In my junior year at Vanderbilt University, I took the course, The U.S. in Latin American Literature. It challenged my classmates and me to grasp the Latin American perspective on 20th-century U.S. military and political involvement in Spanish-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere through investigating U.S. political documents in English and analyzing short stories, essays, and poems in… Continue reading Facing Emmett
Author: Ars Arvole
composer-pianist, teacher, poet
Fiddler Across the Decades
Every song in this musical was familiar to me except Perchik and Hodel's "Now I Have Everything."
Good (Coffee) Globalization
...She expounded on overcoming stereotypes for the sake of five million people in a developing country.
Brahms After Ben Folds
How does one play Johannes Brahms on the other side of Ben Folds? I asked myself this question as I considered a response to my piano student's first lesson on one of the Romantic composer's pieces.
On Loving Japan
...Children in post-2011 Fukushima prefecture are still suffering from the nuclear plant's leaked radiation. Many of their parents are afraid to let them play outside, and I am grateful to Lancaster Bible College's Journey Teams for providing me the opportunity to turn my grief into action.
From the Back Porch
David Crowder Band's "We Are Loved" played at least three times as I drove the four exits along Highway 30 West from my apartment to The Row House's Back Porch Music & Arts Fest at Prospect Valley Farm. I chose this song to stave off the self-consciousness I felt about attending my first music festival.… Continue reading From the Back Porch
Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
In Fall 2007, I gave a presentation designed as a class session on the 80th anniversary of the film The Jazz Singer for a course on cinema history, theory, and pedagogy. To open our discussion, I asked my pseudo-student classmates to describe Elvis Presley. They talked about his fame and stage presence, and I told… Continue reading Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
Photographers on My Path
Taking a photograph is my attempt to capture something that captures me. I accept that not every impression I absorb with my eyes can be captured with a mechanical lens. At some sights, I choose not to take a picture but rather take time to reflect on the force of what I see. My brief… Continue reading Photographers on My Path
Susquehanna
When I found out I was moving from New York to Pennsylvania, I had a romantic, Mississippi-River-steamboat notion of loading my books, clothes, and instruments onto a vessel and riding down the Susquehanna River to a new life. Aware that transit for people and cargo no longer happens that way, however, I considered taking a… Continue reading Susquehanna
Once Upon a Fido
One day this week, my music theory students asked if we could have class at an on-campus cafe. Wanting coffee myself, I agreed, and we took our impromptu walk on the first mild afternoon of the semester. Our octet convened around three tables, and we ordered drinks ranging from an earl grey latte to an… Continue reading Once Upon a Fido
Ars Arvole 