May 2007

the evening blurb

May 27, 2007 23:45

I was killing some time around downtown the other day which for me always involves a stop into the local used bookstore. There are books piled high to the ceilings, you have to suck your stomach in to get down some of the isles and there are more books on the floor. I'd hate to think of the consequences if you sneezed too hard.....
This bookstore is one of my favorite places to go when I have some time to browse. They have a pretty decent music section too! When I was in the other day I picked up a brand new copy of a Vivaldi two violin concerto and Bach's concerto for oboe and violin as well I also found some Bach piano music in brand new condition, all for under 12 dollars! The biggest highlight though was finding an Orwell book I've been looking for for almost 2 years now! "Down and Out in Paris". I was super excited and am already on chapter 8!

This has been the year of graduation ceremonies. First, my brother's then last week my sister's and then last Friday I had my convocation ceremony. I finished school last year and did the "major" things like prom and what not but could not do convocation because I did not submit my credits in order to allow me to make a math course first semester last year. So now, I have officially graduated. It was a little strange since I really didn't know very many people there. I was the last of over 300 people to get my diploma. It was a LONG evening. It's nice to be officially done and have all the necessary paperwork stuff done for school for this fall. The only thing left to do is to register for my courses on June 14th!

Orchestra, chamber choir, chamber strings, chamber music, musicianship, music theory, music history, my private lessons, English - thank goodness I don't have to take class piano! I'm very excited for the fall! I just hope I can keep up with the playing demands.

For anyone who knows me well and has ever browsed at my movie collection, they know that I am a Tim Burton and Johnny Depp fan. Today I got to go and see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. What fun! Ok, so it's probably not as good as the first or second one but I still enjoyed it a lot! There was literally no (or very little) plot and the "plot" to me was a surprise based upon the trailers and what I had read prior to going. It was a grand few hours to spend at the theatre though!

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i have a smile on my face

May 22, 2007 11:19

Coming to town today on the bus I noticed for the um-teenth time this year a short, stout man and his walker winding his way down the steep hill into town. In the winter I always had these visions in my mind of him slipping and falling and hurting himself. He's out there, full throttle, enjoying the outdoors! Rain, snow or sunshine. As the weather has increasingly become nicer I have begun to realise that my wish of seeing him stay indoors and not fall and get hurt is a dumb (for lack of a better word) one. He is out there, loving his mobility and just enjoying life to the fullest! He'd probably be far happier if he fell and hurt himself when he was out on one his power walks with his walker than if he stayed inside and didn't injure himself. Seeing him again today, with the sun out, me feeling tired and crabby for a bunch of reasons reminded me of how thankful I should be. This guy has enthusiasm and energy to get out there and so why shouldn't I? That's my random tidbit for the day. Seeing him out there again today made me smile. :)

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May 11, 2007 22:09

It's funny how people prioritize their committments at this time of year. Sports suddenly take precedence over music lessons and year end recitals, kids get bored or annoyed that they have to be in a lesson when the sun is shining outside and start to come more infrequently for lessons. Getting kids to practice becomes more like pulling teeth than it ever did. What is it that spring does to a person? I passed one of my student's parents in the street the other day when I was out for a walk with a friend. We said hello and she said, "it's good to see you get outside once in awhile!" I know she meant it in the nicest way possible and they are a really nice family and I enjoy teaching their daughter a great deal but it got me thinking. Do my students and their parents think I do nothing aside from sit inside my studio all day, practicing or teaching? I do love practicing and I do love teaching but I also love getting out and taking pictures, going for coffee with friends, hiking etc. Is it really a common missperception that most musicians spend their lives in a room, locked away practicing?

Yesterday was fun though I'm now super tired. I stayed over in town - was up until around 12:30am and got up at 6:30 to catch my ride home. After being home for a couple of hours I connected with a friend who currently lives back east in Kingston and she was in town so I caught the 1o'clock bus and we spent the next 5 hours wandering around downtown Penticton, taking pictures, sun bathing on the warf, eating sushi and visiting our old school. We went and stopped in to visit our old English AP teacher whom I had for two English classes and a history class. After all that wandering and walking about I was tired yesterday and then today I had physio again which lasted nearly 3 hours today, but the progress is encouraging.

I'm really happy to be able to get excited about moving to Vancouver finally. I've been enjoying looking at the concert line-up for the year and seeing what all is happening. I really want to go and see Angela Hewitt play the complete Bach Prelude's and Fugues but it's going to be dependent on if I get my timetable as I have so chosen. I'm really hoping that most people aren't going to go for the 9am class time and that the early orchestra doesn't fill up before I get to sign up for it. I'm thinking I want to do contemporary players for something interesting and refreshing and also probably frustrating! New music interests me so much and I really love learning it and putting it together with other players. The process is always unique and never ordinary as far as rehearsals I've done for more standard repertoire is concerned. So wish me luck with that! I have to audition with a contemporary piece for that ensemble and it rehearses 4 days a week. I've dug out Robinovitch's Adieu Babylon as a strong possbility but am also not ruling out works like the Eckhardt-Gramatte or Kulesha caprices.

Back to the concerts thing, some noted violin players coming to play in Vancouver this year that I can see for a modest 10 dollars is James Ehnes playing the entire set of Mozart Concerto's, Anne Sophie Mutter playing the Beethoven Concerto, Scott St. John playing the Brahms violin concerto and so many more. It's good to be a music student!! hehe I'm really hoping that the Gryphon Trio also comes out west this season and performs their production of Christos Hatzis' "Constantinople". That would be a huge highlight for sure!

I'm literally starting to hit the keys with my head or nose...or....I'm falling asleep. I'm going to bed!!

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May 6, 2007 13:51

Finally my hand is gradually getting better! I can play a bit (10 minutes at once, sometimes more if I'm really careful) without making my hand flare up. Physio is helping a lot. I've gotten over my fear, sort of, of needles too, as I'm having acupuncture to aid in the healing process when I go for physio. I can do an hour of playing in a day now if carefully spaced out. I'm sort of tormenting myself too when I practice. I've picked a Dont study to work on that's supposed to be very fast. It has lots of string crossings and shifts in it. I've got the metronome set to around 50 and play one note for each tick, making sure (or trying to at least!) that my hands are both very relaxed in order to not upset the healing process. In addition I'm focusing on the clarity of sound, where my bow is (straight! hopefully!) and the smoothness of my shifts and exactness of my intonation. I'm hoping this whole injury thing will help to have instilled more patience when it comes to my practicing as well as efficiency. I know it's helped my mental practicing and seems to have helped my vibrato.

Yesterday was a shopping day for me. I rarely go out and go shopping but there were a few essential items I needed. I managed to find one of the three things I really needed, and from that perspective it was a successful day spent in town. I hadn't really gone shopping for shoes but I had a bit of extra time to, so I popped into a shoe store looking for something spring-like that would go well with my skirts without being sandles. I wanted something with a covered toe that was like a slipper/shoe type of deal. I ended up at Winner's and found these adorable (sorry guys for being girly here but you're going to have to deal with it) shoes that are VERY sparkly and have a very nicely added touch of a bow. They were perfect! And! They were my size - 11!

Ok, that's the end of my little rant for today!

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