On Being a Puppet

Sometimes I feel like a puppet. Not in the sense that I'm being controlled, but in that I'm held up by unseen strings. These strings hold me up as I go from practice room to rehearsal to class to concert. They rouse me in the morning, drag me onto the subway at an ungodly hour (rush hour = ungodly for musicians), and keep me at school until I'm done with all that I need to do. I don't notice these strings--until they're suddenly cut.

My friends know that I've had a particularly busy year. I had my first orchestra audition in December, a few concerts in January, my DMA audition in March, and then a whole string of concerts from mid-March to mid-April. In short, those puppet strings have been getting a lot of use this year. And after my New Juilliard concert last Friday, my body crashed.

The last time I was sick was almost exactly two years ago--right after taking auditions for Masters programs. (To be specific, I felt illness descending on me within an hour of auditioning at Juilliard, which had been my target for months.) Though I had crossed my fingers against such a thing happening again, I wasn't too surprised when it did hit me. Nor was Nana, who was all ready for this with chicken soup and tea.

But I'm finally back up! I'm still sleeping about twice as much as I normally do, but I can afford it right now. I need to regain my strength before the papers, presentations, and finals that culminate in a Master of Music degree from Juilliard! Not that my goodbye will be very teary-eyed, as I'll be returning in the fall for yet another degree.


In between the two degree programs will be my summer at Tanglewood as a New Fromm Player! I received the repertoire list, and I've posted the concerts in which I'll be playing on my tanglewood page (a subset of concerts). If you're anywhere near Massachusetts, come check out Tanglewood! There are many different types of concerts going on, nearly at all times of the day! Even if new music isn't your thing, you can swing by for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, or chamber music, or vocal music, or even James Taylor and Yo-yo Ma!