Welcome to my Blog!

Hello - my name is Jessica and I am thrilled to be inviting you to my blog!

As a violinist coming to the end of my [formal] education, I felt this would be a good time to start documenting not only news about concerts and projects that I have been doing, but also sharing insights and lessons about joining the professional world of the music industry.

Throughout my training, I have received an abundance of tuition in the practicalities of playing the violin; developing my technique, musicality, inter-personal skills, rehearsal and performance etiquette, the list could go on! While these skills are vital to becoming a successful and reliant player and colleague, one area that I am yet to hone in on is that of the do's, don'ts and how-to's of actually getting into and maintaining a professional and fulfilling career.

My aim for this blog is to share with you lessons I have learnt/am learning (good and bad, we're all friends here!) including advice and tips on how to create a rounded musical career (I am no expert, yet, but let's figure it out together). I also hope to share articles of topics related to performance such as performance anxiety, Alexander Technique, wellbeing as a musician and much more, as becoming a successful artist is about much more than purely creating music (it is a very important part, don't get me wrong!). In today's society, we are a generation of people who feel they have to be continually working in order to 'be seen' as successful, and I can't help but wonder whether the need to be seen somewhat takes away from the 'why' of what we are doing.

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So to close this initial post - welcome on this journey to professional fulfilment! I'm really excited (and a little bit scared, it's okay to be a little scared...) to see where things take us, and I can't wait to bring you all along with me.

At the end of each post, I'd like to leave you all with either a question, quote or anecdote that you can take along with you as something to ponder and reflect on.

“Dear young colleagues of the up-and-coming generation, please have the courage to be yourselves, to take risks and not be copies of your recordings or of others’. Practice your instrument in order to free yourself from any psycho-technical constraint, to be able to create when you play. Listen to your inner ear, which is connected directly to your heart and spirit, the one that tells you what you feel is you! And the one you don’t feel isn’t you. Remember that a beautiful “wrong” note by a Kreisler, a Thibaud, a Casals, or a Callas is worth more than a thousand so-called “right” notes and that playing that is hygienically and clinically correct is not necessarily a sign of good health! Take heart! Good health to you!” - Ivry Gitlis, Violinist.

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