Places I Love, Part 1

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."
-- Victor Hugo

"If music be the food of love, play on."
-- Duke Orsino, in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

So, I've decided to begin a little series of posts in the vein of places where I enjoy being. Hopefully this can continue when I move and I'll tell you guys about all the cool places I find and grow to love in the city, but for now I'll touch on places that are in my life right now, or have been in the past.


One of my most beloved places to be in the world is at that piano bench. I grew up rehearsing - albeit not nearly enough to please my piano teacher and second mother, Mrs. Hardy - at this piano since I was in kindergarden. Here, I grew from my beginner's books to more advanced performance pieces, and then on to popular music. I don't claim to be super talented; I know dozens of people whose piano skills put mine to shame, but it's something I've always enjoyed. I might not sit down to plunk away chords at just any public piano, but this one is mine, and it's where I love to play. And there's something about playing that piano in that room that makes every note sound record-worthy. Luckily, my family doesn't seem to mind that I spend hours each day squinting my way through new sheet music or perfecting the syncopation of some chords I scribbled down from a tab site. And of course, it wouldn't be Emily relating to the world through music if I wasn't belting right along the entire away.

I'll end this post with an excerpt from the beautiful words of Arthur O'Shaughnessy's poem, "Ode." You might recognize the first phrase from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I was lucky enough to sing an arrangement of this work in a TMEA choir in high school, which I count as one of my all-time-best musical moments in life. And the thing is, thanks to the love instilled in me at that piano bench, there are a lot more of those moments on their way for me.

For the full text of the poem, click here.

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.

P.S. Right now I'm perfecting "Love on the Rocks" by Sara Bareilles and "Here's Where I Stand" from Camp. They should be done by the end of the week. Any suggestions/requests for what to tackle next?