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June 16, 2004 at 12:45 PM

Went for my exam on monday. Went reasonably well, a few mistakes but everyone gets them. The rehearsal afterwards was better.
We had a rehearsal in the main auditorium at uni to run through the pieces for our performances on SUnday. Myself and three other students of my teacher are performing in the AUSTA (Australian String Teachers Association) Festival on Sunday. It's a non-competitive festival allowing students to get experience and feedback in performing. I'll be performing the first Fantasy in Bb by Telemann, first and second movements.

I'm looking forward to it, because on Monday I was sounding good in the auditorium, and I've now memorised both movements. This will be the first time I'll have performed the second movement from memory.

As Always, I feel quietly confident. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. It is good to feel confident, but you don't want to be cocky. Also Nerves are what make a live performance excellent. Hence I prefer to listen to live recordings of pieces rather than studio versions. You get the tiny mistakes, showing what a violin really sounds like (of course, these are less noticeable in the masters).

I'll be posting details up on my website (link below), and if there are any posters in Perth I'd love to meet you, as well as hear how you thought I played.

Till Next time

Ben Clapton

Ben Clapton, Violinist and Composer"