Five Months From Today!
As I look at the pianists on the roster for December at Carnegie Hall, it is easy to recognize some very celebrated artists, Randall Atcheson, Seong-Jin Cho, and Lang Lang among them.
This is exciting for me because my own Carnegie Hall solo recital debut is exactly five months from today. While it’s true I have been working toward this moment since the date was confirmed in early February 2025, I am amazed how quickly the time frame has gone from fifteen months to five.
People are asking me if I am nervous, and I suppose on some level I am. Still, more than anything else I am excited. I tend to associate nervousness with wondering if you have prepared enough, so the best way to avoid it is to be over-prepared, and to then just go onstage and have fun.
I think all artists would do well to remember that a performance is not just a performance, but a way for you to share with an audience what the music means to you. It’s like opening a wonderful present that you can’t wait to show to everyone; a secret you’re finally able to tell.
Too often we focus on failing, and not nearly enough on success. Everyone worries about making a mistake. I say, what if instead of making a mistake, I actually inspire? What if instead of giving people something to criticize, I help them to see the true beauty of what the composer has written? What if, by listening to me, someone decides they are going to work harder at their own profession, or even decide they too want to become a concert artist?
I’m focusing more on what I can share, how I can encourage, the ways I can motivate, and what I can do to vitalize the audience, and I would rather concentrate on this than worrying about making mistakes.
Mr. Alexander always says that an artist should use her talent to make people feel the same way when they leave the performance that they do when they leave a place of worship. That your performance is not a prayer where you ask for what you want, but instead give thanks for what you’ve been given. That’s what I am thinking about. Not being nervous, not being afraid, but playing to inspire, to galvanize, to share my gratitude for being given the gift of this talent. To give thanks for the fact I have been given the opportunity to make the world better through my music.
With that in mind, five months from today cannot come fast enough.
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