Hello out there. It’s a week after the NEXUS performance at PASIC, and the sun still shines, though not as much in Rochester as in Austin. Eric Ewazen’s new piece, “The Eternal Dance of Life,” was a great success, and NEXUS is looking forward to revisiting it many times in the future. A few days earlier in Dallas, our hotel was the local headquarters for the Republican Party the night Obama was elected. Needless to say, there were not a lot of happy campers at the bar that evening.
The drive back from Austin was uneventful but long – 12-hours to Memphis before finding a motel; then, 16-hours straight-shot back to Rah-cha-cha – average speed:75 MPH. Fortunately the weather cooperated, except that we did encounter a snow squall in Buffalo (where else?), but it didn’t accumulate on the roads. Back home, There was one day to recoup and prepare for the four Eastman graduate students’ lessons on the 11th. I am enjoying the teaching, or should I say facilitating. Strategy: I’m trying to treat the grad students as colleagues rather than as undergrads; after all, when Ruth and I were their age, we had already been playing in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for several years. The Grad students are responsible to select all repertoire for lessons and recitals, and I’m doing my best to be supportive. However, they all know that should they ever prefer that I take more control of their path, they simply need to ask. So far it has worked pretty well.
