Competition Successful

March 6, 2007 at 6:31 PM

Despite cramps, a sore throat, and very high stress levels, my concerto competition went very well last night. I played the first Mov. of the Lalo Symphonie Espagnol and, despite a messy first run and several out of tune stratosphere notes, I think it went pretty darn well. My tone was very good, the beginning was strong, the ending was very good, and the entire piece was focused and energetic. Even my hard-to-impress Julliard accompanist (who is amazing- even the judges commented what a fine job he did...) complimented me. I wish I could've had a little more constructive feedback from the judges though. But I really shouldn't complain because they seemed pretty pleased. Now all I have to do is wait for the phone call that tells me my fate...

Quartet is really going well. I'm not practicing the Lalo at all today, but I think I'll work on quartet music a tad. Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn...all fairly easy note wise, but leaves endless opportunities for musical development. Mr. Gao's really a fantastic chamber coach too. I like him a lot because he's not afraid to make us do things over and over and over until they're right. At the same time, he knows when we've reached the end of what we can accomplish. I really do love chamber music.

Been working on SAT crud. I haven't been feeling that great, though, so I haven't been pushing too hard. I'm rechnically on spring break right now, so I'm rather enjoying my time off.

And now, I best be off, so that I don't tie up the phone lines and prevent the judges from calling me and giving me my results...

From Karin Lin
Posted on March 6, 2007 at 7:58 PM

I think it's wonderful that you deem your competition "successful" even before finding out the judges' verdict. It's all about doing your best and feeling good about how you played; those are the things under your control. Congratulations on your performance and on your positive attitude!

From William Yap
Posted on March 6, 2007 at 9:27 PM

You are brave! Wish you best of luck with the results, but it sounds like you won't be needing any.

From Sydney M.
Posted on March 7, 2007 at 3:59 AM

I just got THE CALL. It was bad news, though. Hopefully your call is better!

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