Let's see. I'm audition for Boise Baroque soon, so hopefully I'll be playing in there last concert of the season. That'll be fun and mildly profitable. Then I'm auditioning for the Philharmonic over the summer, that'll be more than mildly profitable. Very exciting.
Oddly, my roomate kind of left... abruptly... and I have only vague clues why. Fun! Now I have to find a new one or face moving back home.
Lately I've been obsessed with The Killers cover of the Dire Straits "Romeo and Juliet", also been examining other musical renditions of Romeo and Juliet, such as Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, etc. I thought it would have been neat if Wagner did a Romeo and Juliet, but then I realized he did, he just called it Tristan and Isolde.
Spring Break has mostly been me staying up until about 4:00. Strangely, I have the most energy past about 11:00. I worked with this guy who claimed to have a type of insomnia where he could sleep in the day, but not at night. I would say I might have this, but I suspect it's largely made up.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Recital
I totally have my junior recital planned out! It's going to go something like:
Brahms Viola Sonata in F minor
Scott Slapin's Nocturne for Two Violas
--Intermission --
Something Else
I plan on playing only complete works, recitals that feature a bit of this sonata, half of this concerto, etc. are upsetting and seem sort of unprofessional. Admittedly, a school recital is hardly a professional affair. But, regardless, I want to do whole works. The only problem with this line up so far is that my junior recital is about two years off.
After discovering the Peter Slowik fan club on Facebook, I've decided that I must do graduate works with him! The problem here is, Oberlin doesn't have a graduate performance program. Yikes! As such, I have to come up with a plan to get Peter to switch schools! Yikes!
Brahms Viola Sonata in F minor
Scott Slapin's Nocturne for Two Violas
--Intermission --
Something Else
I plan on playing only complete works, recitals that feature a bit of this sonata, half of this concerto, etc. are upsetting and seem sort of unprofessional. Admittedly, a school recital is hardly a professional affair. But, regardless, I want to do whole works. The only problem with this line up so far is that my junior recital is about two years off.
After discovering the Peter Slowik fan club on Facebook, I've decided that I must do graduate works with him! The problem here is, Oberlin doesn't have a graduate performance program. Yikes! As such, I have to come up with a plan to get Peter to switch schools! Yikes!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Lame (part 3 or something)
My bike was stolen (or is simply trying to escape the its mishandling at its master's hands) this evening. This is incredibly lame and has served to lower my faith in humanity by however much percent. Send me something cheesy and inspirational. Cheesy inspirational music is always a plus! It'll probably cheer me up more than the Schoenberg I'm listening to now and the Guibaidalina viola concerto that's coming up...
I other news. Shostakovitch in orchestra along with Rhapsody in Blue makes for a very awesome program. Linda's coaching quartet tomorrow two!! I think I might have exclaimed my exuberance a little too loudly in orchestra when Mr. Purdy announced this, but he's got enough violinists sucking up to him already, he doesn't need me. Also DIII tomorrow, will go watch high school violists kick my butt and thus be inspired to practice more.
I other news. Shostakovitch in orchestra along with Rhapsody in Blue makes for a very awesome program. Linda's coaching quartet tomorrow two!! I think I might have exclaimed my exuberance a little too loudly in orchestra when Mr. Purdy announced this, but he's got enough violinists sucking up to him already, he doesn't need me. Also DIII tomorrow, will go watch high school violists kick my butt and thus be inspired to practice more.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
I'm going to get beat up
Somehow my blog showed up on this Chopin blog. I'm psyched about the exposure, but in order to avoid getting mugged, I'd just like to clarify that I don't hate Chopin, or even dislike Chopin. Other composers simply appeal to me more, like Schumann! If you are a Chopin-lover (not that that's a bad thing), and you think I should be too, feel free to contact me with some of your favorite Chopin (perhaps the more Schumann-esque [which is not really a word] ones).
In other non-Chopin related news, I had the audacity to record myself playing some Bach d minor today. This was probably the freakiest thing ever. Fortunately, however, it helped me diagnose a lot of problems with my playing, so now I can go about eliminating them in an organized fashion. Very exciting! I also practiced my one-position scales three times today, which makes me either a prodigy or a freak, I can't tell yet.
Anyway, now for a viola joke:
In other non-Chopin related news, I had the audacity to record myself playing some Bach d minor today. This was probably the freakiest thing ever. Fortunately, however, it helped me diagnose a lot of problems with my playing, so now I can go about eliminating them in an organized fashion. Very exciting! I also practiced my one-position scales three times today, which makes me either a prodigy or a freak, I can't tell yet.
Anyway, now for a viola joke:
- Why do violists stand for long periods outside people's houses?
- They can't find the key and they don't know when to come in.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
I'm not a big fan... of Chopin
I went to see a fantastic doctoral recital (by some Arizona Post-Grad, BSU doesn't have a Doc program) programmed entirely of Chopin works. I was slightly apprehensive, as I've never taken a deep liking to Chopin, but I went anyway, mostly because I really have nothing else to do. Well, I could do homework, but this seemed like a reasonable alternative. Anyway, went to see recital, but was mostly bored. The playing was great, but Chopin isn't incredibly exciting. He's kind of like Mozart + Chromaticism, which wasn't very exciting. Needs more Schumann.
I have about ten gazillion things that need to go back to the library. It'd be nice if they would just kind of migrate back on there own, but that hasn't happened... yet.
Weather's clearing up, which means more bike rides, which is awesome!! Sickness is clearing up to!
I have about ten gazillion things that need to go back to the library. It'd be nice if they would just kind of migrate back on there own, but that hasn't happened... yet.
Weather's clearing up, which means more bike rides, which is awesome!! Sickness is clearing up to!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lame
In an incredibly lame turn of events, I'm sick on the super special day this week that I get school off! However, this does mean that I got to duck out of ECO this week. Rehearsal time has been moved back to 7:00, which is just absurd. Traffic isn't the reason why people show up late! It's simply because nobody wants to be there, and moving rehearsal time back won't change anything, it'll just mean that I get home later.
In searching for music I wanted to listen to this morning, I rediscovered Coldplay. Lots of fun.
I aprehensivelly tried gargling warm salt water at 3:00 in the morning, it actually works, which is cool. I suspect that the water should be warm because that's a lot less disgusting than swisching cold salt water around your mouth, Mmmm. Needs more drugs...
Jen and I hacked through a number of chamber music camp options last night over Flying Pie (the official pizza of Darkwood Consort!). There's this thing in Oregon that looks like lots of fun. You pretty much just read quartets for a week, which is a great plan. They also have a MASSIVE library!! The application date is kinda past, but it's possible they might make exceptions for awesome violists. When I can speak intelligibly and without sniffling, I might give them a call.
Finally, this is the best piece ever and should be performed by the BSU Orchestra in lieu of the crappy music we usually play.
In searching for music I wanted to listen to this morning, I rediscovered Coldplay. Lots of fun.
I aprehensivelly tried gargling warm salt water at 3:00 in the morning, it actually works, which is cool. I suspect that the water should be warm because that's a lot less disgusting than swisching cold salt water around your mouth, Mmmm. Needs more drugs...
Jen and I hacked through a number of chamber music camp options last night over Flying Pie (the official pizza of Darkwood Consort!). There's this thing in Oregon that looks like lots of fun. You pretty much just read quartets for a week, which is a great plan. They also have a MASSIVE library!! The application date is kinda past, but it's possible they might make exceptions for awesome violists. When I can speak intelligibly and without sniffling, I might give them a call.
Finally, this is the best piece ever and should be performed by the BSU Orchestra in lieu of the crappy music we usually play.
Monday, March 3, 2008
FUCK!!
Stupid Opera! I don't get to read Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony (one of the only cool things in Orchestra... ever...) because of stupid Opera rehearsal tonight!
Fuck!!!
Fuck!!!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Pianist:: Chu-Fang Huang
Yes! This concert kicked ass!
The pianist, whose name I can't pronounce, started off with four short and snappy little Scarlatti Sonatas, three of which were fast numbers, and the third was a very slow and melancholy number. I was surprised by the amount of virtuosity in these baroque pieces, lots of runs and fast trills.
Next on the program came a massive Schumann Fantasy (Op. 17 in C Major) that just blew me away. The piece starts out with this great melody in the right hand and a flurry of arpeggiated chords in the left hand. Whatsername did a great job with the dynamics as well as bringing out some HUGE bass notes. The second movement is kind of a military march, and Schumann does a great job in maintain passion throughout what I've always viewed as kind of a dry form. The third movement totally blew over my head. Partially because it was at the end of a half-hour long piece, and also because it was so sharply in contrast with the two very flashy movements before it. All in all though, this was my favorite part of the program.
Intermission was lots of fun, I got a drink from the water fountain and reflected on the jobs of custodians in the university.
I was pleased to see that the pianist had programed some songs from her homeland of China. I figured that this was a great way to blow the wigs off of those snotty subscribers who came to see their Mozart played in high style while sipping wine and eating well-aged cheeses. My favorite of the three Chinese pieces was the third and final selection. Mostly because it felt like a Western tone poem with heavy Eastern influences. It was actually all about these very musical people in a certain province of China, I thought it was really neat. It also had a great call and answer section between soprano and tenor voices.
Finally, last on the program was Ravel's La Valse. This piece, when visualized correctly is incredible. It was written before WWI and the entire premise is one of the aristocratic families in Europe ignoring the obvious trouble brewing and deciding, instead, to keep on waltzing. The piece, as such, start out as a snappy little Viennese Waltz, but then starts to wind its way into disarray until, finally, there are gunshots in the same room as the waltzers and they're trying to dance and dodge bullets at the same time. Lots of fun, very nice use of dissonance.
The pianist, whose name I can't pronounce, started off with four short and snappy little Scarlatti Sonatas, three of which were fast numbers, and the third was a very slow and melancholy number. I was surprised by the amount of virtuosity in these baroque pieces, lots of runs and fast trills.
Next on the program came a massive Schumann Fantasy (Op. 17 in C Major) that just blew me away. The piece starts out with this great melody in the right hand and a flurry of arpeggiated chords in the left hand. Whatsername did a great job with the dynamics as well as bringing out some HUGE bass notes. The second movement is kind of a military march, and Schumann does a great job in maintain passion throughout what I've always viewed as kind of a dry form. The third movement totally blew over my head. Partially because it was at the end of a half-hour long piece, and also because it was so sharply in contrast with the two very flashy movements before it. All in all though, this was my favorite part of the program.
Intermission was lots of fun, I got a drink from the water fountain and reflected on the jobs of custodians in the university.
I was pleased to see that the pianist had programed some songs from her homeland of China. I figured that this was a great way to blow the wigs off of those snotty subscribers who came to see their Mozart played in high style while sipping wine and eating well-aged cheeses. My favorite of the three Chinese pieces was the third and final selection. Mostly because it felt like a Western tone poem with heavy Eastern influences. It was actually all about these very musical people in a certain province of China, I thought it was really neat. It also had a great call and answer section between soprano and tenor voices.
Finally, last on the program was Ravel's La Valse. This piece, when visualized correctly is incredible. It was written before WWI and the entire premise is one of the aristocratic families in Europe ignoring the obvious trouble brewing and deciding, instead, to keep on waltzing. The piece, as such, start out as a snappy little Viennese Waltz, but then starts to wind its way into disarray until, finally, there are gunshots in the same room as the waltzers and they're trying to dance and dodge bullets at the same time. Lots of fun, very nice use of dissonance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
