May 13, 2005 at 5:17 PM

Today's the day. I write my RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto) grade 5 music history exam. It's been a big course to learn in a very short amount of time but overall I think, I hope, I'm well enough prepared. I guess we'll find out this afternoon when I get to the exam and write it if I'm as ready as I think I am. It will be nice to finally have completed the history component for the ARCT diploma. I still have a couple of harmony exams left to do but I find those easier to prepare for in that you aren't memorising dates and forms and terms hoping you'll get the ones asked on the exam but you are using compositional techniques. Yes, half the rules, well all of them almost, are now broken today but at least it's just a series of rules and knowing the exceptions, kind of like a math question. I can also more readily apply it to my composing and to anaylising of repertoire - Ancient Voices of the Children, while a great piece, does not give me any tools in which to anaylise a piece of by Bach.

Teaching is always a challenge! How do you keep a four year old focused and interested for a half hour? How do you encourage a child who really wants to play, but is frustrated because he or she doesn't sound like a symphony orchestra the first time they pick up a violin? Oh well! All these obstacles to be overcome in the process of teaching a child are well worth the outcome when you see the excitement when they've mastered a piece or get to do something new!

I'm really excited right now! In a couple of weeks one of my string orchestra pieces is going to be premiered by a youth orchestra out of town. I don't know, yet, if I'll be able to make it to one of the performances but I'm excited to be having a piece I wrote performed. I know how the piece sounds overall because of how I heard it in my head and then a quartet I play with ocassionaly also played it for me so I could make sure there weren't any blatent problems with the work before I sent it off to the youth orchestra that is performing the work. I hope that the people who hear it enjoy it and that the orchestra has enjoyed learning the work.

The summer is fast approaching! I can hardly believe it's the middle of May. In two months I'll be gone for camp. It's all coming up so fast! What to play for placement auditions? What to pack? How to pack for that matter? I'm really looking forward to going out east again though. I'll be spending at least a few days in Quebec city and I'm really looking forward to that. I've never been to Quebec city before and the architecture and scenery there is supposed to be (and if the pictures are any inclination!) really amazing. I'm kind of anxious about going too, having never gone to something so big and being there alone with my family being a 7 hour airplane flight away. So a summer of new challenges and experiences!

One thing that's really interesting, to me, about Domaine Forget, will be the Alexander Technique workshop (Thanks, Buri for the book recomendation!). It's something I've read about and always have been really interested in so to go and experience it hands on with an instructor who is also a violinist should be really interesting.

I have to run!

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May 13, 2005 at 5:17 PM

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