Friday Finds #35 Amy with Paul Badura-Skoda

amy-with-paul-badura-skoda

As I was rifling through some old files of my graduate years, I came across this photo I had completely forgotten. Austrian pianist and recording artist Paul Badura-Skoda is by my side after he performed a concert in 2009 at the local arts center (called Arts Place) in my hometown here in Indiana.  I also had the privilege of being the designated transport for him, to and from the Indianapolis airport.

(I’ll admit I had never heard of him previously as I’m not completely in the know-how of famous classical pianists. Still, I think it was pretty cool I had that opportunity.)

The fact that I had completely forgotten about this makes me realize how beautiful photos are at capturing moments of our lives.

Can I tell you quickly how I got to this place? (Feel free to jump down to this week’s finds below but if you have a few minutes, I promise it’s a good and short story)!

After having returned home from 3 years in Melbourne, I was unsure where life was going to take me. I knew I wanted to move on from my first career as a choral director but my husband had lost his job, as we returned home in the middle of the financial collapse in early 2009. Before we became expats, I applied to Ball State University to pursue a Masters in General Music Education – however with the move, the application was left dormant.

Shortly after we returned home two years and eight months later to be exact, I received a random phone call from BSU asking if I was still interested in pursuing the application. After explaining our unexpected unemployment situation, I mentioned that if I were to pursue a Masters, it would more likely be in the Piano Pedagogy degree rather than the general ed. as originally intended.

Being true to who I am, I have to get a tiny religious in this next statement. At that moment, I knew the Lord had his hand in this, as the next thing the director of graduate studies asked is if I would be interested in a graduate assistantship they had yet to fill teaching piano in Portland, Indiana 50 minutes from BSU. What!? My heart skipped a beat. You have got to be kidding me…that’s my hometown we’ve just returned to – are you serious? I couldn’t have planned it any better.

Thus, I was an instructor there the year they brought in Paul Badura-Skoda. The rest is history!

Now onto this week’s goodies…

 

1

Speaking of the beauty of how photos capturing moments of our lives, check out The 100 Most Influential Images of All Time.

 

2

Easy presents for your students are just a click away!

 

3

felt-mistletoeOne of my brother and sister-in-law’s good friends has a fun Etsy shop where I purchased this cute Felt Mistletoe for only $10. This is one purchase I’m sure the hubby won’t argue with. 🙂

 

4

The possibility of making a healthy income doing what you love as a piano teacher.

 

5

A music theory parody on the “The Christmas Song” (a.k.a. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).

 


About Friday Finds

Each Friday on this blog, I share some of my favorite finds from the past week. You’ll find anything from directly piano-related resources, articles, podcasts, and music, to recipes, world-happenings, fun finds and more.

I look forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out and promise to try and keep it under 10 items each week!

4 Comments

  • Interesting history of you, Amy–thanks for sharing! Love the Time photos, too. The quote for the “Invasion of Prague” photo is fitting for your article: “You cannot rely on your memories—but you can rely on your pictures.” –Josef Koudelka

  • Amy – the timing of your story about the assistantship offer was a God-send for me. I appreciated reading it as your sister in the Lord, and also because of our own present loss of income. Thank you for reminding me Who is in control 🙂 Merry Christmas!
    Lori

    • Oh, Lori, I’m so glad to hear this! Yes, we just never know why things happen – what in the world made me suddenly search through my old photos that ended inspiring this post, or why we lose jobs that were such a blessing in the first place but yes, his timing is not ours!

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