June 2006

June 13, 2006 09:56

Well, we had Mr. Neal over for dinner to discuss universities. U of M, Indiana State, CIM, and Northwestern were some of the ones we were leaning towards. But before we talked about that, Mr. Neal told me very bluntly that being a musician wasn't easy. It wouldn't be easy to live on a violinist salary and I'd have to work hard. I told him I knew that going into the deal, and I was more than willing. We also discussed getting a new violin. My Guarneri copy is a fabulous student violin, and Mr. Neal declared he honestly doesn't know how I make my bow do what it does...but all in all, I need a "grown-up" violin. Unfortunately, those seem to come with a grown up price. My parents balked at first, but they've come to accept it and some of my relatives seem to be thinking about pitching in some donations to cover it.

But I've left behind all thoughts of college and new violins for the present. Camp is in eight days and I leave in 6 or 7 days. After cleaning out my closet, I had to restock my wardrobe with clothes that fit and were weather appropriate. Most of my current wardrobe still consists of white, grey, and black dress clothes. One gig wants a white short sleeve, one chamber group wants long sleeve, one gig wants no decor, and another wants all black...you get the picture. Mom and I went to Walmart and picked up other supplies, including a travel iron and tiny ironing board to iron all those white shirts and dress skirts/slacks. It should all fit in the bottom of my suitcase. The only thing I need now is manuscript paper and a few books to get me through the long hours of the night, etc.

So........I think I'll go practice a little more now. That Viotti's a booger. So many double stops. I've got the notes of the first movement on level 1 down (minus the cadenza) so I think I've done pretty well.

~natasha

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June 2, 2006 11:45

Hello from the sunshine state. Which, currently, is not sunny...rather, it's cloudy, hot and muggy. A typical day in "paradise".

I've recently been basking in my school-less-ness, enjoying many happy hours of doing relatively nothing, cleaning, and practicing. I was positively peeved when I learned that my Viotti music (I'm working off of a xeroxed working copy right now) and my new Bach partita CD were both backordered until mid-late June. Oh the pain! On the bright side, my Paganini caprices arrived in all their glory the other day. After a mere fifteen minutes, your truly had mastered the first caprice. Well...the first *measure* of the first caprice....but I'm sure the rest will come in time. :-) My teacher wants me to learn #16, so I spent a while today playing up to the repeat. It's coming, it's coming...

Preparations for Brevard are under way. I promised to withdraw a tidy sum of $1000 to pay my parents back asap. They ended up paying $800 some dollars, after I put in my money and all the scholarships I was awarded, so that made them relatively happy. I say they're getting a good deal; they get rid of me AND get me educated, housed, and fed for only eight hundred smackaroos! What a deal!

A recent rub has consisted in looking at colleges and planning highschool. My mom finally helped me plan a strategy for the next two years, which my dad then revised and returned to me and I agreed to. It includes me taking college math and Chemistry and ends up with me graduating with a year's extra of HS credits than are required...I should end up a fairly well rounded person when I'm done, I think. If nothing, I'll be oval. :-P
In the recent past, I had been looking at University of Michigan as my top school option, a choice my Dad was less than happy with, due to the "silly" undergrad courses they make you take nowadays. So, I scouted around elsewhere, and am now leaning heavily toward CIM. I was worried that my Dad would balk at the idea of a conservatory associated with what I thought was a lesser-known college...turns out it's a much better university than I thought it was, and my Dad's best friend went there. So Dad's happy with the academics and I'm happy with the music, and I'm thinking that's going to be a top choice.

That, I think, is the bulk of recent events. I still have lots of stuff to do, so I'll pop off!

~natasha

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