hot shit

So at my lesson today we decided that I'm going to definitely be applying to Yale for grad school. Olivia thinks that I can do it if I work really really hard. She said "Just go for it!" I'm so excited! I've gotta buy the book of Paganini caprices now... I think I want to do #16.

That's it for now... Olin is here and we might be playing hearts later.

ah...

Well, I figure since I'm done with my recital, I'll list my new repertoire for those of you who actually read this thing (which I would imagine is absolutely nobody).

-Lalo (hopefully finishing the first movement by early next semester)
-Khachatuian (polishing the first mvt, as it's been on hiatus for a long time...... and moving on to the last two (the second movement isn't that hard at all)
-Wieniawski - Scherzo-Tarantelle (I'm excited as hell to play this!)
-Beethoven - Sonata 8 in G Major (it's hardcore!)
-Bach - last movement of solo sonata in g minor
-and of course Kreutzer, Gavinies, and Flesch

I also think I really really really want to apply to Yale for grad school. I need to play a Paganini caprice though, really really well. I think I'll ask Olivia about that next week.

That's it for now!

finally

It's over! Finally!

My recital was last night, and it was pretty good i think! Lots of character/emotional things came out that had never come out in me or my playing before. It was awesome. Especially the second movement. I think that was the best of the three. I had so much fun, too! It was blast! And a bunch of people were there, and my family and stuff. It was awesome.

Thanks to everyone who came! I had so much fun!

Mexico, bitches!

So today is my recital! I'm so excited! I hope it is really good. I warmed up for a little while today and realized that I am totally ready. The only thing I have to work on is the performance itself. Tonight at the very least will be a really great learning experience that I can take a lot away from. If anyone actually reads this (which I doubt), it's tonight at Goodson (the chapel) at 7pm. And Erin (my recital partner) is at 7:30. So come to both! It's going to be great!

So the title. Yeah, I'm going to Mexico. Over spring break! I woke up today and found out that I had been accepted to the Global Citizenship Project! It's a program that was started last year where the university sends out teams of students, staff, and faculty to places all over the world. All expenses paid. This year there were something like 300 applicants, of which 50 were chosen to participate. The different countries this year are Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, China, and the United Arab Emirates. I'm so excited to get to go to Mexico! It's not halfway across the world, but it's going to be such an important learning experience. I'm really excited to actually go abroad and study instead of having a vacation abroad. It's going to be awesome. I love to travel and learn about other cultures, and I didn't really care where I went, I just wanted to go! And now I get to!

Man, today is awesome!

Performance Forum!

So today was the strings performance forum where I the first and last movements of Mozart. It went all right. I was really nervous in the beginning (for most of the first movement), but once I got to the cadenza, I was just like "OK, let's do this shit." And the cadenza turned out great! Then the third movement was pretty good, too. I'm really glad I got to perform the concerto in front of lots of people (in a much more nerve-wracking environment ). So the recital is going to be like nothing.

Anyway, I'm off!


...oh, I'm starting weight watchers next weekend, I think.

sigh

I give up.

I woke up this morning with an awful pain in my chest and stomach. And I don't think it is because I am sick (even though I know I am allergies sick).

Anyway, the recital is Wednesday. Should be good.

Other than that... I don't know.

Motherfuckers

So today was the performance forum for Bach-Handel!

....Well, it was supposed to be.

I woke up extra early to take a shower and get dressed in all black and stuff, went to class at 9, went to practice at 10....

...and then Jenn called me. And came up to my practice room.

....to tell me the concert was cancelled!

They didn't tell ANYBODY. Not even the performers! I mean, what the fuck. If you aren't going to have a performance, at least have the decency of telling the performers. Or at LEAST posting a notice on the bulletin boards or sending a campus-wide email. I mean, COME THE FUCK ON! Either of those will take a whole 5 fuckin' minutes to accomplish. Assholes.

In other news, I think my recital should be all right.

And it was Smitty's birthday today. A special shout out to my SUBO brother and partner in crime/shocker.

Anyway, I'm out.

Monday....

So it has been quite the Monday. I'll break it down in an easy-to-follow list. Ahem:

1. 9am counterpoint only lasted 30 minutes (rock!)
2. my accompanist actually made it to my hour long lesson today (rock!)
3. I didn't have conducting (rock!)
4. I didn't go to precalc because it is a waste of my time (kind of rock!)
5. I had three lessons today (exhausting!)
6. I spend a good 3-4 hours in the SUBO today (rock!)
7. I haven't seen Stef yet today (sigh)
8. I'm kind of nervous about my performances over the next week (nervous!)
9. That's about it.

Now it's off to orchestra from 7-9 and home to do some outlinage and some other things....age. I don't know. I'm freakin' tired today. Maybe I'll try to hit the sack at like midnight tonight.

Finally!

Well, it has been something like 10 months since I last updated this shit, so I guess I should start way back.

Umm, scratch that. I can only really remember back to this summer. Nothing really important happened last semester, anyway.

So this past summer I had two jobs. I played in SSMT for two shows: Guys & Dolls and Beauty & the Beast. It was pretty fun, actually, since I wasn't stuck playing fuckin' viola. I played for KK and Dr. Albert (and Dave). I realized some interesting things this summer:

1. I really do have a lot of respect for KK and for Dr. Albert. I used to think Dr. Albert was a composer who thought he could conduct, but I really have come to realize that he IS a good musician and if you show that you care about things and he knows that you're a good student/musician, he'll help you in any way that he can.
2. I could easily play in a pit for the rest of my life if I had a steady gig.
3. I would like, however, to see the shows I play for once in a while.

I also (job #2) worked full time in the SUBO (Shenandoah University Box Office). It was really hard once Guys & Dolls started, because I was working from 9am-11pm with basically no breaks. I was irritable and tired most of the time, but I made a ton of money, so that was good. I also didn't have a whole lot of time to practice, but I did learn to keep my technique up to par while playing in orchestra. That was a nice feeling to have. I also did a lot of mental practicing on things, as to keep them fresh in my mind for when I was able to revisit them after SSMT.

So then summer was over and this school year started.

I signed up for 19 credits for the fall semester, but since most of my classes only meet 2 days a week, my schedule feels surprisingly light. Especially now that pit is over. I am almost always able to practice as much as I can, usually 4-5 hours a day, and still keep up with classes. Actually, right now, I have all A's except for Music History (surprise, surprise). Hopefully I can get all A's and a B, though. That would be awesome.

I also signed up to do my half recital this semester, a semester early. I wanted to do this because I wanted to get it out of the way so I could focus on working on things for my senior recital/grad school auditions. So, on Nov. 16, I will be playing the full Mozart Concerto No. 5 in A Major. Mozart is generally regarded as the most difficult composer for a violinist, and the A Major is usually considered his most difficult concerto. Not to toot my own horn, but it's fuckin' hard. And it doesn't SOUND that hard, which is the funny thing.

So I entered a competition in September (??) at school. It was an all Bach/Handel competition, so I played the first movement of the Bach G minor solo sonata for violin (obviously). And I won a runner-up spot! So this Wednesday, I get to play in a Performance Forum for the whole Conservatory. That's pretty sweet. I'm also playing in another Forum on the 14th, and then my recital on the 16th! That's three solo concerts in two weeks! Awesome!

And on the social front. This year has been really weird. It's something about my junior year that sparks, well, something. My junior year is always when I start getting more social and meet a lot of new people, and this year is no exception. I have a bunch of new friends, but I still find time to practice and do work and stuff. It's pretty sweet. Seriously, though, I have so many new friends it isn't even funny. I don't want to name them all for fear that I'd leave someone out (which I'm sure I would). Let's just say that I really appreciate all my friends, both new and old.

Stef and I have also been together for over two years now. I guess at the two year mark, one looks on their relationship more intensely, more along the lines of "OK, I've been with this person a long time, and what do I want to happen?" I think we're still kind of in that phase. That's not at all to say that we want to break up (which we ABSOLUTELY don't) or get engaged (which we ABSOLUTELY aren't ready for), but it's an interesting time. Stef also has some new friends, who are incidentally all freshmen. Not that there is a problem with that or anything, becuase there definitely isn't. I mean, shit, I was a freshman when we started dating, so wouldn't that be hypocritial of me! It's interesting because I don't dislike them, and I don't think they dislike me, but we are quite different. I mean, I can't see myself getting really close to them. At least, not anytime in the near future. Well, except Joe. I like him a lot (crazy Republican composer. HAH!) I don't know, I guess it's probably a good thing that we have different groups of friends that we can hang out with, but at the same time I can't help think that it kind of exacerbates the "two year" thing. Like it makes us think of us differently. If that makes any sense. Ah, well. I'm done being philosophical. Especially on the public realm of the internet.

Anyway, it's been a good year so far. Music-wise, I've made huge strides, and socially, I have a bunch of new friends who I think are cool.

....sometimes I just can't help think something is missing.


......I think I've just been in Winchester too long.