updatings, finally!

December 14, 2005 at 3:54 PM

It's been a while since my last blog. Let's see if I actually keep this thing up to date.

I had a recital last semester on the whole Mozart A Major. It went pretty well, I think. I don't really like the recording of it, it sounds really flat (not really intonation-wise, but boring and tinny). I think I'm a better live player than a recorded player.

I won a runner up prize in the Bach/Handel competition at SU in October. I played the first movement of the Bach solo sonata in g minor.

I'm playing viola in at least one orchestra concert next semester, which is awesome.

I've got a whole bunch of new rep to practice and learn over winter break, which starts next week:
Lalo (first two movements, for now)
the rest of the Bach g minor
Wieniawski Scherzo-Tarantelle
Beethoven sonata in G major
Paganini #16
more of the Khachaturian (I put it on hold last semester becuase of my recital on the Mozart)

That's basically all going to be my audition repertoire for grad programs next year. So far I'm considering:
Yale (obviously)
Peabody
UMCP (probably their pedagogy program because I really want to study with Ronda Cole)
Temple
Manhattan
Boston Conservatory
CIM (yeah, right... that's what we call a REACH school)
(maybe) Catholic U

I also really like San Francisco, but I want to stay on the East Coast. Maybe next year they'll move to DC and I can apply.

I really want to make it into a good music festival this summer, hopefully one that starts in late July, so I can work and then go to the festival.

From Pieter Viljoen
Posted on December 15, 2005 at 6:36 AM

Peabody, Yale, and MSM are all pretty difficult to get into...

With regards to recording, they never lie. If there's something missing in your playing there, it's probably missing to some degree live as well.

From Tommy Atkinson
Posted on December 15, 2005 at 3:27 PM

Pieter, that's why I have a bunch of different level school that I'm applying to. I'm reasonably sure I could probably make it into half the schools that I have, with a bunch of reach schools. I realistically don't think I could make it into Yale, but I'm applying because of the odds. I mean, what, a hundred bucks for an audition could mean a free $50,000 education. I'd have to be stupid NOT to apply.

Oh, and regarding recordings. Microphones and placement DO make a big difference in sound. Especially live things that can change in an instant and can't be fixed. I know recordings don't lie in terms of intonation (usually), but they can be less than accurate in terms of sound production and tone, especially if you're in a big, resonant hall.

Example, listen to Emil Chudnovsky's Bruch and Saint-Saens, recorded live. It's a wonderful recording, but it is no comparison to hearing him live. His tone is just incredible, something that doesn't transfer onto a live recording.

From Pieter Viljoen
Posted on December 15, 2005 at 8:02 PM

Apparently they're adjusting it for next year, so it won't be completely free. I know someone who is applying and he told me that.

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updatings, finally!

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