The Cello Lives On

Upon moving to Cedar Rapids last summer, one of the things I missed most about Illinois was my old cello students and small performance opportunities. At the time I wondered if I would ever find new students to teach or a willing accompanist to play with.

Now that we have been in Iowa for a little over a year, I've run into more teaching opportunities than I would have imagined. I currently have about ten students of various instruments (violin, viola, or cello) at Cedar Rapids School of Music, as well as two private cello students and one private viola student. I've had a chance to arrange for, rehearse, and conduct a small church youth orchestra on two different occasions, and last week I got to do a little cello demo for story time at the local library.
I played the kids a little Bach, a little Smoke on the Water, and of course Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old MacDonald.

In an effort to keep up my personal playing, I applied to be a sub for the community orchestra last year, but never heard back from them. I wish I had more to say about performance opportunities, but for now my audience is mainly children, parents, and the congregation at church. When I do play, however, the audience is always so appreciative--it makes me realize how worthwhile music has been in my life, and how blessed I am to be able to share it with others, however simple and non-glamorous the venue may be.