Season of Change
Hello everyone (anyone???), I have returned. For the last couple months I’ve been working on one of my largest projects to date and it has practically taken all of my human effort to finish the job. For any of you who aren’t aware, I have scored a production of “Quixote: Book One” at Cornish College of the Arts and it goes on stage in two days! (I’m so ready…)
I know what you’re thinking, Quixote, isn’t that already an opera? Answer: yes! It is! This is NOT that production, otherwise why would I be writing music for it?
“Quixote: Book One” was written for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2009 by Director/Playwright Octavio Solis, who happens to be a wonderfully, kind gentleman (if I say so myself). This hilarious work is about two hours in length and has been brought to life by my school’s talented faculty and students, and I was invited to be on the project two months ago. As we are nearing the end of this journey, I’m beginning to look ahead to the horizon in view.
A dear friend of mine recently made the comment that I reminded her of autumn. I took this as a compliment because I LOVE fall (my favorite holiday is Halloween AND I’m getting married in October!) and it caused me to reflect a little bit. Autumn is the season of change: the leaves turn, it gets colder, the colors get warmer, people get closer to their friends and family as the school season begins and we are forced to stay inside and enjoy each other’s company, the rains come back (even though they really last all year long here in Seattle) and the wind whips us around, signifying the cold winter to come. I love this time of year because I feel my most productive and driven to get cracking down on school work and projects and goals I have made that I didn’t get to over the summer.
This show has put an odd spin on all of this school year though, and it’s been a constant “work in progress” since the day I got involved. I’ve never written so much music in such a short amount of time and for such a large cast. When this is all over, I do want to relax but I also want to keep going with this momentum and create more but bigger and better. A lot of the music for this show was pretty simple, and it had to be because of the short rehearsal time the sound crew and the cast got. My next project is my Senior Recital, a production that’s going to be as big as I make it, and let me tell you, I’ve got LOTS of plans for this thing. It’ll practically involve every department at this school if I pull it off, and I have so much work ahead of me it makes my head spin.
While trying to process this next transition, it occurs to me that this is what life is going to be like. I will be as busy as I want to be (or as I possibly can be in my case) for the rest of my life. I get to call the shots on what I can handle. Pretty soon, that will be ALL there is to my life. Constant, never-ending music that I have to fight for. This senior year of college has really made me realize what big steps I am taking in the coming months towards marriage, a career, and adult life, my passion, you name it! There are so many big changes coming my way and I’m going so fast I can hardly process them all.
But maybe that’s why I do it?
I’ve realized that I “choose” to be autumn, to be constantly moving and changing and going somewhere. It’s a busy season and it likes to keep itself busy all of the time. After all, a body in motion stays in motion right? If I slow down, getting back on this treadmill is going to be a lot harder than if I just keep moving through it. (Trust me, I just fell off the fitness wagon and trying to get back on has been a big pain!)
So as this show comes to a close, I have a choice; another crossroads in the pathway of life. Do I jump on the fast track to working full time as an entrepreneur and composer no matter how hard or how back-breaking it is? Or do I rest a moment and let life flow at a slower pace?
I think you know which one I’m going to choose.
