In this letter 25 of the most useful ideas from 2025 There's a lot of noise at the end of the year about goal setting, becoming your best self, making 2026 the best year yet, or stepping into a "new" you. January 1st can feel like you're supposed to mark some grand transformation, like you're meant to shed your skin and emerge as someone completely different. My extended family in Taiwan follows the lunar calendar, and with it being the end of the year of the Snake, this means it's time to...
20 days ago • 3 min read
In this letter What the Nutcracker taught me about goals(and it's not "do fewer Nutcrackers"!) Just a few days ago I wasn't getting through the first act of Nutcracker without wincing. Tis' the season of holiday doubles with the Cincinnati Symphony: 6 rousing pops, 10 Nutcrackers in five days, 2 nerve impingements and 1... clarinetist down! Some of you are in the thick of 'gigmas' as it's called! My body, which generally has a pretty good amount of tightness from everyday playing, started...
26 days ago • 6 min read
In this letter Your inner voice is the key I'm giving you homework. Before you close this email in protest, read to the end! I promise it won't hurt too much. First of all, it's the kind of homework you do in fuzzy socks with a mug of something warm. It'll actually feel less like work and more like getting to breathe and feel. (Aka your nervous system gets a good rest)! Here's the assignment: Spend 30 minutes between now and the new year asking yourself what you actually want—not as a...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
In this letter okay we kid, it's an articulation warm-up from Tad Calcara ...in honor of Thanksgiving. And probably a good one to do in between plans. Since ours is a quiet, low-key holiday, with concerts of Dvorak's 7th Symphony this weekend, I will definitely be trying this warm-up in between making the blueberry galette and sitting by the first fire of the season! Our featured clarinet guest of the month often shares their favorite go-to warm-up - and we are extra delighted that Tad, the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
In this letter They can all play the excerpts. So what matters? I'm sitting in a dark auditorium today, listening to some of the best oboists in the world compete for one chair—associate principal oboe of the Cincinnati Symphony. And I keep thinking about something that has nothing to do with intonation, articulation, low register sound or rhythm. Every single person in this audition can play the excerpts. Every. Single. One. They've all practiced thousands of hours. Most can all nail the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
In this letter Your depth is your strength (here's how to use it) Ever have one of those days where you feel like you're being pulled in 19 different directions? You're teaching in the morning, rehearsing in the afternoon, answering admin emails during lunch, and somehow supposed to practice your own repertoire before dinner. Oh, and maybe squeeze in some actual family and life stuff too? Yeah, me too. Earlier in life, before all the adulting started (ok who am I kidding, I'm still this way),...
2 months ago • 3 min read
In this letter the real reason you doubt yourself: it's good news In 1978, two professors at Oberlin published a paper that spread like wildfire. Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes had spent five years studying high-achieving women, and what they discovered had a name: The Impostor Phenomenon. Citation: "The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention". Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 1978. What started as a single study has become a cultural...
3 months ago • 4 min read
In this letter pre-performance nerves | the T-CUP tool I used to think successful musicians didn't get nervous or feel any fear. What I learned is they feel the nerves, just like everyone else. The difference isn't that they've conquered their nerves—it's that they've learned to perform in spite of them. They've made peace with the butterflies. Here's the thing about nerves: our brains become obsessed with catastrophe. We rehearse disaster in our minds—the crack, the memory slip, the...
3 months ago • 3 min read
In this letter Ted's career lesson Are you sitting by the career pond, waiting for the perfect opportunity to bite? It's time to put down that fishing rod and pick up your bow. Hunting vs Fishing I give full credit for this game-changing insight to my coach, Julian Chender of 11A Collaborative. During one of our sessions, as I walked him through some job listings I'd been reviewing, he stopped me mid-sentence: "You realize you're fishing when you need to be hunting, right?" Cue the confused...
4 months ago • 3 min read