September 2005
September 26, 2005 21:03
I am reposting this hoping the new picture addition will work *crossing fingers* I have a Mac, hopefully...
On the program, it said for the first half of the concert he was going to play 2 unaccompanied Bach pieces, but on the stage there sat a piano. When Josh took the stage, he explained that he didn't think that he would have an accompanist, but now he did, so he would be playing other pieces "Nothing against Bach, or anything." He then said that the piano wasn't in the same spot that it was earlier and he and the pianist proceded to move the piano! That was pretty funny. He opened the concert with Praeludium and Allegro by Kreisler. He has such presence! He also moves a lot, but that helps him, I think, and it makes it more interesting to watch. He then played 2 Tchaikovsky pieces, Meditation and melody. He ended with a piece by Sarasate called Introduction and Tarantelle. That last piece before the intermission was amazing! After the intermission, the orchestra played one piece without a soloist and then Josh played the Mendelssohen concerto in full. That was just plain AWESOME! The way he commanded the orchestra was astounding in itself! When he wasn't playing, he would turn and look at the orchestra and sometimes even lean into the other sections! THAT would make me nervous if I were in the orchestra. The audience would not stop applauding. As an encore, Josh played an excerpt from "The Red Violin." That was also phenomenal! It started out slow and sad and then got really fast and technical. Oh, that was SO cool.
The icing on the cake was after the concert. I was waiting in line with my dad and I was talking to the 2 girls next to me. We were all so hyper that I find it hard to believe that we carried a decent conversation. I talked to Josh for a second (I was so excited, I forgot to mention your name, Knot :-o ) he signed my program and then I got my picture taken with him!!! He was so down to earth and funny! I don't know about you, but sometimes I expect really famous people to be stuck-up. He was not, which just added to the whole experience. I really want to be a famous violinist now. *sigh* That was so cool! *sigh* I will be on cloud nine for a week now, my reveries of this night will last a long time...
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Ach! Still second chair, that's not bad, but it ain't my potential either! Oh well...we have another playing test on Thursday. I'll have to practice REALLY hard so that I can't be denied...No Josh tickets! I am so depressed! His tickets sold-out in 2 hours! Well, what was I to expect..who would give up their tickets to see Josh Bell??? Have any of you ever seen him in concert?
I might be soloing the Weiniawski Romance with the orchestra. Things are still in the making, though, so I won't get my hopes up yet. I have another CC meet tomorrow. I am pretty nervous.
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Hello all! I have been positively ITCHING to blog since 10:00 this morning, but right after school I had cross country...and I left early from CC to go to Ottawa for violin and I didn't get home until 10:00 at night, so here are all the important events that have happened today in the order of which they occured:First off, David Barg is going to be our guest conductor for a week. CLINICIAN!!! I have been searching for that word all day and finally found it! Our orchestra was chosen to compete in some national teacher conference so he's coming to help us.
Also, I play in a quartet in Ottawa and sitting on the stand when I got there tonight was the 1st violin part for Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Now, I had played this last year in the for my school's orchestra in the first orchestra as a second violin...beautiful piece. The soloing quartet was some people from KU. Now I am performing this piece with 2 university orchestras...as part of the soloing quartet!!
I was talking to my dad (he is a professor at a university) when we were in Ottawa. He was like "You aren't going to believe who is playing at the university in about a week." I was like "Who?" JOSHUA BELL!!!!!!!!! All the tickets were sold-out, but we'll see what we can do. BWAHAHAHAHA!! I will be worrying all day tomorrow to know if I can get in. If I do get in, I'll be thinking about that 24/7, if I don't get in, I will be EXTREMELY depressed!
There was WAY too much excitement crammed into Tuesday September 20!
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Shifting octaves are so difficult! It's not going up one note at a time, that's not hard at all, but just having to shift from first to 6th position and hitting a perfect octave...THAT is hard. I've tried shifting each note seperately, but it has only gotten a little better. HELP! Any other effective ways to learn how to play perfect-pitch octaves?PS - My 1st cross country meet was today and I came in 6th out of 70 people!
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I took the survey Jessica Hung put on her blog and here are my results:Strengths
* Commitment (your personal investment)
* Ability to Risk Success (your fear of success)
* Intensity (the power of your concentration)
Mid-Range Scores
* Will to Succeed (your intent to succeed)
* Expectancy (your own expectations)
* Ability to Recover (your ability to bounce back after setbacks)
Areas for Improvement
* Ability to Risk Defeat (your fear of failure)
Courage
* Intrinsic Motivation (motivation from within)
Determination
* Ability to Energize (the ability to get your energy up)
Energy
Thank you, Jessica! I think that these results will help my violin play a lot.
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Hey all! Sorry 'bout my absance, isa been grounded, but it's over now : ) Anyways, we had playing tests last Thursday and got the results on Monday. I am second chair in the first violin section! Pretty good, a senior is in 1st chair. I knew all along that my teacher wouldn't kick a senior out of first chair. apparently we section leaders "tied," but that means we both got 100%, not that were the same talent wise...*grumble.* Also, I, along with Natasha, got a surprise while at my lesson, though not quite as shocking. So the story goes... I was playing the Mozart A major in my lesson and my teacher was like: "You don't mind if you play this for Brian's masterclass, do you?"
Me: "Ummm, what???"
Teach: "Your master class with Brian?"
M: "I don't recall..."
T: "Oh! I thought we talked about that! You have a master class with Brian in October."
M: "Cool!!! Alright, I'll play this!"
I got a master class with Brian Lewis, pro violinist! Sweet! Got a lot on plate right now, though. Still, I'll find a way to practice through my other struggles!
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I have been confused about my life lately. I have absolutely NO IDEA what I want. It's from big things like a job, to guys (do I dare venture into that realm yet?), to little things like "Do you want a glass of water?" Everything!!! I'm confused. Needless to say this hasn't helped my practicing. I haven't been very motivated to practice because of all the other stuff I'm doing. Here's a good quote:I feel like butter spread over too much bread. - Bilbo Baggins
*sigh* The joys of teenage life, although, I don't know how many teenagers listen to Bach at night in bed while contemplating life.
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More entries: October 2005 • August 2005
