Holidays?

So that planned sleep-in for the day straight after the exam period finished? That didn't really happen...there was much to do: go to the market, practice some piano, do some shopping. Pity I only lasted about two and a half hours with the shopping...

But the holidays had started in my usual style - busy. Stuff to do, places to go, people to see :)
Went to ANAM concert courtesy of E with comp tickets. Rang about four friends to see if they wanted to come, because I knew they'd be particularly interested, but they were in the wrong city, or had something else on, or were sick. Lame. Whatever haha. Ended up going with C; quite a few friends went, so it wasn't a completely solitary affair!

Anyway...so shopping......how un-girly of me. I bought a pair of jeans and a(nother black) top. Didn't break the bank either, which I always like. Did get accosted by cosmetic stand guy who got annoyed when I said I didn't want to buy his product. Collected photo print-outs. They're currently adorning my walls and stuff. They're very happy. Many to do with music....which makes me v. happy :)

Had a couple of rehearsals for another 3MBS Live at the Convent performance that I did with A. It was fun. And pretty good...especially because we'd put it together three days before the actual thing (Note: it's a live broadcast!). I suppose it shows what can be done when you've been playing together (at least fairly regularly) for the last two and a half years....it's nice :) I like that there are a few people for which that holds, and that it means we can do stuff easily. Or just build on that. :)

Spent a lovely Monday lunch in the sun (most of the time, unless it went behind the clouds). It was nice just to eat, and to relax and chill out. Don't get me wrong, I like working hard (be it at the piano, or organising on the email or something like that), but there is a beauty to relaxing with friends over food in beautiful weather.

Then did 3MBS on Tuesday. We caught the bus for the first time in Melbourne. Like, a public transport service bus (that wasn't a tram replacement). It was pretty exciting hehe. And thankfully, easy too! The bakery was strangely (and I'm hoping, uncharacteristicxally) not as good as normal. But we sufficed. Even with ho-chos that were really milky most of the way until the bottom when it all hit us...even with cups that were really cool (think popping a little bit in the top to create the lip!)

Had MRC stuff for Chamber Music Comp that night.....including a welcome reception where the room was full of very important people. Introduced myself to Dame Elisabeth Murdoch though, that was pretty cool. Then off to Fitzroy for a 'celebratory drink'. Really arty place, really not *really* our thing, but it was fun anyway. And at the least, amusing to peek in on the Improvisation going on upstairs!

Pretty chilled the next day - practice. Catch up with a friend, of to MRC. (3rd time in 5 days, never been so often to that place until this week!) Helped out a little....ran into some familiar faces, which was nice. Enjoy the concert very much.

Did an audition the next day....don't worry, I'd been practicing for the days leading up to it too! It's one good way of keeping busy! As I told a friend later, "Oh, it took about forty minutes all up!" That is, one audition. It's like that, I suppose. But I can understand his reaction ("Forty minutes?!?!"), I suppose most auditions don't actually go for that long haha! Went to Winter Jam that night (played keys tonight woo!) then was really hungry (as I have been getting at 10pm this week, just been eating dinner really early because I've needed to be at places fairly early in the evening), so went to get some churros with a friend. So. Tasty. As another friend has once put it, "Churros are just deep-fried and covered in oil"....but I enjoyed it all the same, especially covered in chocolate :)

I said I was going to take Friday off. But no. I had this moment of "Oh, what shall I do?" And the obvious answer was Practice! So that I did. But it was really relaxed. Like, reading through stuff, taking it easy. It was beautiful. And then M and I read through a couple of gorgeous French songs. :) Did some more ushering that night (watching concert too!), asked for another ticket (our allocation was 2) so that a friend could come along. Always makes it more fun when you go to a concert with somebody (not that I haven't gone by myself, or that there wouldn't be people, I suppose!) but that you can definitely discuss it with that person! And the company is always appreciated :)
Stayed around after that for a little while talking to people, which was cool. Then headed up to F's house for her going-away party. It was really nice. Just really sad at the end. Yes, there were waterworks. :( I will miss her lots, but she'll be back here for a bit here and there. And it's thankfully not *too* far away.

Actually took yesterday off from practice. I mean that. Did not touch the piano. Quite liberating, a little scary. Better not get too used to it!
But slept in, called home (took a little while!), then it was lunchtime already haha. Went off in the afternoon to have a Chiasma meeting. Stayed talking for a little while, then hopped on a tram to come home for a bit. Ran into the people I was going to have dinner with on the way home, which was pretty funny (they had just come back from the footy). Chilled out, fluffed around a little. Went to diner. Fun-ness. But had to wait for a while, which was a pity, but we dealt. Food was so good. Arguments were funny.
Atari/Intellivision. Forks/spoons. Splades/sporks.
We ate so well.
Then we played fooseball. Some are much better than others. That's ok. :)

Also had a pretty relaxing day today.....bit of practice, a lot of nothinging-around. Watched 'my' trio online....(the one I was supposed to be page-turning for but they didn't realise, so they asked one of their friends, so I was out of that job...oh well....But they were in the finals, so I watdhed. And they WON the trio section woo! Anyway..)
Started packing. Wow, I always remember/forget (I know they're contradictory terms..) how much I dislike it. As well as unpacking, when I get around to it.. :S

And now it's already in the "All Night Classics" segment on radio..which means it's late.....
Oh well, I'll sleep well tomorrow.

Anyway...
It has been an amazing semester. Despite the stress, frustrations and what nots, I have enjoyed most of it! Particularly the music of it all. I just seem to find ways to play even more each semester, but I love it. And I do it because I enjoy it so much, and I enjoy making music with you guys so much. I know two weeks isn't that long, but hopefully I won't miss you too much! Adios for now....catch you soon for the upcoming months of projects... :D

Stumbling along

....and just like that, my one and only exam is over.
How anti-climatic. But sheer relief is the feeling that swept over me.

It has been a busy busy time....
vocal exams, rehearsals, studying, rehearsals, concerts, rehearsals, studying, rehearsals.
I love it though (the rehearsals part...)
Done a little bit of Melbourne suburbia on the train...I quite enjoy it, even if it does take more time. It's quite exciting to see where people live, and to go to the suburbs and see the various characters.

Mozart and Strauss have been the pillars of this semester's music-ing.
There is a bit more to go (of the Strauss sort).


Okay, so I left this post for a while, and now it's another day...let me continue...

And just like that, all the exams are over. Mine and the others'. They went mostly ok. Some more satisfying than others, some more comfortable than others. But very happy for them all.
Yes, I tend to get personally involved in them. Even if I really shouldn't. But that's just me. And if it doesn't turn out so well, so be it - some of them are not there for me to feel personally responsible.
There has been much money spent on food. There has been some funny (read: strange) events. Of weird coincidences; interesting. There have been things to hang on to, things to return (still pending hehe). There has been standing in the cold, but totally worth it.
I miss being ridiculously busy.....(I never think I'll say that, but hey, there it is!)
I wonder if we should talk...?

The end of the semester

What? Another semester gone already!
One more hour of required class to go to. And then it's twelve weeks of the undergraduate installment. Eek.
Much has happened in the past two weeks.
There has been much playing, most of all. Playing of trio music, of quintet music, Strauss concerto, other music. There has been applying for AYO and AISOI. There have been final assessments: conducting tests, chamber music exams (if you missed these, you missed out big time. They were awesome. But you'll be able to catch us on the radio. Even if you're not in this city! The other one, I hope you get to hear it sometime soon, because it was awesome. Not kidding.) There have been fun times two-piano-ing. There has been some MYO-ing (and more to come).
Oh, and I've managed to go to uni in-between all that. Which apparently has one commerce class somewhere....

So, pretty much, lots of music-king. Enough in the last two weeks to confirm that this is what I want to do. How, is another question. I've been asked quite a bit in the last three months, "What are you going to do next year?" The truthful answer is "I don't know." It scares me quite a bit.
I'd like to stay in this city - I've definitely fallen in love with it. And I don't think I could leave the people I've met here. But I know some of them are moving, or might move. And that makes me a little bit sad - all of the people I've met in my time here have shaped the way the last four and half years have happened. I know life keeps moving, but there are parts of me that sometimes want it to go back in time, or for time to stand still for a while so that things can be replayed, or happen for a long time without any change.

I'd like to go elsewhere in the not-so-distant future though. Sydney was an option, there is a course I'd like to pursue up there, but I'm not sure I could fall in love with the city as much as I have here. And there's the prospect of Manchester, which is somewhere I'd really like to go. But I know that's far, and the opportunity, if it arises, would be awesome. I know I'd be very sad though.

I thought I had a really clear idea, but now I'm not so sure. I'd like to think of myself as a forward-planner, but really, that's only for some things. Dreams. Not necessarily practical. I'm possibly organised, but not necessarily a planner. In some ways, much of my life is really circumstantial - stuff happens because it happens (although planned by somebody far greater than me!). I just let it happen, and hopefully take the right ones and run with them. So I'm sorry if I haven't gotten down and had the real conversation I've been meaning to have with you just yet - to find out how you're really going and stuff like that. I've just been having it with other people.

I'm terribly scared. Of what may or may not happen.
What would happen if I dared?

Ahh! Overload...!

So. Much. Mozart.
Don't get me wrong, I love Mozart. But there's just so. much. of. it. right. now.
Concerti.
Trio.
Quintet.
Sonata.
Arias.
Whole operas.

Almost everyday this week, I've gotten two new bits of music.
Fun. Just so. much. to. learn.

Please be patient with me.
The downside to being asked to do stuff? Over-commitment. And my inability to say no.
I'm very slowly learning.

So much for an early night....!

So hopefully this is the turnaround of being a bad friend. Key point being hopefully. I will at least attempt it.
Been in virtual hiding for a bit, although my activity on Facebook might say otherwise.
Flew back to Melbourne, took the most ridiculous (and expensive) taxi ride due to the ineptitude driver. Was grumpy. Sunday pretty relaxed (although I was supposedly on a tight schedule...go figure..), met up with a friend to practice some German and ended up talking for a little while. Got to see his house though, it's very cool!
And thus began the three weeks of lockdown/craziness.

Orchestra
Was asked to play in orchestra two weeks before the concert. Stravinsky's Firebird suite. It's not easy. I got my music at noon on Monday, and was expected to be at the rehearsal, ready to go at 5.30pm that afternoon. I looked at it for 20mins and almost lost the plot. Thankfully, the conductor was forgiving as I explained to him the situation, apologising for my lack of preparation and promising that by the next week it'd be perfect. Orchestra took up Monday night, Tuesday night, Sunday afternoon, the following Monday night, Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon before the concert Thursday night. So, I could make those times, but those were actually the times I was supposed to be doing those assignments. Oh, I see why I got so time-deprived....
It was fun though. I really enjoy doing orchestra, particularly as most of my friends are orchestra players. The organisation of it was miserable (the fault of the top admin, I believe) but the actual playing was ok, and the learning experience good.
A few friends came to the concert, which was quite exciting - the message going around was that a lot of them couldn't make it, which I was getting a little sad about. P said it was a reflection of how many good friends I had, or moreso, which ones were actually the good ones! Haha. I was pleasantly surprised to see one friend, didn't think he was coming at all, so that was nice!
Went to the afterparty for a little longer than intended, but it was really nice to hang out with those friends as well as musos afterwards. The usual crowd, fun times :)

Birthdays
The celebration of three in one week. My actual birthday was a very busy day, so it didn't feel particularly celebratory except for the masses of FB love and text messages :) Couldn't really party big time though with lots of uni on, rehearsal to attend, and tests the next day to study for! But thanks to everybody who did send greetings and love, muchly appreciated :)
Two days later, we carried out the most unsurprising and awkward birthday surprise party. It was pretty funny in retrospect. So much effort had been put into the operation, I was very impressed. There was some behind-the-scenes communication on the inside, a decoy, and a nice turn-out. Amazing party food (woo!) and good company.
Actually celebrated my own birthday a little bit over two occasions: dinner at Thaila Thai (followed by the Comfy Chair afterwards, not planned, but the night was left open) and then brunch the following morning at Cicalata. Both were lovely occasions, it was good to hang out with friends for some time over the weekend, pretty blissful :) Thanks to those who did come to celebrate, and no worries to those who couldn't make it. It was fun, but not a huge deal frankly - still had much work and business to attend to that weekend, so it was some good relief and fun :)
The next party was the following night after church, felt a lot like a pizza party - it was awesome. Much fun, with the usual suspects again (whom I love very much!) - it was good to celebrate! I had fun, and a lovely time. :)
Just this last weekend, celebrated a 21st birthday with a champagne breakfast in South Yarra. It was truly beautiful, and much fun. And a great idea! L, you are an amazing girl - it's probably not so evident, but I truly love you to bits and admire and respect you so much.

Clothes
The church has recently been repainted as part of the restoration works. Now, to go with the forward looking Vision, the church has adopted and equally modern outlook on the walls. Ask me to show you sometime if you haven't already seen it. We were on music that weekend, so we thought it'd be a fantastic idea to dress according to the colours of the church. That is, some grey (and white if desired) with highlights of red, blue and lime green. Bright much? Yes, that's right, we matched the church. Right down to some bits of grey, me wearing a kid's blue jumper (so we didn't have so much red in the lineup), P wearing ALL three colours (and that's what she would NORMALLY wear....!), and S's shirt matching the lime green wall so much that it looked almost like Floating Head Dummer.
All Blacks. Much performing.

More performing
So, asides from the orchestra concert, there's been some repeated Concert Class appearances. As in, I'm playing in some form or another (trio, quintet, accompanying) every week. yes, that's six consecutive weeks. I hope I'm not boo-ed off for being so prominent haha. Well, the way I see it, I'm (we're) getting practice because we got our act together. It's all about efficiency......
And there was last Friday where Chamber Class was the J&G show. No kidding. Our quintet was first, then our trio. Just in case you know, hand't had enough Mozart. Or Eb Major. Again. Haha. It was wonderful though. Even though it wasn't performance do-or-die at that time, it was still pretty adrenalin-pumped to play well for the whole hour. Which left me EXHAUSTED at the end of the day! I see how playing an entire concert with that much concentration, adrenalin and pressure is a very difficult thing!


So, the group assignment is finished, as is the essay (although that was pretty much done three days in advance woo efficiency and nerdiness!) apart from a couple of final touch-ups the day before. All is finished with that today. And I thought I was going to go to bed early tonight, until I realised that I have a test tomorrow (not too nervous about it, thankfully - yet...) and some homework to do. And much admin to sort through. I like doing the admin, but maybe with not so much work that needs to be done, you know? So much for that early night...I'll catch up on the sleep next week - am not going to the ball so I can have me-time. Muchly needed. I'll get there.....

Am trying to do Organisation Freakism as I realise that I have exams in two weeks' time (eek!) and uni has to keep rolling in that time, and that there are other things to prepare for in that time. I wish I had the next two weeks to do intense chamber music for the whole time. Alas, that is not possible, how unfortunate. But I have drawn up a timeline for each group - there is much work to be done......so possibly will not be the best friend at the moment......sorry....I'll do it as best I can!

Exciting little snippets: some good comments about my playing, particularly from people who can do stuff and facilitate stuff. I just need to maintain standards. And I did admittedly say No this evening to something, plus only a fairly unlikely 'maybe' to something else. It feels a little sad because as a young musician, you take as many opportunities you get. But in my case, it's often to the detriment of my health or ever-so-slightly mental state (even though I love being busy). And that's where knowing that I over-commit has to kick in and be sensible.

Sorry...

...if I'm a crap friend in the next three weeks. Please forgive me.
I thought I could do everything, and therefore said yes to it all.
I really want to do it, so I am. But this is the brief overview:
7: number of orchestra rehearsals in the next two weeks
1: Paris essay (60%) due
1: Econometrics project (20% group) due
1: Econometrics test
2: Conducting tests
7: Playing in front of people of sorts (not rehearsals)
1: Birthday that is my own to celebrate
5: Other birthdays to celebrate :)

Don't get me wrong, I love rehearsals, I love performing, I enjoy working hard and being pushed to work hard. Just perhaps not in such quick succession and so much so condensed.

ANAM Applications out soon. Haven't had lesson. Starting to worry a lot. What if I can't do it?
What if I can't even audition for AYO stuff? AHH!!

I can't wait for the semester to be over, but it means some stuff will finish there. I hope some of it doesn't, that it continues. Hopefully. Time is a friend. Also an enemy...
Please bear with me. I value your friendships very much - just be patient, and please support and encourage me!

Eighteen weeks left of universty: the undergrad installment

Ahh!
Easter is upon us - which means term one is over. Which means I'm supposed to have learnt half of the material for this semester already. Ahh! I am very far from that!
Rehearsals again have taken up much of my time - which I do admittedly enjoy. Have fortunately managed to meet up with friends in-between that (some more than others...) which is also good. I like those moments.

So, highlights have included....

* Getting gelate on Lygon St on a lovely Saturday afternoon. A lovely way to while away the time... :)
* Wednesdays. Conducting class has been challenging, amusing and frustrating. And a time to get really hungry....whereupon we immediately run out to get lunch. Pity we don't get pastries (yet!) in the morning during our quintet rehearsal.....we're still waiting ;)
* Fun music practice. Where we check out the new colour scheme. And then how that becomes the hot topic of conversation. (Eg. would you have a wedding with those walls? What would the bridesmaids wear? Who or what would actually be the centre of attention?!)
* 21sts. There's not too many left to attend (I think...) but there are a few. Particularly good when almost everybody there you also consider your close friends in that circle too. Lovely.
* Housewarmings. Paintings. Friends.
* Chamber music tutes that go well. When they like us :) Which seems to be working out for us at the moment......and the satisfaction of being pushed hard because somebody thinks you have potential. And then hearing the results. So exciting.
* Exciting music ideas.....and how people are really excited about delivering the news!
* Playing in Concert Class (even when you play wrong notes that are dissonant and really funny!). And for singing lessons. And for grad seminars.
* Long hours of days out - morning till night. Running around madly trying to make rehearsals, meetings, dinner appointments, concerts. Awesome times. Except for the homework I didn't do....but I knew I was never going to do it...
* Those days that are really cold....but sunny and clear. One of my favourite sorts. More heat is preferable for some, but this, I think is really ideal, so long as one is dressed approrpriately for it.
* Massive church services because there are four people being baptised on the same night. Awesome. Truly.

I fell asleep (read: nodded off multiple times) in EVERY class this week - oops...there is much revision to be done.
And there is a warm bed waiting for me to hop into it. Why am I blogging now? I've set my alarm for six hours' time....so that I can catch a cab at 7.15am. So. Early. Ahhh.
See y'all back in the 'bourne soon...
xoxo. Not that one. Just me. :P