Back in the Saddle

It’s safe to say that this last year has pushed buttons and boundaries in me that have taken my life in new directions that I didn’t necessarily want to go in. My emotions have been pushed and pulled in just about every way; from protecting my children in this ever changing world, to having to find the courage to learn how to cope with new things that have made me feel desperately uncomfortable. However, life happens with all its glorious imperfections and while it’s not possible to go back and forget the challenges of the last year, I can now look to the future and see the sun peeking through the clouds again!

On June 6, I will have the chance to play for a live audience for the first time in over a year. There will be people in the room with me. I will be able to look them in the eye. I will be able to smile at them and hopefully have the audience smile back at me! Even as I write this, I can hardly believe it, it has been too long.

I have been on stage almost since birth, my siblings dressing me up as a stage prop, having to perform dance routines and plays and even being a magicians side kick! My violin and I have been joined at the hand for as long as I can remember. I have no memories of a time when I wasn’t preparing to walk on to the stage to perform. There is a meditative process that I go through in the run up to a concert, a kind of call to prayer. I almost imagine what it will feel like to be there, the privilege of having an audience’s full attention. There are combining forces that all come together to create a kind of magic that will hopefully leave us all uplifted, unified, inspired and whole. The physical space, the people in it, my fellow musicians, the music, my body and my breath all contribute to make a space in time that can never be replicated. The music hangs there in the beauty of this totally unique moment made by everyone who is experiencing it.

To say that I have missed my audience would be an understatement! To me, live music is like a mythical being with powers so strong it can leave even the most unsuspecting a weeping mess! No recording or video will ever match the magic that happens when you can actually feel the fabric of these notes being woven into your soul through all of your senses. After 15 months of pushing the very limits of what we can achieve with technology, finally we get to play for you in person once again and I can’t wait!!