I did not know if or when I would return to making music. I might have stopped entirely if something hadn’t happened in February 2011.
Author: Ars Arvole
composer-pianist, teacher, writer, fair trade and social enterprise advocate
Becoming an Improviser in 36 Measures
I spent an hour with 36 measures of music.... I was not practicing, not repeating a measure or a phrase for perfection, not playing through the whole piece for memorization...
Who’s in a Portrait Gallery?
...I didn’t read about it before visiting with my husband and toddler. I felt slightly nervous, however, about whether the region where I was born and spent my childhood and adolescence would be represented honestly. Would the exhibit do more than celebrate notable art by and about black people?
When a Bow Was a Blade
...The harpsichord part involved standard classical techniques that any fellow student could play on the piano, but the performance required more than typical practice and rehearsal. The accompanist would need to follow unexpected variances in rhythm created by the non-traditional uses of the viola. Improvisation would accompany the sword fight...
My Land
I was surprised to hear this folk song amidst the pomp of the formal ceremony...
Who Made My Christmas Music Library
She taught me to enjoy the sound of the piano. In my Christmas music, she wrote in embellishments that added chiming high trills, marching middle register fills, and resounding bass tremolos.
Collaborating to Combat Underrepresentation
“...Underrepresented” described our community of scholars and what I had been feeling as a learner and maker of classical music.
Why I Asked “Are You Okay?”
When I was a full-time professor, a student I knew from my department hurried out of the choir room immediately after singing a musical theater solo about suicide. I did not know why the student left, but I thought, “Someone should go check on him.”
No First Day of School
Whether we are teenagers or grandparents, teachers or students, at home or in temporary shelter, the first day of school is different for many of us this year. I have participated in this annual event since I was in kindergarten, but for Fall 2020, I have no first day of school. I am no longer… Continue reading No First Day of School
Becoming an Abolitionist
Mentor, shepherd, listener, and advocate are identities I readily see in myself. While these roles nurture, empathize with, and speak up for others, the term hero is weightier for me...
Ars Arvole 