JOYCE YANG'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

#1: I want to cook more, drink less, and stop eating fried food in airports. I have an exercise regimen at home and in hotel rooms, but in between I totally fail. Airports are dangerous places! So when I have a choice between nachos and salad, I will try to choose the salad…

#2: I want to learn more about dance – by going to more performances and watching videos on YouTube. I'm in the early stage of a project with a dance company, and I want to be an informed collaborator. Working in a studio with dancers will be a new experience for me.

#3: I want to learn the Brahms First Piano Concerto and the Barber Concerto this year. It’s a challenge when you’re touring and performing a lot, and 2016 is a really busy year with more than a dozen different concerti, new violin and piano pieces, as well as other chamber music and solo programs. Learning new concerti is like saving for the retirement fund; you just keep adding to your repertoire bit by bit. I’ve been adding about three new concertos a year for the last ten years, but there’s always more to learn!

#4: I want to remain curious – to be in a constant state of auto-renaissance, awake to changes and new ways to contribute to the artistic world.

#5: Fantasy resolution: I want to paint. I do dab a little, but I need to buy better brushes.  I took painting lessons twice a week for years when I was growing up, and I would love to get back to that. Someday I would like to paint miniatures of the plants of the Rocky Mountains, frame them and cover a whole wall with them.

Which of these will I follow in 2016? The truth is that they all point to the same goal of trying to sustain what I consider a fabulous life, and something better than I ever could have imagined. How did I end up with this career playing music? I’m at a pretty happy point.

I wish you a wonderful 2016 and many happy New Year’s Resolutions!

--Joyce