Casey Bozell

There’s a whole subset of games out there (video games have always been a foundational square on my Casey Quilt) that center around this premise: start small, beat a little level, have a couple new things open up. You’re dropped into whatever world the game designers have fastidiously laid out for you, and as you play by the rules and defeat the obstacles in front of you, more worlds open up. More choices, more DLC, and more little endorphins fireworking in your brain. At first it feels as though staying on this path will lead you to eventually beating the game… but there’s oh so much more to uncover than…

I don’t even know where to start. Life is a combination of tiny glimmers of new starts, grief over so many things lost, flickers of hope, anticipatory depression. I woke up this morning and looked for a nice outfit to wear. I’d be lecturing, after all.  And then my heart gently reminded me that the school where I lectured for ten years doesn’t exist anymore. This still didn’t seem to stop an overwhelming sense of epistemological muscle memory; I had a yearning at least three times today to go grab a coffee at the store in the university library. I worked hard on distracting myself. I got to teach a…

There was a slight delay as I figured out exactly how to log in to my blog this week, but as with everything else I do, I just kept pushing forward and guessing what to do until I got it right. Voila! What an amazing weekend – the Newport Symphony premiered a brand new composition by Mark Fish, in memory of David Ogden Stiers. Two waves of audiences heard it, enjoyed it, and gave two rounds of standing ovations. It was followed by one of my favorite Tchaikovsky works, the suite from Swan Lake. And if you’ll forgive my sentimentality, it was the absolutely perfect ending to a fabulous premiere…

Every once in a while, I am brutally reminded that I’m not in my early twenties anymore. *Allow me to adopt an affected nostalgic tone and take a drag on an invisible cigarette* Thoooooose were the days. I could easily practice until midnight, catch some dinner, study until 3 in the morning, wake up around noon, and drag myself to a 2pm orchestra rehearsal without warming up one stitch and be completely fine. Today, my 36-year-old body was pretty unhappy. I woke up at 6am, had a long (but lovely) drive to the coast, then played over four hours of orchestra rehearsal. My hamstrings, in some bodily phenomenon that I’m…

A lot has happened since I last posted here. One year ago today, I was offered the position of concertmaster of the Newport Symphony Orchestra. It was something I really wanted, and was delighted to accept. Next weekend will mark the final concert of my first season with them. It’s been a whirlwind year, where I played many solos, big and small, and have had friends and family from near and far enjoy and support my big career boost. I’m a lucky kid. Even bigger than that is the addition that T and I welcomed into our family the January before receiving the job offer. That addition is currently asleep…