January 2010

The Power of Music

January 7, 2010 19:05

I'll let the video do most of the talking. This is part of why I believe classical music is still so relevant in today's culture.

I believe this quartet is playing at a mental hospital in Paris:

"Sortir la musique classique des salles de concerts feutrées, la faire venir là où elle n'est généralement pas entendue, tel est le parti pris de Fugues. Pour ce premier épisode, rencontre entre le célèbre hôpital psychiatrique Saint Anne, à proximité de Paris et Beethoven, dans une de ses dernières compositions, la Grande Fugue, ici interprétée par le Quatuor Diotima, écrite à la frontière entre la folie et la mort."

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What I expect from myself

January 2, 2010 18:40

I have only been playing the violin for seven years, since this past September 11th. (I'll never forget the day I started EVER!) I have my first college audition on the sixteenth of this month, and yes, that's 14, count-'em, 14 days!

I've been working on my concerto, Mozart #3 since May 2009. I know that I have made lots of improvement from where it's been over the past eight months. I'd say that right now, I could play it in front of people and not be too ashamed (kidding!) When it's good, it's good, when it's decent it's decent, and when it's bad... well you get the idea. Even when it's good it can be inconsistent from take to take. In my auditions, I only have one shot to get it right, or as close to right as I can be. This first audition is at a conservatory within a university, and it's pretty prestigious.

I know one of the first things a teacher looks for beyond basic violinistic things is potential. A potential teacher said that she thinks I have a lot of it. I also know that a lot of my fellow auditionees (a.k.a competition, friendly of course) have been playing much longer than I have and are probably playing things along the lines of Mendelssohn, Bruch, etc, etc. I'm not so much concerned with what they're playing, as I believe I'm playing repertoire that shows where I am and where I need to go musically and technically. I know that I will not be the next Milstein or Hahn or Perlman, and I am totally OK with that.

But, I expect my audition to be 100% perfect. What's wrong with that, you may ask? Every time I mess up on a certain thing in practicing, I play it again to get it right, which disrupts my plan to play through my piece without stopping. Like I said, when it's good it's good, but I just can't seem to keep it good all the time, which has me a little worried.

It's weird because my situation demands that you just show who you are and what you can do to the best of your ability, but in my twisted head, I think that teachers will only accept students who don't mess up and are 1000% perfect and are the next big thing. It's so bizarre how I know what they want but I still think I'm not good enough to show them my potential. Even though I've been told that I have it!

I'm not sure where this disconnect has come from, anybody want to share their college audition experiences?

P.S.

I also seem to want to compare myself to the top soloists I've seen or heard play Mozart 3. I think to myself "why can't I play it like them?" Which, probably also does not help things, at all.

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More entries: December 2009

January 2010

The Power of Music

What I expect from myself

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