As I noted in my last post, I’ve been performing and teaching this past week. I was taking part in a string camp that I, along with my then teacher Joyce Ramée, founded back in 1990. With two exceptions (to attend the Tanglewood Music Center in 1994-1995) I’ve taught and performed at the institute every year. My wife, cellist Heather Blackburn, joined the faculty in 1997 and has been there every summer since.
This year was a difficult one – the symphony season was particularly back-loaded with difficult and unfamiliar repertoire at the end of the season, and I did a recital and audition towards the end, so there was little time to recharge built in to the normally quite relaxed end of the season – going from May into June. My state of mind going into the summer would have been quite accurately described as “burned out”.