Rants of a Composition Major

Well, this is similar to a previous post, I've been having problems with recital preparation again. A few of the ridiculous things I've heard in the last week:

• "One musician to another", I'm going to start asking for credentials before I listen to anything beyond this sentence...
• "I just assumed I didn't need to show up to rehearsal" ... I mean, really? Are you THAT good?
• "Do we need to rehearse?" Well yes, I would like us to not look ridiculous in eight days time. 
• "Should I stay for the rest of the recital?" , No, no, please leave, that would be great. *sarcasm*

Yes, it's a colorful week in my world, hopefully musicians won't keep me from finishing my degree.

PS - I love you all, you just frustrate me sometimes.

Rants of a Pianist

While the subject line may sound like I'm upset, I'm not, I'm just amused by a few things, all piano related.

1. Tendonitis, while preparing for a recital, is not a laughable subject, no matter how much you personally enjoy the "irony", or "oddity" of it. I am not amused, you shouldn't be either.
2. Just because the piano lid to the piano in the recital hall was left open does not mean it was done by a pianist. I don't know if the powers that be ever notice, but non-pianists use the recital hall, and the piano within. And this includes professors.
3. Calvin's office is not a toy. It should not be used by those who are not piano performance majors. And those planning recitals should get preference. 
4. In addition to this, if you are a non performance major and use his office, please be sure to leave the office as you found it, i.e. with the lights OFF. This is why custodial keeps locking his office thus locking out the piano performance majors in the early morning hours. They get suspicious when the light is left on. Go figure.
5. Please do not eat at any piano. Not only is this gross, you are a college student/faculty/staff and should know better by now. Some of us are tired of sterilizing the piano every time we use it.

Thanks for reading, and behave better on those pianos!

Let's switch subjects

After such a long and rather depressing post on Sachsenhausen, I thought perhaps we should change it up a little. Okay, maybe a lot in actuality.

Here's ten things that are on the ground right now for me:

1. Americorps finally contacted me. Now granted, it was about a new program I had applied for, but it's still super exciting to be going through a formal application process. This particular program requested more material from me, a sample of my writing style, two more references, a resume with cover letter, etc. I'm really excited, and already have my new references lined up, so life is looking good for the next few days. Maybe I'll have plans within a couple of months!

2. My internship is going awesome. It's lot of data, and number crunching right now, but I'm just loving the logistics of everything. I also love the fact that what I'm doing could have a lasting effect on the way things work at William Jewell. That may be the most exciting thing for me.

3. My piano recital is in T-six weeks! I'm faltering a little on some of the line up in repertoire, we're just the slightest bit short right now, but I may have figured out a solution to this problem, so check back in. I'll be announcing the date formally in three weeks, but the unofficial date is March 10th, at 5:30 pm.

4. If the piano recital is six weeks away, this means I only have 13 more weeks in which to write, assign, and rehearse everything for my composition recital. On that front, things are coming together slowly, but surely. My quartet has been assembled (yay, thanks Peter for agreeing to be my tenor!) and I have high hopes for the choir to come together soon. I have a reading for my strings piece two (three?) weeks from now, and we're *this* close to being ready to turn things in! I think my next composition lesson should take place over coffee. I plan to suggest this to him. No more stuffy classroom. :)

5. At the end of the second week of classes, I've switched my art history to pass/fail, which has lightened my homework load. The professor for this class tends to uncommunicative on my research topic choices, but that's okay, there's not as much pressure.

6. Speaking of that homework load, I think I've settled into the rhythm. Most of my classes have a fair amount of homework, which is slightly worrisome for my sanity, but if I just don't fall behind, ever, at all, with no exceptions, then I should be fine. Uh-oh, I think I'm already behind....

I think that's all for now, but it's enough. I'm still muddling through. Check back soon for final plans on the recitals and further travel updates!

Harriman-Jewell

Oh the places you'll go. I was reflecting last night, through the Harriman Jewell Arts Series, I've seen:

the Trey McIntyre Project - full of crazy dancing
the Jerusalem Symphony
the Royal Dragoons - full of marching and bagpipes
Emmanuel Axe, not once, but twice (but only once solo, the other time in duet)
the King's Singers (twice!)
Joyce Didonato (more times than I can count now)
Alvin Ailey Dance Company - twice!
the Houston Ballet
Parons Dance Company
Renee Fleming
Canadian Brass
Anne-Sophi Mutter

Have participated in two Master's Classes with two different amazing pianists

And considering almost all of those tickets SHOULD have cost me upwards of $45, I'm feeling very blessed indeed. Since I now have a card with all six King's Singers signatures sitting in my purse, I'm feeling blissful as well. Oh... it's time for a Master's Class with the King's Singers actually ...

Remembering...

I have a really bad habit of getting caught up in everyday life. Letting the little things get to me. The little frustrations. Okay, in the moment, they're big frustrations. A friend reminded me of this verse the other day:
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation,and uphold me with a willing spirit."Psalm 51:12 ESV

Who am I to forget that the center of my world should rightly be God? His salvation is the only thing that truly matters.

"Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation"
Psalm 18:46, ASV

I've really been struggling though this last two months. The recital, work, homework, class schedule, emotional turmoil, all of it has really been waying me down. And now I have this solo artist competition on Saturday. I have really been losing sight of my true focus in life. And the piano work wasn't going so smoothly. In late September I was given a 19 page Bach concerto to memorize for the competition. Up until last night, I was still unsure whether or not I would have everything ready and secure.
Then last night in the middle of practice, I remembered...

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
- Phillipians 4:13 NKJV

God is my strength. My strength is not my own.
And right there I prayed. I spent 15 minutes just sitting in my practice room praying quietly.
And the music?
Beautiful. I saw that concerto in a new light last night. Up until last night it was the technically difficult, slightly flashy little piece that fit my personality that was good for the competition.
But last night I saw God in my music. I saw the long way my memorization skills have come in the last two months, how my patience (against my will) has developed, and I experienced a joy that few understand. The joy that comes from a truly beautiful piece of music, and the ability to share it with yourself, and to share yourself through your music with God. I thank God so deeply, for the gift he's given to me, and for giving me a gift that is so easily shared with others. I don't know where my gifts will take me in life, I don't know how much longer my hands will work, but I hope that while they do still work, I remember to thank God for them every day.

No matter the outcome of my competition on Saturday, whether I win the spot with LSO or not, I feel I've won. I've had a great challenge, and have met it, not through my own strength, but by learning to depend more fully on God. It seems it's a lesson God has to teach me over and over again. I can only hope someday it gets through my thick head.

"I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy"
-The Valley Song, Jars of Clay

Egads! It's another week!

Well, I missed one deadline last week (for the blog sillies), and I'm moments away from missing another. Life got crazy. It does that. I have a friend who likes to say that if she tried to live life with as much energy as I do, she would be exhausted by noon. A fair assumption, since I'm generally exhausted by 10:30am. What, you thought this was real? It's just an act!

A few of the fun things on my plate right now:

- Memorizing a concerto, listen here. To the pros, not me! Bach's Concerto in D Minor for harpsichord (some of us use the piano). That's nineteen pages of sixteenth notes, for those of you who can't hear that. Well, 17 pages of sixteenth notes, 2 pages of 32nd notes, but we're really just splitting hairs now. (listen for the coughing about 3.5 minutes in, promise, its there!)

- Rotary's District Governor for District 6040 is coming to visit the WJC Rotaract club (that's right, we're alive and kicking) and bringing with him someone(s?) from UMKC to pick my brain. I also have the privilege of giving him a campus tour of the WJC while he is here. We're going to poke our noses in classrooms, etc. Should be grand fun. I understand there's a few Liberty Rotary folk going as well.

- 2 big research reports, one on the Tet Offensive and one on Women's Suffrage in the USA

- A fantastic performance by Emmanuel Axe last night (TWO encores!) with the Harriman-Jewell Series.

- Upcoming performance of my own on Thursday!

Well, we're just scraping the top layer. I'm going to wrap this one up a little short, my hands are ready to fall off from all the playing of piano.