Band

And is started out as a fun little exercise as a few people answered and shared that they wanted to be teachers or open up their own studios or be a conductor. But then Dr. Olander slowly went around the room and asked every single person to share. And each person’s eyes lit up and they smiled and they spoke softly about what lead them to this school and what they wanted to do with their degree, what their interests are and how they wanted to use their degree to help others or spread music or make a difference. 

Every person. 15+ people. It took nearly the whole class period. And Dr. Olander finished and said she was just curious and didn’t mean to take up the whole class talking about that, but she thought it was good to stop sometimes and remember why you’re here, where you’re going, who you are and what your dreams are. 

I started crying in the middle of class bc it had been so long since i had stopped to remember why i love music and why i want a masters and how badly i want to use it to change people’s lives with music the way mine was. 

So stop for a second. Don’t think about how much you’ve practiced this week, or your grades or your classes or scholarships or jobs or anything. Really stop. Stop and ask yourself, 

Why am I here? Where do i want to be in 5 years? Why do I love this? What is my dream?

I don’t remember when I found this .gif, or who made it (if you know, tell me so I can credit them), but it’s just the best thing.

tchaikovsky or tschaikowsky?

Story time: so one day I actually had spending money, so for funsies I kept putting money in his jack-o-lantern (that’s what his tip bucket is) requesting Scotch-Irish folk songs, and he didn’t just play every song he PLAYED them like he was in a music battle with the Faery King. I was quite impressed. Later, I ran into him, mask-off, at Café Envie and I told him “That was really cool, but you still didn’t play my favorite song ‘The King of the Faeries,’ do you not know it?” and Violin Monster looked around and over his shoulder, and then leaned over me and said in a hushed tone: “Oh I know it, but it’s bad luck to play that song. They say if you play it three times the Faery King himself will appear. So I don’t play that song anymore.” And then he smiled and walked away.