Saint-Saens Concerto

I have two weeks between lessons and a lot to accomplish in that amount of time. Although its double the amount of time, I know it will pass in a flash. I wish I could go back to the days of practicing 4 hours a day, then I would have this piece in no time.

I now have less than a month until I get to go home to Yakima for Christmas break. Unfortunately, since my cello is still unisured, it will have to stay here for the holidays. I am supposed to have a lesson with Kevin, which is going to be difficult if I don't have a cello to play and practice on. Not to mention I hate going anywhere for a long period of time without my cello. Its kind of scary leaving it behind, who knows what could happen to it.

Back to the concerto: I am working on sections F through H which starts the fast section. If you have heard or have played the concerto berore, then you know the section Im talking about. Im supposed to have it learned by the 8th. Wish me luck.

A life after work?

I work from 7:45am to 5:00pm, play in the Symphony, give cello lessons, take cello lessons, and play in weddings. I just realized that there is no way I could possibly do anything else like skate, or play on an indoor soccer team. At least Im making money and playing my cello I guess.

Army Base Oddities

For those of you that don't know, I currently live on the back end of an army base. Army bases, I have learned, run by a very odd set of rules that I am learing as I go. I have to show my I.D. just to get to my house everyday. But that is to be expected in today's political climate. However, there are some strange things that take place that Im starting to notice.

A few nights ago Beth and I were driving home, a helicopter passed over us, which is normal because our house lies in the flight path to the base airport. However this particular chopper pilot decided he would follow our car with its spotlight which scared the $h!t out of me. Its pitch black on our drive through the woods and then suddenly the area around us was drenched in sunlight. Naturally, I shouted impolite insults at said helicopter and drove home.

There is a back way to our house that takes us along the iver and through the woods on a gravel road. You rarely see more than one car during the trip to the alternate gate. One night a few weeks ago, we were driving down the road, a little faster than the limit, when I saw four dim red lights floating no more than 50 feet ahead of us. As I approached the lights, still going faster than the limit, my headlights showed that it was one of the Amy's six-wheeled tanks driving ridiculously slow using their night-vision only. The four floating lights were reflections from their rear lights, which weren't in use. I had to slam on my breaks to avoid killing myself. Pissed off, I drove around the tank as fast as I could.

After driving around the next corner I had to salm on my breaks again because of another six-wheeled tank driving by night vision, this time in my lane coming at me head on. Naturally I put on my brights, because I hear that sucks with a pair of night vision specs on. Perhaps they will learn better, although Im going to guess not.

I need a new word to express how cold it is..."freezing" no longer works!

So I made it to Alaska, and have survived thus far. We already have had over 9in of snow and the current highs for the week are under 18. Fall was absolutely beautiful here but it was very short and winter will be, on the other hand, very long.

Things I didn't know of or experience before I moved to Alaska:
1. Cars need to be plugged in at night because of the cold.
2. Wolves might eat your dog if its outside for too long.
3. Moose are giant and do exactly what they want when they want.
4. I now have to bring water to my house and fill up a tank (which is underneath the house) If I would like running water.
5. I also have to haul my own trash.
6. Kids still get to go outside at school if its -10 degrees.

Now What?

The year is done. College is done. Its hard to believe that after 17 years of school Im finally done! The senior recital went well and now its time to prepare for auditions. Im also currently working on repertoire for a recording that I could use as a kind of calling card. Any suggestions? Oh yeah, im driving to Alaska in a week (I'll let you know how that goes).

Winner!

I finally picked a cello... and now the mammoth task of actually paying for it. It has an awesome bass register thanks to the Montagnana body style. The wood and the primary cut comes from Bulgaria, but it was finished in New Mexico. I got a great deal on it (it sounds like a much more expensive intstrument) and it is a lot of fun to play.

Cello Trials

I brought 2 cellos back from Seattle with me: a Joseph Fiedler made in 2006 and a Bernd Dimbad made in 2005. I picked these 2 after trying out at least 12 differnt cellos and driving almost 10 hrs total. Kevin played them and decided that neither one was worth the money. So basically I wasted a weekend. Here is a pic of the Fiedler.

On the Eve of Spring Break

It's finally friday! Midterms and auditions are done and Im getting out of Spokane as soon as possible. Im headed up to Seattle with Beth to try out some new, very expensive cellos; it's going to be sweet! We're also going to go to the EMP or the Zoo and do the normal amount of site seeing that you have to do while in Sea-town.

The weather is great today, so get out and do something!

Anxiety, Bus Rides, Panic & Relief!

Last night I decided that I should have a good night's sleep so that I would be totally ready for the audition...but of course I couldn't have slept for more than 3hrs. I finally woke up (got out of bed) and rushed out of the door, without the breakfast I had planned on eating, to the bus stop with my guitar, cello, and messenger bag. I barely made it through the bus doors becasuse of all of that luggage I was carrying, and when I eventually sat down I took up 4 seats.

When I finally got to school I let myself in to the practice rooms and set to work trying to practice all of my difficult sections. I finished 10min before I was to start the audition. It was at this point that I realized that I had left the programs at home and was forced to go upstairs and type out a new one.

The new program ended up having 3 typos and I left out two movements of the Bach. I ran downstairs and handed out the mediocre programs, sat down and, since my pianist wasn't there yet, statrted with the Bach. ( Now, at my last lesson, we decided that the Bach would go in the middle of the program because it is really hard to play when your nervous and your hands are tense, so naturally it went first )

Greg eventually showed up and we played the rest of the music. I tryed to do my best impression of a virtuoso cellist while still concentrating on hitting the notes, well...most of them. They deliberated for about 10min, then Kevin brought me into his office, and with a cold stare on his face, told me that I passed.

I still have a lot to work on but at least this stupid audition is out of the way. The Recital is set for Apr 21st, 2007 at 1:00pm...its official.

Audition Looming!

The audition for my Senior Recital is less than 24hrs away and I am getting a little nervous. I think that I know the music well enough, but my pianist and I have only had one rehearsal together. Its an hour-long recital and an hour-long rehearsal is not enough time for us to get everything together the way I would like it be.

I had a lesson with Kevin today, and he told me that I need to "come out of my shell." I have been trying to do that to the best of my abilities, but it takes very little for me to revert back to old ways. I really do want to actually play music rather than just the notes, and I know that I have done this before; I think that it has to do with the extent that I know the music.

Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.

On a lighter and much more pleasant note, after the Symphony Orchestra concert monday night I recieved a very nice compliment on my playing from my stand partner(whom I respect very much). I got another one from an exceptional cellist who works in the Music Office here on my playing of a duet in Debussy's La Mer.

I've been practicing for over 4hrs a day for the last 3 weeks, so I better be ready for tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Thursday Apr. 20th

I currently have the worst headache ever due to the boredom created by an open ended assignment in one of my classes. Its time to head home, eat some food, and hang out with Abby, Anthony, Beth, and my DS!