Sometimes life happens and you drop- or at least postpone- your well-laid plans.

At the time I began this blog in early February, I had a bunch of business goals for the next couple of months, which included:

•finishing my Rockethub crowdfunding campaign for my Chopin recording project (which was successful– fuelers put me more than $1000 over my goal of $7000)
•contacting a short list of record labels
•posting in this blog at least twice a week
•booking solo concerts for the Chopin material
•booking my band at colleges for next year
•continuing to search and apply for college teaching gigs

I am a very organized, driven person when it comes to my career. I get a lot of things accomplished. And yet I had also been feeling deep in my gut for the last several years that something needs to change in how I conduct my daily life so that I don’t put so much pressure on myself to move mountains. There has to be movement coming from other sources outside of myself.

Something shifted about a week after I wrote my first post here at this blog. I had been mourning the death of my beloved grandmother and was tired and worn out. I allowed myself the space to be tired, to let myself cry from the soul-sadness of loss.

Perhaps because I allowed myself this space- or perhaps because Grandma Welch had a  conference with God for me (I am going with this option)- new life soon started bubbling up all over the place. The day before Valentine’s Day, I had a gig where I met a musician who I had not previously worked with. Perhaps it was the proximity to V-Day, but soon after this particular gig- where both of us had been subs for the regular pianist and bassist- this musician asked me out. Seven weeks later, I can say without a doubt that I am dating the kindest, most thoughtful and considerate man that I have ever known.

Besides my personal life, my professional life has been shifting. After having worked my buns off for close to three months to raise funds for my Chopin recording, and with less than 24 hours remaining, on March 7, over 40 new donors- including one who gave me $5000- put me over the top of my goal. I thought the $5000 was an error- perhaps too many zeroes?- but after refreshing my screen, the number was still there. I called my new male friend and later that day he brought me a bouquet of yellow roses to celebrate.

Celebrating my successful Rockethub campaign!

I let myself relax. I received three more notifications of not getting college teaching gigs I’d applied for. I didn’t get the Fulbright grant to Brazil that I wanted so badly. I didn’t get in to an artist colony I’d applied for. But all of these things didn’t matter so much, because I now have someone beside me who cares about me and tells me that everything is going to be OK.

I also started meeting new musicians and finding unexpected openings: I’m now working with a great vocalist named Frank Senior, who can give me goosebumps with his soulful voice; I met saxophonist Billy Harper and am singing in both small and large groups for an upcoming choral performance this fall; and last week I had the opportunity to play melodica on one tune with the Spok Frevo Orquestra from Recife, Brazil at the Zinc Bar (it’s been captured on video here). And I turned 40.

Click on the link to hear me playing melodica w/the Spok Frevo Orquestra! Thanks to Stan Rifken for the video.

So to those of who you have been wondering, “what is happening with Deanna’s Chopin recording?” or “what’s been new with Deanna lately?”, now you know. I haven’t dropped my goals. I’ve just postponed them for a couple of months. And now I’m returning to my work with a newfound sense of support and love from many people. I am more grateful for what I have. And while I almost completely forgot about Lent this year, I think that my Grandma asked God to please rain some blessings on me so that I can celebrate Easter this coming weekend with new joy and hope. Thanks, Grandma.

This blog post is up at my Chopin crowdfunding page at Rockethub.

With only 45 hours to go here at RocketHub, I’m grateful for this great media plug from Chicago-based critic, Neil Tesser, in the Chicago Examiner. The full article is available at exm.nr/xZAeXZ — here’s an excerpt:

The clock is ticking on three [crowdfunding] projects that speak to jazz and blues listeners. The one in the most danger comes from the splendid pianist, vocalist, and composer Deanna Witkowski. So far she has raised only $2,145 toward the $7,000 she targeted toward the production of her next album, and the deadline expires in less than three days [now less than 2 days!]. The discs previously released by this former Chicagoan have all shared superlative musicianship, as well as Witkowski’s desire to immerse herself in a new area for exploration. Her RocketHub project is no exception: she has taken on the music of Frédéric Chopin, reinterpreting it in ways that reflect her extensive studies of Brazilian music as well as jazz. Others have done this, sometimes brilliantly: check out the Chopin recordings by the departed pianist Victor Feldman. But most of the time, it’s done badly; hence Witkowski’s decision to give her effort the title “This is NOT ‘jazzy Chopin’.” By so doing, she aims to distance herself from such clichés as, say, appending a light swing beat to an otherwise unreconstructed version of famous Chopin’s “Funeral March” theme.

Witkowski has come up with a twofold solution to the challenge. First, she uses the 19th-century classicist’s nocturnes, preludes, and etudes to frame several bossa nova compositions – some of them famously inspired by Chopin, others that simply sidle up comfortably to his works. In addition, she treats the Chopin works respectfully but not reverently, adding improvised passages – entirely in the spirit and ethos of his work – where none existed before. (You can hear clips from the album at Witkowski’s website.)

I’ve been working really hard in the last month or so to publicize my upcoming solo recording, which features original arrangements of eight piano pieces by Chopin. I even recorded four free improvisations based on the final two-bar E-flat major arpeggio that closes Chopin’s second nocturne. Here are some thoughts about the project that I wrote last month:

I need your help in releasing this recording. Click here to pre-order and “fuel” the project until March 8 (only 12 days left!), and click here to watch a YouTube playlist of several of the Chopin arrangements.Deanna Witkowski- Chopin Nocturne in E-flat major (Op 9, No 3)

With Grandma in October 2010

Welcome to my new blog! Rather than have this blog feel like a page that I must fill up with words, photos, videos, happenings, I’m choosing to view it as snapshots of my musical (and sometimes personal) life. That means that I am not making a resolution to post new content every day- but, as there are always new mercies every morning, there will certainly be plenty to share. I will keep you, dear reader, informed by sharing photos from performances, updates on my upcoming solo Chopin recording, and thoughts on my daily work.

The start of this blog is coming at a poignant moment in my personal life. Last weekend I attended the memorial of my 96-year-old grandmother, Beryl Welch. Grandma Beryl was an amazingly active lady who, until quite recently, bowled, golfed, played piano, drove her car, preached at her church, and was active in her local senior center. Last August, just after I returned from six weeks of working on a cruise ship in Japan, my mom and I visited Grandma. Grandma brought us to the senior center so that I could play piano during lunchtime. I am so glad that I did not pass up this opportunity. Grandma was always proud of me and I am sure that she is in heaven telling God about all of her wonderful children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Two days after Christmas, much of my extended family went to Grandma’s house outside of Orchard Park, New York. I had brought a CD copy of the mixes of my upcoming solo recording, which features arrangements of eight Chopin pieces. I wanted to give the disc to Grandma but, even though this might sound silly, I felt somewhat shy to give her a burned CD that only said “Deanna- Chopin” after other relatives were giving gifts that were wrapped and complete. My relatives were standing/sitting around the kitchen table, and after they finished giving their gifts to Grandma, I gave her my CD and quietly said, “It’s not out yet, but I thought you might enjoy the music.”

Only a few weeks later, Grandma passed away. My sister, mother, and aunt told me that in these last days, Grandma kept asking to hear the Chopin CD. In particular, she asked to hear the first track, which features an arrangement of Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major. I want to share this piece with you as a way of dedicating this upcoming recording- and this blog- to my Grandma, Beryl Virginia Welch.

If you would like to contribute to making my Chopin CD a reality (in other words, to helping finance the project), visit my Rockethub crowdfunding site at rkthb.co/4562 until March 8. Thanks for your consideration.

On a trio tour in 2004