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An Update for You!

March 22, 2007 at 6:33 PM

Hello everyone! Well, I now know what was causing the pain. I have what basically comes down to tendonitis. I'm still playing and treating it with great care. With any luck the pain will be gone in 3 months, if it's not then it's more serious than we thought. I've been having some treatments with a physical therapist and they gave me some exercises to do.

Well, as far as violin goes, on May 11th I'm planning on auditioning for concertmaster. I have to play excperts from Tchaik's 5th Symphony, sight-read and play 2 prepared pieces. I have a lot of work to do. This audition will also determine whether or not I can have my Jr. Recital. I'm pretty sure they will let me, I really want this. So I have to practice a lot, even with this tendonitis, but as long as I take care of it I should be fine. I'm thinking of playing Kodaly's Adagio for Violin and Piano, and some solo Bach or perhaps Bruch g-minor Concerto 1st mvt. Time and talking with Virginia will determine what I play. I would like to play memorized for the solo stuff, it would look better and I haven't performed from memory for a while. I tend to play better from memory anyway.

I don't know if I ever mentioned this but I purchased a new bow that is a perfect match for my violin. It sounds so good and it's sounds stupendous in the recital hall. I love it. The only bad thing is that it's not quite as lively as my old bow but that's ok, it's heavier and stiffer. I really like it though, the extra weight of the bow keeps me from overplaying. I still miss Vienna a little. In February Julia Fischer was going to be playing the Bruch g-minor Concerto, so I would have LOVED to hear that but we left on January 28, so I missed that concert by 2 weeks or so.

I'm glad your pain was caused by something no more serious than tendonitis. I know that tendonitis can be painful and that if you don't treat it gently it will get worse. Take good care of yourself, and good luck on your audition.