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...
10 days 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...
29 days ago • 3 min read
In this letter about competition | the monster warm up My second professional audition ever was for Principal Clarinet of the Utah Symphony. Fresh from making finals in Santa Barbara, I was a first-year masters student at USC feeling ready and excited to audition for a great orchestra. The moment I walked into my hotel room—booked from the orchestra's own suggestion sheet (mistake #1?) —I heard it. Through the paper-thin walls: my next-door clarinet neighbor, methodically playing through the...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
In this letter practice wisdom | Mozart concerto It's the start of a new season and as I unbox new reeds and test which old friends still have life in them, I'm reminded of the excitement that each new season brings. This fall, it's especially thrilling with our new music director Cristian Macelaru and an upcoming gala featuring Yo-Yo Ma. As the calendar fills up, I'm also planning practice so there are no surprises. Sometimes the focus will be training fluid technique back into the fingers...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Yesterday at Wimbledon, Jannik Sinner gave us a masterclass in resilience. Just weeks after his heartbreaking loss to Alcaraz at the French Open, he bounced back to claim the Wimbledon title, his first, and so well deserved. Whether you like tennis or not, take 5 min to watch the highlights of yesterday's championship: I love the sport and think tennis is such a brilliant metaphor for us as performers because it captures so well the psychological and emotional reality of what we face in ways...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! Have you ever wondered why some musicians seem to get more opportunities, land the interview, get called for the gig, more students, or bookings to present masterclasses or clinics? The difference often isn't in their musical abilities—it's in how they present themselves professionally through their materials! If I had a dollar for each time a student has put down their instrument in a lesson and said… “Actually… I have a question… How do I build a website? Or maybe it’s… “Do I...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, If you're on Spring Break, I hope you are taking the opportunity to rest, rethink, regroup and recharge. And it's always nice to get a laugh (thanks to the witty 360 team)! So I had a chance to guest teach 2 students over the weekend... and we began with the usual, tell-me-about-you conversation to get a little context for the lesson. And both plunged right into sharing about being totally stressed out. One had a crisis of is all this work going to pay off, with variations of...
7 months ago • 2 min read
"Uncertainty is the only certainty there is (and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security).” This quote is from John Allen Paulos, Temple University professor of mathematics and author of A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, I Think Therefore I Laugh, and Innumeracy, and is apt for the times we are living. But it also resonates with musicians because making music means working with a living art form. Ours is an art of the moment, and we've got to realize that things change...
8 months ago • 3 min read
A whole year of goals can be daunting to tackle. If you answered "unexpected turbulence" in today's IG poll... ...take a breath. 2025 for many of us, and maybe you too, hasn't started out exactly stellar. As we move through the world, doing our work, caring for others, and tending to ourselves, I find I keep asking myself: what's the balance between those things? While I resolved to focus on small ways to support health, taking s-p-a-c-e and allowing little everyday joys, I'm finding that my...
9 months ago • 2 min read