06/03/2026
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”
—Albert Schweitzer
Working on photos of my foster kittens, who will be up for adoption soon.
I haven’t been on social media much lately, so much going on here in addition to the 6 pack of kittens!
In January, I was diagnosed with musician’s dystonia (a task-specific movement disorder causing involuntary muscle contractions which interfere with highly trained motor skills, such as playing a musical instrument). Basically, the circuitry in my brain related to playing clarinet developed a glitch (all the hardware is intact—no mass or stroke). I have been working with some amazing musician coaches to retrain (or rewrite the affected program in my brain) since February. It’s going well, and I will be playing with my local orchestra in a concert of Sibelius works this month.
I just finished reading a novel based on Sibelius’ life, which was really interesting to read while playing several of his compositions—‘My Music, My Drinking, and Me’ by Caroline J. Sinclair. It illustrates how we all face struggles in life and how important it is to do your best to get through the difficult times.
The audio track is from Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, which was written after the tragic death of his 15 month old daughter from typhus while he was also struggling with alcoholism, debts, and subsequent marital troubles.