I went to the first concert of the spring, 2009, student recital series. A fantastic young violinist from Australia, named Ray Chen (Doesn't sound very Australian, does he?) played Johannes Brahms' 2nd violin sonata. Then a girl from Jacksonville, FL, played William Walton's Viola Concerto.
Now I love the Brahms, but not the Walton. It's sonorous, and lively, and dark, and light hearted, and funny. But things happen for no apparent reason. Whenever I listen to his music, whatever it is, I keep asking myself why I am listening to this set of notes when I could be listening to another set of notes. I never ask myself that when I listen to anything by Brahms or Mozart, or Beethoven, or about two-dozen other composers.
But back to the kids. Jana Pope was one of these kids, absolutely amazing both in their presence on the stage, their technical abilities on their instruments, their musicality, and maturity. And because they have such spirit, they're extremely beautiful and fun to watch play. The girls always put on a style show, the boys not so much. You get a terrific performance, a beauty pageant, and a style show, all at the same time.
But it's funny, when you pass these kids on the street, they're just kids, under the same pressures that a lot of kids are under.
This is part of what got me as I worked on this book. They have these tremendous skill sets they've been working at since they were little, but in the end, they're just kids.
If you want to go to Curtis Institute concerts, they're free and open to the public. You can find the schedule of them at www.curtis.edu.
What about this? Want to read more? Click on the book or order it right from here. What do you think? I'd like to know. Post a comment.
Writing is, to me, an entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurial ideas are the life's blood of my writing. For my entrepreneurial course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For entrepreneurial real estate to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
In the end, They're Just Kids.
Synopsis:
Ian Kearney, the director of the Kearney Music School, an elite musical training school in Philadelphia, dies after a fall from a balcony during a recital. World-famous cellist, Henry Harrier, recently forced from the faculty, returns to investigate Ian's death when his prized former student is arrested. Henry shows through his brilliant and single-minded pursuit of the truth that, as usual, they have it all wrong. This Sherlock Holmes-type mystery leads the reader through the world of classical music and lays bare the conflicts which dominate the lives of talented adolescents when placed under the pressure of studying for a demanding, stressful, and often elusive career as a classical music performer. Henry Harrier is part John Le Carre's George Smiley, part Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes, and part Orlando Cole the beloved teacher, renowned chamber musician, and until his own retirement, the premier cellist of the Curtis Institute.Author Profile:
Tim was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on January 30, 1946. In 1951 he moved with his family to Schenectady, New York, where he lived through high school. He attended Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, from 1964 to 1968. He graduated in 1968 with a B.A. in history and philosophy. He received his Ph. D. in history in U.S. history in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison after spending 2.5 years in the U. S. Army. Most of his army service was completed in Wuerzburg, Germany, from 1969-1971. In 1972 he returned to Madison to complete his doctoral study. His dissertation, Those Who Moved; Internal Migrants in American 1607-1840, combined the statistical analysis of genealogical and biographical data with the study of traditional literary diaries, letters, and journals.Tim was a market and survey research consultant from 1983 to 2000 and a smoking cessation researcher from 2000 to 2003. His consulting practice focused primarily on conducting community health needs assessment. He authored hundreds of market research reports and published a number of his assessments in Community Health Needs Assessment published by McGraw Hill in 1996 and in a revised volume published in 1999. In 2000 he joined the staff of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he conducted smoking cessation research. He published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and spoke at national smoking cessation conferences.
In 2003 he moved to Philadelphia and earned his real estate license. He now practices real estate, works on publishing his novels, and studies and teaches entrepreneurship.Tim has written a dozen novel-length stories, a volume of short stories, and about a 3-foot stack of pages poetry. He is currently working on earning his 4th million in real estate sales, publishing his novels, and working on an entrepreneurish handbook as a support for his students.
Tim is a trained violist and an experienced string quartet player. He is an avid listener to classical music and regularly attends classical music concerts. He has two grown children by his first wife and a stepdaughter with his second wife. He likes to cook, read, write, entertain, develop relationships, and help other people. Formerly Tim used to travel frequently. He doesn't so much anymore. Now he regards the combination of real estate practice, writing and publishing, and the teaching and studying of entrepreneurship as enough of a trip.
