Want to Know How to Feel At Home Onstage?

How does an ordinary person, flaws and all, bravely step into the light onstage and perform for others? That seems to be the million dollar question. And the answer is that you need to feel comfortable in your own skin as a performing musician. What does this mean? It...

Are You Practicing Too “Hard”?

A young pianist once told me an unusual story about how he had practiced for his jury exam at music school. The exam was scheduled for 9 o’clock in the morning. So the day before, wanting to be as ready as possible, he decided to practice all night. To keep himself...

Receive First, Then You Can Give

We musicians are born with the ability to receive immense joy from music. It moves us so much that we feel compelled to get as close to it as possible by actually making music – by producing the sounds with our instruments and our own bodies. And sometimes we feel...

Want to Know My Mom’s Crucial Message?

Mom and Dad were both very passionate, intelligent people. But so different from each other! I admired Dad for working hard and accomplishing a lot. In his moments of spare time during his 60-hour weeks as the town pediatrician, he read books and medical journals, and...