I climbed onto the stage, my black patent leather Mary Jane’s clacking across the hardwood floor. I sat down at the Kawai piano and placed my hands in C position. I was performing “A Short Story” from Suzuki Piano School, Vol. 2, which my teacher said was a challenging recital piece (I refused to listen).

I was 10 and perhaps overly confident because as I entered the final section, I caught a glimpse of the audience. The stage lights were bright and the room was dark—too dark to see anyone’s faces, thankfully, but it was impossible to miss the steady red light of the shoulder-mount camcorder my dad had perched on his left shoulder (remember those??).

The room grew quiet for a moment when the lights dimmed, but applause quickly broke out as soon as he stepped onto the stage.

This was the ninth and final concert in a year-long journey through the Beethoven Piano Sonatas (all 32 of them) performed by Eastman faculty member Alexander Kobrin.

Since September, he's presented a program of 4-5 sonatas in consecutive order on the 1st of each month, all from memory.

We were about to hear his first attempted public performance of Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 (known as the Hammerklavier).

I watched an online symposium recently about musical creativity and AI and… I have thoughts. 

In one sense, it's incredible how fast the technology is developing, its current capabilities, and its potential in the future.

It's also disconcerting.

There's no denying the powerful capabilities of Generative AI and its potential to support and enable our work as musicians, teachers, thinkers, writers, and creators. But I think it's important for us to consider: Is it helpful or hurtful?

Here we are, five weeks into the New Year. 

Maybe you're settled back into your routine or maybe you're still adjusting to the changes this year brought. Maybe you've abandoned your New Year's resolutions (studies indicate that 80% of people have by now) or maybe you're using February as an opportunity to restart. 

Wherever you find yourself, here are three things I've been thinking about recently that may inspire or encourage you in this season: