Chas Helge: Cellist
  • Home
  • Biography
  • String Teacher
  • Blog
  • Scholarly Research
  • Media
  • COVIDANCE

Blog

"Acclimated"

8/31/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Acclimated.

This has become my new favorite word. It concisely explains the last two weeks of my life. Its exact definition is “to become accustomed to a new climate or to new conditions”.

Moving into a new house.
Stocking the fridge.
Meeting the neighbors.
Music theory and music history entrance exams (PASSED!)
Going to the farmer’s market.
Meeting students, colleagues, and instructors.
Buying a parking pass (Did it really need to be $300?)
Exploring Tiffany’s. (That’s for all of you familiar with Kalamazoo)

While my whirlwind summer was in a constant state of flux, being in Kalamazoo has become a somewhat longer-term environment. Now that I’ve gotten through the first phase of this “transition phase”, things should begin to slow down, right?

Of course, being a musician means that change is continuous. Gigs come and go. Ensemble members and colleagues switch in and out. Students develop and grow. Even the linchpin by which our professional and personal lives revolves around, our relationship with our instruments, is a sort of paradox. The goal is to strive for the highest level consistently. Practicing is the foundation of everything we do, and yet at the same time, its essence is “to change” ourselves.

The members of the Avalon String Quartet once told me the origin of their group’s name. In Arthurian legend, Avalon is the island at the center of a mystic lake. Excalibur was forged upon its grounds. Moreover, Avalon is a self-sustaining land in which the fields require no plowing and the orchards no tending. Because of this the island is protected by magic. As you paddle across foggy waters you can see the island obscured in the distance. However, the closer the island appears the farther from it you actually are. Herein lies the ideal: We see a goal, yet closer we come to realizing it, the clearer we understand that we are farther from it than ever before.

There is no point in the musical life, or life in any profession, in which everything becomes “self-sustaining”. If you aren’t moving forward then you are falling behind. Perhaps the term “acclimated” is in-itself a fallacy, or at least, more nuanced than it appears to be...

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Archives

    July 2018
    July 2017
    May 2017
    June 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Biography
  • String Teacher
  • Blog
  • Scholarly Research
  • Media
  • COVIDANCE