May 2004

May 17, 2004 21:15

Our concert went really well, except for three things...

1) I kept bowing my stand-partner in the head;
2) The brass didn’t get their entry cues right (do they ever?);
and 3) Our conductor forgot to tell us he was taping the program for posterity, and putting it on CD. You should have seen it, all the teenage musicians relieved that the concert was over, and then our conductor announcing to the audience that if they’d kindly step outside the auditorium, they would find an order blank so they could purchase this groundbreaking, Grammy-deserving recording, which would be delivered to them in about six weeks’ time. The Local Youth Symphony Live. Posterity will not be grateful. ;)

The conductor shook all the string principles’ and co-principles’ hands, and this was inexplicably a great thrill for me. A sort of rite of passage, because last semester I had sat back a few rows, enviously watching those lucky principle individuals - gods, almost - and vowing I’d someday be there, too. And here a semester later, I was among their ranks. Disappointed to find they weren’t gods, and just as fallible as everybody else (maybe even more so), but still elated to be one all the same.

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May 5, 2004 20:01

Haven’t written in here for a while... There’s not much to write about, though, I’m afraid. Same old slog - schoolwork, violin-playing, piano-playing, cello-playing...all in one endless and exhilarating circle.

Next Saturday is a youth symphony concert, which ought to be fun. Our program is wildly diverse, from Khatchaturian to Handel to Milhaud-flavored Couperin. With the assistance of a London Symphony recording (and an unhealthy amount of mimicking and impersonating the concertmistress), I’ve finally got the off-beats to the Sabre Dance mastered, along with the tricky little triplets in the dance music from Aida. I could use a little direction with the high part in the “Overture and Allegro”, since the rest of the second violin section chooses to quietly slip out to lunch during that part...but hey, that’s okay. After all, it just couldn’t be a proper youth symphony if we sounded spectacular all the time. :)

Happy practicing...

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More entries: June 2004 • April 2004

May 2004

May 17, 2004 21:15

May 5, 2004 20:01

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