People // Eve Kodiak // Blog

Hi, friends -
      The Indaba website tells us that the winners of the "Celebrate and Collaborate with Yo-Yo Ma" Contest will be announced at 2:30 PM tomorrow, EST, on the NPR show "All Things Considered."  I'm guessing that, if I were the "Grand Prize Winner," I would have been notified by now, but for those of you would like to be present with me at the finish line, go to:
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=2  and click on the little red volume icon underneath the title for the show.
You can still hear my piece by going to www.evekodiak.com . 
My YouTube pieces are still at
http://www.indabamusic.com/contests/show/yo-yomacontest   and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9CvYmw7KAE

    I have so much to thank you all for! 
    Thank you all for your votes.  Thanks to all of you who forwarded my contest entry and You Tube pieces on to so many people who knew me and didn't yet know me.  There had to be a lot of you, because I finished in 8th place out of more than 300 contestants. 
     And thank you for your enthusiasm -  enthusiasm for my music, for my willingness to put myself out there,  enthusiasm for the game itself, for the pure joy of throwing one's hat in the ring. 
    Here are just a few of the emails I received:
    from an acquaintance: "I'm writing from Mexico to say that I voted for you and loved the piece. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to take piano lessons in 2009."
    from the mother of a six year-old: "She liked your outfit and said you looked beautiful in it.  She was very impressed by your Chopin piece and when you were playing it she wondered if she practiced piano everyday could she play like that when she is big."
    from a close friend:  "CONGRATULATIONS!! I sent your link to 230 musicians/friends most of whom will probably go vote for you. You owe me - it was a pain in the ass :-)"
    from another close friend: "After I just sent a message to 150 people asking them to vote online for you, I immediately got a message back from my friend ________, who says he voted; but asks if you'd like to send him a cd of some representative samples of your work, wondering if you should be recording with his new label ______, which just got some kind of distribution contract with ______!" 
    but these were the two that made me cry:
     1. "Look at the movie clip.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbyP8gbb1hw ....then read my next message."
     2.  "Seeing you play in this way makes me want to be fully who I really am."

        The magical thing about this contest was that everybody got to play with Yo-Yo Ma.  Everybody downloaded Dona Nobis Pacem and scrawled their John Hancock on it and put it back out there for the world to listen to.  And the world did.
      This contest is a uniquely American phenomenon. I feel like Alexis de Tocqueville, marveling at this new thing called "democracy."  As we approach the inauguration of a new president  -  a president who will be ushered in to the music of Yo-Yo Ma himself - all of us who have played with Yo Yo during this contest can watch and listen with a sense of personal pride and ownership.  As a people, we have a lot of baggage to jettison, but this self-evident truth - that all variations are created equal - is a keeper.
    I have a colleague who keeps referring to me as a "virtuoso."  He thinks it's a compliment, but I hate it.  A virtuoso is someone who is better than you, someone beyond your reach.  A virtuoso inspires you to admire them, not to feel your own potential, to access your own power.
    What I want, above all things, is for my music to inspire people to GO FOR IT!  To drag that saxophone out of the closet where it's been since high school.  To scribble that poem.  To sing in the shower.  To create whatever makes you truly happy; to inspire you to sign your name with a flourish and send it back to Creation. 
    As for me - I feel completely showered in love.  Thank you all again, and keep in touch - I'll continue to update you about my doings on my website. 
    And keep playing.
          eve

PS  To all of you who sent my music out to your lists - can you send this on, too?  Even if it is a pain in the . . . ?   I want to complete the cycle and thank everyone who played with me.

Eve Kodiak
Sound Intelligence
P O Box 13  Temple, NH 03084
www.evekodiak.com
603-547-7802