Keeping Time: A Life Making Music

by Ann Copeland

Ann Copeland has lived a mountain of yesterdays as a teacher, fiction writer, vowed religious, wife, and mother. Throughout her rich and varied life, there has been one constant: Copeland's dedication to amateur music-making in its many forms -- composing, playing, arranging, partnering, studying, and improvising -- and in its many possible settings--alone or with others; in chapels, living rooms, and schools; in locations foreign and domestic, intimate and exposed; in mental states anxious, playful, and grieving. This collection of spirited and engaging essays tells the story of a lifelong student and devotee of music who, looking back, sees that "years of making music offered release, challenge, solace, collaboration, glimpses of possibility, a perishable entrance into felt mystery, and the chance to create a gift with and for others." With this book, Copeland is sharing that gift through the story of her life making music.

214 pages, Paperback

Published October 2, 2018

Reviews

[John Repplinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This creative autobiography details the life of Ginny Furtwangler who penned several books under the name of Ann Copeland. As the title suggests, there is a unique music theme spread throughout the book, starting from the first downbeat of the book at where else but an Ursuline Order Nunnery (Catholic Nuns). Music has clearly been a huge part of the life of Ginny and her husband Al, so it stands to reason that the highlights of her life were written in musical terms, such as the personalized birthday songs she wrote and sang to her granddaughter Claire. The life story is well-written, as it should from a former Willamette University professor, and refreshingly engaging.