Today turned out to be a great day! I had to head into Cambridge for an event. It is nice to be a student exclusively this semester, so I can have days like this: ones that are entirely devoted to the arts! After a couple of rehearsals, I went to inspect venue where I will be performing for retirees next week. The piano there was in excellent shape, and the staff is wonderful…more on that next week!
Then, since I had the entire afternoon until my performance free, I ditched my car at a free (!!) spot and walked the 2 miles back to Longy. It was a perfect fall afternoon. My stroll took me up Brattle street, which I had never really explored. There are more historic houses on that street! It really gave me a sense of time and place to walk so far in such a historic area. The small size of the streets makes more sense on foot than it does from a vehicle. I could imagine early Americans walking to town, or riding their carriages. this would have been (and probably still is) a nice place to live. The brick sidewalks were great, and reminded me of a great piece I watched the other day about Groningen, a city built almost entirely around bike traffic. I definitely wish there were more places like that stateside!
I spent the afternoon practicing, and reported to Longy’s street piano at 4pm for the second installment of “88 in 88.” 8 student composers each wrote an 88-second piece for solo piano. It was a really fun project to work on…some strange and beautiful and creative music was made! If any of the videos that were recorded surface, I will be sure to add the appropriate links. Dr. Peter Evans contributed a piece as well. All in all it was an excellent afternoon!
By the end of today, I walked 4 miles, premiered 8 pieces, drove over 144 miles, took care of a bunch of emails, updated a web form for work, troubleshot a wireless network, and wrote this post…not bad for a Friday!
Nice little article!