Making Music for Different Occasions

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Evesophia

It’s never a good idea to be a one-trick pony as a Musician. I am an opera singer first. But I also teach voice. I play piano well…so my college piano teacher told me. I teach that too. I play a modest organ. I do know pedals to a respectable degree for an opera singer.

But when it comes to actually making music what keeps you interested besides the actual act of making music? What keeps your audience or students interested? Hmmm…

When I play weddings at my Church I always say I hate everything I play. Ha! I have to play keyboard as the Greek Orthodox Church I belong to doesn’t have a regular organ. So even though there are gigantic works for organs that can wow the audience it’s actually not possible to play all those works on a keyboard, as fine as the keyboard is. I play a certain list of music, mostly early music from the 15/16/1700s. Seems to fit well in the Church since the regular music is Byzantine, vastly different than the music we acquaint with regular Church services. But I’ve been playing basically the same music a long long time. I’m bored.

Well, I still have to play mostly the same music since I did design it specifically for the Church. The other day I sifted through music I used to play and found a couple of pieces I decided to resurrect and include in my wedding repertoire once again. I even added a new Bach chorale!

I have edited the Pachelbel Canon in D four times. It’s a great piece to bring the bridesmaids down the aisle but it can become tiresome when you use it regularly, plus it’s long. What I find interesting is that going through all my edited copies, I ended up with the same one I’m using (and getting bored with) since I realized it actually is the best one. Our aisle takes about 60 seconds to march down so everything I play for the bridesmaids and the bride is very much edited. There’s nothing like a trip through all of your music to realize you actually do prefer exactly what you’re playing. Ha!

I guess this is where the term “Musical Artist” really comes into play. One has to put a music program together that is both appropriate for the occasion, musically interesting and pleasing to the people. It has to have a theme of sorts, something to pull it all together musically. It should also show a modicum of what you can do as a musician…your abilities. A full blown recital is the place where you can really show off your abilities as a musician and artist. But most of the time you’re designing a program for a specific occasion.

It’s interesting putting together a program for different occasions. Your own recital, weddings, student recitals and any other occasion for which you might have to provide music. I guess that’s what makes us Musical Artists. Cool huh?

So. I’m done. If you are a musician reading this think about how you design programs for your own musical situations. What criteria do you use? Do your programs make sense? Seriously…they need to. They need to hold together…tell a story. Nothing like a bunch of pieces that don’t relate to one another. Good grief!

Ok. Happy musical planning to all you fellow musicians out there. It really is great to plan programs. I love it. Don’t you?

#musician #musical artist #piano #organ

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Musings on a Tuesday

Posted on May 22, 2024 by Evesophia

I own a condominium. I’ve lived in communal housing my entire adult life. A house would be too big for me on my own. For anyone else in the same situation and I know there are many, isn’t it a trip? Ha!

There are 115 units where I live. So everyone here is one 115th of our association. It’s astoundingly amazing how many people think they live in a single family home. HOA regulations be damned. Huh.

Living with many others in several buildings is a better education in life probably than anything else you can encounter. Different cultures, different levels of intelligence, different religions although most people don’t go to Church (ask me how I know on a Sunday morning). Many wonderful people. A number of jerks, and then the occasional drug addict or boozehound who keeps everyone up at night by yelping wildly in the courtyard high on a bottle of something. Let’s not forget a few visits now and then from the Police and Fire Dept, not to mention ambulances. After being here 22 years I could write a rather good book on the place. Ha!

It’s a wonderful thing if you’ve been raised by terrific parents and were taught to respect other people and not get involved in their messes. My brother and sister and I were pretty solid when we left home…able to see a lot of situations for what they are. Sometimes it seems like I’m in the theater watching the “human” show. Interesting behavior amongst people.

Then there are the really nice folks you become friends with and enjoy living in the same community with. Then you get yourself on the HOA Board. Oy vey! Nice small group of us who happen to think almost the same. Now you really learn the “stuff” communal living is made of. Not for the faint of heart many times.

There’s also the laundry area where you run into a number of other residents. Some are very nice but again, others can’t seem to set the timer on the cell phone (that is attached to their hands) in order to retrieve their laundry when the washer or dryer cycle is finished.

Also add the parking lot where people either park very well in their deeded spaces or crooked which is so pleasant when you are trying to park your own car without hitting someone (or getting hit by that person parking crooked). There are also rules for smoking…in your own unit or outside no closer than 15 feet from the buildings. And…pets. Cats are inside but dogs…always on a leash outside. Otherwise in your unit…not roaming the hallways. Not in the laundry area or the pool area in summer. In short, a whole list of HOA regulations to sort of keep everyone happy and not at each others’ throats. And it’s just superb when people actually follow those regulations.

The interesting thing is that we somehow sleep. I guess we all learn to put up with noise in the building and outside, since most communal residences are on main streets. We do have quiet hours between 10 pm and 7 am. I live near a hospital so there are a number of ambulances screaming by at all hours. Motorcycles, large semis, etc.

Even though you live with a number of other people on site, you still have privacy in your own unit. And the odd thing is that you somehow feel safe with others around…even if you don’t like a number of those people. Hah!

Ahh yes. Don’t get me wrong. I would still like a bit more soundproofing and my own washer/dryer. I’d also like to live in a bigger unit on an upper floor with a spectacular view of maybe…Boston? Maybe one day before I check out of this life I will actually have that bit of enjoyment. I should probably search for some really great guy who is a millionaire right? I think I’m due something like that by now. As soon as I find him, millionaire or not, I’ll be sure to blog about him. Stay tuned!

Communal Living. Did I mention it’s a trip?!

http://www.makingmusicwitheve.weebly.com http://www.avon.com/repstore/eczaja

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Learning to Play an Instrument

Posted on May 14, 2024 by Evesophia

Learning a musical instrument is a great thing as learning music is a wonderful skill that keeps your brain active. I call it “brain training.” I teach piano as well as voice.

With piano, first one has to learn to use all 10 fingers independently. Then one has to learn how to use each hand independently from the other. Then one has to learn to watch the music and trust your fingers to play the right notes. Then one has to learn how to use the pedals with your foot to enhance the playing. All of this has to be separate yet together. No small feat but not impossible either.

Like any other instrument including voice, you take one step at a time, perfect it, then add more as you move forward. We use method books to help this process. These books are written by several music teachers who came up with their own system of learning. There are books for children and adults. Set a regular practice time daily. Consistency is the key here.

Then moving forward you start learning more advanced music literature. Different music styles from the different periods of music. Early music, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, Contemporary. There are also different genres of music that you might like to pursue as well. Besides classical there is popular, jazz…or you may want to dabble in all the different genres.

As you’re moving along you are undoubtedly learning music theory…notes, counting, key signatures, time signatures, tempo, phrasing etc. All this gives the music more personality and identifies the period of time in which it was composed. You also learn about the composers. Who were they or are they if still alive? What made them tick? Their personality shows up in their music.

If you feel this is going to be your profession you start playing in ensembles. If you are a pianist you might start accompanying singers or choirs. Expert pianists are always in demand for these types of jobs. Expand your horizons and get involved in more musical ventures. If you are a violinist or clarinetist etc. you might want to play with a symphony. That’s where all those orchestral instruments hang out.

This is something you start as a child and keep learning, growing, refining and achieving throughout your entire life. You become seasoned at your art. No small feat but a wonderfully rewarding one if this is your calling. Making a career out of it is tricky since you have to find your niche in this vast musical world and attempt to make a living with it. But along with the lifelong pursuit of musical art comes a lifelong pursuit of networking. We’re all out there doing it for pretty much as long as we live. You’re a musician forever.

And even if music is not going to be your calling in life it still is wonderful to learn and again, helpful for your brain. It’s a skill and our brains love learning new skills!

Word of advice: always work with a trained professional music teacher who teaches the instrument you want to learn. In piano especially, many times people try to learn it themselves or work with someone who can play fairly well but isn’t a seasoned or even very well trained musician. Yes you can learn basic things but most of the joy in learning to play an instrument is to be able to play with a level of expertise, and play musical styles you like. A true feeling of accomplishment.

So there it is. I highly recommend if you have always wanted to play piano or any other instrument, go for it. Do the best you can and invest the time. Jump right in. It’s an education, brain training and fun! Finding a teacher can be easier than you think. The wonderful music organization I belong to, MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) is available online to help you. Insert your zipcode in your search and music teachers will pop up with their bios and credentials. And hopefully your teacher will be as nuts as I am. Ha!

http://www.makingmusicwitheve.weebly.com

#music #piano teacher #professional musician

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Being an Opera Singer

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Evesophia

How do you know you want to be an opera singer? Well nobody tells you that’s for sure. It’s a gift and it lives inside you just like your internal organs. At some point it surfaces. You might like singing all the time like I did as a kid. I remember my brother and sister fighting over something during Christmas while I sat by the Creche and sang Christmas carols out loud. Really loud! Then in school I always had to be the loudest singer in the room whenever we sang songs etc.

In high school I joined the choir and sang some pretty decent solos. The resident voice teacher at the high school corraled my parents and highly suggested I start voice lessons. So at age 16 I started serious voice lessons. I transferred over to a retired professional opera singer, then to another one and finally to my long time voice teacher of 20 years. And yes, I became an opera singer. I always loved arias and becoming what is known as a “vocal athlete.”

Now this wasn’t easy by any means folks! I had to learn to breathe using my guts, let go of singing from the throat and let the air guide my voice out into resonating cavities within the head and neck area, and keep this up until the voice grew and expanded and became refined…matured. It took 10 years. However the voice keeps maturing and refining as you sing throughout your life. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

But like any musician you have tunnel vision and stay focused. You just keep going until it blossoms into what it should be. You major in music in college and work with master teachers in other musical areas while on your way to becoming a musical artist. I amassed both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. You also sing with local opera groups, local symphonies, and like myself Chicago Opera Theater. You have to learn performance practices for all the periods of music…Early Music, Baroque, Classical etc. You also have to work with other musical artists. Sing in ensembles, work with an accompanist etc.

And then, you have to figure out your “niche” in the vast musical world full of people who are doing what you are…tons of people. Some are better than you and you are better than some as well. For me I realized early on that I am a more disciplined singer, one who doesn’t take a lot of liberties with the text or music. My niche is more Bach since he is very disciplined musically, and German Lieder…art songs by Schubert, Schumann, Wolf etc. In fact I absolutely love German Lieder. It fits me very well. But each singer has to figure these things out for themselves. Something that will set you apart from the vast amount of singers out there.

All of this applies to other musical instruments as well. We’re all in the same boat on the same journey to find ourselves as musical artists. You literally spend your entire life becoming a musical artist and refining it as you go along. My Master’s is in Music Pedagogy so I also went into teaching several years later. I love that too.

Ohhh and…you have to be partially crazy to do this. Ha! So. Whether you are a musician or something else in the personal achievement department, you can relate to this scenario. But not to discourage anyone. Please do know that if you have the gift of music or any other type of personal achievement talent know that you can develop it into a real profession. That you can become an expert at it. Yes it takes work but it is worth it in the end. Isn’t it?

#www.makingmusicwitheve.weebly.com #opera singer #musical artist

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Cosmetics

Posted on February 26, 2024 by Evesophia

So I am quite sure you all know that I am an Avon Independent Representative and Master Makeup Artist. I’ve been into both music and cosmetics my entire life. Not only am I a professional musician but a Master Makeup Artist as well. Two things I have always wanted to perfect.

What does it really take to make skincare and makeup work for you? Not much really. You must take a real interest in your own skin. What kind of skin do you have? Dry, oily, combination…only you can figure this out for the most part. You live with your skin daily.

Then you need to find products that work to keep your skin in good condition. Our faces get the most wear and tear since they are out in the elements daily. Sunburn, windburn, frigid temperatures, not enough sleep etc all contribute to imbalanced skin conditions. The rest of our body is somewhat immune to most of this since a lot of our skin is always covered. But there is still dryness that can occur and sagging as we age. During summer months our legs and arms can get sunburnt from too much exposure to the hot sun. In short there are skincare needs for our whole body that are either regular routine or due to weather differences through the seasons.

If you have a pretty good handle on your skincare type you can investigate products for your type of skin. What kinds of products can help you throughout the year, different seasons etc and keep your skin looking younger, hydrated and in good shape. If this is a daunting task you can ask a cosmetics professional or even just go to the cosmetics counter in the store and start asking questions. Another option is to consult a representative like me. We are trained in skincare issues as well as the products we sell that can address your skincare issues.

So what does a skincare regimen look like? Cleansing, usually using a serum of sorts to help work on signs of aging, dryness, too much oil in the skin, etc. Eye cream is a must as the area around the eye is very delicate skin which needs very delicate products. Top it off with a good moisturizer. We do this morning and night. There are products specifically meant for nighttime and products specifically meant for daytime with SPF sun protection etc. Morning and night routines should take 5 to 10 minutes. Not a lot of time to help your skin look its best. There are also special treatments like masks and peels that you can use to add more oomph to your routine on “spa days” or whenever you splurge on “me time.” For total body care there are lotions, oils, deep hydrating products that one can use after stepping out of the shower. Total body care! Don’t forget the hand cream. Our hands need TLC too!

Next on this list is makeup. This is not mandatory. One can do expert skincare and not want to do makeup. This is fine. There is light daytime makeup which adds a lift to your look but not overbearing. Natural look. Then there is makeup for weddings, for evenings out, formal events, professional pictures, special effects as in Halloween, and so on. And again what do you do if you want to learn more about makeup and application? Same thing as investigating skincare. Investigate cosmetics online or at the store, or contact an independent rep like myself. Learning how to apply your makeup isn’t as hard as you might think.

So there. Not only can you learn to have better skin but also a better more uplifting appearance learning how to apply makeup. Like anything else in life it takes some work and practice. But it will become routine once you “find yourself” and what products work for you. You’ll be a master of yourself in due time.

And I would love for you to contact me on my my New Avon LLC website: http://www.avon.com/repstore/ecaja. You can look around the digital brochure and contact me with any questions re products and my own services.

Here’s to a new you!

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Presenting Well

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Evesophia

What do you think about as you get ready to leave the house for either work, shopping, Church, formal events, casual socializing etc. Do you think about how you are going to present yourself to the world or…? Think about that. I’ll wait.

Here’s me. If it’s a professional appointment like my music teaching or makeup artistry, I make sure I do my makeup well, my hair is as good as I can do it, decent clothes even if casual, some jewelry and a pleasant demeanor. In short, I want to present well. I always want to present well even if I’m going grocery shopping. I’m not doing full makeup and getting into a formal gown but some makeup and jeans that aren’t that awful fashion – ripped and looking homeless, and my basic jewelry. Makes me feel good too…finished.

What do I see on the streets these days? Well…women with hair pulled back with no makeup or any evidence of basic skincare, ripped jeans making people look like they’re homeless, skin tight leggings that outline every piece of a woman’s anatomy (o joy), smoking, tattoos, nose and eyebrow plus lip piercings…the list goes on. The men look a bit better if their hair is short. Most men don’t wear makeup or do skincare, although men should do skincare in this day and age. In short, people no longer seem to take an interest in basic appearance. Yes I know how hard it can be if you just want to go to the store and “don’t feel like it.” But make the basic effort.

Appearance, manners, lack of concern for others, honesty and just basic human decency is suffering a lot in this day and age. People are also presenting as juveniles, offended at the very thought of someone else having a different opinion than they.

What can one say? I personally admire people who make the effort to present well. It tells me they care about themselves.

How do you present? Have you given it more thought since my first paragraph? If we only have one body then do you really care to present it as best as you can when you appear in public? Do you enjoy working on yourself? Appearance, manners, language, social abilities, intelligent conversation?

Think about it. I do…every day.

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Survival Throughout Life

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Evesophia

I haven’t written in my Blog for over a year. Well…since my best friend/music bud died in 2022 I was so stressed out I ended up in physical therapy for a horribly tense back and pulled shoulder blade muscle. Just as I was recovering from both of these life moments, I had surprise back/spinal surgery on Labor Day 2023 at the famed Brigham’s Hospital in Boston. I spent 3 1/2 days there and was shipped to rehab for 2 weeks. Life happened so fast I felt like a bomb had dropped on me. Oy vey!

My esteemed surgeon is the director of neuro-spinal surgery at Brigham’s. I ended up having 33 days of radiation treatments due to a spinal tumor. My radiation oncologist is the warm and fuzzy doctor you can whine at, cry on his shoulder and just talk to. What a rock! I have to have MRIs and CT scans every three months so they can keep an eye on things. I’m pretty MRI fatigued right now.

And this brings me to my headline…Survival Throughout Life. Yes…that’s me. I had my first surgery at age 38…hysterectomy. So I couldn’t have children. Next surgery at 41…brain/head surgery. Doctor took out a benign tumor. I’m fine. Then 32 years later back/spinal surgery…remove a cancerous spinal tumor and put in some hardware to stabilize my spine. You’ve probably fainted by now reading this list of atrocities. Well…How am I still upright and doing ok? Because I am.

After every surgery, never once did I ever not expect to be myself again…back in the saddle after I recovered. I just assumed it would happen. Pure faith. Yes there were moments of depression especially after the knowledge that I couldn’t have children in this life…something most women look forward to. Then will my brain be ok going forward…not to mention growing my hair back after that surgery. I looked pretty cool in a buzz cut. Ha! And now, will my back be ok ad infinitum with its new hardware in place of the two degenerated discs the surgeon removed. What do you do with all of that?

You press on. Yes, you make yourself think and move forward. You will always have these memories but as long as I can look over my shoulder and see that world famous hospital Brigham’s, and that great surgeon of mine, all within driving distance of my home, I’m ok. I’ve got my security blanket in place.

And living healthy and as holistically as you can makes all the difference. Praying daily, doing constructive things, trying to be happy most of the time…it all works. And most of all, being annoyingly independent regarding your health. I can do it. You can do it. Make that decision to be as healthy and functional and positive as you can. Take charge. The expert medical people did their expert job but now you have to do yours.

I will get through the loss of music students, the finances which are less than perfect for now and my emotions. I will fix things again for myself. Life is up and down and well, one has to adjust to it and keep fixing it. Keep moving forward. Accept the crap and press on.

I hope for anyone who is reading this, if it gives you encouragement than this long post about Ev’s surgeries et al has done some good.

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Being a Musician/Singer

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Evesophia

I read an interesting article the other day. It talked about dating/having a relationship with a musician. From the sound of this article the author was a classical musician. And this article was me…through and through.

If you have been reading my Blog over the years you realize I am still in search of my one-true love/husband. And I do realize being a musician, especially an opera singer, plays a part in that life. Music is something us serious and professional musicians are gifted with in life. We have this “thing” that we sort of rotate around and pulls us through life. The music chooses us as much as we choose it. We’re not weird people just focused on a gift from God that we have that lives inside us. We must do what we are formatted to do…and that is to make music.

We all have a gift in this life. A lot of people don’t fully pursue their gifts. For myself, if I didn’t follow my music life I would be totally unhappy and unfocused and well, miserable. And this is where a partner needs to step up to the plate. We can be great partners and loving and caring and compassionate…all those emotions that one needs to make proper music. But the life is a bit different. One usually has to work regular jobs besides making music or many music jobs to make a real living. This means we are working at something days, nights and some of our weekends. Not attractive to a lot of people who are not musicians but nothing to be afraid of either.

One has to practice. Yes. We musicians make noise…loud noise. And when practicing you’ll hear us sing or play a phrase ad nauseum just to get it right. It might sound irritating/monotonous to a non-musician but that’s how making music works. It’s the striving for near perfection especially before a performance. It takes a lot of work and many years of pure focus to learn to play an instrument and to become an opera singer, not to mention conquering the nerves and stamina to perform. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

But still, it’s who we are. And we make music from the heart. There is no other place this gift can come from. I personally am very happy for my musical life. I’ve worked hard and have accomplished many musical things. I love the students I teach and the new music I continue to sing and play. But like everyone else I still want the intimate partner. And yes, I know this means being single a longer time than most people because finding someone who can accept who you are and what makes you tick is difficult. Especially when one has a rather different lifestyle.

If you read this Blog think about what gift you have…what you’ve always felt compelled to do. What defines you? Think about it. Are you doing it? It’s who you are.

Be who you are meant to be. You owe it to yourself. That’s the only person you can be. Make your own music…whatever that music is.

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Moving Forward in Life

Posted on July 10, 2022 by Evesophia

After the better part of 6 months in the hospital my best friend of 39 years, best musician friend and partner in crime, died. He had endured a pituitary adenoma, surgery and many complications after that. The hospital and doctors tried. But in the end, my friend Dr. Fred had the final say. He chose to not go on after one final and serious setback. He went downhill quickly. And now…it’s over. A lifetime of music, nuttiness, jokes, brilliance, and being connected like a musical marriage.

I am sad but I understand we all die. I’m a bit lost. Being a musician is a somewhat lonely occupation. We commiserate with other musicians, true, but we are our own business and we excel at our chosen instrument. We take the expert teachings of our master artist teachers and apply them in our own way. Being a musician is a very personal thing. And Dr. Fred was one of those brilliant masters that people were in awe of. We worked together well and could almost read each other’s minds. There was that connection you have pretty much only once in your life.

But we have to move on. Move forward and continue as musicians. Possibly take the energy your best friend gives you and incorporate it into our own personhood. Perhaps it helps us evolve even better as a musician in our own right. We give each other gifts when we are related or otherwise intimately connected. We may not realize it but it comes in the form of energy and confidence to move forward and excel even better. I do believe it’s part of that person’s spirit.

Nonetheless, we still hurt, feel somewhat lost, and wish for that connection to not be gone. Yes, sometimes life sucks big time. This is one of those times for me.

But we move one. Thank God we can’t go backwards in time. Experiencing this kind of personal loss is more than enough once. And we should be thankful we can feel hurt and lost and cry and be sad. It shows we care and our heads are on in the right direction. We all have to let ourselves be vulnerable in relationships. Yes it hurts when we lose someone to death but it’s better to have had that person in our lives than not.

And one more time…we survive and move on. More aware of the people we love and our relationships. Life is interesting indeed.

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Working From Your Heart

Posted on May 11, 2022 by Evesophia

They say if you do what your love you never work a day in your life. I think I am finally experiencing that now.

After losing our music studio to the pandemic over a year ago and trying to teach for online organizations plus build up my own personal cache of music students, I finally hooked up with a good classical group of musicians expertly run by a nice young man from Poland. I’m Polish! They teach in 3 locations and I am the voice teacher in one of them. The group is very professional and I’m very happy to be part of them.

I drive home after teaching and feel this bliss in my heart because I’m doing what I love. We musicians and artists in general, have this “thing” that drives us. This gift we were given in this life that we revolve around. And that’s when it resonates. When we’ve immersed ourselves in our “thing” we feel our true self…who we were meant to be. This is hard to explain to people. Especially to a significant other…if one can actually find that person. It’s hard to explain even to your own family. It’s being exactly who you are. Not many people actually work in that place of self. Pure love of what they do.

Be assured though that I’m still a poor musician but there is hope that this new venture which fits me very well, will solve that problem adequately. When you are finally in “your zone” you attract all the things that your heart truly desires because it comes from of place of pure gratitude and love/bliss.

This is probably a new concept for a lot of people. But try it. Seriously try to spend your life doing what you absolutely love. I am now finally. And I pray the rest of my heart’s desires find there way to me now that I’m in a place I want to be for the rest of my life.

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