violinist & educator

This week I will be part of a team to pilot a new string program at the Atrium School in Watertown, MA. More specifically, I will be working with Randy and our mentors/colleagues, Larry and Beatrice along with their little daughter Miranda, to promote and develop Music Plus Music Integration (M+MI) into the curriculum for second and third graders by teaching them literacy in all areas through playing the violin. We presented our mission and ideas to an intimate group of parents last night, and all seems well and swell.  They are highly supportive of us and of the notion that their children are going to be making music very soon.  We are all so excited–I’ve never really done this in my life. Even though I’ve started plenty of beginners, both old and young, the fact that there will be a GROUP of them in one place at the same time will be challenging.  There are so many things to think about: discipline and silence methods, organization, making lesson plans and goals, time management, other logistical things, making a newsblog, etc.  Good thing we will have lots of help from the classroom teachers which means the teacher to student ratio is 1:2 for each group. In terms of acquiring instruments, we are working with Johnson Strings in Newton.  They are the best at what they do and the most reliable, and I think they are excited about working with us too.

Please check back for updates on this new teaching project as there will be photos and videos to come!

Next stop: Washington D.C.

I was so wired and excited on my solitary ride to my hometown… I was practically speeding down the NJ turnpike!  The four-car caravan soon separated (Zaccai drove his car and met up with us at Gina’s), but we found ourselves together again at various rest stops.  Some people had small bladders, some needed coffee, and some had to stay awake!  Before we knew it, we finally reached our destination in the early afternoon: the Hyatt on Capitol Hill.  We got an awesome deal at the hotel because Randy’s cousin Stephanie is the manager.  THANK YOU!!  We only had a couple hours left before soundcheck at Bossa so we all went our separate ways and got ready.  I had to eat, shower, warm-up, and iron all the uniforms in a short time that I practically went crazy.  A reminder for the next tour: bring a uniform roadie!!

When we were ready to go and managed to get a hold of the valet parking dudes, we set foot into one of the busiest neighborhoods of DC: Georgetown.  Upon entering Bossa, I was at first disappointed due to the size (the stage was tiny!) and lack of seating and tables.  But after everything was set up (sound engineer took HOURS but was pretty nice) and the lights dimmed and people started walking in (my mom and close friends came to support us), the show turned out nicely.

Thank you all who came out to support us and our music!!  This was our first show and it gave us positive momentum to see such a good turn out.  After the show we treated ourselves to some good and cheap Middle Eastern food.  My gyro was yummy!Before we left DC for Philly, we got some shots at the Capitol.  Here is a shot from my car of our W7 caravan…

Next stop: Philadelphia