Monday was cold and grey with moments of sunshine peeking through. A front must have entered the Miami Valley sometime mid-morning as the muscle aches were enormously powerful, cramping my hands to the point of having difficulty typing anything. This morning, our cold morning will be doubly plagued with rain showers.

Students are busy with seasonal concerts, prepping for their January 2024 solo and ensemble contest, Spring musical auditions and/or callbacks, and winter plays or musicals. It’s a busy and exciting time for studio members.

I have been listening to the audiobook, WASHINGTON by Ron Chernow, who also wrote HAMILTON. I am really enjoying this biography. As I prep my day this morning, the story has arrived at the Delaware River crossing. Fascinatingly told!

On this date in history: (2017) he International Olympic Committee banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Games in P’yŏngch’ang, South Korea, after uncovering a Russian state-sponsored doping program. (2013) South African nationalist and statesman Nelson Mandela, who helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule, died at age 95. (1947) American boxer Joe Louis defended his heavyweight title against challenger Jersey Joe Walcott in New York City. (1933) Utah became the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, repealing Prohibition. (1890) Director Fritz Lang—whose films, dealing with fate and man’s inevitable working out of his destiny, are considered masterpieces of visual composition—was born in Vienna. (1872) The American brigantine Mary Celeste was found abandoned some 400 nautical miles (740 km) from the Azores, Portugal; the fate of the 10 people aboard remains a mystery. (1848) n his annual message to Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in California, helping to spark the Gold Rush, which brought an estimated 300,000 people to the territory. (1839) U.S. cavalry officer George Armstrong Custer, whose achievements during the Civil War were later overshadowed by the disastrous outcome of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, was born. (1791) Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35. (1782) Martin Van Buren, who served as the eighth president of the United States (1837–41) and was one of the founders of the Democratic Party, was born. (1757) In his greatest victory, Prussian King Frederick II (the Great) defeated the Austrians at Leuthen during the Seven Years’ War.

Make it a great day!