This page had been blank for many months for no other reason than a simple lack of time and perhaps a bit of procrastination. I owe everyone who spent time staring at a blank page a big apology. This page normally gets updated in September—the beginning of the orchestra season – to inform you of concerts which might be of extra interest and to talk about new events in my life, personal or musical.  After failing to make time to write for four months, New Year’s Day is inspiring me to catch up once again. So here I am on a beautiful New Year’s Day afternoon, my daughter napping soundly, having a therapeutic time to myself.

The big thing that occupies me now, which turned my life 360 degrees, is being a mom. Trying to have best of both worlds -- a career and being a committed mother -- is definitely not easy and certainly not stress-free, but the reward I get is every bit worth the hard work - my 20 month old is doing so great. My dream team-mates, my amazing husband and mother-in-law, helped make this possible and I am truly grateful for their equal involvement in raising Imogen. Being a full time mom and a full time musician has taught me many valuable lessons. I have learned to be more patient, be more efficient with my time, more forgiving of my mistakes and be less attached to the emotions that really don’t matter in the big picture.  Oh! And of course, how could I leave out “power-practicing.” I have a feeling that I’ll be chasing after more practice minutes for a while.

There are a couple of solo performances coming up; 

First up is Piazzolla’s Four Seasons in Buenos Aires on February 11^th, with the Mission Chamber Orchestra at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose. There are at least a dozen pieces on my wish list that I categorize as “must play” and I am really pleased that this piece made it out of my wish list as soon as it did.

On March 30^th , 31^st  & April 1^st  I’ll be performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.1 with my colleagues of the Symphony Silicon Valley at the California Theater in San Jose.

Of the orchestral concerts I am performing this season, I’d like to pick two concerts as the highlights of the season;

Monterey Symphony’s February set (Feb. 18^th , 19^th  & 20^th ) features Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade which has glorious concertmaster solos as the voice of Scheherazade, the heroine storyteller of the “Arabian Nights”. Berlioz Selections from Les nuits d’été (Summer Nights) and Ravel’s Scheherazade will be featured in the same program.

Stockton Symphony’s premier of Avner Dorman’s musical adaptation of a cherished Israeli children’s story, Uzu and Muzu will take place on March 8^th & 10^th at the Atherton Auditorium in Stockton. Last season I played Dorman’s percussion concerto “Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!” with the Symphony Silicon Valley and absolutely loved it. The varied timbre in his composition gave so much pleasure to my ears. So I am thrilled about this premiere. I am also proud that the Stockton Symphony won the “Music Alive” grant from the Aaron Copland Foundation that made this commission possible. The program will open with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture and we’ll be featuring our principal oboe Tom Nugent playing the Bach F major concerto.

I sincerely hope year 2012 brings all of you love, peace and lots of great musical experiences.

Best wishes,

Christina