I recently read the article "What is the point of balance?" from the May 2012 issue of the American String Teacher. I agree with Dr. Michael Heald that physical and emotional balance is incredibly important as a string player. I particularly like his 10 specific points to be considered: 1) Love. Of music, of ourselves (self-worth) and of others through receiving and giving in performances.

Yesterday I participated, with my church handbell choir, in a "mass ring" handbell festival. This is when a large number of choirs prepare a set of pre-selected pieces and then come together for a day. The conductor for the day is often a well known handbell aficionado (composer/conductor/performer/etc) and rehearses the "mass choir" (all choirs playing at the same time) and then often a concert is given in the evening. The concert can include "solo" numbers by individual choirs, true solo ringing, and small ensembles to lengthen the concert and give the "masses" a little rest.

Over the past two weeks I have been struck repeatedly by the importance of the people I choose to surround myself with so I'd like to share those brief thoughts. Working toward a Ph.D. is a very challenging process - as it should be! If I had to do this completely alone I think it would be nearly impossible.

I had a phenomenal time at the ASTA National Conference last week. Time to meet up with friends I don't see often enough, be star struck over "famous" string teachers and composers and performers, meet new friends, hang out with string-ers from school, and just learn so darn much! If you don't know, ASTA is the American String Teachers Association. I have not always been a member, partly for financial reasons and partly because I didn't always see the real value. But now that I am more involved I become more and more grateful for this community.

Hello world! I have always been passionate about women’s rights issues. My parents raised me to live in an “equal” world and always told me I could do anything I wanted to do. It absolutely outraged me in high school when my orchestra director would ask “the boys” to move the chairs and stands. And while an undergraduate my mentor was a female band director who often spoke of her struggles as a woman in both academia and the band world. Although I feel somewhat more accepted as a woman in the orchestra world, it is frustrating to me that the band world remains such a boys’ club (and the orchestra world can be too…). And most recently I have started reading blogs/books about starting a family while in grad school or as a young professor (no I’m not announcing anything – just reading! :-) ).