Tim Neumark (artist): I wish the world would transition to renewable energy and FAST. I wish I had a solar roof.
Chuck Dadisman (retired Regional Manager for Yamaha): I wish to have a Grandma who lives in the woods near a river… and a ride to get there.
Susan Keeffe (friend): My holiday wish is for good health and the love and friendship of friends and families during the holiday season.
Jeff Bjorck (artist): I wish for an end to the extreme polarization in our nation.
I wish for kindness and provisions for all the refugees in the world, especially the Rohingya people who have fled Myanmar and those refugees who have fled from Central America.
Steve Benjamins (Bay Area piano tech): It came early this year, and I want to thank you all for the blue wave, it was beautiful.
Anaya Kunt (artist): All the blessings of Love, Light, Happiness, Consciousness and Thankfulness with Harmony and Mindfulness for the wonderful year of 2019, with love in Inner peace.
Ann Licater (artist): That each of us holds an intention of creating peaceful realities through our talents and skills and by communicating and interacting in a high vibration of love, kindness and integrity.
Fiona Joy (artist): This year is simple. I just want my children to get their act together and lead happy fulfilling lives. I think being in your 20’s is so hard these days and life is stressful for young adults. That translates as stress to their parents and so my wish is twofold - One wish for each of my sons.
Rigzin (artist): May all beings be happy and free of suffering. May every wish be fulfilled. May every need be fulfilled. May all beings be satisfied.
May I become the doctor, the nurse and the medicine, for all sick beings in the world. May every disease never occur again.
May all beings be without want for wealth, and without it being a source of dispute or harm, may they always prosper.
Marlene Martin (friend): My first wish is for the health and safety for all the pets, livestock, and wildlife in the burn areas, and that the lost pets find loving homes. Hopefully more people will microchip their pets. My second wish is to find someone to teach me beginner accordion lessons. I live just north of Berkeley.
Louis Landon (artist): Wishing and hoping for:
1. More Love and Compassion
2. World Peace
Sang Le (friend): 1) Come up with a set of mathematical equations that can create a wormhole at will, by using negligible amount of energy from a nearby star, so that intergalatic traveling is possible.
2) Have more time to watch comedies, so that I stop thinking stuff like wish #1. LOL!
Greg Maroney (artist): 1. I wish that the general population of the world would wake up to the fact that we are all connected, and what one person does affects us all. Let's start working on some of the global problems so our children and their children can inherit a clean and healthy planet in which to conduct their lives.
2. That our New Age Solo Piano genre will continue to grow and expand, enabling all of us to make a living from our work/art.
Dan Kennedy (artist): I wish for people to embrace their kind, divine selves.
I wish for a continued world of abundance and generosity leading to a lowering of hunger in the world. We can do it.
Doug Hammer (artist): Here’s my usual 2 wishes.
1. Love.
2. Repeat.
Naomi Fox (friend): I wish: that people would realize that we are all in this life together. Every time we bully, harm, steal from, invalidate, kill (war), or do anything else against the survival of another, we are also destroying a part of our own survival. Think how great mankind could be if we started thinking on a broader scale.
I wish: to acknowledge everyone who has done something good, something creative, something helpful. Artists create the future with their visions and statements. Emergency workers and volunteers deliver aid and save lives during disasters. Friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers, lend helping hands when needed. Thank you! We are all grateful for you.
Bernward Koch (artist): 1. Holistic health for everybody
2. Prudence, peace and ecological awareness for the world
Patrick Lee Hebert (artist): I wish people were more kind and not so wrapped up in themselves. I also wish that people would use their blinkers in TN! It frustrates my New England sensibilities.
Margery Pearl-Gurnett (artist): 1. I hope that a cure for Parkinson's disease is found.
2. I hope that I am up to the task of taking care of my husband come what may.
Michael Hoppe (artist): Much looking forward to the premiere of my “Requiem for Peace & Reconciliation” here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Health always for my family and friends, and special love to KP for her endless support of our work.
Richard Carr (artist): 1) My wish is for all those interested in music ... find the music of their soul and let it shine!
2) This one is a bit more personal ... my wish is that all these physical issues I have been dealing with be all cleared up by this time next year.
Dianne Saito (friend/former student): World peace and a cure for all diseases.
Rocky Fretz (artist): For me, I wish for continued improvement of my health and opportunities to perform my new music.
For us all, I wish for music and the fine arts to return to a major priority within our public education system.
Wayne Gratz (artist): 1. No more fires.
2. No more hurricanes
3. Everyone has a house.
Joseph Akins (artist): I wish for love and happiness for everyone
I wish for good health for all my friends and family.
Amy Trejo (formerly Padillla; friend/former student): 1. For health of mind, body, and spirit for all people.
2. That we may all seek to grow in compassion, understanding, and unconditional love.
Michael Dulin (artist): 1 more time to compose
2 more concert bookings!
Kevin Kern (artist): Over the last several years I have been blessed by an ever growing array of technological advancements without which I, as a blind person, would not be able to participate in the musical world I’ve been privileged to enjoy. From creating new pieces to hearing them played from my own sheet music by others, my life continues to be enriched by an ever expanding world of tech driven possibilities that simply couldn’t have happened a generation ago.
Because of this, my wish for the future is that the people and companies responsible for bringing this new world about will continue to create and improve the ground breaking tools that make it possible for blind and visually impaired musicians of every stripe to experience the joy of making music any way they can. To all those music makers out there, May each and every one of you know the thrill of a world where barriers disappear to be replaced by inspiration and encouragement. May we all come to know lives defined not by disability but by creative possibility instead.
My second wish goes to all the baseball fans out there. Just as I once hoped for the Cubs to win it all, I’m now wishing that the Cleveland Indians, the team that time forgot, should have their moment in the sun. They haven’t won it all since 1948 and it’s their turn. Go Indians in 2019!
Kathy Parsons: I wish for a deeper understanding and appreciation for all of our similarities instead of the constant scrutiny of and objection to our differences. I also wish that everyone affected by the fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters this year are able to rebuild their lives and their homes without too much heartbreak. 2019 will be a tough year for them, but may their burdens be lifted as much as possible.
Robin Spielberg (artist): Sending positive energy to all those affected by the fires, the shootings, the floods. May you find strength to endure, rebuild and carry on with a life that is meaningful to you. Positive wishes for the healing of your hearts.
As always, peace on Earth and happy holidays to all of my piano friends reading these wishes!
Pam Asberry: I wish for the world to become a kinder place - one in which we treat one another as fellow wanderers and not as competitors - and I wish to live long enough to make up for all the time I lost telling myself what I couldn’t do to JUST DO IT.
