Grey Sky and Bittersweet
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This album represents a turning point in my professional life for a host of reasons, in particular, I have discovered new levels and a much-heightened nuance in both composition and performance. The individual song titles express changing light, color and viewpoint which further illustrate the personal ramifications of such a crossroads.
A sadness descends like a light fog
Over the ebbing of Summer and the arrival of Fall
I have never felt so…
Do we feel cheated, as years go by,
At how fast the seasons now seem to pass…?
I become aware of the pull of time, as not before…
Time, the not so “gentle-leader”,
On the leash of life. AS
As a little girl, at the age of 6, I asked my Mother if I could have some type of musical keyboard. My cousin had a toy keyboard which I had found absolutely fascinating and that was what I imagined when I made my wish known. Christmas morning of that year a beautiful new Hammond Organ stood in our den. Lessons soon began but for the first year I had to stand to reach the pedals. By the time I was nine, a teacher informed my Mother that to truly develop technically, the piano was the next step. That Christmas a beautiful Black Baldwin turned up in our den, the organ now lived in our kitchen, (which may seem a bit odd, but since that’s where all my Mother’s parties ended up, it was actually quite fitting!). Throughout my young life, my Mother was always there for me and wished to give me every opportunity if I showed an interest. She carted me to all my lessons and always with such support, and the belief that I would really accomplish something extra special in life. What’s tragic, and in life’s twists and turns, ironic, is that she never even got to hear one of my CD’s. I lost her to Cancer at the age of 18.
I believe that all the roads I have traveled, in all facets of my life, have led me to the music I have created over the last decade. One such road led me to the man I would later marry. When we first met, he told me of the time he had driven by my neighborhood with the feeling that he ‘needed to come back one day’. He said he even saw me a couple times and he later photographed me, but it would be several years before our meeting. And when this beautiful man did hear me play for the first time, he decided that without hesitation, I should record a CD - my first. Now he is not only my husband, but my Photographer/Visual Director.
It is not just the creation of this music, but what happens once it is shared. The content in the cards, letters and e-mails I have received over the years shows me that indeed, there is no doubt of this path. I know also, that despite the boundaries of the physical world, my Mother knows that I am doing what I was destined to do, and what she gave to me so early on enabled me to pursue my dreams as well as fulfill my destiny.
When it was time to visit colleges my Father took me to Indiana University and the University of Michigan to audition for their Music Departments. The day we were at Indiana was a gorgeous day. It had to be the first day, in a long Winter, that promised Spring was truly on its way. I do remember wondering as I walked down the halls of practice rooms, why all these students were inside hammering away at the keys for hours on end instead of reveling in the outdoor beauty for awhile. Looking back, I find it equally amazing that so very many talented classical musicians never write and perform their own work, but choose instead to merely replicate the brilliance of centuries past. Ultimately, I took a detour from the Classical World, wanting to embrace the rhythms of the Natural World and to be utterly free to create, unencumbered by the rules of Academia.
