Back to Reality

I'm back home after having landed here from Europe just before midnight on Thursday the 26th, and then left for the weekend in Portland with family the following morning until yesterday (Monday) evening.  I'm getting re-adjusted to this timezone and starting the journey back to life here as I knew it ... except, it's different now.

I did lose touch here on my blog as I suspected might happen, but I do aim to update as I sort through my experiences in Europe.  It's different being back because I am different; having grown in numerous ways through various challenges, observations, and simply the opportunity for growth.  My experience in Europe and at the Festival was very personal and it was difficult to know what to share through writing here.  Ultimately, I will simply hope to have the opportunity to share an enriched love for music and performing throughout this year.

My days at the Festival were very packed, starting with breakfast as early as 7:30am (that's the earliest it was served), practice, lessons, then there were masterclasses in the afternoon and almost always two concerts in the evening; one at 5pm and one at 9pm.  The concerts were sometimes faculty, sometimes guest artists, sometimes students.  All were generally extremely good.  I performed in 4 between voice and piano, and each performance was an extremely positive experience for me for various reasons.

There were 4 trips planned through the Festival, only one of which I went on and stayed back during the others in order to practice.  Perhaps you can imagine that most of my time was spent in the practice room and at masterclasses and concerts ... and though it was exciting to me, generally not something to post photos about.  I met some very beautiful people and worked with wonderful teachers.  There are some individuals I will probably continue to be in contact with and even work with throughout this coming year.

Being back home on the first morning, I find myself extremely motivated to practice with clear goals for the year to come.  I will love to share more about these goals for the year as time unfolds, so stay tuned!