Thursday, December 11, 2008

It's been awhile since writing and so much has been churning around in my life. I have been madly working to make my concert at La Peña Cultural Center on Dec. 21 a success. Not only will there be a concert of the Sephardic music we have been developing, but there is also a companion art exhibit in the lobby of the center. Just getting 13 artists organized was stressful enough. Everyone needed to have their artwork to me by Nov.30 so it could be hung on Dec. 1. Needless to say, many of the artists missed that date. Some came the day of the hanging, other art didn't even arrive until Dec. 2. BUT, I got it all, it has been hung in the lobby and it is really amazing to see how each artist approached the Hand of God. They are all really beautiful and I am thrilled that it all came together so well. Since the hanging of the artwork, I had a photographer--David Belove--come and photograph each piece. I then created a poster calendar and a postcard, each of which will be for sale at the concert. All of this is to help raise funds for the SME recording project. I have applied for grants to help pay for the recording, but I still haven't heard the results and I'm not counting on much--especially in these tough economic times. So, I'm trying to think of creative ways to raise the funds. I will also be doing a raffle the night of the concert with some really nice gifts that have been donated to the cause. I'm pretty confident the concert will be spectacular and the overall evening will be jampacked with lots of fun stuff. It's taking a lot of work to prepare for all of this, but it's been fun, and I'm sure worth every effort.

As of January 5th I will be substitute teaching music for 6 months. one of the music teachers at a school near my apartment is takng a sabbatical to go and tour and record a CD. Lucky for her--and lucky for me! I will be teaching K-3 grades. I think it will be a lot of fun and really good for me to get back into the classroom on a regular basis. And of course the money won't hurt either! As I said previously, we are in tough economic times and my money situation has been precarious at best. Places to perform on a regular basis here in the Bay Area are becoming more and more challenging to find. This is the time that being able to think out of the box in order to survive becomes imperative. I'm not worried, though, I know that I'll be fine. I just hold on, pray a lot and trust that the Universe is watching over me. When I am able to let go and TRUST I am usually well cared for. It may sound somewhat hokey, but I believe in a higher power and time and time again it has been proven to me that the Universe watches over me--and I imagine all of us. Maybe you call it by a different name, but nevertheless there seems to be something bigger than each of us that oversees our existences.