Naomi Osaka, Jascha Heifetz, and the perils of perfectionism

Recently, I played recreational sand volleyball for the first time. It was a lot of fun, but several times during the game, I caught myself being overly self-critical (“Hold your arm lower when you start the serve”; “Why did you hit it like that?”, etc.). It’s no...

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Concert Halls Need A Penalty Box

And other lessons learned from performing at a hockey game.  I’ve written here before about what classical musicians can learn from sports teams – here’s an update. Recently, on behalf of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, I played the national anthem before a...

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All In The Family, Part 7 – To The Edge

This coming Saturday, I will say Kaddish for my father, to mark the seventh anniversary of his passing. As readers of this blog know, he and I often played and talked about music together, and a set of concerts I just played reminded me how much I miss that. ProMusica...

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Make Your Voice Heard

  I have been meaning to share this post for a couple of weeks now, but given all that has happened, especially in Pittsburgh, and what is coming next Tuesday (need I say this – VOTE!!!!!!), it feels like it’s really time. At a moment when our voices are...

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Radical Mutuality

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." - Lilla Watson, Aboriginal Australian artist and activist I first heard this quote from Vijay Gupta, while...

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World Record, Part 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

Last year, I posted about setting a world record for attendance at a string quartet performance, and the other night, I got to do the same thing for solo cello. 25,416 came out to see me perform a short program, which consisted of LA Philharmonic cellist David...

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