost and Found

Editorial: Lost and Found

A few weeks ago, I pulled out one of my old piano scores:

”The Italian Concerto” by J.S. Bach

It's a piece I played for my Eastman audition, a piece I knew almost backward and forward at the time. I've come back to it at various points in my career when I want to reconnect to the art or remember why I started.

I was thumbing through the pages one night after dinner, admiring all the markings my teacher added into the score—a different colored pen for every lesson. I stumbled through the first reading, my fingers stiff, struggling to remember how the notes go.

But then, something surprising happened.

Editorial: Welcome, Fall

Editorial: Welcome, Fall

It all starts with that first breath of crisp air. The quiet mornings with fewer bird songs. The announcement from Starbucks that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back (sad, but true). 🍂

These are our cues that Fall is here, and with it comes the thrill of the new.

For some, it’s a new school; others, a new job or city. For most of us, it’s new routines and perhaps some new school supplies (because you’re never too old). 📓✏️

Editorial: Toward an Unknown Region

Editorial: Toward an Unknown Region

This month, I found myself doing a few things I don’t normally do.

First, there was the inspiration to write a few short poems on the back of my boarding pass on a plane-ride south. When I came home, I pulled the texts out of my bag in between lessons one afternoon and sat at the piano, sketching them into a few short choral pieces (more to come!).

Then there was the invitation to play with the Music Educators’ Wind Ensemble at Eastman for a reading of a new piece. I sat behind the piano on a Tuesday evening - counting measures and trying to come in on time - and participating in a collective, shared experience that I don’t normally have the privilege of being part of.

Editorial: A Question to Start the Day

Editorial: A Question to Start the Day

A hush came over the room as she spoke. Soft piano music accompanied her words, covered by the sound of fan noise—a welcome breeze on a warm summer night.

It was Thursday evening, the last day of Music and Worship Arts Week at Lake Junaluska. We were gathered in the chapel, the open stained-glass windows ushering in the night air.

“I’m learning as I get older that it’s simpler and simpler day by day,” she said with a smile. Her voice was kind and inviting.

“There’s a flow of love that started when the stars began, and every morning we get a chance to decide to live into that love and then ask, ‘What's mine to do?’”

Editorial: It's Okay to Make Mistakes

Editorial: It's Okay to Make Mistakes

It was a typical Monday afternoon.

My 2nd-grade student came bounding into the room, full of questions and things to tell me since I’d seen him last.

He sat down on the bench, eager to play an arrangement of “Sweet Molly Malone,” a piece I suggested last week might be good for our end-of-year recital.

Slowly, he made his way through, wincing out loud every time he missed a note. When he finished, I complimented him on his thorough practicing this week and offered a few suggestions:

Follow along with my creative work and daily adventures: @ashleydanyew

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