This afternoon I am enjoying a beautiful day at Historic Watson Mill Bridge State Park about 20 miles outside of Athens Georgia. My son Joe and his wife recently moved to Athens for her to pursue a PhD and I am here for a few days to watch the opening games of the NFL season with my most loyal football watching companion. While neither of the games feature the Pittsburgh Steelers, it is still pro football and is always a blast to watch with my son.
Cutting to the chase, my new schedule has been really fantastic and I am certain that I timed my retirement from a daily teaching and administrative schedule exactly correctly. With that said, I am still scheduled pretty heavily and I'm really enjoying the new rhythm of my life as a musician, music educator, and string pedagogue.
My retirement was effective July 1 and, truth be told, I had to use up a little bit of leave before the end of the month of July. My wife and I enjoyed several weeks at our place in Kill Devil Hills at the Outer Banks of North Carolina toward the end of June and throughout the month of July. All in all, July was mostly recreational for us. We took a little over a week to travel to Pennsylvania to see my parents and Barbra's Dad, as well as a number of relatives. So, please rest assured that I did take a break immediately following my retirement date. With that said, I had and still have no intention of simply stopping my work.
At the beginning of August, when I would normally be preparing for the new school year, I was honored to be a featured speaker for the Mid-Atlantic String Symposium sponsored by the Virginia Chapter of ASTA. And, immediately following that event, headed out to the Northwest United States to teach at the Birch Bay String Teachers Workshop. Both of these events were amazingly uplifting and were a perfect distraction as the new academic year began at NCSSM. I received so many notes from my colleagues at the school who were checking on me and making sure that I knew that I was missed and that I was appropriately engaged in something fun or fulfilling. I certainly was!
Sadly, as my time at Birch Bay was wrapping up, my beloved brother-in-law, Sam Greenwood, passed away after a valiant battle with leukemia. I changed my flight plans and went directly to Pittsburgh to spend the next 10 days or so with family. Sam was a very important figure in my life. It was an incredibly sad couple of weeks. I will miss him tremendously. Our family will have a huge piece missing as we gather for holidays and family events moving forward.
In mid-August, I jumped right into my new work and life rhythms which include three areas: performing on my instruments, conducting appearances, and teacher education.
One intention moving forward is to dive deeply into my regional performances as a violinist and violist. I am booked for weddings, church services, and various other performing opportunities solidly through the end of 2026 mostly on the weekends. I find these events to be incredibly fulfilling both musically and personally. It's nice to have the time to do these sorts of performances as a primary mission as opposed to during my "free time." I am also looking forward to performances at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, my home Church of Blacknall Presbyterian in Durham, and other churches in the Research Triangle area.
Another new part-time pursuit for me is the role of Proofreader for Alfred Music Publications. I began in this role late in the spring and have really enjoyed the process of making sure new publications are completely ready for teachers and students on the day they are purchased. I never dreamed I would be doing something like this and I am really enjoying it. I'm learning a lot in the process as well.
I am also preparing for a number of appearances late in 2026 and into 2027. I will be the featured clinician for the High School String Orchestra Rehearsal Lab at the Midwest Clinic in December. The Rehearsal Lab will feature the wonderful musicians of the Maine South Orchestra under the direction of Leo Park. Moving into 2027, I will be conducting the South. Carolina 11/12 All State Orchestra, Wake NC All County Orchestra and Hawaii Honor Orchestra. Additionally, I will be adjudicating the Colorado ASTA Orchestra Festival and the Las Vegas Middle School Orchestra Festival.
Obviously, I will be at the ASTA National Conference in Chicago representing the D'addario Orchestral Strings and Codabow International. I believe I will be presenting an industry showcase session on behalf of CodaBow International.
Now, lest any of you be concerned that I'm not taking enough time for myself, please rest assured that I'm building in plenty of "me" time. I have enjoyed several days at our place in Kill Devil Hills and my trip to Athens this week is indicative of a little bit of breath in my schedule.
So, there you have it. This is what life looks like now for me. I think of my colleagues and students at NCSSM with incredible fondness. And, I continue to look to the future with great anticipation and positivity. I will give these updates from time to time and let you know what's going on with me. For now, rest assured that all of the planning I did over the last year or so is certainly paying off. I feel like I was really prepared for this change in my life. The timing was certainly right.
Peace.
Scott
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