2021 in Review

As another year comes to an end, it is time to begin reflecting on the last 12 months. Obviously, my blogging life took a back seat during the final half of the year. I think that was primarily my way of not thinking about things that I was feeling and experiencing. It was also a way to take something off of my plate and simply survive. Now, I am returning to my writing as I am finding myself in a healthier place.

A Year of Loss

2021 was a year of personal and professional losses. COVID-19 continued to plague our world and took away much of the freedom to move about that we had taken for granted. I lost mentors this year. Early in the year, I learned of the death of Joan Gilbert. Her influence on my life as a teacher, musician, and collaborator cannot be overstated. While I hadn’t seen Joan in a while, the knowledge that I could make a quick call to get her advice about a specific challenge was incredibly comforting.

In 2021, I also experienced the loss of my church home. Without too much detail, I’ll simply say that it became clear to me that it was time to leave College Heights due to personal and professional reasons. As of the writing of this post, I still have not joined another local fellowship but I do have a pretty good idea of where I’ll be heading in the new year. Why is this considered a loss? Over the course of a very long Christian life, College Heights was only my fifth church home. I had 6 1/2 very good years at CHBC, but I’m looking forward to whatever lies ahead in the next chapter of my spiritual growth.

In 2021, I finally had to come to terms with the impact of the loss of colleagues that was announced in 2020. It was incredibly odd walking to my office and passing empty offices that had been occupied by treasured friends just a few weeks earlier. In January, I watched as Anthony loaded his moving truck and headed off to Albion, Michigan. The job there was not a good fit, so when I returned to west Texas in the Fall, I welcomed my friend back to the Lubbock area. It is definitely nice having my friend so much closer and we connect regularly, but the office is still somewhat depressing as I face the void left behind by the loss of friends, colleagues, students, and important programs.

A Year of Reading

My reading goal for 2021 was 40 books. I had high expectations for myself, but the continuing demands of teaching online and life got in the way. As the year came to an end, I read 33 books. While I didn’t accomplish my goal, I read a lot of good books. While I’ve done a pretty good job (I think) of telling about each book over on Reading For Me, I wanted to include my top five reads of the year here as well. In no certain order, the best books I read this year were

1. The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams
2. After the End – Clare Mackintosh
3. The Personal Librarian – Marie Benedict
4. The Four Winds – Kristen Hannah
5. The Accidental Tourist – Anne Tyler

A Year of Music

Despite the challenges of performing during a worldwide pandemic, I still managed to experience a successful year of making music and teaching. At Wayland, I played for two exceptional senior voice recitals — Erin Pearce in the spring and Claire Daily in the fall. Both women gave outstanding performances and it was joy to share the stage with both of them. Perhaps the highlight of the year’s performances was Winterreise with Brian Kuhnert. We performed the cycle in the round in the Recital Hall. The intimate setting was perfect for this performance and is a work that I will enjoy revisiting again in the future.

I also managed to do a little performing outside of Plainview. Early in the year, I traveled to Sunray, Texas to assist a few WBU alumni and their band students as they competed in the UIL solo and ensemble competition. COVID made the audition process much different this year; judges traveled to individual districts to hear student performances. We got creative with rehearsals and I learned about a new region of the panhandle. In the fall, Singing Men returned to the stage. I didn’t fully realize how much I had missed meeting these talented men each month for music, fellowship, and worship. I also found myself hired to accompany an evening of trombone performances with the Texas Tech trombone studio. Most of the repertoire on the program was completely manageable and the students were (mostly) a pleasure to work with. While I don’t necessarily seek out playing opportunities at another university, it was a nice opportunity to play with instrumentalists again now that the WBU program is no more. (Not that I’m still bitter about that development at all…..but some things I simply have to let go.)

Private teaching and mentoring was an unexpected joy during 2021. I continued teaching through the Academy of Fine Arts. I taught 9 weekly lessons in the Spring; in the Fall, the number was reduced to 6. With the pandemic, we were forced to have a virtual recital to conclude the Spring term. By the time the fall rolled around, I was ready for a fun event, so AFA hosted a Halloween Costume Performance Party that was a blast! 2021 also saw the beginning of the online certificate in piano pedagogy. Teaching the 6 women enrolled in the program during the fall semester has been one of the highlights of my career. Did it require a lot of time? Yes. Was it exhausting? At times, yes. Would I do it all over again? Absolutely.

A Year of Travel

By the summer, I decided that COVID had taken enough away from me and I was going to reclaim a life of travel. So I made plans, complied with health directives (including vaccinations), and hit the road! After a quick weekend trip to Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Music Teacher’s conference, the Geriatrics and I headed to Texas for our yearly road trip. We spent a few days in Plainview (I had some work to do) before heading to the quaintness of Fredericksburg. Great vacation even if I was constantly worried about how the rolling hills would inhibit Mom’s mobility. Once back in Arkansas, I found myself staying at home much of the summer because of a fracture in the I-40 bridge that created a travel nightmare on I-55. The Fall brought a couple of quick trips — first to Little Rock in September to celebrate Ryan and Andrea’s wedding. Then I headed to Salt Lake City for a long weekend….just because I had never been. Good food, beautiful sites, and an interesting area.

There you have it! That’s the end of my 2021 review. Here’s looking forward to what 2022 has in store.

Hits and Misses – The Year-End Edition (2019)

For this final Monday of 2019, I thought I would depart from the normal format of “Hits and Misses” and take a big picture look at the last 12 months from my perch. I’ll return to the weekly highlights of my simple little life next week as we begin Livin’ Life in 2020.

PERFORMANCES

I shouldn’t be surprised that this dominated my calendar for the past year. I suppose that comes with the job. At times, it was stressful. Sometimes draining. Almost always, the performances were rewarding and fulfilling.

Because I like seeing things grouped together, I’ve organized these performances into broad categories. Some commentary here and there is just par for the course with me.

• WBU Recitals – 8 in all
  • Erin Pearce – junior recital
  • Sara Olivares – junior recital
  • Jayci Sharp – senior recital
  • Ryan Roberts – junior recital. Do I really need to say anything else?
  • Dr. Brian Kuhnert – the aria recital that I thought was going to kill me!
  • Dr. Sandra Mosteller – I never turn down the opportunity to play the Poulenc clarinet sonata.
  • Mr. Robert Cardwell – When did we finally settle on a program?
  • Madison Younger – senior recital. Hands down, this was one of my favorite student recitals to have ever been a part of.

• WBU Other Performances (I really need a better term for these….)
  • Music Achievement Awards
  • Erin Pearce – fundraising recital in Clovis
  • Opera Scenes – Spring and Fall
  • Orpheus Awards – I only played on the Spring concert. Sickness knocked me out of the Fall concert. (Thanks again, Richard!)

• Community And Church Performances
  • Singing Men of Texas – 5 performances this year. I think that the opportunity to worship with the men serving time in the Clements Unit will forever hold a special place in my heart.
  • Austin DeMoss, senior horn recital – While on one of my many travels this year, I got a frantic call from a student at Texas Tech who was in desperate need of a pianist. It was a crazy ride along the way, but we made it across the stage just in time for Austin to graduate.
  • PCMA’s Hymns of the Season – Who knew that a solo recital featuring sacred hymns would be received so well going into Holy Week?
  • Auditions for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy – Love getting back to musical theater!
  • Central Baptist Clovis’ Night of Praise
  • FBC Plainview’s Christmas Night of Praise
  • Coronado Middle School Christmas concert – 6th grade boys….enough said!

TRAVEL

2019 kept me on the road, whether by plane, van, my Mitsubishi, or a certain black Dodge Charger. Work-related outings took me all over Texas — El Paso (twice!), San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Denton, and Midland. There were a few more performances to fit in as well that took me to Baton Rouge and the small hamlet of Frederick, Oklahoma. (Madison, we had some great conversations on those lonely back roads that day….and STILL made it back to Plainview in time for opera rehearsal!)

The highlight of the year had to be my European adventure with colleagues, students, and new friends. I will never forget our adventures together in Munich, Prague, and Vienna.

Somehow I managed to fit in a quick vacation with the Geriatrics as well. Where did they want to go? Branson, Missouri (Ugh!) More on that nightmare in a moment….

HEALTH ISSUES IN THE GERIATRIC WARD

For a little while, I was convinced that I never needed to return to my childhood home again. Whenever I was there, someone was sick….and 2019 proved to be no different.

The year started with me fighting to recover from a nasty bug that first hit me at the end of the Fall 2018 semester and simply would not let go. Several weeks were spent operating at half speed in an effort to return to my normal routine.

After returning from Europe, I made my way home to celebrate Mom’s 80th birthday. I got home the day before the celebration and what happened at the end of the party? Dad fell during cleanup. We would later learn that he had actually broken his ankle and would have limited mobility for most of the summer.

Not to be outdone by Pop, Mom decided to put on a real show over the summer break. Some recent irregularities in her health led to another cancer scare that required me to learn more about my mother’s anatomy than I wanted to know. We finally received the all-clear from the OB/GYN after her D&C at the end of the summer. In the midst of all of this insanity, we still had to have follow-up care related to 2018’s fight against breast cancer as well as a tooth extraction.

Still, Mom could not let Dad have all the fun of falling. So while on vacation in Branson, she decided to climb one small stair too many while shopping. Her knee gave out and her ankle landed beneath her. I was concerned about her heart and knee; no…the real problem turned out to be her ankle too! Thankfully, she didn’t actually break the bone and was just extremely sore for a few weeks.

THE YEAR IN BOOKS

For several years now, I have set a personal reading goal to encourage me to keep reading throughout the year. This year, I fell short of my goal of 35 books in 2019; by the time the New Year rolls over, I will have finished 21 books. Unlike previous years, 2019 was not exclusively devoted to fiction. My top 5 reads of the year include a memoir and 2 biographies. Here is my list of the 5 best books I read this year (in no particular order):

1. True Colors by Kristin Hannah – an outstanding novel by one of favorite authors!
2. My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok – I first encountered this marvelous examination of the development of a young artist in my Great Books class at Pepperdine. It came at the perfect time in my life again this year and reminded me of my calling as an artist.
3. Educated by Tara Westover – Powerful memoir! Get it and read it!
4. Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer by Lisa McCubbin – I started reading the introduction while blowing a little time in an Arkansas bookstore this summer. I was intrigued and had to follow the story to its end. I’m a better person because of it too.
5. Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times by Alan Walker – This was the book that consumed a large portion of my 2019 reading. It’s massive! More importantly, it’s a wonderful portrait of a composer whose music I have long cherished that is both scholarly and incredibly readable. A great addition to my library.

As 2019 comes to an end, I hope you will join me in looking back at the blessings and challenges that you have faced this year. Then pause to give thanks for the opportunities ahead in the New Year. I pray that you find joy, success, and blessings in 2020.

~Kennith

Looking Back at 2018

Happy 2019! The start of a new year is always an exciting time as we look forward to the prospect of future endeavors that are filled with promise and possibility. However, I think it is also important that we take a moment to reflect on what the past year has held. Here’s how I perceived 2018 in my own life.

• Performances Galore! It has been a busy year for this pianist. I have performed 9 recitals this year ranging, including 2 solo piano recitals and a duo recital with my incredible colleague, Richard Fountain. Stage shows kept me busy as well with the spring’s opera scenes offerings and another production of Into the Woods in the fall followed by a touring production of Davies’ The Three Little Pigs. As though that wasn’t enough, there was also lots of playing in churches…..far too many to really recount here. I am so thankful to be in a permanent position that affords me the opportunity to perform with colleagues, students, and other organizations on a regular basis.
• Sickness! I began the year with a nasty bout of the flu that delayed my return to Texas. Just before coming home for Christmas break, I experienced one of the most horrible stomach bugs I have ever had. After lots of fluids administered by IV and a couple of days of a clear liquid diet, I began the slow journey down the road to recovery. I’m not sure what it was about this year, but I seemed to be fighting one illness after another all year long. Here’s a prayer that I’ve managed to endure most of my illnesses for a very long time and that 2019 will be a year of health for me!
• Continuing health issues for Pop! As the summer came to an end, we learned that Pop would need stints to repair heart valves. During the fall semester, I made a quick trip back to the Geriatric Ward shortly after the procedure was completed to see his progress and recovery with my own eyes. Thankfully, everything seems to be going well on that front. However, the rest of the year has been plagued with more injuries for Dad. A twist of his leg created enough problems with his hip and ankle that he has not been able to complete any of the prescribed physical therapy after the stints. While driving home for Christmas break, I learned that Dad had injured his foot at work and fractured his ankle. As I watch the mounting injuries from a distance, I am facing the realization that Dad’s retirement (and the challenges that will go with that) is growing closer each day.
• Decreased reading and writing! As I found myself getting more and more busy and constantly fighting illness, I simply did not feel like blogging or reading for pleasure. That’s why things came to a screeching halt for me in the blogosphere fairly early in the year. My reading life underwent a huge hit as well. In 2018, I read a paltry 18 books for the year. That is the lowest showing for me since I began keeping track of my readings in 2009. I am very intentional about seeing that number return to its normal range in 2019.

The Year in Review – My Reading Life

As many of you know, I greatly enjoy reading books of all types. I provide short reviews and reflections on the books that I have read on another of my blogs – Reading for Me. Even though I am not thrilled with the number of books I have read in 2014 (a paltry 20 works at the time of writing), I have taken a few minutes to reflect and generated a list of my top 5 reads of the year.

1. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (published 1971)
2. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (2014)
3. The Bastard by John Jakes (1974)
4. The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout (2013)
5. The Shelf by Phyllis Rose (2014)

As expected, the list is dominated by fiction. The Shelf is the only memoir to make the list. I tend to prefer contemporary fiction, so I was surprised to see that two of the top three selections were published in the early 1970s.

I’m always looking for recommendations. What was your favorite read of 2014? Please leave your suggestion in the comment section of this blog post.

The Year in Review – Music

As I continue my look back over the year 2014, I am pleased to see that the year has been a very busy one for me as a musician. It also helps to explain why I am so tired!

Let’s start with the year in the classroom. This year, I taught 8 sections of my music classes at the post-secondary level. I continued teaching music appreciation at MSCC in West Memphis with two classes each semester. The Spring brought a new challenge in the form of a hybrid course — students completed half of the material in a brick-and-mortar setting with me. The rest of each week’s work was done through online units. I was busy developing the online material and attempting to overcome the technological challenges the students encountered. In the fall, MSCC decided to attempt the music appreciation course as an online class. The stress of Dad’s health issues combined with the demands of creating this course did not result in a smooth semester at all.

At Union, I taught two sections of class piano each semester. The spring semester went fairly smoothly as I continued to find my way through this new course. The fall brought a new challenge as I faced a piano lab with 9 students enrolled in a single session (the largest class I’ve ever experienced). Through trial and error, I learned a lot and have begun to develop my own approach to this challenging class.

While we’re talking about Union, let’s begin to discuss the year of playing. My position as a staff pianist accounts for the majority of my playing during the year. In 2014, I accompanied 33 half-hour weekly lessons over the course of the year (14 in the spring and 19 in the fall). In addition to these lessons, I also served as principle pianist for the department’s Opera Workshop — which featured selections from musical theater in the spring and the first act of Mozart’s Magic Flute in the fall. I started to come up with a grand total of hours spent at the piano for lessons, rehearsals, and auditions, but then I came to my senses…..I was afraid the number would send me into shock!

A major part of the responsibility of a staff pianist is providing accompaniment for student degree recitals. I certainly played my fair share of recitals this year – a total of 13 recitals (7 of these were 30 minute recitals; the remaining 6 were hour long. Don’t be fooled though….several of the shorter recitals included some of the most challenging music of the year!) All of this year’s recitals were vocal and really quite enjoyable to prepare. The only challenges I faced were a week in the spring semester that included 4 recitals in a span of 6 days and the difficulty of balancing the students’ needs for rehearsals with the music department’s budgetary limitations.

While that accounts for the majority of my work at Union this year, there were still other opportunities to make music with faculty and students there in the fall semester.

• I accompanied the Men’s Chorus at the Fall Choral Concert.
• I learned and performed Eric Whitacre’s insanely difficult Ghost Train with the Symphonic Band.
• Dr. Stanley Warren and I presented a community recital called “An American Songbook.”
• Union will present its first joint venture between the music and theater departments in the spring of 2015. I was invited to play the three days of auditions as well as callbacks for Into the Woods this semester.
• I joined Union students at UT Martin for the 2014 Tennessee State NATS competition.

The rest of the year’s performances and professional appearances were quite varied. Each proved to be enjoyable and memorable in their own way.

• Piano Adjudicator for Mississippi Valley State University’s piano festival.
• Accompanist for Germantown High School’s spring choral concerts.
• Musical Director of Delta Art’s high school cabaret production.
• Volunteer Church Musician at First Marion. This year, I began playing for weekly choir rehearsals in the fall. I also began to work in the rotation of playing piano for Sunday morning services. December found me at the keyboard in the pit orchestra for the church’s Christmas production.
• Private piano teacher at Bartlett Music Academy.

I definitely have a very full life and enjoy the opportunity to make music on a regular basis. Now I’m looking forward to the musical adventures that 2015 has in store!

The Year in Review – Blogging

I enjoy writing. I find it relaxing and a great way to work through things that are on my mind. A few years ago, I discovered the power of blogging. I never kept a personal journal consistently because I knew that I was the only one who would ever read the entries. I suppose that’s what I enjoy most about blogging — the opportunity to share my thoughts with people around the world.

As part of my personal reflection on 2014, I find it interesting to consider my year as a blogger. I have maintained (to varying degrees) three blogs actively. Livin’ Life is the blog that you are reading now and contains my personal thoughts as well as my weekly updates into the “Hits and Misses” of my world. Additionally, I attempt to maintain a professional presence through Collaborations and share my thoughts about books I’ve read on Reading for Me. (I’ll reflect on the year as a reader in a separate post next week.)

The numbers always seem to clearly tell the tale, so let’s look at a few statistics:

• Livin’ Life featured 102 posts (including this one) so far in 2014.
• Of these 102 posts, 40 of them were installments of my “Hits and Misses” series. I also find it interesting that these posts are some of the most popular among my friends and family.
• Collaborations was neglected this year. I only made 16 posts there.
• Reading for Me also experienced a decline in posts this year with only 19 posts.
• THAT BRINGS THE GRAND TOTAL OF POSTS TO 137 POSTS as of December 12!

As a celebration of my year of blogging, I’ve decided to go back and find my FIVE FAVORITE POSTS of 2014. Some were humorous; others were passionate and highly emotional. Did your favorite Livin’ Life posts make my list? I’d love to hear what you considered my best writing in the last 12 months. Share your comments below.

Without further ado, here are my selections for my top 5 posts of 2014:

• #5.  Some Passions Never Die (July 2)
• #4.  A Reason to Celebrate (August 29)
• #3.  Road Trip Lessons (June 20)
• #2.  Hearing Restored (August 20)
• #1.  Purple Daisies (October 24)

The Year in Review – Life in General

One of the things I really enjoy about the month of December is that it provides the opportunity for me to slow down from my normal routine and reflect on what has happened in the past 12 months. As I reflect on 2014, two major themes seemed to dominate my life this year:  travel and health care.  Here’s a brief look back at the year of simply living life that was….

January began this theme of health issues as I was finally able to see a doctor as an insured patient. As a result of my general wellness exam, we discovered that both my blood pressure and cholesterol were high. I began a drug regime. Thankfully, January also had some good memories as I made a last minute trip to Malibu for a little downtime. Relaxing in a hammock while overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a trip to see the sea otters at the Los Angeles Zoo with Jeff were highlights of this trip.

As February began, the new school semester was in full swing at both MSCC and Union. Little did we know that life as we knew it would forever change. One of our Union music students, Olivia Greenlee, was tragically murdered by her boyfriend who then transported her body to Union’s campus in an attempt to present Olivia’s death as a suicide. Now — some 10 months later — the department continues to feel the effects of Olivia’s departure as we hear music that reminds us of her and watch the murder trial begin to unfold. It was also around this time that the Memphis area was hit with an enormous ice storm that resulted in a commute of 1 1/2 hours from Crawfordsville to West Memphis — a distance of 13 miles! Needless to say, I didn’t make it to Jackson for a few days.

March and April was marked by a typically heavy schedule of teaching and performing. What made the spring of 2014 unusual was the unexplained appearance of severe headaches. I visited my general physician, as well as ENTs, neurologists, optometrists, and psychologists to find out what was going on. The headaches were treated as migraines although they did not display the necessary characteristics to be classified as the classic headaches.

May brought a short break for me, so I knew that I needed to escape for a little while. I made a quick trip to Eureka Springs all by my lonesome and had a wonderful time! Just before leaving, Dad visited an audiologist and began the process of acquiring hearing aids. My family had no idea that this single doctor’s appointment would take us on a roller coaster ride that would color the rest of the year.

In early June, I learned that my summer session of music appreciation would be cancelled due to low enrollment. I was thrilled to learn that I would have a summer to rest; then I realized that I would also have no income for the summer. The stress was compounded as I carted Dad from one doctor to another. The ENT lead to a check up with the sleep center. The sleep center heard a heart murmur and suggested a echo cardiogram. 

July, August, and September were essentially filled with the realization that Dad had major blockages in his arteries and would require triple bypass surgery. I’m thankful to say that Dad has made a full recovery after a couple of scary moments in the hospital. Of course, my family is always going to find time for travel when we can. Before dealing with the cardiologist in July, the geriatric patients and I took a much needed vacation to Lake Conroe, just north of Houston. While we waited for test results in mid-August, I headed to Pigeon Forge to make plans for another fall getaway with the geriatrics. (Needless to say, those plans will just have to wait for a little while.)

October continued our focus on Dad’s recovery. I made arrangements for hospital beds and home health care while monitoring the number of visitors that arrived. Sometimes I felt like the gatekeeper that no one wanted to tangle with!

The last trip of the year came in early November as I made an unexpected trip back to Malibu. I needed to do a little work while I was there, but the real reason for the trip is that several of my friends were very aware of the stress I had lived through with Dad’s health crisis and wanted to provide a chance for me to get away and allow others to take care of me. I am truly indebted to this group of men for their generosity, kindness, and concern for me.

In December, I played in the orchestra for the Christmas production at First Marion. It was thrilling to be involved without being in charge of a holiday presentation. Now that I have finally settled on making First Marion my church home and joined that body of believers this year, it’s been an adventure learning how to become involved in a church where so few people know me and what talents I have to offer.

What a year it has been! On Friday, I’ll continue reviewing 2014 as I take a look back at the year as a blogger.