so, we realized today, right after the first afternoon class of musical theatre that today was my last day playing for those classes...
Next week, I miss my afternoon classes because of the dress rehearsal for a choir concert... and then the next weekend... I will be moving away!
It's all happening so quickly. I found a substitute for next week, but I'm still waiting on the final word to make sure that I actually am taking that job.... with that, I also have to find subs for the remaining classes of the year for all my ballet classes. The afternoon shouldn't be a porblem,. Im sure hte lady doing it next week can do it for the rest of May too...but the morning classes... eep, that could be hard... we'll just have to see what might happen.
I need to make a list of the stuff that I need to get done before I leave... but I need to talk to the boss guy to find out details.
I need to know what kind of stuff I need to bring.... if it's a hotel/lodge... I might not need to bring my own towels and that sort of thing. I don't know what the food scenario is.. is there going to be a place to cook there... a place to buy food? I need to find out about computer/internet access... not just to post on my blog.. but I also do banking on here AND I am going to have to do my Registration online too... and if I'm stuck out there til Sept long, then I will need to make sure that it's available.
Lot's of things coming in the time before I leave though.. so it won't be a bland time....

So, I was a little anxious about today. Today was the day I was supposed to call the factory back and find out if they would be hiring summer students. I was expecting that they were just taking their time, and I would have to spend today calling people trying to make sure I CAN acquire work doing music in the summer so I'd have things to do after working at the factory for a month.
No worries though.... turns out that the factory won't be hiring summer students at all this year. They aren't planning a heavy workload, and they won't need extra people even with people taking summer vacations. In other words... I don't have an option... while I had hoped to have an alternative option to moving away for the summer, I don't.
Now I just await the specifics from the Lounge Piano job and hope that it is worthwhile... cause even if it isn't.. I might have to take it anyway, cause there's even less worthwhile, in terms of making money, here in Winnipeg.
I shouldn't be so negative, this job will be fun and involve music... I just didn't want to have to work the entire summer. I wan't some time off to make room for random fun... eeek... anyway, I will have to make sure to get in all sorts of random fun related trouble between now and when I leave.
Every summer I can remember since high school.. I've done something wild and crazy on the spur of the moment, or I made it as spontaneous as possible..... New York, Chicago, last years random bus trip... I'm a little frightened to be tied down to a workplace... especially involving every weekend....
Oh well... new experience... new opportunities for fun!

So yes, I'm offically finished, and it feels great!
I have to decide on who I want to study with next year for Composition. My current prof told me I should put some thought into who I want to study under... he wanted me to feel free to chose from any of the three options. I had been planning on just continuing with him, mostly because I don't know what to look for in a composition teacher. Today I'm going to talk with one of the other profs and see what I think.
I had a meeting yesterday with a a musician who has a prominent position in the Dance world. I had booked the meeting a month ago, as part of my plan to get to know more about my options for working as a musician in dance. He outlined what I would need to do if I wanted to be a rehearsal pianist for a ballet company, the list was something like this:
Tchaikowsky: learn all the major ballets, learn prokofieff'z Romeo and Julliet, find another pianist to work on Petrushka and Right of Spring with, have a handful of piano concertos which you'll be able to play at the drop of a hat, any ballet that you know the name of... you should learn... and your sightreading skills should be equal to your normal playing skills.
Keep in mind that Swan Lake alone is about 200 pages in the reduced piano score.
He told me that it would be at least a 2-3 year venture to get prepared for that, but when I did... it would be impressive to go to any company and say that you could provide them with those services.
I voiced to him that it wasn't that appealing to me. It's not that I don't want to put in that hard work... but we were able to distinguish that, while he loved being an interpreter, I desire to be a creator. He was a little frustrated at the vaguety with which I speak... mostly because I wasn't specific with what I want to do..
He tried to get me to narrow down what I desire: I want to collaborate with modern dancers in a creative manner.
his response was that it sounds like I'm interested in composition.
Why is it that we often need to hear someone else say something about us before we realise it for ourselves?!?
I think, I've realised that i want to be a composer. Being a pianist will always give me the sense of direct collaboration with dancers.. and a practical hand at music always, but I don't think I'd ever be satisfied with interpreting music. Even in a ballet class, I will choose to inprovise music over playing off a sheet, anytime.
For the longest time, I've felt that improvising is somethign that anyone can do, and it shouldn't be a special skill that i have, wondering why other people don't do it. I think now that I originally (when I was a little tyke) would improvise because I had a creative spark and needed to explore that. There is no doubt that it has been improvising which has led me to look into composition, so maybe I do have an inherent compositional disposition.
ANyway, the big reason why I was hesitant about the program at Simon Fraser is that I wasn't sure if I was ready to basically stop being a pianist(ie stop taking lessons as a focus), but I think that I will be.
The ballet, yesterday, lent me a giant book with all the contact info of every school, company, choreographer, musician and composer in Cda, Usa, Internationally.. who put an advertisement in this book... it's huge! I'm going to go through it and find some contatacts and start asking questions.
theres enough rambling for one day.... off we go

maybe writing my Advanced Analysis paper and my Piano rep paper so close together and at the last minute wasn't such a great idea.... my piano rep paper was basically a detailed harmonic analysis... with intermittent comments about pianistic style... Nevertheless, it came easily enough to me. I actually really enjoy doing analysis.
The moral of the story is that I just finished and printed my piano rep paper off... meaning that I simply have to take it to the school and then hand it in and then play my jury, and then I'M FINISHED!!!!
I practiced last night, and feel prepared enough for my jury.... although I'm still congested and not in prime condition, but you know what... I will play well, just in spite of that!
anyway, i still need to shower and find some clothes for my jury today, then bus to the school.... I also need to fill in my rep log... fun!

2 down, 2 to go!

I just got back from the school where I handed in both my Analysis Paper and my Viola composition. I feel fairly relieved, but I still have work to do.
Tomorrow, I need to have my Piano repertoire paper done, and I have my jury at noon. This means I have to have my paper finished and printed tonight.. as I don't have a car tomorrow with which to do my running around.
I'm still not really feeling any better, and my nose burns from being overblown.
I'm looking forward very much to tomorrow, when everything university-related for me is done!
Anyway, just one more night of staying at home and getting work done, then its....
I really want to say "Party time" but thats a lie.. tomorrow night, and during hte day I'm sleeping !!!!!!

Holy moly, do I ever feel like absolute crap. I'm absolutely miserable. I want to die.
I could have been happy to sleep all day today, but I had my usual long-ass day at the ballet. It was long, and we had a family photo taken in the middle. So actually, the day went well, but I haven't been enjoying it. I have the devil/angel shoulder thing happening, where I really want to just go to sleep, BUT I NEED to have the analysis paper done for Monday, and the Piano Rep one should be done then too, but I think I can push the limit on that one a little more.
It's so hard to concentrate with the congestion and pounding in my head, but I'm gonna force some productivity out of me tonight, and then go to bed nice and early.
-ouch

WHat a day:
I was supposed to have an interview 2 hours out of the city, but when I called to double check in the morning, the guy was running behind and wasn't gonna be able to make it out there himself, so we had the interview at my house.
This morning, I was feeling icky from a cold/allergies, whatever, so I took cough medicine... it tasted terrible.. but not normal terrible.. my stomach gurgled... and gurgled then I looked at the expiry date --Feb 2004-- eek! by this time my stomach had made it's mind up... BLURGHSGHKGIYUSKHD
Pukey!! luckily all I had in my system was the litre of water I had drank before that.
Once it was out of my system, it was fine.. im just congested and blaghy anyway.
Back to the interview--
He had me play some different kinds of music, and he was impressed by everything.
Basically I have the job. He guarunteed me full time hours (plus), and he doesn't seem to be picky about what I do when Im not playing the piano. The only thing that he cares about is that Im there for every weekend -especially long ones- until Sept long. This is understandable, as resorts have their busy times at those times.
This musical work would be a delightful mix. For Weekend brunches, he wants relaxed upscale music- my specialty! Theres also evenings.. he said he wants some more upbeat music for the lounge/tavern....
This sounds like a super fun job opportunity... and I should be more excited...
I'm just not excited about not really having a summer with friends and whatnot. I would be moving away from the middle of May until the beginning of school. Theres also concerns like making sure I have access to a computer so I can make bill payments and register for school and whatnot.
Im pretty sure I've decided to do it, but I'm waiting to hear back from him about wage specifics and some more details, because let's face it, I'm there primarily to make money.
So yes, I will be moving away for the summer, BUT it's only an hour and ahalf away... so EVERYONE has to come up there and visit me... just think, you can come drink in the lounge/tavern while I play beautiful or fun music... and then in the morning, you can soothe your hangover over brunch with tender piano music gently carressing your aching ears!
OK! it's decided, I'm excited now.
Other things about today:
I finished my Viola composition. I made the changes and details requested by Sarah and by my prof, so it's good to go! now I just need to get it bound and we're set!
On that topic, yesterday I had great lessons in both composition and piano. my comp teacher said I have a flare for composing, and David told me I'm in 'good shape' for my jury.
Still to get done this wekeend are my two papers. The one for Analysis is the primary concern, as it's due date is more solid AND it is a more academically demanding paper. This one has me a little worried, but no, it will be good. I've devised, what I think to be, an exciting form to the paper which is creative enough to spice up the fact that it is a musical-analysis paper.
here we go!

Am I wrong, or did the term "stoked" not go out of fashion quite a while ago...?
twice in the last few days, I've heard/read people I know using the term..
I've always clumped that word in with surfer talk... like 'tubular' and 'cowabunga'....
tee hee hee, now I'm having flashbacks of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Anyway, maybe it's just the fact that I don't use a lot of slang, and when I do, it's in a mocking fashion.....
However, there was a guy I met through one of my friends who actually did use ALL sorts of out-of-date talk. He used the word 'rad' like it was going out of style... only, IT DID GO OUT OF STYLE -in the early-mid 90's! Anyway, this guy was too much to handle, and I feel he was the wayward influence of one of my afforementioned friends.
NOW-back to the real-world.
Last night I was totally PMSing (def: Pissy Michael Syndrome). I think I'm better now, but oy was I ever pissy and flustered and grumpy. Nevertheless, I got a few things done on my list of goals:
I finished(ish*) my viola composition! The other composition has been printed and bound. Today I hand in the bound copy to Fitzell and I am officially done with that one! yay, thats a good feeling!
*this is my first draught, today I have my lesson with Fitzell, and he will give me suggestions and tell me the things I have to fix, then I will fix them, print it, get it bound, and be done with it!
I practiced a bit last night. During the day I had worked on increasing speed in the Scarlatti. I did make it to the tempo that David told me to play it at, but it feels a tad out of control. I know this will go away with playing it over and over again, but I would have liked it to be more secure for my lesson today. The Rachmaninoff--eep, I just don't know. I went over the tricky bits to make sure they were secure in the fingers, so thats fine. I practiced the loud parts a little understated, and with lots of direction so that they build in intensity to the climax-I'm just feeling a bit uninspired by the piece lately; mostly because of the way I played it at CMC. Oh well, today I play for David and he'll give me the magic list of things to do before my Jury, and all will be well(i choose to not mention the work I'm going to have to put in because I have so much other work to put in elsewhere, but all WILL be fine!)

I believe many people enjoyed yesterday's post about the pie-adventure.
I believe that there is enough interest to perhaps plan some sort of mass pieing event this summer... let me know what you all think.. and if you would be interested...!

Now on to today's events. I wrote my 20'th Century exam this morning. I feel that it went reasonably well, and I'm not worried about the outcome. I'm glad it's over so that I can move on to the other things I still have to do. At the same time, this exam marks a big event in the time at U of M Faculty of Music. This was the last course which the majority of people are required to take. Next year there are no more large classes that we will all have in common. Specialization and separation are kicked into motion hardcore. I think it's a good thing, and I'm excited to concentrate on the things that are more specific to me.
All in all, I enjoyed this course, the prof was really good, and presented the info in an excellent way, where you actually felt you were learning things along with the projected plan! And I leared so much about, and how to appreciate new music.

So yes, the current state of affairs is: 1 exam down; 2 papers, a composition, and a jury to go!

PIE PIE PIE!

It was last summer, the weather was great..
The grass was green and something was in the air...
....

it was pie!
This was a plan that Fi and I had for a long time, and that was the day to make it happen.
We went to the store and bought pie crusts and filled them with whipped cream, then got my dad and sister outside to capture the event on film.

we both wanted the event to be exciting, so we each posed for preparation pictures.

The pie fi was to have thrown at her was filled with both regular and chocolate whipped cream, mine was just regular.





Then it was time for the excitement.

This stellar picture was taken as the perfect action shot!

You can see our excitment!

And then.....

the aftermath.....



As you can see, it was a delighful experience!
We were both well pied. As you can tell, Fiona's hair really enjoyed the pie.
Things we leared from this experience:
Whipped cream kind of stings if you get it in the eye.
Nevertheless, Pieing is FUN!
Whipped cream really kills the grass that it lands upon: for the rest of the summer, the grass in that spot was dead! I think it's better this year.. but only until we do our next pie-extraveganza!
Even a little grass in your pie won't hurt!

Yes, we did sit there for a while eating pie off the front yard... then we sprayed each other with the hose to slightly clean off..... not very effective....

In conclusion, this was a wonderful experience, and I highly recommend it to all!

Ich habe eine Haircut!

ma tante vient de me couper les cheveux.
She cut it in the back yard so we wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up or vacuuming or anything.
it's not too short, but a nice length for the summer.
IM SORRY TIFFF!!!!!
but I have a feeling that you were more concerned about me GETTING my hair cut ,rather than the opportunity to cut it...
although I'll probably want another haircut during the summer when it gets long again... and I'll track you down! Yer still my funnest hairstylist when you got all pro and had hair things hanging from every part of you.
I had a second shower today, just now so I wouldn't be too itchy. Now, I'm uber clean!

I didn't get enough shit done today.... but my papers aren't due til later than I had thought. I practiced a wee little bit today.. maybe half an hour.
However, i did get my remaining cd's from Jonny so I can actually study for the exam on tuesday. YAY!

Easter weekend is over for my family already. This evening we ate Easter dindin... it was very good... we had ham, not dindon....
This has been a kick-ass weekend with Heather and Gareth in town. I don't get to spend enough time with them, so it's fun while we have the chance.
The weekend included: the zoo, gelati, a movie, drinking.... ya, the weather was also beyond awesome.
They leave tomorrow, back to Thompson.
we also had a birthday dinner for my dead grandmother, she paid... yesterday. Grandma's birthday was always the time of year that my aunt Linda would come in town.. so why let a tradition die, Linda came in this week, and Heather and Gareth being here was a perfect opportunity for a family-fun filled weekend. Grandma's tax return brought a close to her financial existence, which outlived her by quite a bit! The last of her monies were spread between her children, some charities, her church, and then one final birthday dinner.
It's been good weekend so far, but yes, not very productive... I've been very easily distracted from my studies and assignments.
BUT I've been making good progress on my viola composition AND I got Sarah to play it for me, to make sure that it's a plausible piece. There were no technical impossibilities, and she was glad that it was "playable", in contrast to a lot of modern music that is awkward to play on... well really any instrument. I was very glad to hear it, and I have written a fair bit more since then, so yay!
umm tonight I went to the opera! Marriage of Figaro. It was wonderful, but oh so long! 3 and a half hours! I was also tired, so interest was not at an all time high, but I didn't fall asleep AND I was able to clearly understand the actions and story the entire time! I'm too sleepy to give a review at the moment, but overall it was a successful performance. Nothing was really spectacular, but everything was acceptable and enjoyable.

I think I really enjoy modern dance.
I've had really good experiences these last 2 days accompanying modern classes.
If I am going to have continued experiences in dance, it will be in the modern vein.

I slept last night, almost 8 hours. I feel good. Last night I felt bad... I had only slept 3 and a bit hours, then there was a long day with stress and some not-so-happy feelings. I felt like I was going to die. Yesterday morning, I just thought I was coming down with some kind of sickness... then I woke up this morning and realized that it was just pure unbridled exhaustion. It's insane how much effect it can have on you to simply not have slept enough.

Today, after dance class, I took back a bunch of books to the library and went for lunch with Deena. It's been a good day.
My aunt comes in town today, for a week long stay. Tomorrow Heather and Gareth are in for the weekend.... 6 people in the house.... eek!

Well, I'm consistent.
I got an 82 in both round of CMC. The thing is that while it's good enough to get to the second round, its not sufficiently good to go any further.
The comments from the same judges as last time seemed like it was from completely different judges... but thats because I probably sounded like a completely different pianist today. Everything that all 3 judges said leads me to believe that I didn't listen to myself at all today. I played very heavy, therefore Mozart was uncharacteristic and Rachmaninoff sounded blasty and insensitive.
It's odd that I felt terrible about Sunday, and they liked it; today I felt a lot better about it, but they didn't like it. I need to be more in touch with my own musicality. While you should be able to lose yourself in a performance, you should be able to look back on it objectively... something I've lost sight of.
Anyway, I've actually learned a ton from this experience, and their comments are extremely well put and helpful, I just wish they reflected on my normal playing, but that's my fault for not playing that way today.
The true excitment of today is that, having finished with this weekend, I can say goodbye permanantly to:
Mozart Sonata K.331
Brahms Intermezzo(and Cappriccio)
Scriabin Op. 49
Bach Prelude and Fugue in G Major
PDQ was already gone, but added to the list is Rubinstein, which I won't have to relearn this summer.
In fact, in 2 weeks time, I will be completely done with all of this years rep and ready to start on next years!
However, still on the waiting list for this year is my Jury of 10 minutes of music(Rach and Scarlatti), a paper on Brahms, a paper on Kindertotenlieder, and a viola composition, plus the actual process of printing and binding my compositions. I just called the university copy centre and I should be able to get them done for cheap there.

Well, I'm consistent.
I got an 82 in both round of CMC. The thing is that while it's good enough to get to the second round, its not sufficiently good to go any further.
The comments from the same judges as last time seemed like it was from completely different judges... but thats because I probably sounded like a completely different pianist today. Everything that all 3 judges said leads me to believe that I didn't listen to myself at all today. I played very heavy, therefore Mozart was uncharacteristic and Rachmaninoff sounded blasty and insensitive.
It's odd that I felt terrible about Sunday, and they liked it; today I felt a lot better about it, but they didn't like it. I need to be more in touch with my own musicality. While you should be able to lose yourself in a performance, you should be able to look back on it objectively... something I've lost sight of.
Anyway, I've actually learned a ton from this experience, and their comments are extremely well put and helpful, I just wish they reflected on my normal playing, but that's my fault for not playing that way today.
The true excitment of today is that, having finished with this weekend, I can say goodbye permanantly to:
Mozart Sonata K.331
Brahms Intermezzo(and Cappriccio)
Scriabin Op. 49
Bach Prelude and Fugue in G Major
PDQ was already gone, but added to the list is Rubinstein, which I won't have to relearn this summer.
In fact, in 2 weeks time, I will be completely done with all of this years rep and ready to start on next years!
However, still on the waiting list for this year is my Jury of 10 minutes of music(Rach and Scarlatti), a paper on Brahms, a paper on Kindertotenlieder, and a viola composition, plus the actual process of printing and binding my compositions. I just called the university copy centre and I should be able to get them done for cheap there.

I did not sleep well last night at all. 3:30-7am is not nearly long enough.... BUT, I couldn't handle any more time in bed anyway. My jaw tension was at an all time high, I can feel it down into my chest and back. I know I could feel much better if I just took one of my muscle relaxant pills, but here's the thing(s):
I recently finally read up on them, and it seems that prolonged use of methocarbamol can cause the following:
-inaccurate blood testing results in diabetics
-breathing difficulties and respiratory problems related to bronchitis and whatnot
In other words... I haven't been sick with bronchitis for months and months.. my body has just been telling me to stop taking this drug. Well, it's a theory; side effects are always possibilities, but I stopped taking them just incase.
I'm trying to decide to what degree I am addicted to them, but I don't think it's high, if even at all.

On a brighter note, today is the second round of CMC. I fell pretty good about it. I practiced last night and almost went home not feeling confident about certain sections in the Mozart. I ended up reconsidering, and then staying just under an hour longer, but during that time, I kicked those sections' asses! Unfortunately, its the hard parts that have never really been perfect, so I'm not sure if one night of hard work will magincally fix everything. It's the kind of thing where I should have been working with that kind of intensity everyday, day after day until the section felt completely comfortable, dare I say, played itself.
I had worked on the Rachmaninoff earlier in the evening, only technical stuff, so I was unsure if everything would stick in the memory... It was SO good. Im super glad it's my closer...either one could have been closer:
The Mozart Turkish Rondo- energetic and flashy close...but it's not feeling all that secure
Rach- not flashy at all, but it has a tremendous power in the mood and colours, It will have the audience eating out of the palm of my hands, but they won't be holding food obviously, I'll be playing piano, silly!
Now, I'm off to work... subbing for some dance classes today. My first experience playing for a modern class setting.. and its for the senior professional program.. so it's a bit of a big thing. Nevertheless, I feel good about it, and I will learn so much, just in this first hour!
toodles!

just a quick update

yesterday was the first round of CMC. I actually got really nervous before I played..... this never happens! As a result I didn't play my best. During the Bach, it seriously felt like every 15 seconds I felt like I was going to completely crash and burn. As a result, my rhythm was not steady at all.. and I tensed up. Their comments both reflected the rhythmic instability and lack of varied texture...things that I had worked really hard on getting right! BAH! I really don't feel good about the performance, but as I had said earlier... I got whatever I needed to get on to the next round.. so now I just have to work hard to get past the next.
Nevertheless, I got a high enough mark to go through to the next round, so on tuesday I compete again.
The judges' comments were great, and I got a chance to talk to them afterwards. They told me that I was an excellent musician, and commented on how they enjoyed being able to just sit back and enjoy the musical ideas I was presenting.
I'd like to say that today would be devoted to practicing for it.. but I also need to get work done on my composition, and my papers. But tonight, I'm going to the school and I'm going to practice these pieces until they are perfect!ish.
Outside of that, I managed to pick up a few extra shifts this week subsitituting for dance classes, so yay money!
Some spring cleaning has been forced upon me, though not very successfully. I got a new (very old) bookcase which now houses all my paperback books...it was crazy to realize how many books were lying on the floor.. and just how many books I have in general.
oh well, back to the books and the keys

great lesson today. I played the pieces for my second round of CMC and David was quite happy. The Rachmaninoff was not so comfortable in the memory, so I'll keep working on that... but David was most impressed with the Sonata.
I was early in thinking a month ago that I could be done with some rep... but after tuesday, I will be officially done with these pieces... except for the Rach for Jury.
Tonight I played on the piano they are using for the competition. It's not an ideal situation. The sound is hard to manage... the piano gets really mushy in such a live accoustic. The church is oddly shaped and the sound at the keyboard sounds nothing like the sound in the audience. It was good though to have some other pianists in the audience for the sound checks, and the lady running it gave some good pointers. She told me I seem to have a good handle on the piano, so thats good enough for me.
Tonight I did a little little bit of practicing, then watched a movie with Deena.
good night

delightful day

i finished that musical theatre recording last night-dropped it off for her today and got paid 25$. I also got paid 25$ from a singer for festival accompanying. I ALSO got my GST cheque... so I'm rolling in something.... mmm dough... mmm cookie batter!
speaking of that musical theatre piece... the music was totally lifted from a Grieg Norwegian Dance for piano, 4-hands.... Eleanor and Kim played it in recital the other day..... and the music I was given doesn't make mention of it... maybe I could cause a copyright scandal... meh, not really worth the effort. Just another example of how musical theatre ruins music in general.
Tonight I have to kick my own ass and make all my repertoire shiny and well prepared for this weekend... I have my lesson tomorrow and I have a feeling David will not be happy with my level of preparedness. This is not a good feeling, and it really doesn't reflect well upon me. The conceptual plan was that I was going to keep the momentum of the recital going, and apply the dedication I showed to everything I do. It appears I have failed at that task. Nevertheless, it is not too late. I have been known to do great things in a short period of time... and I shall do so tonight. I know that David won't be happy for tomorrow's lesson, but tonight I will have started the ascent to the high level of kick-ass that I will have reached by this weekend.
Before practicing though, I have plans to go to Value Village for fun times. I want to buy overalls...and I think they have gone out of fashion, therefore there is a chance that I might find some there. I also need to buy some t-shirts for summer!
SPeaking of summer.. the weather is amazing... perfect weather right now. Not too warm, but warm enough that you can wear just a long sleave shirt or sweater and be comfortable without a jacket! I thrive in this weather!
On the summer work front... I still haven't heard back from the factory job... so I'm a little worried, but I'm getting creative about things to do for work if I can't... I'll still look for a full time job... but the contemporary dance school is still running for a few months... I might get work there... I could add on a part time evening job... also I might get a job as a lounge pianist.
It would be exciting if I could work all music related jobs.. although I am aware that it would be hardest just to find the job opportunities.
ANyway, off to do things!! new (used) clothes and practicing galore await!

Ich bin so stupid!

I had such great plans of getting that recording done this evening after jonny's recital..but alas no.
I left the laptop at home, so I had no means of making a quality recording!
I did practice the piece some more, so it will be that much more secure tomorrow night when I try again. And I practiced the Beethoven... I started with a few key areas that I know are tricky... but I played it through planning to stop when I had flubs.... even just little ones..... I barely had to stop!! It felt so good to know that I can make it through the whole pieces with minimal problems...
Tomorrow is going to go well! Then there will be another thing completely finished for the year.. bringing the total to 2; cantata, and chamber music... ooh all done with ensembles.
Jonny's recital was great... and with a grrrreat closer... hopefully we have set the trend for others to follow. I think its a great thing to have a nice professional and serious recital with a quirky finish that really highlights the performers love for music and the enjoyment they get and give with a performance.

I'm sitting here thinking about how insane it would be to have a recital still looming over me at present. Granted, I picked a stupid time to do it, but any later would have been silly.
Tonight I'm going to my friend Jonny's recital. After that, I need to record an accompaniment for a musical theatre song. The piece isn't difficult, but since the recording is going to be used in public for a dance festival, I am aiming for perfection as the starting point. I just hope it won't take me a million takes due to little mistakes randomly here and there. The other top priority for practicing tonight is my Beethoven Piano Quartet, which we perform tomorrow. I really enjoy playing with string players! In terms of preparation, I need to really drill the technical bits that are a little tricky so that they will go smoothly tomorrow.
Also tomorrow is Jason and my presentation on Arvo Pärt. We both feel pretty confident that it will go well. It's going to be very off-the-cuff, but we know the broad topics we will cover and each of us has the responsability of talking in detail about certain aspects. Anyway, I won't spend too much time here on that subject because I feel well informed and prepared to teach the areas on which I will focus tomorrow, which are:
-playing a piano piece as an example of his early tintinnabuli style
-leading/accompanying a class singalong using the tintinnabuli technique
-presenting a walkthrough of the formal analysis of Pärt's Magnificat
I think I won't worry about other things until after I have presented and performed tomorrow.
Once these things are done, next on the list is the CMC on April 9 and 11th. Pieces needed to be ready and in good shape are: Scriabin etude, Bach, and Brahms Intermezzo; then Mozart complete sonata and Rachmaninoff. Of these, I need the most work on Rachmaninoff, then mozart, then tidying on Bach, and the other two just need to be rebuffed.
I need black ink for my printer so I can print my now premiered* piece and get it bound for submission to my prof.
* The performance on monday was great! I got such positive feedback from both the performers and members of the audience. The performance was true to what I intended, so I know that what people thought of the piece was actually a reflection of my work. I talked with my comp prof and he had good things to say, as well as some suggestions as a discussion about what I can learn from the situation and apply to the future.
I think the big thing is that the piece was very tonal, and comfortable for the composer, the performers and the audience. Not to say that it shouldn't, but I need to step out of my comfort box and do things that aren't necesarily just due to habit. This is the big task for my viola piece. I have a gesture/main concept which I am both supposed to hold on to steadfast, but also branch out from. This will give the piece a kind of unity, yet also have variety and tension. It will be a very interesting experience, this viola piece.. but yes, exciting.

I spent about fifteen minutes on a couch tonight very angry at my phone because I couldn't figure out how to use the voice dialing thing.... I was under the impression that you had to record a voice tag for the phone numbers and that was what the phone could relate the voice to. I finally figure out that no... it jut recognises the language/// super smart technology.
But I shan't rave about the smart tech stuff.. it got me in trouble.... When it asked for a name.. I yelled "whore" into the phone and the first name on the list of possible matches was Deena.. I thought it was hilarious.. she was less impressed. My friend Amy from school came in second...
It's not my fault that this technology is so smart.... haha jk.
Anyway, it's very late, in fact it is one hour later than I wish because of daylight savings and whatnot. Tomorrow is a busy day with choirs and choirs and more choirs.... from 2:30-9:30 my day will be overrun by choir type things.
good night.

Today was pretty darned awesome... Spring Break means no ballet, meaning I didn't have to work or wake up for work.
Last night was the quasi practice-a-thon... cause it got cancelled, but Dianne, Brendan, Deena and I were there at the school all night. We actually didn't practice, rather watched dvd's. It was fun, but a bit of a waste. Getting home from knitting with Fi at 1am, I would have done some composing, or gone to sleep had I known that there wasn't actually going to be any practicing.
Nevertheless, there were pancakes this morning. Banana Chocolate Chip... yummy! That made it all worthwhile.
Tonight I'm going to a BBQ for a friend I haven't seen in a long time. After that, who knows. If my parents are out, I will practice at home, if not, I might go to the school, or who knows.
Today I practiced My Beethoven Quartet, and I feel good about it again.. still more tweaking to do, but it will be great for wednesday. I also worked a bit on the Pärt piece for 20'th century.. it's short and easy notes, but i just played it over and over again to get the feel of it. It's starting to make sense to me, so I can make the phrases mean something to the listener. I still want to do lots of work on Mozart this weekend, and I should be working on Rach, and Bach, and Brahms, oh and that Scriabin etude... sure.
Oh ya, I have a cell phone, now Im all technological! It's a necessity, and I don't know how I feel about it quite yet. At the moment, it's seeming too much like a toy.
anyway, bye