Was there a specific moment when you realized you wanted to be a musician/percussionist?
I remember going to my older sister’s junior high band concert and seeing and hearing the cymbal player. I thought, that’s for me!
Was there anything that you hated about your first experiences with music?
My first drum teacher was not kind. His teaching studio was filled with pipe smoke and he told me that as a girl I should be playing the violin and not drums. That just made me more determined to play drums!
Do you have any regrets or is there anything you would have done differently in your relationship?
I spent my senior high school year at Interlochen Arts Academy. It was a wonderful year for me, but challenging being away from home. When it came time for college auditions, I was accepted with a scholarship to Juilliard in New York City. I just couldn’t face the idea of being alone in New York City with my family in Chicago, so I turned it down. I sometimes wonder where I’d be if I would have said yes.
Do you still love music/your instrument as much today as you did twenty years ago?
I love practicing now. Before, I would practice as a means to an end. I loved to perform, but practicing was just a necessity in order to perform at a high level. Now I really value the quiet, focused, alone time (I am mom to 5 year old twins) I can spend to create art. It is meditation for me.
Is there anything you wish you didn’t have to do still?
I am so over and done with loading and unloading instruments from my car in all kinds of weather.
Where do you see your relationship with music/your instrument in the next 5 years?
One of the things I love about percussion is that we have so many styles to play and so many different instruments to learn. I’d like to continue playing orchestral music, but also learn more about Irish music and bodhran as well as continue to learn more about the folkloric music tradition of conga playing. And… of course, if they will have me, playing with the ‘Rona Quartet!
‘Rona Quartet 