Refreshed

"The mountains are calling and I must go." John Muir

Well, maybe not the mountains exactly, but the redwoods! My family and I spent last week in the bay area enjoying a rental house nestled in the California redwoods.…

The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces 

Pianist-writer Susan Tomes has put together a wonderful compilation of mini-essays on 100 pieces written for piano in her newest book. Though not a strictly "solo piano" list, each piece that she…

Merry Christmas!

Twelve days left until the new year, twelve musical gifts for your enjoyment! 

This is my second newsletter of 2022 - I apologize for being absent for so long! I have packed this newsletter full of musical gifts…

Thanks-Seasoning

I have been woefully absent from this newsletter of late. I haven't forgotten about you - in fact, I think of you often and miss making music with and for you! This fall season has been an incredibly busy…

Reflecting Light

My dad is a rockhound and silversmith. As his daughter, I have been the happy beneficiary of many of his gifts of handmade earrings, necklaces, and rings. Although he cuts and shapes stones, he does not facet them…

Happy New Year! 

I hope this finds you busy with new projects and some fun things to look forward to in 2021! Although circumstances may not have changed much since turning the calendar page, I find it is always good…

Making Things 

Hello! The last two months have been busy on the "creative front" for me. Although not exclusively in music, I have been busy making things! Last month my dad and I worked on our annual Advent devotional booklet…

As musicians, we wear many hats: performer, student, teacher, collaborator, music director, producer…Perhaps you also wear some of these: blogger, promoter, accountant, website developer, recording artist. Maybe you have been fortunate enough to be the Artistic Director at some point…

A Bit of Light

I am enjoying the return of the sun after a week or so of cloudy, smoky skies, especially as we are soon to head into the drizzly, dreary days of fall in the Northwest (but not…

Lemonade from Lemons 

A big THANK YOU to all who joined us for the premiere of "God Bless America," our first ever Indie Musikhaus virtual concert! We had over 50 people join us for the premiere, and the YouTube video…

God Bless America 

Next Sunday, July 19th, at 3:00 pm, is our "God Bless America" virtual concert! Seiko and I have been having so much fun putting this together. The spirituals are such a wonderful reminder of hope in dark…

Forward Motion

Happy Summer! The weight of virtual homeschooling has been lifted (for now) and we have been loving the sunshine, as well as some recovered freedom of movement as our county entered Phase 2: salons opened, in-person gymnastics classes…

A Moment in Time

What strange times we are living in! This “pause” has been, for some, a time for reflection and new projects. For me, it has been more of a shift in how I spend my time. Music…

O Love 

On the heels of Valentine's Day, I am preparing for a set of two "love" concerts with Kirkland Choral Society. On Saturday and Sunday, February 22-23, we will give performances of songs celebrating love and community (accompanied by…

Happy New Year! 

I had a wonderful Christmas break with my family, filled with too many sweets, lots of late nights and sleeping in, movies, and games. It was so nice to take a break from our normal routines of…

It’s the beginning of the season and you are handed a packet of music to learn by next week’s rehearsal. It’s like the first day of school. You feel all the emotions – excitement at new “school supplies,” anticipation of…

Words matter. To one with an artistic temperament, words matter intensely. In the last year, two phrases were directed toward my playing that shook me: “…not up to our standard” and “I didn’t even think of you.” After a good…

It’s really wonderful how a good teacher can give you just the right tools to enable you to play better. Recently I was fortunate to be able to work once again with Pawel Checinski , who was visiting from Chicago…

It’s funny how you can hear that something is off as a pianist and not know exactly what is wrong with it or how to fix it until a teacher explains it. When I sit at the keyboard I…

Today I finished re-memorizing Bach’s Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911. I say re-memorizing, because I memorized it 6 years ago for a house concert. And then I moved on to learn and memorize other music and I forgot the…

I am still in search of that elusive “it” that sets the professional pianist apart from the amateur. This is something I’ve been mulling over for the better part of the last year. I am more and more convinced that…

My debut classical CD, Commonplace Beauty, is now available for purchase through my website! It has been a work of love for the better part of this year, and I want to give you a glimpse of the thinking…

Here is wonderful article about a pianist's interpretation:  The Way is Not the Only Way. 

I remember being asked in college to identify a pianist simply by listening to a recording and thinking, how in the world can I…

Memory has always been the hardest part of piano playing for me. I can sight read much of the repertoire comfortably (I'm not speaking about Faure or Ravel, haha!) but memorizing has always been a challenge. Case in point, I…

I am continually amazed at Yuja Wang and her flawless live performances. How she can perform piece after piece on different pianos, without having a lapse in concentration, a memory slip, a slight miss on a jump, is incomprehensible to…