Abstract
For many string teachers and performers, the holiday season does not offer much of a holiday. It can be an incredibly busy time with extensive performances and other educational activities. At the same time that our calendar starts to fill up with increasing intensity, daylight slips away from us as we get closer and closer to winter solstice. Nature intended for these shorter days of the year to accompany times of deep rest—but unlike our animal and plant friends, the expectations on string teachers and performers often increases during this season. It can be stressful and challenging both physically and emotionally—and for many of us, something in our bodies just wants to hibernate.
While honoring those stresses (and feeling many of them myself), I want to pause in this season of thanksgiving to take joy and gratitude in the ways that music offers a space of reflection and rejuvenation. This is the heart of our work—to create and perform music that expresses the nuances and entanglements of joy, loss, frustration, gratitude, grief, anticipation, excitement, and so forth—holding them all together in one musical container. We are alchemists for the ineffable.
Research has shown that expressing gratitude and being mindful about what is good in our lives, is literally good for our health and well-being. As our ASTA colleague and researcher Frank Diaz has written, “musicians who engage in mindfulness are less likely to experience performance anxiety, negative [emotional states], and perfectionism, and are less self-conscious in general” (Diaz 2018, 2023). So, focusing on the reasons and the intentions behind our performances and educational activities is not just a sweet idea or sentimental gesture; it is a credible strategy with tangible benefits to our health, well-being, educational interactions, and musical performances. For music teachers and performers, focusing on the gifts and gratitude we share with others may help us navigate challenging times and seasons, and buoy us up with the capacity to do the work we care so much about.
Although Diaz celebrates the power of gratitude for musician health and well-being, he also emphasizes the importance of intentional and authentic gratitude. No one (including our students and ourselves) should be forced into being grateful when things are difficult. Instead, mindful awareness involves noticing all of the varied experiences in our lives and honoring them for what they are—which then provides a space for healthful expression and action (Hendricks 2025).
In this season of thanksgiving, I want to express my gratitude for the life-changing and deeply meaningful experiences I have had with ASTA over the past several decades. Thank you for your kinship, your care, and especially for the music.
Wishing you a wonderful and deeply meaningful season of thanks,
