Shakespeare’s birthday was a few days ago. A good friend of mine celebrates it every year by throwing a huge party. Everyone dresses up in period clothes and many act out scenes from his plays. I did “Once more unto the beach” from King Henry V Act 3 Scene 1. I know, I know…stick to the music.  The reason I bring it up is that it took me along time to memorize the lines. And I got to thinking that people just don’t have to remember things anymore. There are so many books and information on the internet that it isn’t done. Now in music this is also true. If you can read music why bother to memorize? Well I’ll tell you why. (Insert soapbox here) Because when you read from a book, you are reading not acting. Its just not as convincing. To truly act you have to become the person and a person doesn’t read what they are going to say out of a book, they express it out of their heart. The same is true of music. Freedom from the written page usually results in a more convincing performance. So I for one am going to train my memory. In fact I think I’ll make a little note in my palm pilot and schedule it in so I don’t forget. Once more into the memory breach dear friends, once more…