Wow, I knew I was behind on posts, but...oops!... it's APRIL!!! 

Somehow, pandemic time either feels excruciatingly slow, or it whips by... !!

But I've gotten a LOT done since my last post, and I'm very pleased that my recordings of the complete Bach Partita No. 2 and the Ysaye Ballade are completed and I'm thrilled!

The Ciaccona from the Partita has been approved by CDBaby, my digital distributor, and it's being sent to all of the digital platforms out there (Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, YouTube, etc). It will be released April 30th!!

Here's a quick timeline filling in the gap:

•  Finished building the recording studio at the end of the summer and hired my producer, the fabulous 5-time Grammy award-winning producer Elaine Martone, and ma
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My mind is officially BOGGLED!! 🤪🤓😲🤔😵😱🤪🥰🤩

My home studio is now pretty much ready to go, geared up as a recording studio, so it's time to learn the recording software, since I'll be doing this alone - with my producer and engineer helping me through the recording process remotely (from Cleveland and Virginia).

Recording will be happening within the next couple months, before my producer gets snatched up by the Cleveland Orchestra, to do 20 weeks of recording for them (happy to be in good company!).

Just got off of zoom with Fett, engineer 'extraordinaire' who gave me an in-depth 2-hour tutorial on Logic ProX. The learning curve is STEEEEEEEP!! But I am determined, and as much as I wanted to freak out, I didn't. Kept reminding myself, "I ...

I was feeling burned out over the last couple months... I'd been working very hard for several years... with varying degrees of success, either huge or not-so-huge, depending on perspective.

To me, it was a roller-coaster, and I needed a break... so I stopped most of what I was doing, and spent quite a bit of time relaxing and soul-searching. Sounds like it could have been really lovely - but most of the time it wasn't. Being confused can be really painful (even torture at times), and definitely not-fun.

But, I finally did break through, and now I'm on the other side. Seeing things differently, I now have a different perspective and focus. I am SO grateful for this new sense of purpose and direction - even though a great deal still needs ...

Progress!

Got the first acoustic panel up onto the wall as I turn my home studio into a recording studio. So grateful for Mio's help with this!

However... there's now a COVID-19 glitch that is requiring more patience from me as the studio project gets temporarily stalled...SIGH!

Read more about what's happening in the 'Alive with Spirit!' site (plus much more!!) - see sidebar to join.

Literally.

I was about to start hanging the set of acoustic panels I've purchased in order to convert my home studio into a recording studio... when I opened up the first bagged panel... and OOF!!  Off-gassing!! 

A putrid stench caused me to postpone the hanging... (that sounds rather ominous)... as I opted to air out all of the panels on my screened porch, in the hope that fresh air will do the trick and make them live-able!

So if you ever decide to cover your walls with acoustic panels, be forewarned...and plan off-gassing time into your setup schedule! (I don't really have a setup schedule - just working on this project whenever I can.)

Being an entrepreneur / teacher / coach / community leader / professional musician (to say nothing of relationships and family outside of work!) takes a lot of time and energy...and I love every minute of my work!

However, it's hard to find (make) time to stop working (the work is never-ending, and I'm always filled with fresh new ideas that flow from me like a waterfall longing to be poured into useful buckets), and sometimes it's extremely hard to make practicing my violin a non-negotiable daily priority.

Most of the time, I'm able to uphold that commitment to myself and my creative musical project (currently my professional home recording), but I've been slipping up over the last couple weeks, as I've been prioritizing getting my new '...