January 3, 2010

January 3, 2010:

Happy New Year, and Goals for 2010

2009 was a wild year in many ways, but it's gone now and it's time to think about 2010 (and beyond). The end of 2009 was a blast. Following the successful Lost Dog concerts on Dec 4 & 5, Round Rock Symphony Holiday Spectacular on Dec 5 & 6, run of Penelope at Manhattan School of Music on Dec 9, 11, & 12, and the Astoria Symphony Holiday Jubilee! on Dec 13, I relaxed. Taylor and I enjoyed two weeks of vacation and we didn't travel or do anything constructive at all. We just relaxed. We watched a lot of movies, saw the Met production of Strauss' Elektra, and attended an amazing New Years Eve-Eve (Dec 30) party hosted by the very talented composer Patrick Soluri (if you live in New York City, you simply must check out Patrick's periodic salon parties - open to all). On New Year's Eve we toasted the end of 2009 at our local hang Rapture. Some holiday photos for you:

A close-up of our tree and a snowball fight in Times Square (Dec 19)

Taylor, me, Jessamyn, & Yoav at the New Years Eve-Eve Salon, Tay & me on New Years Eve.

My personal goals for 2010:

• Do less, do it better
  Practice photography more
  Compete in a sprint triathlon in May
  Compete in an Olympic-length triathlon in June
  Be happy

Here's an excerpt from my forthcoming book, The Tao of Conducting, just for the heck of it:

Conducting a large ensemble
Is like frying a small fish.
One must cook it simply, for it is easy to ruin.

Coming up next:

• Astoria Music Society Fundraiser (Feb 6)
  Round Rock Symphony Fundraiser (Feb 13)
  Astoria Symphony concert (March 13)
  Page-to-stage New Opera Program (March 14)
  Manhattan School of Music Opera (April)
  Astoria and Round Rock Symphony concerts (May 8 & 22)
  Round Rock and Astoria Symphony concerts (June 6 & 13)
  some more time off?