I play for 8 ballet classes a week, 4 pointe classes, 1 variation, and 1 character class. It's a proud and content feeling I have to be in the position of doing what I love professionally, and one I hope to never take for granted and always strive to become better. At one time, it was just a daydream that I could be paid to play piano, or to record an original album of my very own with a New York City recording label. And yet somehow, it's become a dream come true, and new dreams for the future are ever forming in my head.  During a ballet class, while watching young, aspiring ballerinas perfect their technique, I heard the teacher describe the Arabesque position. It is one of the most beautiful, graceful, and difficult poses in ballet in which the dancer's arm creates a long, lean line in front of their body. The fingers must be just the right amount of relaxed, yet shaped with precision. The leg needs to stretch. The foot must not be sickled. The toes fiercely pointed. ...

It's not often that I learn a song strictly from sheet music. And it's even less often that I learn and memorize the whole thing in just one day. But I guess stranger things have happened. This is a piece from the soundtrack of " The King's Speech ." I let the credits roll just so I could hear the whole thing! I thought it might work to play for ballet class. Of course I have to chop it up first to make it "square." But I thought I 'd learn it in it's entirety before I did that. It's a little rough, but I wanted to record it while it was still in my head (it may fall out by tomorrow).  This is a beautiful piece and I hope you enjoy it. (The movie's pretty good too!) ~~~ Other posts like this: A Day's Work Beth's Adagio New Spin on Classic Rock Name That Tune

One day, I sat at the piano waiting for ballet class to begin. The 8 and 9 year old girls sat on the floor, lacing their shoes and stretching before the instructor entered the studio. I noticed one shy girl lingering near me and quickly turning away each time I glanced up at her. Finally she mustered up the courage to say to me, "I know how to play 'Twinkle Twinkle'." Finally I understood. I stood up from the bench and allowed her to play her song.  Just a week ago when my little sister and best friend visited, we ate at a seafood restaurant. As soon as we walked inside, I noticed a dusty, old upright piano that likely hadn't been tuned or played in months. My little sister immediately leaned over and said to me, "I bet you play that piano before the night's over." Ah, she knows me so well. She was right.  When you truly love something, you find a way to do it.

This is another video from a recent performance at Gizzi's Cafe in NYC. Saint Louis Blues is definitely my favorite boogie-woogie tune to play. It always gets my foot tappin. Thanks Mr. Capps for teaching me that left hand boogie-woogie and walkin bass! (I'll be out for a day or two, but will catch up on all your posts soon!)

When I was a little girl, there was a piano competition that I practiced diligently for every spring. It was the Fine Arts Competition, and my small Christian school hosted several other schools who came to participate in the event. I competed every year from 3rd through 8th grade. I prepared months in advance and was  so  nervous when it was finally time to perform. The goal for me was  perfection . And with the judges watching, if ever I hit a sour note, I knew that it was over. I wouldn't place. My world would crash and I would be distraught for the next week (in fact I'm  still  a little bitter about the episode of '97!). Part of this, is the nature of competition. But I think much of it had to do with something I concocted in my own brain somehow. This idea of 'perfection equals success and anything less is  total  failure' stayed with me for many years. Even when I sang or played a song for a church service, a safe and accepting environment, I w...

This is a video from Jazz Night at Soule Restaurant in Brooklyn. I played there last week and had a great time. They invited me back to play June 10th! Enjoy!

"Showers of Blessing"  Daniel W. Whittle, James McGranahan There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love. There shall be seasons refreshing, sent from the Savior above. Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need. Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead. There shall be showers of blessing; O that today they might fall. Now as to God we're confessing, Now as on Jesus we call! Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need. Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.

Not long after we moved to our current NJ apartment, I purchased my very own piano. Never having lived in an apartment building with a piano before, I was slightly worried what my neighbors would think, as the sound would surely carry to the apartment below and beside us. I put my shiny May Berlin in the spare bedroom where I would have my own music space to work in. Eddie and I insulated the wooden floor as best we could with foam and an area rug, and muffled the back of the piano to catch some of the sound. I'll never forget sitting down at he keys. It was the moment I had been waiting for. I had my very own room, with a door, with privacy, to play and do whatever I wanted without inhibition. I chose to play the song "Turkish March" by Mozart, a song I learned in 8th grade and became so ingrained into my muscle memory that I can still play it to this day without ever glancing at the keyboard. I hit that last, glorious A major chord and let the sound echo throughout ...

I vowed today that since work got cancelled due to the crazy ice storm, I would sort every piece of sheet music that is stashed on my cluttered bookshelf. For years, I've let it accumulate into madness, dreading the day when I would have to face the consequences of my disorganization and put it into some kind of order. There is a plastic bag filled with photocopied music that I haven't even opened in years. I fought the impulse to just toss the entire thing, but as it usually goes, I'm glad now that I didn't.  The first lost piano treasure in this mess, was a practice schedule from 1992 (I just turned 9). My teacher made me write down how many minutes I practiced per day and then a parent had to initial the bottom. This particular week, I practiced pretty diligently considering it happened to be my birthday! My dad was the parental initialer whose handwriting looks strikingly similar to that of a nine-year-old's...fishy, but I was a very honest child. He just has t...

This day was truly amazing. After months of preparation, I took my place at the piano bench behind a plexiglass window and recorded the piano for my album. With complete focus and concentration, I played along with the full band and orchestra that played in my ears. When I pounded the final chord of the final song I pressed my fingers firmly down on the keys. Gradually, the sound faded into silence and I lifted my fingers from the keyboard. Suddenly I felt like soaring. It had all come together and I , Miss anal-retentive, knit-picky, perfectionist, was pleased with our work for the day. Should you purchase the album when it is finished this early spring (and I hope that you do), listen closely to each song. For I’m certain that underneath the numerous musical instruments playing, the microphone in the sound booth must have picked up the intense beating of my heart. My posts as I chronicle my album recording with Modern Vintage Recordings: 1.  Optimistic Gamble 2.  Soph...

When Eddie and I lived in North Carolina, we discovered Friday night jazz at Cypress Bend Vineyards , a picturesque vineyard in the green farmlands of Wagram, NC. Every other Friday evening, they set up a quaint tent by the patio, complete with a stage, dance floor, and intimate five-piece band that performed jazz standards while guests enjoyed music, food, and wine. We went the first time at the referral of my former Army supervisor, the same one who encouraged me to audition for the Army Soldier Show. It turned out that he and the owner of the vineyard were old friends. I was happy to see that upon our first visit to jazz night, my former supervisor was there as well, and I secretly hoped that he would talk the owner into letting me play a few songs at some point during the night. My wish came true when the owner and lead singer had a short, private conversation, then approached me and asked if I’d like to play during their 10-minute break between sets. I happily agreed, as I usua...

This is one of the four pianos outside Lincoln Center that was set up by Sing For Hope in their  Play Me, I'm Yours project. This was the first time I had ever been to Lincoln center, and look at that, it was to play a piano! I've been back one time since, and that was for an actual performance in a theatre for a World Mission Foundation fundraiser. Enjoy the video! To see more photos from the Play Me, I'm Yours project, click here . To see videos, click here .

For two hours today I sat in my living room wincing as the piano tuner slowly transformed my sadly out of tune instrument into something playable again. I keep my piano in the spare bedroom where the worst temperature fluctuation in our apartment takes place. The cool air flow of the living room window air conditioner can’t reach the piano in the devastating heat and humidity of summer, and the radiator with no thermostat, blasts warm air directly onto the piano all through the winter. I watched through the doorway as the piano tuner took apart my shiny May Berlin, emptied his case of tools, and began the painstaking process of plunking, tweaking, and adjusting each key, one by one until all 88 of them were in perfect tune. I was suddenly ashamed of how out of tune I let my precious piano get and hoped he wouldn’t scold me for it. I keep the outside clean. I polish, dust, and buff away marks. I keep the area around it clean, tidy, and vacuumed. But I’ve neglected the inner wo...