April 1

As you may have noticed, it’s been a little quiet on this front. To redress this imbalance, I thought I’d post a blog all through April. Why? Well, first of all I thought I’d let you in on the development of spring in Finland. It is nothing like the lovely coming-of-summer we all know from picture books of more moderate climates. It is more a slippery slope from winter to sort-of-spring. Well, you’ll understand if you follow this blog for a month.

The other reason is that April is this year my most demanding month as far as music-making goes. I thought I’d keep a diary of sorts to help myself see what actually goes on in my mind during a very intense time, in which I need to juggle many projects simultaneously. And maybe (just maybe) there will be a few pointers for the readers, as well.

OK. Weather on April 1: magnificent. Cold night (around -14 degrees celsius) at the summer cottage, followed by a brilliant day (+4). Went skiing on the lake and expected it to be the last ski this winter.

On the work front, I mostly managed to avoid thinking of upcoming commitments. I did read through a program booklet for next Sunday’s concert in the evening – and found irritating small mistakes. Corrected those, knowing full well there’d be a few more I was missing. Proof-reading is not my forte.

Woke up sometime during the night worrying about something. I think it had something to do with ticket sales or whether I had informed someone of a changed rehearsal time. Not much to be done during the night, so I got some more sleep.