Happy Holidays

My sincere apologies for the recent hiatus! The last two months of the semester were, needless to say, incredibly busy. Highlights included the Juilliard Orchestra Shostakovich concert with Vladimir Jurowski, which received very nice reviews from the New York Times and Musical America, as well as performing Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste in Carnegie Hall with Ensemble ACJW and Schubert B-flat Piano Trio at the American Irish Historical City.

Christmas provided much needed relief, filled with time spent baking and eating with loved ones [homemade rosemary pecan bark and eggnog cheesecake pictured above], cuddling with cats, catching up on episodes of Chopped, and some much needed sleep. As the year comes to a close, I am endlessly thankful for the beautiful friends, family, and musical experiences in my life right now. Here's to seeing what 2014 brings!

With the warmest wishes for a Happy New Year,
Francesca

Happy [Belated] Holidays

The dePasquale Household 2012 Christmas Tree

I’d like to start by wishing you the warmest of holidays, filled with joy, peace, and love. This holiday season was especially difficult for me, specifically on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Christmas was my father’s favorite time of year and it seemed to hit me especially hard. I feel like I’m slowly starting to emerge out of my holidays funk and I am very excited for the New Year.

I’d like to also apologize for my extended absence from the blog. My first semester at Juilliard was hectic, to say the least. I definitely underestimated the amount of change occurring in my life…new city, new school, new teachers, new (and first!) apartment, new long-distance relationship…however, in the midst of all of this craziness, some really great things have happened. My lessons with Mr. Perlman and Ms. Cho have been amazing, I worked with a fantastic string quartet comprised of PMPers, I won a spot in the Concertmaster pool for the Juilliard Orchestra, and I’ve met a lot of really great people in New York.

I’m still in the midst of mentally processing all that has happened in the last year and figuring out all that I want for myself in the New Year. Until then, I leave you with post-holiday season warmest wishes!