Liming Williams (family): Good health to everyone & to travel to see the world.
Louis Landon: World peace & a major shift in consciousness so that sleeping people can awaken to see that we are all connected.
Bette Groesbeck (adult student): May all our relatives and friends have a year of good health and prosperity & may our country forever have peace.
Kevin Kern: As we approach another holiday season and consider all for which we are thankful, my thoughts and prayers go out to those who are struggling with Ebola, both the victims, as well as the courageous medical professionals who have answered the call to service from around the globe. My wish is that these brave and talented people will bring this deadly scourge under control and that the people of Western Africa shall know lives free from this disease. On a personal note, despite its beginnings, I hope the coming Winter is not as bitterly cold as our last one. May we all stay warm and dry, enjoying the company of friends as we wait for the season of snow to loosen its grip.
Jim Wilson (adult student): The first would have to be to get my fingers to go where they are supposed to and to be able to find the notes without watching my hands and lose my place in the music. A second would be to somehow get the holiday shopping done and get this season of material madness over with.
Michael Dulin: That every home would have a piano (NOT a keyboard) & that every TELEVISION STATION would have a piano (NOT a keyboard).
Joseph Akins: I wish for peace between everyone in our country. I wish for 2015 to be a year full of music.
Danny Wright: For each child in the world to be able to open one gift on Christmas morning & to be able to continue my God blessed journey to touch the hearts and souls of millions with my God given talent.
Sang Le (friend): 1) To have an 8-hour sleep straight through experience! 2) Retire a bit early to be and spend time with my kids more.
Jeff Bjorck: I always wish for safe water, sanitation, and hygiene and an end to the global crisis, and that is true this year, too. But this year, I will list my two wishes as a bit more personal:
1) I wish that Kathy Parsons would get to know, in some small way, how much she has encouraged SO MANY with her many gifts to the piano artist community!
2)I wish that my next CD, out in 2015, will meet with an enthusiastic reception, as my first original compositions since 2005.
Akiko Helwig (former adult student): Oxygen is one of life's essential elements. I wish easy breathing for everyone. Many find it difficult to easily breathe in enough of this precious free gift, and must pay physically, emotionally, and financially to do so.
Cathy Oakes: I wish for one more Christmas with my mom & a return of the peace and innocence we once enjoyed in this land.
Tim Neumark: 1) I wish people -- both individuals and societies collectively -- would eliminate petty differences and talk through problems.
2)I wish countries and groups would stop fighting.
Greg Maroney: I wish that human beings would realize that we are all on this planet together. We have the choice to live our lives with love, compassion and understanding; leaving hatred and violence behind us. Just being alive is so miraculous and amazing, everyone should be filled with wonder and bright light. And, of course continued success in music!
Katherine Ermitano (former student): 1. I wish to see you next year!
2.I wish everyone good health and happiness.
Rebecca Kragnes: 1. for the six months of ongoing, annoying computer issues to be over.
2. Positive, Constructive -- not negative, destructive -- movement on the
civil rights issues facing our country.
Lisa Hilton: I think that my Biggest Wish would be that all people would be treated as just another musical key in that each key has, perhaps a little different ambience, but essentially all are the same. I don't really think it matters what key you play in, and I don't really think it matters what race or gender you are, or what your hair color or physical abilities happen to be, how old you are or what type of person you are attracted to. We are all, essentially the same.
I think my second Biggest Wish would be for Spotify to pay me more! (Hehe - that just was a topical joke!) My Real and True Wish is that the music industry would be able to find a way to pay creators and performers of music a decent amount: .00003 of a cent for a stream is a pretty teeny amount don't you think? Even the folks working for minimum wage can laugh at that! So far, and I've had a LOT of discussions on this one, no one can even figure out the math: what exactly IS .00003 of one cent? Is there a mathematician that can give that amount a correct name? Personally I do believe in Chris Anderson's Long Tail Economic Theory, but I really think even he was thinking about bigger payments than what we're currently seeing. I brought a check for .01 cent into the bank to deposit because my ATM couldn't even read the amount it was so small. The bank teller looked at the check, laughed and said, "I bet they rounded it up!" as a joke, and I told him with complete sincerity, "You’re right, I think they did!" I'd love to get a raise, and I think I have a whole lot of support on this wish!
Wishing everyone: Holidays filled with riches: love, friendship, music, nature, and peace.
Dave Miller (singer): I would like to see more and more folks laughing with abandon. The timid would learn that it is therapeutic and healthy. We are all going to the grave one way or another - our choice is whether to habitually laugh or cry.
Robin Meloy Goldsby: Continued opportunities for my kids to get out there and see the world. & More opportunities for them to stay at home.
Bernward Koch: 1. Peace! (War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace. / Thomas Mann) & 2. Good Music (and a good start for my new album in 2015..)
John Paris: My wish is that the music we make brightens and offers comfort to our listeners.
Dan Kennedy: I wish long term health for the bird and animal populations.
Beth Hilton (music promoter): 1) That "Peaceful Resolution" becomes an instinctive option and very real goal in our collective minds in 2015.
2) That our community's beloved music reviewers feel our immense gratitude
and are re-energized by it for 2015!
Lillie Leland (student, age 9): A sister and a puppy.
Ruth Hoglund (friend): I wish for those who suffer in life to find consolation; for those that life seems intolerable to find solace and for those who are blessed find it in their hearts to share their talents and bounty.
Kathy Parsons: A true and lasting peace that changes the world to one of loving unity and mutual respect & lots of great new music to review and proof in 2015!
Bob Fieg (adult student): I wish that every child could receive a special toy this Holiday Season, & wouldn't it be nice if more people could discover music as a way to realize that, despite our differences, we all have much in common.
Doug Hammer: 1. Love 2. Repeat
