Time is passing and the Sephardic Music Experience premiere concert is quickly approaching. The challenge is always how to create enough time and space to learn the new material while still trying to make a living teaching and gigging. I took a substitute teaching job at the JCC in San Francisco for the next few weeks. I had never taught preschoolers music before and it is definitely a fun experience. These children are so incredibly wide open to the experience of sound and movement. It is truly a pleasure to see their faces light up when they have a chance to play instruments and learn new songs. Where along the path do the children begin to get jaded about all of this? When does the novelty and excitement wear off? And how can we as parents and adults help to keep refreshing the adventure of music for our children? Maybe it's when the parents start telling their kids to practice. Or maybe we just have so many stimulations for our children that they can't do everything. I really don't know the answer, but I do find it interesting to see how different parts of our experiences change and sometimes shut down as we get older.

Ten new songs have been arranged for my new Sephardic project. All the charts, however, have not yet been sent to me so I'm beginning to get nervous that the musicians won't have enough time to learn all of the material. BUT, I also need to remind myself that I have chosen a group of musicians who are very talented and dedicated to their art and will do a fine job on Oct. 5th--and beyond. I am the one who is nervous about my own personal performance. Some of the songs are quite challenging for me and learning all of these lyrics can also get overwhelming at times. But I know this is my process: I obsess and obsess and obsess until the music encompasses my entire being. I listen to nothing else but the Sephardic music now so I won't be influenced by anything else. I guess it''s like an actor immersing him or herself in their role, I'm immersing myself in the Sephardic music so I can present it as authentically and honestly as I am capable.

Yesterday I attended a Town Hall Meeting in San Jose that was run by the Center For Cultural Innovation (www.cciarts.org/). San Jose has committed to helping artists in the South Bay. What does that mean exactly? Well, they have realized that the arts and music scene has deteriorated significantly enough in their community that they need to find ways to entice artists to stay and other artists to want to come to San Jose. They are looking at ways to better support the artist by creating work/living spaces, more performances spaces, studios, possibly financial support. It all sound really good on paper, and spoken out loud, but can they do it? Can they really create an environment in the South Bay where people can actually survive as artists? It will be interesting to see if they can achieve this goal. I truly hope they can. Would I then move back to San Jose? I asked myself that question while at the meeting yesterday. The answer would have to be answered much further out in the future. Right now being in the East Bay is the best possible place for me. But anywhere that wants to support musicians and artists gets my vote!