Rest Archives

Keeping Healthy On The Road (or in Your Dorm, Home or Apartment) — by Mark Summer

The fall being my busiest touring season with Turtle Island, I’m often thinking of the best ways to stay healthy and happy throughout the dark days of “flu season.” After years of almost constant travel, with endless days of connecting plane flights, shared van rides, and occasionally horrifically early lobby calls, I feel somewhat qualified as an expert at keeping my body in tune enough to weather the storm of illnesses that plague the general population. In 27 years, I’ve never missed a concert due to illness. I thought I had the flu once while on the road, but at a recent physical/flu shot pitch, my doctor informed me that if I was able to play a concert, it wasn’t the flu. Nevertheless, my record speaks for itself. I’m not [...]

By Mark Summer|2024-04-23T16:22:36-04:00November 16th, 2012|Categories: Cello Travel, Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: Habits, Summer, performances, Mark, string quartet, blogs, suggestions, illness, exhaustion, exercise, Rest, flu relief, pressure, Healthy, cello, concerts, swimming, cellobello, flights, environment|

It’s Time to Start [NOT] Practicing — by Martha Baldwin

It’s September, the school year has begun, and the concert season is looming large. This time of year is the New Year’s Eve of the academic and music world—a time for resolutions and new beginnings. For cellists everywhere these resolutions often focus around practicing—namely doing more of it. For myself, I somehow already feel behind and the temptation to try to cram as much work in as possible, especially on my “day off” from the orchestra is strong (well, to be honest there are other days when the temptation to sit on the couch is stronger). But this year my resolution is two-fold. Yes, I want to prepare upcoming repertoire earlier than ever this year but before I come up with a plan for that, I’m going to be planning [...]

By Martha Baldwin|2017-09-15T02:54:54-04:00September 29th, 2011|Categories: Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: cellobello, school, orchestra, routine, Preparation, self-improvement, Baldwin, energy, Injuries, Martha, relaxing, practicing, taking time off, repertoire, improvement, Rest, cello|

The Injured Cellist — by Martha Baldwin

Like most of us cellists out there I can barely remember my life before my cello was a daily part of it. Sometimes it is the happiest, most ultimately satisfying part of my day, sometimes the most frustrating. Being a cellist is my life’s work, one that defines me utterly. While other aspects of life are undoubtedly more important (friends, family, health, happiness), what we do is a big part of making up who we are. Not doing it anymore is an exercise in redefining who you are. For nearly 18 months during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons I couldn’t play the cello. A pretty common rotator cuff injury resulted in surgery, rehab, and a long period of complications and set backs. I won’t go into all the medical details, [...]

By Martha Baldwin|2017-10-30T05:23:30-04:00June 6th, 2011|Categories: Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: health, Rest, maintenance, cello, Baldwin, cellobello, happiness, Travel, Injuries, pain, musicians, relaxing, Martha, taking time off, performances|

Airplane Diaries — by Alisa Weilerstein

I think it's appropriate that I'm writing my first blog (ever—not only on this site) while flying between Madrid and Copenhagen. I've taken to telling people I live on airplanes lately, which is sort of true since I catch up on sleep most often while I'm in the air, and I've only been in my actual apartment for four days so far this year. I've been in Europe for a few days and for the first time in awhile am experiencing some serious transatlantic jetlag. I can't sleep before 4:30 a.m. and waking up in the morning (in other words, when the sun is up...) has been difficult, to put it mildly. I just finished three concerts in Madrid, playing Osvaldo Golijov's incredible Azul. Given my perpetually bleary-eyed state each [...]

By Alisa Weilerstein|2017-10-30T05:25:20-04:00March 14th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Cello Travel, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: Airplanes, Rest, control, Alisa, travel with an instrument, concentration, atmosphere, Weilerstein, audiences, inspiration, performance, character, shifting, energy, colors, vibrato, focus, exhaustion, cello, practicing, health, cellobello, reality, ideas, orchestra, adventure, learning, air travel, adventures|