I shared yesterday’s post with a few people in my life with whom I share many perspectives, and for whom I have enormous respect both intellectually and personally. One provided the response below:

“Dear Eddie,
Cannot have that dark dark piece be the last word, as true as it appears right now. Musings:
I believe that character, kindness and decency matter.  
I certainly feel betrayed by my countryfolk.
My friend, (an African-American man), who knows a thing or two about loving a country that has often betrayed him, tells me this country has always fought for every small step  and that he swears things are better now than when he finished college in 1968.

Etty Hillesum knew a great deal about the evil in the world and she wrote:
“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim l...

“This constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore. A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong. And such a people, deprived of the power to think and judge, is, without knowing and willing it, completely subjected to the rule of lies. With such a people, you can do whatever you want.”
—Hannah Arendt, German historian and philosopher (1906–1975)

A tremendous voice of creativity in sound, Wolfgang Rihm.

What if we took a different approach to our curriculum in music training? What if we start with what our students are making with music–the repertoire they’re preparing–and base all other classes on that music?

In the spring semester, ensemble, opera, and chamber music directors select their repertoire for the coming year. Then, with that repertoire shared with those who teach core classes (theory, ear-training, keyboard harmony, conducting, history), the core classes can use that music to draw examples for study, analysis, exercises, etc.

Perhaps that might broaden the impact of the curriculum–all students in their early years (the “core” years) would be studying the same works of music, though at different levels of sophistication...

So much going on in our world, very little of it encouraging.

To find the elements of optimism, at least for me, I need to look at the smaller circles, the closer orbits. Two thriving grandsons, healthy, smart, loving, each mischievous in their own ways. And they’re fortunate to have two loving parents who’re effective at allowing their imaginations thrive, but also at providing clear limits. I found great energy and inspiration in my visit to their home last weekend, and in that house, there is nothing but optimism.

As I look at my own home, I am grateful that we’re all dealing with our various health situations effectively, and are in good shape. Thankfully, we’re all living with things that are treatable, and that puts us in a category of very fortunate people.

And Patti...

“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.”

–Fred Rogers