Piano
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“Hermit Thrush At Morn” – Amy Beach, Joanne Polk
Recording of “A Hermit Thrush At Morn” from Amy Beach – Under The Stars – The Solo Piano Music Of Amy Beach, Volume Two performed by Joanne Polk via Arabesque Recordings.
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“Hermit Thrush At Morn” and “Romance” by Amy Beach
Pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute and violinist Scott Yoo play excerpts from composer and pianist Amy Beach’s “Hermit Thrush At Morn” and “Romance” at the artist residency, MacDowell, in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where Beach spent part of her summers after 1921 as a Fellow. Beach, who was born on September 5, 1867 in Henniker, New Hampshire and died in New York City on December 27, 1944, wrote Romance for violin and piano in 1893 and Hermit Thrush at Eve, at Morn, Op. 92 in 1922.
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2025: Year in Review
From the first cozy day of 2025 relaxing at home to seeing many difficult times for everyone to the last night of 2025 out dancing with my sister and friends on New Year’s Eve to usher in a wonderful beginning to the New Year, 2025 was a tumultuous year but had its great moments, too, and was a year of change for me. I started 2025 taking the “Science of Well Being” class on Coursera, which was my first wish-list item, and I did implement several lifestyle changes last year as a result of it. The class uses data to show how certain lifestyle changes can rewire your brain for…
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“Runaway” – Ramin Djawadi
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My Curiouser and Curiouser List
As I sit here in the quiet of the morning feeling very grateful for my loved ones, before I start cleaning and cooking for Thanksgiving this afternoon, I’m thinking about the year ahead and beyond and noting all of the things I’d like to do. My list is heavy on learning and exploring, so I’m calling it “My Curiouser and Curiouser List.” You could say my cat Steven is my inspiration this morning, climbing the Thanksgiving tree and looking curious (and cute) as ever! I’ve always loved the Alice in Wonderland phrase “curiouser and curiouser,” and often use it as an exclamation to describe something strange, yet here I’m using…
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Back to the Piano Basics
Ever since I was twelve I have played the piano, and I have taken lessons from several great teachers, including a master teacher as an adult, and have even taught some lessons. But in the past few years I haven’t practiced or played much, until today. I wanted to jump back in with the basics, and reacquaint myself with proper piano techniques, because it’s always best to start a piano learning journey with good technique so you don’t have to unlearn bad practices later. Today I started with an exercise book that packs a lot of different elements of piano theory together into each exercise, including different dynamics and musical…
