Mu Phi for Life (Boston, MA)
Gary Schocker Masterclass March 2010 West Park, NY
2009 marked the first year I started following my husband in his DoD career beginning with the US Air Force. We lived in Fitchburg and Hull with our son. The music scene was rather hard to break into at first considering I had no personal or professional contacts. Then I discovered that there was a very active Mu Phi Epsilon Alumni chapter, and decided to attend a meeting. Since then I have reconnected with a former Collegiate Adviser from my undergrad days and made some wonderful, talented friends. I had the privilege of performing with pianist, Valerie Stark in a couple of recitals, and guitarist, Aaron Larget-Caplan (www.aaronlc.com). My solo recitals occurred in the most unexpected venues including a very nice condominium where they regularly hosted "house concerts". Unfortunately, my program that night competed with a football game during playoff season, so needless to say, I lost out to the New England Patriots with spare attendance.
Through my time spent with fellow Mu Phi's, I felt like I had a musical home in Boston. Their support and encouragement made a huge difference in my motivation to pursue performance opportunities in the Greater Boston area. I also had the pleasure of studying with Northeastern University flute professor, Dr. John Ranck. His patience and attention to detail helped me prepare for the 2011 International Mu Phi Epsilon Competition.
I am also grateful for the congregation at First Baptist Church of Hingham and the leadership in Pastor Gary Ludwig and pianist, Denise Rachel. Contributing to the music ministry and learning from Denise's experiences with the church and her endeavor to create the Full Circle Youth Chorus, was a valuable education for me.
Teaching privately in Boston was put on hold since I was busy with performing. Little did I know our next duty station (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) would make up for that 10 times over!
Through my time spent with fellow Mu Phi's, I felt like I had a musical home in Boston. Their support and encouragement made a huge difference in my motivation to pursue performance opportunities in the Greater Boston area. I also had the pleasure of studying with Northeastern University flute professor, Dr. John Ranck. His patience and attention to detail helped me prepare for the 2011 International Mu Phi Epsilon Competition.
I am also grateful for the congregation at First Baptist Church of Hingham and the leadership in Pastor Gary Ludwig and pianist, Denise Rachel. Contributing to the music ministry and learning from Denise's experiences with the church and her endeavor to create the Full Circle Youth Chorus, was a valuable education for me.
Teaching privately in Boston was put on hold since I was busy with performing. Little did I know our next duty station (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) would make up for that 10 times over!
