I am a classical violinist in a small baroque sinfonia, but I never walk away from a cookin' jazz/blues/swing jam. After music, my other interests include (but are not limited to) working with at-risk kids, painting, collage and oil pastel resists, folk and outsider art, animals, urban architecture, scavenging flea markets, web design, museums, color....the feast never ends.
other artists and musicians; like-minded people on parallel journeys; anyone else with synesthesia
Music is always playing in my head whether I'm listening to it or attempting to create it while practicing. CDs currently in rotation: Concerto for 2 Pianos in D minor (Francis Poulenc), Bach unaccompanied cello suites, Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major for violin,
viola & orchestra (Mozart), Violin Concerto no. 7 in D major (Mozart again, David Oistrakh soloist), Devil's Trill Sonata (Tartini, David Oistrakh soloist), Romanian Dances (Bartok), Boccherini Symphonies, Haydn string
quartets, Conus Violin Concerto in E minor, Edgar Meyer, The Olympie Overture by Joseph Martin Kraus (the confusion of birth, the passion for life, the agony of death...it's all there)...
...and after the heavy stuff, there's Benny Goodman's 1958 Brussels Fair concerts with Jimmy Rushing; Dinah Washington, Floyd McDaniel Live in Europe, Lavay Smith, Vassar Clements, Regina Carter, Van Morrison, Keith Jarrett, Ethel String Quartet (Cantaloupe Music label; modern grit and dissonance, hard to walk away from), the Bluenote Swingtets, Randy Newman, my favorite poet/singer/songwriter Jesse DeNatale, my daily dose of gypsy jazz, and Billy Taylor's 'Homage' - best enjoyed while kickin back in the grass on a sunny blue sky day...
La Strada, Time of the Gypsies, Amelie, The Stunt Man, Speaking in Strings, The Deer Hunter, Volver, The Red Violin, The Savages, The Kite Runner
From the Top
Good recent reads - Hotel Honolulu, The Ruins of California, Screams from the Balcony, Up in the Old Hotel, Hard Laughter, The Secret Life of Bees, The Glass Castle, Meeting Luciano, Poisonwood Bible, The Piano Tuner, Musicophilia, Water for Elephants, Moloka'i, What My Heart Has Seen (great artwork by Tony Bennett), Principles of Violin Playing & Teaching (Ivan Galamian), latest issues of FOUND and THE SUN magazine
My Dad for his magic, his music, his zest for life, and his courage and encouragement; my Mom for putting up with me while I evolved from knowing everything to knowing nothing, and for explaining what the lights in the window really meant; my husband for his good humor, for never criticizing me, and for making sure I stop to eat when things get crazy; my violin teachers, my mentors and my fellow musicians; my animals for all they have taught me, and all the rest of my family and friends who never cease to amaze and inspire me.