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The Weekend Vote

V.com weekend vote: Do you have fun when you perform?

May 11, 2012 10:16

Do you have fun when you perform?

What a great question V.com member Momoko Takahashi raised in her blog this week.

Her answer: "I don't."

I'll confess I've felt a great range of emotions when performing. I've had great, wonderful fun -- times when I've thought, "Playing the violin is the only thing in my life that is 100 percent easy and right and good!" I've also had some of the worst, near-nervous-breakdown moments I can remember. Both kinds of experiences tended to relate to my overall mental state, and not actually to the pressure of the situation. I've had a few auditions that went without a hitch; others where I got tunnel vision, nearly passed out and then wanted to chuck the fiddle out the window. I've had entire solo recitals that felt wonderful, and little tiny solos where I got so nervous, you'd think a bengal tiger was crouching over my chair, teeth bared, ready to devour me.

Ah, the drama of being a violinist! Do you ever have fun when you play? Or is it mostly a form of torture? I've provided a range of answers for you to choose:

P.S. I hope you do have fun now and then!

11 replies

V.com weekend vote: Do you keep in touch with your former teacher(s)?

May 4, 2012 15:13

When Eastman Violin Professor Zvi Zeitlin passed away earlier this week, I was moved that so many of his current and former students came forward to memorialize him.

What a difference our teachers make in our lives! Mine have been so important to me, and I do believe I've visited every one of them, gone back for lessons, gone back for classes, gone back for advise, sent holiday cards and written a few letters (and blogs!) of gratitude.

How about you? Do you keep up with your former teacher or teachers? Pick the answer that seems to describe it best, and then tell us about it below.

11 replies

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