June 2009

The Bad and then the Extremely Good

June 21, 2009 08:14

When one auditions at a grad school, no one suspects the violin teacher they wished to study with will decide to leave the school. However, that is not the case with me. After 15 years at USD, the violin teacher is leaving. Shockingly, I'm not as worried as I might be but the worry is beginning to creep up on me. What am I going to get for a violin teacher? He only recently announced his official dicision to leave and the announcment of his open poisition was only recenty put up on on the USD website. Thus, I'm stuck. I don't want to end up with a bad teacher and one that is not completely qualified. On the other hand, I could end up with a fantastic teacher. I'm trying to keep my mind on the positive but it's just difficult. So, I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Just last night I returned from a vacation in San Francisco, Monterey and PIsmo Beach. While in San Francisco I got to hear the San Francisco Symphony with a program featuring the Berg Violin Concerto and Schuberts 6th Mass. Gil Shaham was the soloist for the concerto and I counldn't have been happier with my first live performance of the concerto. His ability to phrase was astounding and his dynamics were extremely diverse. He made a concerto that isn't easy to make beautiful, completely beautiful. I also realized taht importance of the bow during his performance, most of the beauty came from what he could do with his bow, not with what he could with vibrato. His performance gave me a lot to think about and of course the symphony was absolutely fantastic. After the concert, I met with the soloist briefly and found him to be a very nice, talkative and personable. I took a picture with him and will hopefully post it at a later date.

Have a pleasant day!

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June 2009

The Bad and then the Extremely Good

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