Welcome to the inaugural posting of Brioso! ~ the blog for Julie’s Music Brioso. Here is a little information about me:
I have always loved music, and have been a musician since I was a young girl. I began playing the piano at age 7, and later added voice, clarinet, and handbells to my repertoire. Music has always brought me joy when I was feeling sad, or calmed me down when I was upset. (My family can attest that I will literally “pound out my frustrations” on the piano.)
When I was in junior high school, I attended a music camp at a small college a few hours from where I grew up. There I had the opportunity to take a private piano lesson from the dean of the music college. I played for him a piece that I felt I had mastered, and he proceeded to point out all of my shortcomings in a way that put my fragile 13-year-old ego through the shredder. Then he told me that if I really wanted to “do” the piece, I would have to give up my other music commitments (accompanying the junior high chorus, playing at church, etc.) and focus completely on practicing that piece. I left the lesson as quickly as I could, and tried to put it out of my mind.
As I approached high school graduation and began thinking about a career, I remembered that awful music camp experience. I thought that if I made music my career, I would always have someone like that music professor jumping on my every mistake, and music would become a source of stress rather than an outlet. Add to that growing up with a Midwestern work ethic, where I learned that your job was something you did, whether you liked it or not.
So, I pursued my other talents, mathematics and business, and became an actuary. I worked for 2 different insurance companies for a total of 16 years. I endured the stress of studying for and passing a series of extremely difficult exams, working 50+ hour weeks with no end in sight, juggling career and family, and always feeling like I wasn’t doing enough. There was very little about my career that I could call fun, and I know I wasn’t much fun to be around. What was fun was making music, as I became a church and community musician and began teaching music to children.
In late 2005, I left my executive-level job to take some time off and figure out “what I want to be when I grow up.” What I figured out is that life is too short to not enjoy what you do, and what I enjoy is music. A year ago, I formed my business and chose the word brioso, which means “with vigor and spirit.” In the Fall of 2006, I began teaching music at local preschools and became licensed to teach Kindermusik. I taught my first Kindermusik class in February of 2007, and gave my first piano lesson later that year. And I have discovered that singing and laughing with children nearly every day is a wonderful boost to the spirit. It is my hope that all of you reading this are fortunate enough to spend your lives doing work that feeds your spirit as well.
Filed under: Music benefits, Our Studio
