Where has this year gone???

Where has this year gone??? I've just had my last class for this year (lectures, i guess..) and it finished early! (Piano lessons don't count, because i expect them, i guess!)

wow.....it has been busy!

Chris n erica's was AWEOSME!! (as per the photos!) there was this awesome jazz band called "Dry White Toast" and the bass guitarist was this dude from my music mentor group, which was kinda like, "woah! do i know you??" haha :P

the next day (sat) mel and i were contemplating how cool jazz was, and found ourselves thinking "woah, we need to able to dance to jazz and stuff like that!" so we managed to look on the internet for dancing tips. and yes, we spent like, one hour going through a number of videos in our attempts to learn the east coast swing, the samba, the merengue and what not. I think i've forgotten. but i think it's all about attitude (a la xing? haha :P awesome!)

i also had a gig on saturday...i played at a wedding for a singer, who was also a bridesmaid, who was the vocal coach for singin' in the rain. it was a beautiful place....st mary's star of the sea on the cnr of victoria and howard sts in north melbourne. it's currently under this reconstruction. it's quite pretty...and apparently one of the largest parish churches in victoria, or the country (excluding the main cathedrals). v. elaborate. But they didn't have a piano (only an organ..) so i ended up playing on a keyboard. an experience, i guess! (can't say i'm a huge fan...)

anyway....
so, today marks the last day of the teaching semester...v. scary!
i thought be relatively free after the play. the week after proved me wrong. this week def. proved me wrong! i have been running around like a headless chicken! on monday night, i went to the monday evening programme, where helen (my music tutor), played a concert of franco-belgian music, accompanied by mark kruger, this dude from the con who's just finished his doctorate, i think.....my gosh, the franck sonata is DIVINE!! (anne is soooo right!) then mel and i went to the vic to visit chris n erica to deliver pressies and cake and cards :) we ended up talking to them for a few hours :) we watched bits of who wants to be a millionaire, to see if ian tupper got on, but he unfortunately didn't....

ooh!!! in piano class on monday, we saw cool things! we watched these three videos. the first one, i've forgotten. this painist playing shostakovich preludes and fugues. she was aweomse. But the most awesomest thing in my opinion was seeing footage of leonard bernstein....he was the conductor of the ny phil and he used to put on a number of free concerts during the summer at carnegie hall, free for children and their parents, sort of like an educational programme of introducing kids to the orchestra and stuff....think an early "keys to music programme". So, in this footage, he conducted the Copland piano concerto. And the soloist was none other than Aaron copland himself. It was amazing. Sure, there were some bits in it that i didn't really like, but on the whole, it was amazing. Joyfully jazzy, the whole 'open' sound, the use of a sop. sax and what not.....SOO COOL!!!!! Yeah, i love copland.....and ravel.....and debussy.....oh my gosh. i could go on for a while...i'll stop there...before you think me even more nuts! Well, on sunday night, i was in the library doing some work, and decided to read limelight magazine. That's when i realised (yet again) that I am nuts...about music. it was lovely. i was reading through the cd reviews, the concerts and the advertising for 2006 seasons around the country, and the programme listings for the classical channel, and kept sighing to myself, thinking "Wow that's an amazing piece" or "wow, that's an amazing artist....listen for it!". Yeah, i am nuts. i even got really excited when i saw pictures and names of current students, or recent graduates of the con!!! :D

ok...moving on...

tuesday night i had tutes....then a very amusing Bible study. hahahahahha. sigh. I am so greatly amused :) (in a good way!) it's sad that a number of us (well, not us, as in me, but you know, collectively) are leaving.... :(

wednesday saw the piano duo finale, a concert of piano duet/duo works from the Romantic era. gina and i played.....i was kinda nervous, because it was assessed....but nice to have like, a concert! olga was like, "you girls played very well!" so hopefully that went ok! :) it's nice to have the chance to play in melba hall on such a fine instrument! thanx to gowri, sam n mags who came :) Some duos were amazing.....eg. tristan n will. they are just amazing. and peter dumsday. he is an aweosme pianist...kinda underrated next to stefan, but you know.......still v. good.

then on wed. night i played a little recital at queen's. just to play my programme through. sure, there were some dodgy bits....i have about 3 weeks to fix it up, so hopefully that will go well! thanx to everybody who came...(i'm not going to list, coz i will forget somebody and then feel really really bad..!). it's nice to play to some people! then mel n i went to safeway :) gotta love that place! (sorry this is so dry!!!)

then, yesterday was the last concert class of the year. it was a really good class as well! cameron hill played...and gosh, he is sooo awesome. I'm upset that i missed the orchestra concert on tuesday night, but i had to go to tutes and stuff! (he played with the orchestra in the bartok concerto no.2, which he won a violin scholarship for previously......). he is just sooo amazing. sure, i've never talked to him, but he just seems like such a down-to-earth awesome guy. i wish i knew him. and yeah, if i passed him on the street, i wouldn't be able to tell he was such an awesome violinist! edwina played and yeah, drama queen as she is....but she did play well! and well, stefan played.......he is rather good..! sigh...it was SUCH an aweosme concert class. the funniest has gotta have been the poulenc sonata, played by a brass trio (of a trumpet, horn and trombone), including rob shirley (wyvern)...and they walked out in top half black tie (yes, the whole white shirt, bow tie and jacket) and the bottom half either board shorts/denim shorts and thongs/sandels. It was so amusing!!! how's that for some either 'wow' factor, or just great amusement! yes, it was an awesome concert class. while i am glad that i don't have to sit for two hours for about three months listening to people play and tryign to stay awake, it is relaly nice to see how people are going...they play so well...(really a testament to the awesome talent, teachers and faculty!) and it's sad that some people are leaving...!!! *sniff!* and i haven't even gotten to know people that i'd like to! *sniff!*

ok, enough of the sadness...

yesterday was mel's birthday, so...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL!!! (again!)

i was incredibly busy yesterday...i have no idea why! after concert class, sam n rach came back to queen's with me for lunch..(which i very nearly missed....so late!) and then we did an aural practice with queen benny n a divine velvet jet. it went v. well, i thought! just a few more bits to polish. and it shoudl be pretty right for the exam (hopefully she likes us!)

then sam n rach and i hung round doing stuff....mucking about and what not....then i had to go off for a QCWT rehearsal! hahah....this seriously made my day! talk about talent and what not! there's al, who i'm glad for coz he now has a whole kit to play on! then pete who needs a guitar solo; jon, who's always sticking in funky chords..and going "i think we should have a violin solo", ben "i can sing!" (he can.....it's awesome! haha) and mel "i'm giving this a shot!" and yeah, it sounds aweosme, melliee!!!!! :D :D and gina "let's put some musical bits to it"...i guess she's QCWT without the QC attachment, really...oh well. it was an awesome rehearsal :) I hope i remember everything correctly! we missed dinner, so we all went (besides jon and gina) to subway. Haha. it must be a tradition now....that's the 2nd time we've been with the exact same people!!!

then, headed back to college, only to be called by paul, the director of sitr to ask about the music for the caberet thing tonight, and i'm like, "i thought gareth had the music???" of course, my phone died on me..(it's a habit....try not to call me ppl, msg me instead!) and came back to queen's, only to bump into paul, to be told, "oh there's a dress rehearsal tonight!" and i'm thinking, "well, i ain't playing so i'll try find anne!" unfortunately i couldn't find anne, so i had to do the dress...it went ok, though! i didn't realise SITR is nominated for best production. i hope we win...because it was an aweosme play. seriously, i was carryign around the prop (a mirror, yes a mirror!!! how minor..) and went to the teatre, looking quite lost as to where i was supposed to be...and then this guy saw me and was like, "oh! singin' in the rain!" yeah....from ONE PROP!!! how quirky is that? was it really that recognisable????? how odd. but funny!

then, headed back home after the dress, to go to kernick and have celebrations for mel's at kernick :) it was nice. sarah, you are the perfect proxy-proxy mum (xing is the original proxy..). soooooo full!!!! and oh so yum!!! :) haha. just the perfect way to end the night, i guess! :) i am so looking forward to tonight....we are going out for mel's....yeah, i'm more excited than mel herself... get pumped, woman! (just so that i don't feel like a nut anymore than i really need to! haha). pity that mothers' birthdayS fall on the same weekend! how coincidental is that??? (sigh..) oh well. save them cake or something..?

ok, so i've spent a really long time blogging. sorry it's so long. it's been a busy time....

mel n i r going to the first-ever CU ball tomorrow night...now to figure out how to get out to doncaster...... :S (it's good, it's dry, that's ok. 3-course meal and the tix money goes to supporting missionaries. it's nice :) )

okay i'm really off. it sounds like i'm talking to myself....and i've had plenty of weird convos in the past few weeks...(haha mel...you know exactly who/what i'm talking about! haha...)

have a great day guys! :)