Blog #3

 Jamie and I have continued to improve our duet pieces. We have also expanded our repertoire for future performances as well. We added a couple songs including the duet piece, "Saint Seya" as well as my own solo piece, "Gavotte." Mostly our adjustments were to eliminate notes that sounded awkward or were unplayable in our duet sheet music. These challenges were because some of our duet pieces were initially written for the piano or the violin and cello rather than the bass and cello. Our performances are beginning to sound a lot stronger, and we have also decided to improve the organization of our performances. For example, we had a pre-planned performance repertoire in our most recent performance for the Pearlview assisted living facility. In the last couple of days, I have found it more natural for Jamie and me to talk with patients. At Brunswick, we had a striking conversation with a patient named June. She told us that she was one of the oldest residents in the nursing home at the age of ninety-two. She had many great stories to share with us and it was so entertaining listening to her. As soon as our performance ended, June approached us and asked about our instruments. She shared that her father used to play the violin and so she recognized the cello as well. We asked her about her own musical experience and she shared that she played the clarinet. We ended up talking for the next hour with June. We heard about how she met her husband as well as her love of teaching. June even shared about her experiences in the assisted living facility- how she was scared that her communication would deteriorate like some of her fellow residents. It was lovely talking with June, and we were able to learn a lot from her stories and feelings about being in a nursing home. I hope that we can visit Pearlview again so that we can continue our conversation with her and the rest of the community!