Light

2024 is rapidly waning and a new year is about to dawn.

After our recent move to Rome, the year-end tradition of reflection is especially important to me to shed light on my personal and professional wins so that I have the courage and inspiration to carry on with my goals and actions.

Interestingly, when I look back over the year, I see a theme emerge: craving light in darkness.

Besides the incredible experience of witnessing a total solar eclipse, an enormous highlight of 2024 was creating and directing Dream Big: Music + Human Rights which took place at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Curating music for 5 different galleries of the museum as part of a collaborative piano conference was not just a highlight of 2024, but an experience of a lifetime that I will never forget. The musical scope of the evening reflected the architectural design of the building itself, in that our musical performances also moved from the darkness of past and present atrocities to hope and light for the present and our collective future. The generosity and open-heartedness of the musicians who gave their time and energy and artistry to this project, the museum staff and administration, St. John’s Music for the 6 Yamaha grand pianos and the tireless efforts of Laura Loewen and Judy Kehler Siebert from the Dream Big Collaborative and the University of Manitoba allowed for a smooth flowing event of musical artistry that elevated the experience of the museum for nearly 1000 participants that evening.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights February 2024

There were other amazing musical experiences I had along the way: continuing to work alongside clients as part of my signature program The Musician’s Compass and helping them to start with their own personal WHY in building new and exciting projects with clarity and light is always so incredibly rewarding for me to witness. My piano teaching program, the Piano Students’ Compass also really allowed me to change how I teach piano, giving my students a more well-rounded process-based experience and tools for life-long-learning.

I had the opportunity to work under many wonderful conductors this year, each with its own unique process and output including at the NAC, the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa Children’s Chamber Choir and New Opera Lyra with Ewashko Singers. I was also the musical director for two different shows at the University of Ottawa (the second show of Comedic Scenes was an especially needed evening of light and light-heartedness!). And I performed with friends and colleagues in Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Geneva, the last of which featured two performances titled D’étoiles et de lumières.

Light on the farm, Switzerland, December 2024

Moving to a new country and learning yet another language to manage day-to-day transactions has also come with its own shadowy and shimmery moments. As I work to build a new community and make new connections, not having a reliable source of income for the past half a year has become quite tiresome. Though work has been slow and lean since moving to Rome, personally, I’ve finally had the opportunity to dive into Italian. I study at a language institute every day from 9:00-12:15. And most importantly, I have had the time and space to be near my kids as they are adapting to a new way of life, learning about two new cultures in one move by studying at an American school by day (their first time studying in English) and experiencing Italian culture outside of school in the evenings and on weekends with various jaunts in and out of Rome.

Here at home in Rome, 2025 marks a jubilee year, declared by the Pope, who will open 4 holy doors in various special cathedrals throughout the city. These open doors mean light is shed on parts of the churches that are ordinarily closed. I can’t help but feel a parallel sense of opening up to light and possibility as we ourselves are on the doorstep of a new year. For me, moving always has the duality of “chiaroscuro” used by many great artists and singers to show both darkness and light: the act of courage in the darkness of the unknown juxtaposed against a great faith in the limitless possibilities that will be revealed in the unfolding of time.

And so, in 2025, my word has to be “light”; in this year, I also will open the door from the darkness of the unknown towards the immense light of unlimited possibility.

I leave you with this beautiful piece for piano that I recorded here at home on my piano, Minerva, written by Alexandra Stréliski. I plan to follow her indication to

Suivre le chemin des étincelles - follow the sparkling path

into 2025.

Click here to hear me play Lumières

The Third Place