I recently matched up two flute players here in Hudson County. I like bringing together some lonely violin players. I feel like a musical 'yenta' or matchmaker.

I feel alone.
I don't mean i feel lonely; I mean i feel alone, the same way i feel the blanket resting on my body, or the feathers of my pillow under my head, or the tight string of my sleep pants twisted up around my waist. I feel alone as if it were an actual thing, seeping throughout this whole level like mist blanketing a field, reaching into all the hidden corners of my room and finding nothing living but me. It's a cold sort of feeling, this.

There are moment of sadness and moment of joy. This is life.

There are amateur musicians who want to play with other amateur musicians, and there were students looking for teachers who didn't know how to find teachers. Because here in the shadow of the cultural capital of the world - New York City - there is a certain isolation.

If I was just focused on my performing, I might have been an even more successful musician. But I always felt the need to help others, particularly young people, to become actively engaged with music rather than passively entertained.

There were so many musicians but no one knew anyone else. They all played in Manhattan, but they had no idea that another talented musician lived down the street.