We have arrived at the Assisi for the performing arts institute and immediately got to work in our chamber music assignments. I’ve performed two rather short pieces far and have one more concert this Friday of a longer work with multiple musicians.

Since we have such a short time to practice together, every performer needs to perfect their part on their own before the first meeting. For me, that meant lots of work with my favorite torturous device (my beloved metronome of course!), as well as listening to and playing along with recordings.

I’ve been extremely impressed by the amazing musicians I get to meet and work with! Finally, the town we’re in is extremely beautiful, and the scenery and history has been quite an inspiration.

More to come on some new personal musical challenges!

Le bleu-grass.

This is the third post that is not describing an actual Italian adventure as we are currently still in Nice, France spending time with local friends. Nice is a really magnificent place…the natural beauty of the area is quite inspiring as is the delicious food!

(Obligatory beautiful food picture) This afternoon we got to meet and play music with fellow musicians who are all either English-speaking or fellow foreigners (or both!) These were extremely accomplished musicians - a violinist/violist who is in the Monaco Symphony, three guitar professors from the Nice Conservatory and even a fellow guitarist from New York City! What was quite amazing and fun is that the three guitar professors, Henri, Aiko and Anne-Sophie (the latter being a good friend of mine from school at Peabody) are big fans of traditional American bluegrass music, and have even toured Nashville with their “Classy Country Band!” It was nice to have the opportunity to play something that sounds so familiar yet is so different from the music I usually practice and perform.

One thing that really kept me awake at night was the worry about traveling with a valuable guitar. Some people are in a position to purchase extra seats for their instruments, however a guitar almost always can fit in a normal size overhead compartment (and the cost of extra tickets are prohibitively expensive for most musicians!) With extra baggage charges and restrictions however, its been getting harder to get the guitar on board and its almost entirely dependent on the mood or leniency of the flight attendants. We arrived at JFK airport in New York for the first leg of the journey ready for battle. I was wishing I was as relaxed as this guy:

(sorry for the blurry photo) Thankfully we arrived with plenty of time and got on the plane early (one of the secrets for successful guitar transportion) and the guitar was safely tucked above the seat.

We've arrived in Nice, France to visit some friends and the beautiful paradise which is the south of France. I still need to prepare lots of music in between eating bread cheese and macaroons.

Le avventure musicale di Signorina Zoe nell'Italia

This blog is here to keep in touch with my beloved students (and parents of said students) while I leave for 30 days to participate in a music festival in Assisi Italy. My hope is that a virtual reminder of my existence during the traditionally laid-back summer days will help keep everyone practicing and no one will forget how to play the guitar! Also, I thought maybe some young guitarists might think participating in festival and playing concerts around the Italian countryside looks like a fun thing to do some day. I am not in Europe yet, however the musical adventure has already begun with the large amount of music that needs to be perfected before I arrive.

I'm playing a few pieces with other musicians (all professional musicians and music teachers) and have been told we can't expect a lot of time to rehearse, so everything needs to be as ready to go as possible. Therefore, I have a new best friend.