Rusty’s not a big fan of #Bartok, but it’s time to get back in shape.
#creativesadhana

Keep digging your well. Keep knocking. Eventually the joy will inside will open a window to see who’s there. - Rumi
—
In for a week of “knocking” with some construction going in my new studio, but at least I’ve got a pup to keep me company.
#creativesadhana #violin ...#soloviolin #bach

Incredibly excited to be visiting Oklahoma for the first time next weekend, and to be delivering a keynote for Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Academic Awards Banquet.

https://www.ofe.org/keynote-speaker/

Photo by Chris Orwig

I've spent quite a lot of time lately with these 2 beautiful souls... and it's been nothing short of inspiring, emotional and transformative.

Reena Esmail, Composer wrote me and HyeJin Kim a gorgeous and soulful piece that we have been workshopping and I can't wait to be ...recording it on 💿 in June!

Vijay Gupta - Violinist and I went to the California Institution for Women yesterday as part of a Street Symphony project to play some Ravel and Handel-Halvorsen. Gosh, I did not expect to come out of that prison feeling emotional and transformed. The experience redefined what I took for granted every single day: freedom. Yet, these women gave us a beautiful gift of empathy and love and that's probably why I felt so much love and pain all mixed up together.

Thank you both, for re-sensitising what music making means to me in the most fundamental way ❤️

#transformed #music #classicalmusic #prison #musician #musicianlife #transformative #inspirational

The composer Maurice Ravel went out drinking one night with a bunch of composer buddies. The entertainment was a “tziganer”, a “gypsy” performer, a woman named Jelly D’Aranyi. She played all night. The other composers ignored her fireworks, eventually passing out drunk. The Romani ...musicians were common. Their music wasn’t welcome in the hall anyway. Ravel, though - the quiet, curious outsider - kept watching her. He listened, eventually notating a small portion of her unintelligible genius, turning the work into her derogatory namesake - his only showpiece for violin - Tzigane.

Tonight, my friend @yoshi.cello and I are headed into the California Institution for Women in Chino, to play works by Ravel and @reenaesmail for a group of women I haven’t seen in years. These are women who have also been ignored, cast out and ostracized for forgotten decades. But every time I’ve gone in to CIW, I emerge a new person - a bit softer, a bit less sure of myself, a tiny bit more curious about what else I’m missing around me. These women teach me to pay attention. We never know what we’ll miss.

What do we learn when we pay attention to the parts of our world which hurt? I wonder, if we pay attention to the miracles happening in every moment, if we might emerge a bit softer, a bit more curious? What music can we create if we pay attention?

#creativesadhana #soloviolin #ravel #tzigane

If you are irritated by each rub, how will you be polished? -Rumi
—
I’ve long loved this Japanese carbon steel knife. It’s the sharpest edge I have. The problem with carbon steel, though, is that it will tarnish. Professional chefs polish their blades daily, turning the tarnish into a... fingerprint. That blade is theirs. The steel takes on their essence.

For years, I wouldn’t dare cook with this knife. If I did, I’d immediately wipe off the tarnish. Today, I took it out to prepare the first meal in my new home. Let it rust. Let It tarnish,

A creative practice embraces imperfection. It’s the polishing of the mirror, knowing the at we will never get an untarnished reflection. Hone the edge. Use the knife.

#creativesadhana #carbonsteel #japaneseknives