About Life in Flow:Flow in Life

Who Am I?

I am Becky Leff, an "after hours" musician. I play horn (that is, French horn) in several community groups in the Chicago area. I earned a bachelor of music degree in music education many years ago from the Eastman School of Music, followed by a Master of Music from Northwestern University, where I was honored to study with Dale Clevenger of the Chicago Symphony. After a circuitous journey through orchestral auditions, freelance jobbing, day jobs, writing for a music magazine, and children, I now play for my enjoyment while teaching full time. I am pleased to be a member of the North Suburban Wind Ensemble, the Waukegan Symphony, and the Cor Corps, a horn ensemble based in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

I live in the suburbs of Chicago with my husband, a semi-retired band director. Our son is an illustrator and our daughter is another horn player. Besides playing music, my husband and I attend many concerts, especially of the Chicago Symphony. I also enjoy reading, yoga, walking and cooking vegetarian meals.

I teach 4th grade at an independent school for gifted children. You can read more teacher blog, Lightning Strikes, at teachinglightning.blogspot.com.

What will you read about in this blog?

I write about classical music in this blog. I have written about current events and issues in the classical music world, interesting performances, and my own journey back into playing. I am fascinated by Mozart and the myths and theories surrounding his work and life, and have written about biographies and historical fiction revolving around Mozart and his family.

Why "Life in Flow:Flow in Life"?

When my son was in college at the Milwaukee School of Art and Design, the school held a parent day every year. Unlike universities where parent weekend revolves around a football game, MIAD hosted a day of interesting classes for the parents. On one of these parent days, we went to a session on blogging and the professor had us sign up for a blog. This included naming the blog. I thought for quite awhile, not knowing at that time what I would blog about, but I was interested in the idea of flow, as described by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the state of being totally and happily absorbed in something, like playing music or solving a problem. I added life to flow and came up with this palindrome.