sorry sorry sorry!

hi all
sorry i've been so slack at writing. since coming home, internet has been a bit lacking.
and now we have no internet at all, so i'm kinda dying a little but that's ok.

first up, merry belated christmas to all!
thanks to everybody who sent messages - i really appreciate it. sorry i haven't been able to reply to most messages via facebook - again, lack of internet issue.

my christmas was ok, had ppl over for dinner, so spent lots of time in the kitchen preparing!
we're still eating leftovers now! hehe :P

am basically relaxing at home, but missing my friends whom i know from Victoria very much! don't worry, i shall be back in melbourne soon! i plan to head up to ballarat and bendigo in february, so fingers crossed!

so, sorry this is so brief, but just to let y'all know that i've received your messages...
eg. re: apollo strings and choir collaboration; apollo jazz/pop etc.
and all your lovely messages of Christmas greetings, and messages of 'hope you're going well' or something of that sort.

okies, gotta go - hope you're all keeping well :)

last post from melbourne!

yup, that's right kids, this will be my last post from melbourne in 2007! i'm going home tomorrow night, finally!
will be having dinner with a few friends before they take me to the airport (how nice of them!)
i'm at the con basement (again!) using the computers (again!) after having been here for some meetings at the faculty today, and some practice too - last day of practice before heading home, where i'll do more practice yay! hehe.

got results, which were pretty good. at least the ones i cared about were very good :) always a bonus. but yeah, i did pretty well, so i'm happy. the one that mattered the most (ie. prac) i did well enough to take prac 4 next year yay! thanks to all those who came to my exam on the 23rd to support me, and thanks also to those who supported me in spirit on that day!
hope all you guys who had results went well, and are happy with them. otherwise, well, i'm always open for a chat if you wanna whinge, or find some more motivation for next year (although results not guaranteed!)

and musing of today: have all my text messages been going through, or are some of you guys lazy and not replying?! please help me here! i have about $40 of credit still to use by next week, which is why i'm writing some of you extensive text messages for no apparent reason!

okay, going to the library, and then finally leaving the con for the last time officially for 2007!

adios amigos - either catch you at home or next year back in the 'bourne!

hats off, and cheers to a fantastic year that 2007 has been xoxo

supposedly practicing

i'm in the con basement, supposed to be practicing. because that's what i came into uni for. oh, and to use the computers too. to check my email.
but i'm having a break. because i'm unmotivated (a bit...) and my wrists are sore. that can't be good....

anyway, last week was pretty intense. moved out of queen's, moved to the vic for a couple of days, then moved to my aunt and uncle's apartment on swanston st. they've since left, so i'm there by my lonesome self :(

had rehearsals last week, for MYO and queen's choir. the queen's advent service was on sunday arvo, went pretty well :) although it was really hot. MYO also went well, the concert was quite good (well, our bit anyway) - it sounded heaps better in town hall (with a real organ too!) with the acoustics. i didn't miss a cue in the scherzo bit (phew!).

now just hanging out, coming to uni to practice because i have nothing better to do, and meeting up with a few people for various things.
so if you feel the urge to talk to me, please call my mobile because there is no landline at the apartment, and email is possibly unreliable because there isn't internet at the apartment either. although i'll be kinda checking off and on.

anyway, this must be thoroughly dry for anybody reading it - sorry, i'm boring at the moment.

Sextet from Don Giovanni

Fleming as Donna Anna, Kanawa as Donna Elvira, Hong as Zerlina, Hadley as Don Ottavio, Terfel as Leporello and Robbins as Masetto

finished with 3rd yr!

finally!

i can't believe it's all over.
but this i think, will be a long post because there seems to be a lot that needs to be caught up to speed!
woah, i just realised i haven't given the entire rundown of the last two weeks! HERE WE GO!!!

had coffee (or equivalent) with P and M saturday two weeks ago. for catching up. but also for more serious matters. it was very difficult. but i'm glad i did it. i think it was necessary. i wasn't sure what i was expecting, but i think the result of it was good for all of us. thanks P for your support. and thanks M for listening.
went to the idea of north concert that night. P said it'd probably be a great time to do it, because the last thing i'd want to do after the coffee date was to sit at home by myself moping. she was right. i had a GRAND time. the concert was fantastic (as always). had a few more newbies 'inducted' and some oldies (but hard-core, die-hard friends hehe!), and a fine concert indeed. of course, i was paranoid so i left plenty of time to get there. phew! getting home took much longer than expected, because we had to wait for a tram for a long time, then walked L home, then walked the rest of the way home. Thanks S & P for coming with me. i know i wouldn't have liked to walk home from there by myself! We never ended up getting something to eat, but that's cool :)

went out with our small group for dinner on sunday, which was lovely. as T pointed out about two weeks later, "you girls are like, best friends". which is kinda true. but we love the boys too. :) ate very well. which is always a bonus :)

last monday (12th) had 2nd yrs exams to attend (in differing capacities). went to J's trumpet recital in the morning. i'd figured out my entire day so that i could get in my practice (in the morning woohoo!) and then get ready, then go to J's. then warm-up and all that jazz. J played well - i haven't heard her play much (solo) so that was nice. bozza was funny - it's because of that rhythmic thing that he uses in all his stuff! then went to warm up for S's exam. S played well, i was really proud of him. mind you, he nearly sweated off 3kgs! but we got there in the end, which was good! straight after was A's exam. he sweated about 1kg off! Hehe. :P it was nice that some people could come to either, or both of the exams! and let me tell you, it wasn't just them that felt the pressure!
the programme for me was this:
S's programme: Strauss Nocturne, Strauss concerto #1
A's programme: Sea Eagle (unacc. phew!), Strauss concerto #1, Saint-Saens Romance, Le Basque

See? two times of the strauss concerto was pretty intense. also because they listened to all of it. both times. i think i nearly died!

but we were all glad that it was over. went to PA's for a drink. one of the examiners came and joined us hehe! we had a good chat, he congratulated the boys on their exams, and even complimented me! he's cool :) funny guy.

hehe. the boys tried to make it really casual sounding, it was so cute. kinda went like this:
S: so....what are you doing tonight?
me: studying...supposedly.....why so?
S: well, do you want to have dinner...?
me: well, i suppose i could do that. i mean, i can study in the afternoon, so yeah, dinner sounds good.
S: hey A, what are you doing? wanna do dinner?
A: yeah, sounds good!

hehe. it was very cute. we were going to go out to somewhere, but instead, S 'felt domestic' (his words!) so instead we went to his house and he cooked, and we hung out for a long time. but wait...there are in-between bits to this story.
we decided after a while that we needed lunch. so i tried to make the first move, "right, i'm hungry, and i have to study. i'm going to union to get lunch". then we all decided to go to union to get lunch. A: I'll grab a table.
So we sit down, just at another place, and have a late lunch. we hung out even more. were in north court looking at cds when J called, and we all had turns pretending we were each other, or somebody else completely different! amusing, probably not for her, but for us, it was very much so.
i came home at about 3.30. (this was after the first exam i had to play for was at 11.50am) haha.
then went to J's clarinet recital at 4.10. she had quite a crowd! some family, quite a few friends, which was really cool! i thought she played well, but it seems in general the 2nd years were all a bit "eek!!! that didn't go to plan!!!!" with their exams. don't stress, i think it's just the examiner you had...! he kinda has that effect, unfortunately...!
came home after that, studied a teensy bit more then went for dinner. it was muchly fun. :)
we hung out for a really long time, and enjoyed the company of each other. we watched cool youtube videos, other videos, listened to funny music. the boys quite almost ate my EARS off!!! (the eclipse mints). and now we have developed a passion for the jamaican accent. Haha. and stupid faces. went to the church to have a play. most amusing. we pretended we were muse and rocked out. and did other silly stuff. it was very muchly fun!

listened to the don banks trio, as well as other brass stuff, on tuesday arvo, part of the 3MBS 'live at the convent' series. it was fun to listen to friends perform. i always feel proud of them :)
and just in case i hadn't seen S enough in the past 24hrs, A & I went to his house to watch a movie. A piked on us (pooh!) but we still had fun. C brought food (sugar) so we all pigged out while watching "Madagascar". Hehe. such a cute movie.

so, really, last week, i did study during the day. the way i did it, i practiced in the morning, and then studied macro during the afternoon, and night (as time permitted. i do really devote time to study, i kid you not! hehe)

had macro exam on friday afternoon. it went ok, i think. i suppose we'll see in a few weeks time when my results come out, eh?! i could do some stuff, and made some other stuff up. oh well. i was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a full open (and functional!) economy question though, i was really good at that! oh well.
after my macro exam, i met up with N to have a coffee. despite living so close to each other, i haven't really had a good chat at all this year with him! so, i only could do an hour, but it was a great hour, really nice to catch up and the like :)
then rushed off to dinner with the girls. it was going to be us 4, H was running late, and then J joined us, after her rehearsal! so it was lovely that we could all hang out. we went to Blue Train at Southbank, which was fantastic. after that, due to P's fantastic idea (full of those, she is!) we went on the ferris wheel which was totally cool! that was probably the 2nd time i've ever been on one, so i was yelling for the first half, to which my friends tried to shut me up! but it was just the loveliest day for going out at night. i had a FANTASTIC night with you guys - i love you girls!
anyway, P and I stayed on in the city.....we were hanging out waiting for 10pm. before that we wandered over to Fed Square where there was a presentation to campaign against china's human rights record. it was a pretty big do, so it was pretty cool. then afterwards an irish band played for a while - totally cool!
then we headed off to the purple emerald (as organised by S) for a night out, with some cool music. anyway, it's TOTALLY cool!!! we should all go there heaps next year.
Purple Emerald, 191 Flinders Lane

on saturday arvo, i played through my programme for A and A, who would be away on the day of my recital. it was good practice, which was cool. then just in case you know, i hadn't hung out with A enough that day, we went to mso that night with B & A. hehe - the organisation was a bit hectic, involving numerous phone calls! it was the first time in two years that i've been to mso! it was cool to go, a good concert (for haydn...?!?! hehe..for bartok too. hehe. good stravinsky too!). afterwards, B had to go to work, and A, A and I couldn't decide what to do for the longest time. we learnt that we suck at deciding, but at least A and I organise stuff!!!

went for a massage at the sports centre on monday. i wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was good. yeah, it did kinda hurt, because my muscles were so tense! he actually gave me an hour, even though it was supposed to be 45mins. anyway, it was good. had a frantic sms from C about his accompanist not being able to play for his exam the next day, so had to do a ring-around!

had lunch with S on tuesday, which was wonderful. we're usually so busy during semester that we don't get a chance to catch up with each other. we got to hang out with each other for a while, so that was cool. A called in the arvo to ask whether we wanted to meet up with the boys to get gelate that night. (it was a really hot day!!!). so, we traipsied over to S's house that evening. A again piked on us, despite me calling him to guilt-trip, i mean, ask him to consider us in his evening plans. but anyway, he didn't end up coming at all. we got gelate, which was very tasty :) went back to S's house and hung out for a while, which was cool.

had a nice phone call from my teacher on wednesday morning, which was cool. she said some really nice things, and some really encouraging things, so that made me feel really comfortable about my preparation for my exam. she even said (as a side-thing!) "you're in the ABC database!" indeed i am :) hehe. cool.

went to S's flute recital on Thursday. she did well :) i page-turned for her accompanist for a couple of the pieces.....one was terribly hard...! it's times like those i feel perfect pitch comes in really handy! unfortunately couldn't go to two recitals that night, because my exam was the next day. it would have been lovely to see both (or even either!) of them! anyway, J came down to melb because she had to do a concert the day, and decided to come a day before so she could come to my exam :)
we had dinner that night, and talked for about three and a half hours, which was lovely. we realised that we hadn't really hung out with just each other for a long time (although we have hung out, just with other people, which is cool too!). it was great to hang out. :)
then put myself to bed early, in preparation for friday!

so, that was yesterday. woke up at 6am, because my exam was at 9.15am! (so early!) left plenty of time to get ready, have breakfast, warm up and head to the con, warm up again etc.
the exam went ok - i felt fairly comfortable for the most part, until the last piece (which is a very daunting piece in itself!). about 12 friends came, which was just lovely.
thanks to those who came, it was great to see you, and thanks for the support.
went out for brekkie afterwards with some friends who'd come to my exam, plus A, whose exam was unfortunately at the same time as mine!
we were walking out of the con, and there was some string players gathered, and somebody was like, "hey!!!" and gave me a huge hug. it was S!!! i apologised for missing her quartet's concert the previous night (due to having to put myself to bed early because of exam!), but it was fantastic to see her. she's just LOVELY! definitely somebody i respect intensely personally and musically. she's just wonderful.
(okay, don't worry, i'm not obsessed or anything, i just haven't seen her for the longest time, we went to school together..., and i just hear about her occassionally, about how well she's doing and the like!)

we went to brekkie, which was fantastic. we ate LOTS. A had started making a cake (which her mum took over, because she was supposed to be warming up!), a traditional russian chocolate recipe, yum! although we were so full that we didn't eat that much cake!
didn't really eat lunch after all that, but that was cool.
went to M's piano recital in the arvo, which was nice. although, as i predicted, he asked us "why are you coming to listen to me?!" because you invited us, M...!
hung out with S all day because i was packing, and we went to the free opera in the park that evening. Bizet's "Pearlfishers", by opera australia, put on in conjunction with Australia Post (ie. they paid lots of money). A and A had saved seats for us (well, anybody, but we were there, so we got them), which was awesome.
the opera was beautiful. i thought the conductor at times was a bit unnecessary (not him, but his actions, some of them), and the amplification altered the true sound of the music, particularly the voices, but nevertheless, it was enjoyable. the famous duet was quite beautiful, but definitely not the best i've heard. although the guy who played Zurga, the more i listened to him, the more i liked his voice. i suppose i don't really know much opera at all. i've only ever seen two, and studied two (one overlaps!), and it was in french as well! (i only do italian at the moment..! although i'm willing to learn much more!) it is a sad opera, actually. well, i think it particularly poignant. the chorus was great, i thought, and the more i thought about it, the more central it is to the music and drama!
it was beautifully presented.

today i slept in till 8am woohoo! practiced a teensy bit, then go to work packing. i hate packing.
i've been doing a lot of it this week, interspersed with practice. (no wonder i'm sore..?!)
then went to my first MYO rehearsal. it was a teensy bit daunting, and really revealed what i need to work on. admittedly, in the entire half hour (or so!) symphony, i play for a grand totaly of about 3mins. my mum was so disappointed when she found out hehe. but yeah, i need to practice!
and just need to pack up the rest of everything - i'm almost there!

so, this massive post is also because i'm not sure when i'll be able to next post.
stella needs to return to her owner, mine is currently being re-built, i think. hopefully. anyway.
got reherasals for choir and orchestra next week, with two performances on sunday (eek! talk about intense day!) but should be fun. i've almost forgotten what it's like to have rehearsals now! but also some friends' recitals to go to next week as well, which should be cool. will be living at S's (well, the vic, of which whose it is can be debated) and also at my aunt's and uncle's next week. so i might not be that readily contactable via email. be prepared to wait a couple of days for any response, ok?
if it's urgent, call my mobile. or text me (although i might not msg back because i don't know how much $ i have left...)

ok, signing out.....

will let you know about myo tickets if you're interested. :)

steph: thanks for the clarification. of course i remember you! just wasn't sure which steph because i know at least five - please forgive me! but yeah, email me. my email hasn't changed, although i primarily use gmail now, but that's cool :) but as above, might not get back to you immediately...

some help

could the 'steph' who left a comment re: a proposition/suggestion, please email me.
or facebook me.
because i don't know which steph it is.
sorry.
but it sounds exciting, so let me know...

blessed

as one friend keeps reminding me, we are blessed to have the friends we have.
i often marvel at the friends i have.
how did we meet?
what do we share in common?
what keeps us friends?
pretty amazing stuff.
there are friendships were we spend lots of time together. and don't get sick of each other.
there are friendships were it swings between feeling like a parent and a little sister.
there are friendships that are borne out of certain things we do.
and that's definitely not the extent of them.

for all of them, i am very thankful.

thanks to M for the loan of stella. i hope oliver isn't feeling alone.

let's keep this brief

had couple of exams on tuesday.
smashed the listening test, especially with my nice fountain pen with peacock blue ink. that was really not relevant at all!
there were too many Ds in the chorale, but yeah. string quartet had little given (2 bars) then we had to write 12 extra bars! too many. but i managed to fill them up somehow.
am still working off computer lab, my own laptop refuses to come out of its hibernation, refusing to actually resume windows, as it promises.
empty, i tell you, empty!
am dying from not being able to check email or facebook every ten, wait, make that three, minutes.
dying even more from not being able to listen to my music. i was so excited that i could listen to muse while studying macro. but tis not to be so.

so, am supposedly studying for macro.
have managed to fit in practice every day.

had a lesson with G and S and A on thursday - spent three hours with the boys, including the lesson, which was good, but also amusing all at the same time. G's piano is too soft, but managable. oh well, we made it through. Well, S nearly didn't because he'd given blood that morning.
Actually went to brekkie with the girls that morning, which was lovely. and then went to uni to study (not that productive though..) and then watched M's exam, which was nice.
had a lovely thursday in all.

but what my cousin said a while ago, he reckons that after so many highs and with all the adrenalin, once it stops, one may get depressed. uh-oh.
i have many highs and good adrenalin. maybe that's why i need to keep going.
and maybe that's why i feel so unmotivated today.

i'm starting to miss the con and its antics and all my con friends already..!
the cool 2nd yrs won't be 2nd yrs anymore..!

i'm going to go practice my sounds. like the click. and the raindrop. haha.
and try to suss out which earrings NOT to wear when i see the boys because they resemble those sweets too much that they want to eat them.

silly me

i've screwed up my computer again - water. but i don't think it was the water that did it. i think it was because in my cleanage, i managed to accidentally hit the screen. but not too hard.
it flickered, came back on.
then flickered again. and cut out.
and now i can't turn it back on again.
but yeah, i can't use it. my life without facebook and email is kinda tormenting at the moment, but on the flipside, i have all this space on my desk.
well, some more.
but i don't have any music to study to now..!!! :(
i'll take it to the computer guys to fix it. i don't really care how much it costs, i need it back.
so yeah, send me emails, but it won't necessarily get a reply within 10 mins, like other times.

a weekend of music

okay, i know, i blogged only a day and a bit ago.
but meh, i'm procrastinating - there! i said it. plus, lots has happened.

on friday night, i had to play for 'cop song' from urinetown. the show had been nominated for awards at the UHT cabaret and awards night, and subsequently was asked to perform just one number from the show. it went quite well, considering we had a very short time to prepare it, plus it wasn't fresh in our heads. a few hitches but nicely saved, would be how i'd describe it overall. i didn't realise that there'd be quite a few people i knew in the audience, because i'd gotten a "go gladys!" when i stepped onto stage (albeit to the side to play piano! hehe) as well as a few comments in the next 24hrs of "well done!". wow, who would have thought i had so many friends who were into theatre?!

then we rushed off to mel's 21st. thanks to D who drove S, A and me. it was wonderful to see so many of her friends (who incidentally are also half my friends hehe!) from all sorts of places. especially some that i haven't seen for a while (ie. mostly wyverns). i had a wonderful time. the place was so cute (all to herself!) and had a good chat to a few people - some old, some new. the cupcakes were a treat, sooo cute! i unfortunately managed to stack it down the stairs near the end, causing a flurry of "are you ok?!?!" don't worry, i was, but my bum hurt for a little while, but not an issue! at least i didn't twist my ankle! haha. there was a guy we didn't know (but part of the party!) who was coming down the stairs trying to bust the moves on P and me (he started busting the moves when he saw us - desparate..!) but then just as he did, he hit his head on the doorway coz he was too tall. hahahaha. shows that he really shouldn't try to flirt when it's possible he could make himself look like the biggest idiot (which is what we thought) haha. for amusement factor, good score!

did a little bit of homework on saturday morning, but kept getting distracted (i'm really good at that!) then met M at 12 to go shopping. (I haven't eaten properly all weekend......anyway, different story completely). i wanted to buy a black dress for performing, and/or a nice top for performing (so that our trio can have some colour!). we went into the city to browse and all that. went to several places, including melbourne central, myer, and swanston st. actually found a gorgeous dress in central, from ojay. tried it on, but wanted to leave it to think more about it for a while. kept going around trying to find stuff, but to little avail - nothing else really caught my eye that much. M had to go quite suddenly (well, earlier than expected because her aunt arrived at spencer st earlier than anticipated) leaving me to try on a dress in another store. that didn't quite do it for me, even though it was half-price, at $45, and quite nice. however, it just didn't quite cut it. i decided to go back to ojay to have a 2nd try of the dress. the girl who'd helped me the first time was very helpful again ("back for the dress?"), and so was another girl working with her. i totally fell in love with the dress again. mostly for the skirt, but the dress is just gorgeous! and so i decided to buy it. even though it was more expensive than i intended to spend (mind you, it was on sale because of racing season), but i figured that i'd wear it quite a lot (getting lots of value for money!) and it was just perfect - well, so suitable for playing piano (the original intention of buying a dress) and plain enough to dress up or down with all sorts of accessories, but nice enough to wear by itself. i also went to the supermarket to buy a pair of stockings (real ones with feet this time!) - but who knew it'd be so hard?! i thought i'd have lots of choice, but i didn't really, which was a pity! the time i wanted footless tights, they didn't have them. but the time i want just normal stockings, so little choice!

so, the farewell concert.
sound-check at 6.15, so had to shove down dinner pretty fast. got all dressed up. new dress and all. so nice to wear!!! a few people are incredibly jealous of it.. :P (not that it's fun to be the envy of people, but yeah, anyway....)
waited around for ages, but i guess that happens.
our sextet was wonderful. so much fun! A turned pages for me again (this is only the 2nd time i've actually met him, although i've known about him for well over a year), but he was much fun to talk to and hang out with.



i have loved working with this group of singers - i did originally tell N, "More than two singers in a room makes me scared!" but this group, you guys are incredibly talented. when and what is our next project? many happy and fun memories :)

merlyn's performance was stunning. she is just such a gorgeous singer. "I'm Tone Deaf" was performed with great amusement, and Laudate Dominum was just gorgeous (also involving the music coming on screen and the audience joining in! I love singing the alto lines!) the opera project tribute was quite amazing - i've heard about this, but never really known much about it. to see the footage of what goes on, and how it evolves was amazing. the best opera was definitely the one about camels. the composer even made all the costumes, wrote the libretto, helped with set design and construction. and wrote an aria from the point of view of the camel belonging to lawrence of arabia. HAHAHA.

when we'd finished performing, we got off the stage and sat in the audience, as they were still applauding - it was almost just breath-taking to see bebbo applauding and smiling at us as though we were his protegees! it was cute.
AK came up to me later and told me in her usual (fairly stern) way "that was fantastic, gladys" i felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside. because i'm pretty sure comments like that from her are fairly rare. and she's hardcore. well, in terms of knowing exactly how it's meant to be.
hung around for a while, especially catching up (a bit!) with G, which was wonderful - i haven't really had a chance all semester to sit down and chat with her. even though we didn't sit, it was great to discuss big issues. :)
just as we were about leaving, i stopped merlyn and thanked her for helping us out and working with us. even though i'd heard the rumour for three years about her being mean, i have found this, in my experience, to be completely untrue! she was wonderful to work with, so supportive, and so encouraging, and so full of humour! she gave me a hug, and told me that i was talented!!!! wow. i was really taken aback by this second comment from such a prominent person (people!) in one night. she said i could go far if i had determination, and that it's hard being a woman in this industry. but i assured her that i was full of determination and grit...! this was quite phenomenal - there was this lady, an amazing musician, who i'd only worked very briefly with, telling me that she could tell i was talented, and urging me to keep doing this stuff! i was really touched.

it was an amazingly touching and emotional kind of concert. of course, there was a standing ovation for her. and i don't know her that well, yet had tears in my eyes several times! what an amazing woman.


daylight saving started from saturday to sunday. gargh, i hate this time of year - one less hour of my life! i really could do with just adding hours consistently..! oh well.
didn't get much done today, admittedly.
went to parkville this morning, which was lovely. got to see G, whom i haven't seen all year! plus, i got to meet W in the flesh! (he has been in the flesh for quite a while now, though..!) soo cute!!!
tried to do some work this arvo, but that didn't go that well, because.....i'm lazy....!
was intending on going to the choir of westminster abbey musica viva concert this evening...but E and i got there at about 5.20pm, and ALL the student rush tickets had sold out. we waited to see if any would become available, but to no avail. what a disappointment - i'd been waiting for a whole year for this event, and didn't end up seeing them at all :"(
instead, M, E and i went for some early dinner-y thing at blue train. it was nice to hang out with them, because i don't get to enough, and definitely not much at all outside of uni.
it was just a pity that soo many students missed out - i find it quite preposterous that they advertised to VCA and con students (potentially at least 100 students who would go) but only had about 20 seats to actually sell!
i suppose i will just have to go to london to hear them. there will be lots of things to do on this trip!

anyway, swotvac officially starts tomorrow. as you can probably tell, i've been very successful at procrastinating for an ENTIRE weekend. i really have to knuckle down. but when one's homework and study is:
1) practicing and playing the piano, it doesn't feel like study.
2) so spread out because exams are so spread out, motivation has to last all that time..!!!
3) listening to set pieces, i can still blog at the same time. or do other stuff while doing homework. i really think my homework is too much fun to be homework.

week 12 - some stuff happened!

but is that really surprising? as i've always maintained, i think i'm one of the busiest people i know. if not, the busiest. but i suppose i don't have friends who are CEOs. so perhaps not.
anyway.

my piano lesson last week didn't go as well as the one before it. well, i felt a lot smaller after it. but i suppose that happens - one needs to be brought down to size haha. but i tell you, it made me practice a lot because i was afriad of being crap! went to the vic on friday night, but tim was unfortunately sick again. so we hung out and talked and ate yummy food (including yummy lemon coconut slice made by jon...soo good!!!) and watched a movie, "The Great Race". So old, so cliched, but so funny. Plus a fantastic pie fight scene to die for. Well, not really, but it was fantastic. jule, jac and kristen came over fairly late, and it was cool coz then there were heaps of musos friends also there - it was really nice!

S came over on saturday night to play through his programme - this was the first time we were playing together, so that was cool. plus, i was really bored that night, so it was greatly appreciated! i did most of my homework on saturday day coz sunday was huge....

there was just lots of stuff on! had a rehearsal at 1pm with our yet-unnamed trio. then dashed off to newman at 3pm for orchestra nouveau's debut concert (M stayed in my room to practice). then had a little bit of time to dash over to the vic (for about 20mins!) to at least show up for a bit of F's 21st birthday lunch (had a slice of cake that her dad had made - yum!!!), and then dashed back to queen's for the chamber music concert at 5pm. i stayed until 6.30, then ran to chapel (i have hardly been this year because i've had HEAPS on..!) and then straight to jude's. i grabbed dinner with T, J & J (and B & E) afterwards - i was STARVING!!! and got home fairly late. but it was a big day (i did warn you, yeah?)

monday was also very busy, but unfortunately i couldn't go to everything! i need to learn about hexalocation, i think!

anyway, the lunchtime concert was the chamber music comp final. the don banks trio changed their name to the senzamento trio. i was confused for a while, until it clicked. and i laughed VERY loudly, VERY hard.
they played well. actually, they all did. the yarra trio won, so well done to them.
they played the smetana trio. and revelations over two days:
in the chamber music concert at queen's on sunday, A's trio played two movements from the Schubert. and i sat there thinking "hey! I know this! the kungsbacka trio played this at their concert earlier this year!" (the one i really enjoyed) and then the smetana - i wasn't sure coz i don't know it. except that when they started, i recognised it! the kungsbacka trio also played this one! so, having been slightly put out when i saw their melbourne programme wouldn't include the ghost trio, i still enjoyed the concert. but now, with hindsight, it was FANTASTIC! it's nice when you have those moments of recognition. :)

unfortunately, couldn't go to everything that night. this is why i needed to learn about hexalocation:
1) woodwind concert
2) comp 1 concert
3) big band gig
4) SMC meeting (which i ended up going to)
5) S's birthday dinner
6) RFP's concert at queen's

yeah, no prizes for guessing, from the above list, the things that fill my life! the meeting went for quite a long time - there was much to be discussed, esp. coz the AGM was on tuesday.

had a rehearsal on tuesday for don giovanni stuff with the sextet and M. we (and i mean 'they') staged it, which was cool! it sounds really good :) i'm really excited to be working with these people, even though more than two singers normally scares me!
so, went to the AGM dinner on tuesday night. which was good. got to talk to a few people, plus heard a report about student ministries. that was really interesting, but i suppose none of it was really surprising because we'd discussed it all (plus more!) at our meetings hehe. i have decided not to continue being on the committee, for various reasons (but one more so than the others). i had thought it out and emailled R that day. all rational. that's ok. i don't feel scared to raise an issue through a committee member now anymore, now that i know how it all works.

trio reherasal on wednesday was called off coz J had to go back home for a dentist and back appointment (not concurrently, though...) so i had a lot of the day to myself. had a don giovanni rehearsal in melba; it was good to work in the actual space. and to have the Eb actually work. :) was a good rehearsal, we're all feeling good about it! then went to Rosamund Illing's recital, which was very enjoyable. of course, i felt almost like a fake because i was a pianist, and there were lots of vocal students, but hey, i was interested. and i showing interest is a good thing too (not that it's the only reason one goes to stuff). got my techniques assignment checked by M (and had a cup of tea and a chat, which was nice!) then had the aedificamus launch. my essay, titled "Economic and Social Success or Failure?: The Impact of Globalisation on Women in Eastern Europe" was published in the journal. yay for three years running! hehe. reading back over it, i can't believe i did all that research and actually wrote it! yeah, this was the essay i wrote last semester for that online commerce subject i was taking, the one that i thought i wasn't going to do that well in (turns out i got like, a 90 for it..! haha)

missed the percussion ensemble concert that night - much as i love going to concerts, i figured i should do some homework. that was the intention anyway. but after dinner, ended up on s'north for a while. quite a while, in fact. like, till 10.30 or so. i think. haha. it was good though, to chat with friends, to hang out. and to look for 'missing' (ie. that we couldn't find) bible verses!!!! we were looking for one in particular......and called all sorts of people to see if they knew where it was! kudos to J for it!

anyway, so i got back to my room, and i checked my phone, and i'd had a missed call from a landline i didn't recognise. and an sms to tell me i had a missed call from a mobile number that i also didn't recognise. but looking at the times, it seemed somebody wanted to get onto me, so i decided to text message saying something along the lines of "i got a missed call from this number earlier tonight, so if you need to talk to me, you can call me coz i'm still awake." i get a "who are you?" back and figure it must have been a mistake in the first place whereupone i apologise "i'm sorry, must be mistaken. sorry to have bothered you". "that's ok" comes back.
Then 10 or so minutes later, i get a "are you a musician?"
now, that is WAYYY too lucky. and random!
my response is "um, yeah, good guess. i suppose i'll just say i'm a third yr pianist at the con". if that makes sense, that's cool. if they're not a muso themselves, then the con won't make sense.
the message i then get surprises me beyond anything, "Then u must be Gladys CHUA?"

WOW.

and i immediately ring it because i think that this must be a friend from uni whose number i don't have or something. but that's lucky, at least they know me! sounds personal, at least.
i didn't realise it was already quarter past eleven or so when i ring, but i figure, up this late and text messaging, they won't worry if i call them.
i call this number and say "I'm gladys, who are you?!"
and get a "hi gladys, this is PB"
AHHH. all the light bulbs go on, and then turn to confusion. because i've never met him before! but i know some about him, apart from conducting MYO. he also conducted uni orchestra last year. and i read his bio then (in the programme) and incidentally also comes from perth. I blurted this out on the phone, and said "you're from perth! so am i!!!"
the real reason he called was to ask if i was willing, available and interested in playing the 1st piano part in saint-saens' 3rd symphony with MYO on 2 dec.
we had a lovely conversation (after i called back on a landline..) about perth and all that jazz. turns out we know lots of people from home - all in music, of course! and that he is an old haleian, his mother lives around the corner from me and all that. just really random, coincidental things. that really made my day, it was just so amusing and so.......WOW..!!!
and also a lot of people from melbourne, especially current students; i didn't realise just how many people i knew from uni who are in or have done MYO! he had good things to say about them all, actually. even though his rapport with students may not be in the best shape.

anyway, so that was probably the most exciting thing all week!

thursday had classes, including the concert class which started at 10.15am..! of course, i was in the middle of ANOTHER class...what odd timing of it all! mss held a bbq for the end of semester, which went really well. another successful year, i think!
then rushed home for a rehearsal with R, then went off to hawthorn to do exam! woohoo! again, i forget what it's like to do ameb exams hehe. sat around talking to D for a while, which was nice. but then got home, and had to rush to theatre for reherasal, which unfortunately didn't even start on time (ppl before us were running late, took longer etc.) oh well.

i think i'll do the friday update another time...i'm incredibly tired right now, and feel quite ill (again...)
last day of classes was today, and it's scary! i mean, i still have tutes next week for college, and chamber music and stuff like that, but it's really coming down to crunch time now. assuming i don't fail anything, i'll be well past halfway of undergrad. and to think some of my friends are finishing undergrad now! eek!
i'll continue to aim to enjoy uni - i really enjoy it and definitely value the friendships i have there!

anyway, time for bed, i think. i'd like to do some shopping tomorrow..!

"wow" on a couple of fronts

1. that people actually read the post below. i'm really impressed - it was long. which takes me to point 2...

2. the post below (fortnight du mort) is just over 4000 words. no wonder it took so long to write!

3. 4000 words is longer than any essay or assignment i've written for uni (probably also because we have word limits, but still..!)

4. there are people visiting my blog from many parts of the world. and i don't think i know who they all are..! go figure. but cool.

fornight du mort

I hope the title accurately captures what really has been the most terrifying, the most productive, and the most intense fortnight I've probably ever had.

It would probably be easiest if I did this in chronological order, yah? And I'm sorry if it gets tedious, or boring. You don't have to read it all - this really is the story of my life, and if you're not interested, I don't mind. Whatever. I often write just to collect my thoughts - so often the benefit of me, while perhaps letting my friends know what's been happening my life, because I'm away from many of them quite often, in some way or another.

Week 9 of uni kicked off as looking like an intense week of chamber music. The Chamber Music Competition schedule was released on Monday afternoon and we found out that we were playing that Friday! Eeek!!! Luckily we'd had a rehearsal the previous week, but still....!

On Tuesday we had a Don Giovanni reherasal - that went well. Also came the prospect of doing a concert (or part of anyway!) which has since been set in stone, and is a great opportunity for us to perform, as we now have something to work towards. Resumed rehearsals (after some confusion about location! Sorry!!!) with A because we were due to perform/compete twice in the next week.

I kid you not, week 9 (first week back after the mid-semester break, which is not very well placed mid-semester) involved class or meetings almost every day at 9am (no doubt that means getting up to practice, starting at about 7.15am every morning. Which means getting up by 6.30am!) and ending (ie. coming home finally to 'rest' ie. do homework etc) at earliest 6pm! Talk about getting back into the swing of things after holidays! It seems almost crazy to have ever predicted that I would practice before a 9am class or meeting, but I tell you, after realising on the morning that I met K, this would be necessary, it has seemed a given.
Gosh, the holidays feel SO long ago! I can't actually remember what it felt like to be on holidays anymore, it's been that busy!

Anyway, Week 9 Wednesday. Meeting with the Dean at 9am to discuss several matters, including preliminary discussions about O'Week 2008 which MSS will be involved in somehow. Plus just, you know, other matters the Dean should know about. My piano lesson was cancelled so we had a 2hr trio rehearsal to go over the Bruch. Pretty intense stuff. Then had lunch quickly then had to dash off so I could catch a train to Heidelberg. Why Heidelberg?, you ask. Well, the Austin Hospital is there, and Apollo was doing a hospital performance, in which case I had to conduct the choir. Sure, it was a fair way to travel to perform for 15mins, but so worth it because we knew we were bringing a smile to people's faces. Plus the Austin foyer has great acoustics hehe. Immediately after, I ran promptly from the hospital with E, B & B to jump on the 2.21pm train back to the city, to make my 3.30 trio rehearsal (yep, again). We did another hour and a half or so before we were completely buggered. But so productive! Had Collegian's Dinner that night - got a Wyvern Medal, our table was so successful hehe! Didn't go to the turn - instead, did homework at the like and had to go to bed early for yet another big day. Annoyingly, got woken up at about 2am by somebody setting off the fire alarm. Needless to say, I was very UNIMPRESSED.

Thursday was yet another early morning - had rehearsal in Melba at 9.15am because our trio was playing in Concert Class. We had to wait for a very long time because other people kept switching the order of the programme (so-and-so had to go at so-and-so time etc.) We didn't play that well, I felt (we all felt), but we received some good feedback. And even if we played comparatively &%$* to how we normally do, or expect to, we definitely feel that there's chemistry (of a good musical and relational kind, all good!) working within our trio. Which is nice. :)
After my 1pm class, went down to the ABC for my piano lesson. Bumped into E there, which was cool. Had a good lesson, especially on a Steinway D. I guess it made up for the crap non-piano chair which I had to sit on! Came back to uni for Sinfonia, which was fun again. Except that there were only four violins at this reherasal, and much of the music we were playing was divisi across both violin sections, so this meant we were all basically playing our own part. Hehe. Much fun, though very exposed! After Sinfonia, went to meet my cousin to go with her to see my aunt & uncle's new apartment in the city. So cool! I have a few photos of the views (which I may or may not post here..? Dunno) but they're amazing - city lights hello! We went for dinner at a little Japanese restaurant tucked away in a little alley, which was delicious (the dinner, not the alley). Sashimi, yum! My uncle is very good at convincing me to try food....

Friday started off with practice (surprise surprise!) and then our trio met up at 10am to rehearse briefly before our competition heat at 11.40am at Melba Hall. We played much better on Friday than we did on Thursday, felt much more comfortable (thanks to the few people who did come to see us!) but there are still some bits which we need to fix. That's ok, always a learning experience. Enjoyed lunch with S after that (after being asked, see post below re: 'celebrity', to accompany about three other people for next week!). Had a rehearsal with R at 3pm after which I was then kinda able to relax a little bit! Went to the Vic for a social Connect night (T was sick) which was fun.

The weekend was really for a bit of recuperation (although I didn't really feel recovered, because I was doing...homework? I dunno. I don't really feel weekends anymore..!) but I must have gotten some stuff done! We (QCWT plus extras woohoo!) did Jude's music on Sunday night, which was awesome. It went off, it was amazing to help people worship in a really enthusiastic manner. This then brought up some issues....(not in detail here though). Managed to fight off any convincing from T to go out after for supper - he is the only person I've met so far who can manage to convince me to go out so much!!!

Hello Week 10, the busiest week in my life, I think. Production week does not even rate compared to this...!
Monday doesn't look that busy, but always feels it. Piano practice 7.15am, class 10-12, Don Giovanni rehearsal 12pm, went to lunchtime concert (probably only the 1.30-2pm bit), class 2.15-4.15pm, Apollo 4.30-6pm, and then come home. See? Doesn't look like much, but it actually is...! There was no point going home in the middle of the day so perhaps that's it....long days at uni!

Tuesday kicked off with practice, then class at 9am, then a rehearsal with C at 10am. It went really well - it felt pretty comfortable to be playing with her, which was nice :) Practiced some more, because I could, and I'd booked a basement practice room. Then went to help set up for the MSS vs MSS Grudge Match. This mainly involved on my part transporting food/equipment/setting up stuff. I kid you not, I cooked sausages all afternoon. It was fun though! It kinda meant that even though I didn't get to watch the netball or the tug-of-war, I got to basically meet everybody standing in line for food! It was pretty funny, considering that I was clearly representing the Music side (due to my role), I kept saying hi to all these Med kids. I'm pretty sure a lot of people probably thought I was a traitorous sort! Hehe. It was nice to see two sub-sections of my life mesh though, I like it when things intersect and become a little clearer! Then had to run off for another rehearsal with A because we were playing the next day. That went well, not too long (he had to run off). I led the Bible study that night at QC, which was the 2nd in the Simply Christianity series; this was a fairly compelling session - even I was amazed as I was preparing and delivering the information!

Wednesday kicked off with practice. I really think this should be the default assumption of every day and the day I don't practice in the morning will be like, "WOW!!!" Then "What's wrong?!" haha.
Anyway, it started at QC and then shifted to the basement at the Con. Had a short reherasal with C before her performance at 9.15am. That went pretty well. The adjudicator for the day was just lovely - much fun, and easy to play for. Immediately after hers, I was unexpectedly called to page-turn for the pianist for the guy who played next. The flautist played well - pretty amazing stuff! I was really proud of him, because he's a first year (mid-yr entry) mentee of mine, and he's doing really well! He's already playing in orchestra and in chamber music class an stuff!
And then it was time for my lesson! So, went to that, thinking that I'd only have to play through the other half of my programme that we didn't get through the previous week. But no, she had a different idea. It was basically this: "You're going to play your entire programme for me this morning!". And I didn't feel ready at all. I had one memory lapse, but that's ok. It will be much cleaner and much better by the time my exam rolls around. But she was really enthusiastic! She said I did really well and that my playing had improved very much even from last week! She had some points to make about each of the pieces, which was good - I like feedback and more things to work on. And then this little conversation emerged:
C: How old are you?
Me: 20
C: When do you turn 21?
Me: Next year, April.
C: Hmm....well, I think you should look at the Shepparton piano comp - there is an age restriction, that is, you have to be at least 21, but check it out on the web and see if you qualify.

And then we were discussing what sort of repertoire I had accumulated over three years and other suggestions for things I could learn over the summer. To possibly do this comp.
Now, it should have clicked, because I do know almost all the information in general about this comp. But indeed, I googled it, and indeed, it is the one and only AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL PIANO AWARD. Is she SERIOUS?!?! I'm so not good enough for this! People like A win things like this! Not people like me even come close to him in stage 0.5! This competition is huge. You can look it up yourself if you're interested. There is a total of about $40 000 in prizes. One has to audition first by sending in a recording - and not everybody even gets to go to Shepparton to even play in Round 1! Wow. Anyway, I feel honoured that C even suggested it to me, and quite gobsmacked in general. Just really blown away.

So, I felt WRECKED after my lesson - about 30mins of intense music - and most of it's not easy by any means! But also very enthusiastic about piano! Went to listen to E (and L!) play in the concert comp - she did really well! Then went to practice some more in the basement, waiting for A for his concerto. It was running a little late, so we kinda had to wait outside Tallis and listen to another horn player, which was a little unnerving! We finally got in there. And I had to play the whole of Strauss 1. Phew!!!!! It went pretty well - we know there were some bits that weren't perfect, that could have been better, we know because we've done it before. But we managed to hold it all together that even RD applauded at the end. And even paid me a huge compliment, saying "A, you should thank your accompanist very much!" and then promptly suggested other works for A to play! Hehe. So, I was then COMPLETELY BUGGERED (as opposed to just WRECKED hehe) after an intense morning of playing piano with the pressure of two performances and one mock performance. Wow. I finally went home at 1pm - after spending all morning playing piano, 5hrs at the con on a day when I'd normally only have lesson!
I went to East Melbourne that afternoon/evening to have a reherasal with D's trumpet student (doing grade 2 AMEB exam). Their house was beautiful - really nice suburb, with wide tree-lined streets. And all the houses old and stuff, but I bet all done really nicely on the inside. On the way, I actually passed by what I think would be my perfect house...it's a two-storey apartment added into/onto a converted church. It's a modern apartment with four rooms (I think!) and beautiful spaces, north-facing, retaining the original church windows. It's up for auction, so if you do know anybody who'd be interested, I'd love to know!

Thursday was a long day - as Thursdays normally are. Thankfully, it didn't involve running around the city. We had a trio rehearsal to read through some Schumann (we left our Bruch for a little while so it doesn't go stale). Unfortunately, the piece, while it's ok, doesn't do much for us. We're hoping to do the Mozart instead too (hopefully this Thursday!) I left Sinfonia early so taht I could go to a public lecture entitled "Globalisation, Crises and Growth" given by a professor from UCLA - he's an expert in economics of Latin America. He was most entertaining. I'm glad I went to this lecture, I'd been tossing up all day whether I really wanted to go (and come home late) or regret not going at all. M said he wanted to go, but couldn't, so I should - I took his advice! The lecture was really interesting - so many of the concepts I've learnt in class (and am learning now in macro!) really came alive. And I suppose I really needed something like this, because I've been feeling for a little while now, quite discouraged about my commerce subject (this usually happens at around this time each semester). And I really needed somebody or something to inspire me. This guy did. Also because I could actually understand what he was saying from an economics perspective. Even econometrics became relevant! Who knew...?!
Came home at about 8pm (yep, it was a VERY long day...!) and had a rehearsal with A because we were playing on Saturday, and couldn't fit it in any other time. It's a good thing we live close to each other. But also to think we never had done nights/weekend other than this even though we live so close..? Seems silly, we don't catch up on weekends!

Friday was yet another huge day. I had to interrupt my piano practice (in the basement!) to go to a macro tute, because our tutor just didn't turn up on Monday. (Don't people realise that some people have schedules that are so tightly packed that it's hard to make it to other classes?!?!?! Gah!!) Chamber music class was greatly distracting due to the presence of a baby girl (the daughter of one of oboist in the trio that played in class). So cute though! I think we were all impressed that she managed to amuse herself and stay pretty quiet through the whole hour! Had a meeting with the VM about plans for next year (I had questions, still thinking about anything else I need to know!) and then had to dash off. I was debating whether to take the train or tram, but I figured that I didn't want to walk that far, so I opted for the longer ride on the tram. So, I trammed it out to Hawthorn to go play for this Grade 2 trumpet exam (student of D's). While waiting in the corridor, I saw Ian, which was funny. It struck me that I was on the other side of AMEB exams now. Even in the 'waiting room', there were lots of kids and their parents - I'd forgotten what it was like to be the one taking the exam! My mum used to take me in, and make sure I had everything, and made sure she always brought along a special treat of chocolate for after my exam! Too cute. And as I sat there thinking about how it seemed so normal to say hi to one of the examiners, I reflected on how this must have been when I did exams in my youth too! Music circles can tend to be fairly small and of course, teachers are also examiners!

D drove us to the station, where we caught the train back to Flinders. I hung out at Fed Square at BMW Edge because the Apollo Concert was on that night there! I figured there was no point going home, hanging out for half an hour, only to have to come back again. The venue is absolutely GORGEOUS! All the seats are wooden, as is the floor. The seats are arranged almost assymetrically, on various levels. The backdrop is this amazing glass looking over the Yarra, broken up into segments of different shapes and sizes. Backstage (actually, under stage) is very well-equipped - male and female dressing rooms with mirrors, toilets, and lots of space. The concert went really well. There were some awesome acts, and lots of fun was had all around! Yup, that was my BMW Edge debut! Thanks to the friends who came along - it was great to have your support and to see your smiling faces! Thanks to everybody who was in it - a successful concert, and being part of Apollo has meant a lot to me this year :) I came home at about 11.20pm, a very long day indeed!

So, the fifth performance of week 10 was on Saturday. Yeah, 5 performances in one week. Gah. No wonder I was so dead. No wonder you saw me in so much black!
The morning was fairly chilled, laid-back: a bit of work, after sleeping in till about 8.15am! Amazing!
Went to jch to meet A at about 12.45pm to head down to Southbank. I was a little early and had the chance to listen to the Japanese pop that psyches him up. Oh, and the 1-2-3-4-1-2-3 piece, I've forgotten that one. It's hilarious! But really intelligent too, contrasting against the five-note ostinato. Yeah, I know, takes a real music nerd like me to think about that and finding it intriguing (oh the things that go through my head!). We trammed down Elizabeth St (ooh, other side of the neighbourhood!) and crossed over the Southbank. We found his parents and hung out with them for a little while (we were early) then headed to St John's to suss it all out. We had plenty of time to test a few things out, get REALLY warmed up, hang out. We were playing first, so that was kinda good to get it over and done with nice and early. It's a great venue to play in, really nice acoustics, and nice piano! We played (we were recorded for national broadcast sometime in the future too...eek!) - both of us felt we could have played better, but the way I figure it, sometimes it's just the day. Stuff happens. We did make it through quite well though! So, playing first is sometimes a good thing. We watched some of the other performances, but then I was really tired and hungry (I don't think I could have sat still through three pianists in succession either after four other performances!) so we ducked out to Southgate to get food. Sometimes playing first is a bad thing too - we had to wait till the end for the adjudication! I'm really proud of A - he should know that! He's been getting lots of opportunities to perform and do stuff, and I feel really honoured to be doing half of that with him! This has been an amazing year of soloistic growth! His parents drove me home, which was very kind of them. I got out of their car only to bump into B&T and P, and I got into their car to have a chat. We then went for college dinner - it was nice to have friends over! I had really intended on doing lots of work on Saturday night. But T rings me up and goes "Come over to our place for a movie." And remember, T is the only one who is that successful at making me go out. So of course, I give in (asking for an extra 15mins to do my assignment) and we head over to their place. We tried watching "Good Night and Good Luck" except that it was really intense and serious and we really weren't in the mood for such a movie. Perhaps another time - I'd really like to watch it though! Sounds interesting. So the night kinda just turned into hanging out, which was cool. It was nice to take a break!


The last orchestra concert of the year was last night. It was an awesome night - we went with an entourage of about 21 people, which was cool. College, con and church people (basically how my friendship circles are roughly divided). It was funny that K & A weren't playing in it, but it was nice to be sitting with them too! U played really well - the Beethoven was so clean (only about 2 wrong notes if I heard right!), and at no point in time was the balance out. I don't know her that well but gave her a mighty congratulations and hug. She did so well - it was just beautiful. The Brahms, I think we pretty good. Some funny solo notes coming in funny, but that's ok. I think it could have done with even more guts (and dare I say it, balls?!) and just bigger in general, but it was still enjoyable to listen to! I even saw friends of friends last night, which was cool - who incidentally knew other friends of mine and stuff. I like seeing links!
We went out to the Glenferrie afterwards (thankfully it was open!) which was cool. Most people were really exhausted but also happy and high! (Gotta love the combination!) I had a great time hanging out with musos. We were waiting for the last train - it was so windy, but we were just hanging out, much fun-ness! I came home with the 2nd yrs (mostly Bendigo crowd who are my friends!) plus some others whom we love. So much fun. Some funny photos in general. Got home at about 12.40am (yeah, who would have thought Monday night was so good?! Haha. It's just musos that make it good there!) and put myself into bed at about 1am. And then I thought it'd be a good idea to wake up at 6.30am this morning to practice. Needless to say, by 9.15am, I was ready to climb back into bed! It's ok, I made it through the day - had another Don Giovanni rehearsal where we realised that the performance is a week and a half away!! Eek! But should be so much fun!

Went out tonight again with most of the same musos - we went for dinner on Lygs, just because we could, I think. And we rarely get the chance to all hang out together. (Last night must have been the first in a long time! And it was so much fun!)

And now, I'm heading to Bible study - session 3 of Simply Christianity.

I'm sorry this post is so amazingly long. I'll be really impressed if anybody actually reads this one too, so let me know if you do, and do leave comments if you so desire! Yeah, it has struck me to post shorter and more frequently, but given everything that you've just read, I suppose you'll forgive me when I say that I didn't really have time to do so...!

To finish off, my most memorable quote of the fortnight goes along the lines of "If anybody tries to tell me that they're busy, I'm going to hit them over the head". Now you understand why! :)

"It's funny to see how you deal with this 'celebrity' thing"

So says Samantha.....well, thank you very much....! Haha.

This was in direct response to events that occurred recently...this is the story...

I was standing in the foyer at the Con (as I do quite regularly, although I usually sit..) and was approached by a clarinettist in my year who asked whether I was around in December, and if I was, whether I wanted to accompany him in a 3MBS recital. Which is quite cool. I said I'd think about it, so long as the date wasn't after I had left Melbourne, obviously...it'd be a good way of getting out there even more. I was a bit freaked when he later told me that the Debussy was quite hard, but I'm up for the challenge. But I guess also so long as it didn't interfere with me doing my exams properly..!

So, we were discussing it the next day (some more) and a bassoonist in my year also kinda came over and asked whether I'd play for her in this week's Faculty Concerto Competition. The schedule came out really late, and so many competitors have been rushing like crazy to book accompanists, who don't really like late notice (like me..!). And because some accompanists just work on the basis of first-come, first-served, it has been really difficult to secure one. Which means many people are asking piano students, but again, not many piano students will readily say yes to preparing an orchestral reduction in less than a week! I said yes to this one because I've already played the 2nd movement, plus the 1st movement in an orchestra so at least I have heard it before. And also, she's good, and I like playing with good people :) It's a good opportunity to do stuff!

As she was checking things, I was talking to some friends. She came back to discuss the appropriate time and finer details, when a french hornist was listening in and kinda jumped on board and almost gushed, "will you play for me?!" And even though I've played parts of his before (he assumed it was just first movement, which I've played, but it's actually all or part of the concerto, 15-20mins worth, so he might have reconsidered how much he plays), I basically turned it down. Which is a bit sad, because it would have been fun, but I think then I would have been stretching myself too thin. And really working too hard at accompanying instead of my own recital programme at the moment! But I hope he understands that pianists sometimes can be overworked!

I guess I was pretty surprised that the three people who asked me to play for them actually did ask me. Do people actually think I can do it all? (That wasn't supposed to sound frustrated nor exasperated. It was more incredulous, more than anything. Like, wow, people want me to do that kind of stuff? They trust me that much? Wow...!) You see, the Con is a bit like a celebrity ring (good or bad, I just think it is). There are those people who everybody knows, who are at the top. People like that don't really talk to people like me, I think. They're just kinda...far above me. Yeah, there are Con celebrities (this was definitely more prevalent or at least more evident in my first and second years), those who are usually amazing at what they do, and usually hang out with similarly ranked 'celebrities'. That's the way I see it. I don't view it as good or bad, it just...exists. I suppose that happens in the performing or fine arts in general (as a broad overstatement).

And somehow Samantha seems to think I have somehow developed into one of these. I really don't think so. She reckons that it's because I play in class. Which is a good thing; playing in class is a good way of getting out there and making your mark (which I am trying to do!) - and opens up lots of opportunities, as I have experienced this year, I think (with a little help from amazing teachers). But, 'celebrity'? I beg to differ - I'm still the same me, still hanging out with the same friends, still doing my thing. Just more of it, I suppose! There are still those people far above me, I'm definitely not in their league! I'll just continue striving to do the best I can, hopefully attaining high levels of music and continue playing with those who want to play with me, and those who will push me.

And that's how I'm 'dealing' my my supposed climb.....

don't try calling me in the next two weeks...

the end of the holidays were quite blissful.
M and I went on a chocolate walking tour of melbourne. (see www.chocoholictours.com.au for details). we visited some absolutely delightful places, ate chocolate, had tea and generally just had a wonderful afternoon. we were in dire need of salt after it all though, so dinner was a welcome treat, and surprisingly pleasant too - salmon!
i went to the stephen hough (musica viva) concert that night (sorry michael...). it was fantastic. interestingly, the entire 2nd half was waltzes, culminating in the 1st memphisto waltz. he played 3 encores, the first being fantastically witty and heart-warming :) K, J, S and I went out to blue train after for some supper, where i spent the rest of my money, leaving about $3 left in my wallet, eek!
sunday was my off day - quite amazing, really. i did some stuff i was supposed to do all holidays (ie. my laundry....) and also managed to catch up with F & A that afternoon. we talked for quite a while, which was wonderful, especially because i haven't seen F since the beginning of july! T managed (again!!! he manages every week!!!) to convince me to go out to lygs after church....i was even so adament that it wouldn't happen, because i had told myself that this week was going to be a big week!

and indeed, a big week it so far has been.
for example:
MONDAY 7.30am practice piano before 10am class, classes 10am-12pm, lunch at 12pm (involving buying it, eating it, going to the library to do some stuff), lunchtime concert at 1pm, class 2.15-4.15pm, choir 4.30-6pm. then i finally came home.
TUESDAY 7.30am practice piano before 9am class, class 9-10am, go to the con, practice piano 10.30am-12.30pm, lunch, 1pm rehearsal at trinity, go to con again (i was checking something), chill out a little, 3.30-cum-4pm (due to communication breakdown) rehearsal with A, 5.15 macro tute.
WEDNESDAY 7.30am practice piano before meeting with dean at 9am, trio rehearsal 10am-12pm, lunch, my big adventure to heidelberg for 2pm performance at austin hospital, 2.21pm train back to flinders st, 3.14pm arrive home, 3.30-5.15pm trio rehearsal, 6.30pm collegian's dinner.

i suspect THURSDAY goes along the lines of this:
7.30am practice before 9.15am rehearsal in melba, class 10am, play in 11am-1pm class (we're 8th), 1pm class, 2.45pm piano lesson at the abc, 4.30-6.30pm sinfonia, dinner appointment (tbc time and location)

and that's the start of term 4.

in the next four weeks, i'm performing about 8 times. this includes in class, in various competitions, accompanying for exams and the like. plus fitting in rehearsals. so, anybody who tells me that they're really busy, don't come crying to me. i have enough problems of my own. i should probably learn to say no. and to speak up when i don't like it...

i've maintained for a little while that my business is my pleasure, my pleasure is my business - they're often quite interchangable or inseparable. i know this is my own decision, but it really is the way i live my life - with passion, to the max.

so, if i don't have time for you in the next eight weeks (till after exams), i apologise in advance. if i suppose you're lucky and that rehearsals and that happen to coincide with being my friend, well, lucky you! a friend of mine said that sometimes we get by with a little help from our friends. sometimes it really helps. sometimes, i think i'm a fairly internal person, so i suppose if you crack through the top layer in the next week, you're the one i'd really like to help me out. i suppose i don't really know what to think, i feel a bit lost at the moment. piano really is my work, my solace, my driving factor, my goal, all at the same time. sorry if you don't get let into it. i guess if you know me well, my hiding isn't too hard to spot - the fracture lines have only just begun...

if you'd like to come to our (trio's) chamber music exam, it's most likely to be on friday 2 november (once we schedule it in). and my piano recital is on 23 november. let me know if you'd like to come - i'd love to see some friends there (but i warn you now that it's early in the morning..)
i'm going home on dec 11; i booked flights last night (while trying to revise a 1-hr lecture with 14 slides, which took 2hrs because i had to call each member of my immediate family, who were in three different locations, and therefore had to call three different numbers, maintaining another conversation just after i'd gotten off the phone with my mum, sms-ing a friend to tell him i couldn't attend something, sms-ing another friend who was in dire need of help and needed to come over, plus maintaining a couple of msn conversations) because they were on sale for $49 on jetstar. so, that was a new experience! should be alright though, i hope all my plans work out....i feel quite sad that it's still another two whole months till i can be rid of stuff. of course, i won't appreciate the nothingness after i've been two weeks at home. but at this current moment, i am satisfied with my very spread out exam timetable, and the luxury of time at the end of it all. i am too busy now to care, realy.

records

i bought four at the op shop today. just because i could. and also because they were really cheap.
i don't own a record player (although i know a few people that do, plus the library has record players) and i don't know how to use one. but i guess i'll learn.

this is amazing, these are the four that i picked up:

*Carlo Mario Giulini conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", plus Prokofiev's "Symphonie Classique".
*Vladimir Horowitz playing Mussorsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" from a recital at Carnegie Hall
*Cecile Ousset playing Mussorgky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" plus Ravel's "Gaspard de la Nuit"
*Vladimir Horowitz in Moscow, his first in Russia in 1986 since he left about 60 previously

Five points for the person who can guess why I bought each of those, as you will notice lots of doubling ups.

i hope they work; i'm really excited about experiencing this! and wow, i can't believe i got my hands on some of this...!

'endlessly' by muse

there's a part in me you'll never know
the only thing I'll never show

hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
hopelessly I'll give you everything
but I won't give you up
I won't let you down
and I won't leave you falling
If the moment ever comes

It's plain to see it's trying to speak
cherished dreams forever asleep
hopelessly I'll love you endlessly

hopelessly I'll give you everything
but I won't give you up
I won't let you down
and I won't leave you falling
if the moment ever comes

hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
hopelessly I'll give you everything
but I won't give you up
I won't let you down
and I won't leave you falling
but the moment never comes

Schumann's Konzertstuke for 4 Horns and Orchestra Op. 86 with Stefan Dohr, Dale Clevenger, Ignacio Garcia & Georg Schreckneberger

Wow!

1st Movement


3rd Movement

one of those days

after attempting (again) to take stock of my life, i just had one of those beautiful days.
that made me think "yeah, i think i like it. i could see something happening out of this."

i woke up at about 7am with my alarm, to pull back my curtains and have sunlight STREAMING into my room (perhaps a little too bright mind you!) as S asked me later, "did you have a good morning?" the real answer is a very emphatic "yes!". you see, this sunlight made me happy. listened to the news in bed, and then jumped out for the morning routine of the shower, checking of email and breakfast.

i managed to do about three hours of piano practice in the morning, with a little break within that time. which i thought was pretty enthusiastic! mind you, it would be just lovely if almost every day was like that! i then went to the brass department concert, which was part of the melbourne international festival of brass - a big event indeed! unfortunately, D couldn't come, but that's ok. the horn octet was hilarious, on so many levels. mind you, K, D and I sat there, feeling remarkably and ridiculously local and non-brassy...! haha. the trombone choir was great, especially the wagner.

i got peer-pressured (in a good way!) by S, A & K (who's not even going...!!! haha) to buy a ticket to the wednesday night concert of mifb: stefan dohr & ralph sauer in concert. Dohr is principal horn with the berlin phil. and i suppose one just can't turn down this opportunity to see and hear him play. plus, he's playing the brahms trio. with no other than Duo Sol, of which my teacher is half. so, i should totally go. i'm very excited. because the brahms is awesome. and because this guy plays in the berlin phil!!!! and also because i'm about to embark on the brahms with S & K. should be fun! i wish K was coming so we could have, i dunno, pre-trio bonding?! haha.

afterwards, we (the intention was K & me, and the horn boys, plus others who came along) went for lunch; we bought food from threshermans and then went to the park near the melbourne museum to consume it, while sitting on the grass (S wanted outdoors. great idea, coz it was such a lovely day!) we had a great time, being silly and all. we played hacky sack for a while - i suck at it coz i don't really have any co-ordination, but still fun nevertheless!

it was just such a beautiful afternoon, to just hang out, enjoy the weather, and definitely each other's company! on the way back, ran into a few friends, which was nice. i like how that happens in melbourne, particularly on lygs. it's nice to know that it's really like our own neighbourhood.

attempted to do some work when i got home, which was admittedly pretty hard - so, i didn't get much done. oops. oh well.....
was expecting D to come over to collect some stuff he'd left here yesterday, but he was running late, oh well. he did make it in the end! went to melba hall to help out with a concert!

this concert was part of the impressaria series, and Ewa Kupeic was playing. incidentally, i met her yesterday...she was at queen's! (shock horror you say! no way! a real life concert pianist, just ....THERE!!!! yes!!!) i was finding M to tell her i could help out, and instead ended up talking to Ms Kupeic, which was pretty phenomenal. she told me to practice hehe :P. because there is no such thing as too much practice! so, i was there to help with ticketing and programme selling. which went well. it was a great concert, i really enjoyed it.

here comes the epiphany for the day.
as i sat in the concert, listening to schubert, i was thinking about what a great day i had. and that most of it was strung together with music. and i thought, "yeah, i really do enjoy and love music. i could do it for the rest of my life. i could just play piano. i want to do chamber music and i want to be an associate artist."
there, i said it. if anybody asked if i ever had a job in mind, that would probably be my best bet at the moment.
it might change tomorrow, but at least i have thought this at least three times in the last three months!

holidays: thoughts and happenings

the potential to do about 5-6hrs of piano practice a day, by doing a morning and an afternoon session, leaving my evenings free. it's worked a couple of times - other days i've been kinda slack...oops....but it is quite nice!

sleeping in till 8.30, shock horror!

taking stock of my life, again. this happens every so often.
often about my course - is this really what i want to be doing?

my mum re-ignited ideas about exchange. i'm hesistant about exchange next year because a) i don't know where i'd go [and before you all say "uh, duh! europe! music!", i do have to consider the commerce degree, where in europe, what university, what sort of programme etc. there are many things to think about! however ideal we'd like it all to be!] b) i feel, well, not necessarily tied down, but committed to commitments - eg. accompaniment roles ('associate artist'. whatever. you know who you are.), choir, chamber groups. just to name a few.

studying and enjoying muse 1-1. thanks for the recommendations guys :)

hanging out at the vic quite a lot. five times in one week, friday to friday, if i'm not mistaken!

going out for coffee/breakfast/dinner with friends. nice :)

trying to figure out course plans for the next two years. kinda hard because the 2008 handbook hasn't come out yet and i suppose some things will change because of the new generation degrees in the melbourne model.

cleaning my room in the afternoon. also known as throwing out a few things. then making new piles of stuff. that are all at 90-degree angles to other things.
and then subsequently turning my room upside down that night in search of something in particular.
only to not find it. but to find lots of other stuff, namely, lots of music! amounting to a pile about 25cm high, including some folders which are only partially full - so, lots of music plus files to clean out so i can use them!

finally cracking open a subject that isn't prac study nor chamber music! haha

techniques listening list.....getting there.....starting, i mean. haha

i should do my laundry.

spending enormous amounts of time on facebook.

wondering if i have to sit by myself at mealtimes because there is almost nobody left at college.

researching: contact lenses from the victorian college of optometry.

finding it very hard to find winter (our summer) programmes for music in europe. or internships - not really sure where to look. this, i suppose, was the latest thought before re-ignition of exchange ideas. perhaps i should google 'scholarhips' instead.....if anybody knows any programmes, let me know - i'd be interested to have a look!

Phantom of the Opera

This probably isn't the best time to do it, because I like sleep (something that is in great demand and very short supply during the semester) but heck, I'm going to attempt the review....

So, tonight, I went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Princess Theatre. First up, thanks to Simon for organising everybody - you truly are the man of much knowledge.
The theatre is beautiful; unfortunately, I didn't really get a lot of time to wander around because we arrived about 10mins before the start. Oh well, it's in a really nice part of town, and definitely somewhere I'd like to explore more.

So, the review part. I've only ever seen the moview version and heard the music, so I was intrigued to see how everything would be portrayed on stage. We had fantastic seats - smack bang in the centre of row D of the Dress Circle.
Anthony Warlow played the part of the the Phantom. He was by far the most outstanding performer. There is much more acting in the stage version than the movie, and he did this really well. Furthermore, his voice is to die for! Just gorgeous - so much tonal colour, variety and emotion. His projection and characterisation were fantastic.
The role of Christine was well-played - she was a talented young woman. Funnily, her song "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" received a lot of applause, but I unfortuantely didn't like her version too much, not least because there were a few pitching issues.
Unfortunately I didn't like the actor who played Raoul. This was probably the thing lacking most for me - it often seemed that he didn't portray a complete character at any one time, that he was either focussed on acting, or singing, but never at the same time. His voice lacked some sort of intense passion that I would associate with the role of 'the lover'. Unfortunately his singing lacked tonal and colour variation and his vowel sounds, particularly "oo" (such as in "you") were very flat, which was disappointing.
The woman who played the dancing instructor of the Opera company was excellent, maintaining poise and character very well. I noticed that this character actually requies quite a large vocal range and great stage presence, of which tonight's performance showcased that. I think that this is a largely under-valued role.

Ensemble singing in the first act suffered a little, as it was sometimes unclear, particularly when different lines were being sung by the different characters. The second act was better in this respect. "Masquerade" was awesome to watch, even if one line was left out, I suppose accidentally! The visual spectacle that is, with so much colour, action and life is quite amazing.

The orchestra was ably led by the conductor - after Urinetown, I have even more respect for musical directors, repetiteurs and conductors of musicals. For at least a third of the musical, I know I was watching the pit instead of the stage! It was interesting to see how it all worked - I could spot out TV screens focussed on the conductor, I could see the conductor giving cues and showing cut-offs (something I wish more people would watch for and follow!), and looking at particular sections. Ok, so it was a bit far to see all of the orchestra, but it was pretty good. Okay, so I'm being picky when I saw that the horns split at least one note (pretty amusing), and that the clarinet was out of tune in one particuarly prominent moment. But overall, the music was very well done - I do really think some of this music is quite poxy, but after dealing with that....the drums (as opposed to the rest of the percussion) sounded quite tinny and synthetic, as if it were an electric drum kit. I wanted to know how many keyboard players there are for the musical! Generally, the horns were excellent (some great runs in there, some great high notes, and some great stopped notes!), the flautist was quite good, and the strings were definitely solid. Of particular mention in the musical which I thought was quite amusing is the bit where the owners of the opera company are exasperating over the added requirements of the Phantom's new opera, and singing about hiring an extra bassoonist - of course, with bassoon holding up the bass line. Hehe. I laughed.

The scenery and costumes were just amazing. Everything was appropriately elaborate. The coolest 2 bits of cool set and the like were probably the coming into the underground lair of the Phantom, and the effects created by those candles. And then when the Phantom disappeared. Just amazing, I still don't know how they did it..!! Those props were pretty cool too, including that staff which emitted fire! The lighting effects were fantastic, particularly with the use of fire and pyrotechnics, which surprised me a bit and hurt my eyes sufficiently :)

I see now that after being so heavily involved in a musical myself, I tend to pick a lot of things up and apart. This doesn't really diminish my ability to enjoy it though (much like listening and analysing a harmonic progression in a song doesn't really wreck my experience of listening to music) - I actually think it enhances it, as I consider things critically. I think this is a much more active way to lead a life!

So really, I thought it was a great production. I'm very happy that I saw Anthony Warlow - he is really the reason I decided to go see the musical, and he played such a demanding character with elegance, passion, finesse and intensity, making it his own. He really made it for me :) If you do get the chance to see this production, it really is a treat. A very sumptuous musical to leave you humming the songs. My kudos go to Anthony Warlow, the orchestra and the musical director!

still busy...bring on the holidays

it has still been busy, but is that any surprise?
i missed seeing christian lindberg with aco, which i am a bit miffed about, but that is completely my fault too.
i had dinner at wen-li & jude's place last week - it was amazing, steamed fish and vegetables with rice! ok, so this is something i may typically have at home, but wow, was it super good or what?!
met up with erica on wednesday, it was beautiful just to sit in the sun (well, shade really, but a nice day) and catch up with her and read the bible and talk about stuff.

ace and i went to see 'waitress' at nova on wednesday night - i'd won tickets, being a brunetti's member thingo and all. we really enjoyed it! it's an indie sorta drama/comedy. really enjoyable. my type of film :) then we went to brunetti's, which was just round the corner, to indulge in some dessert and tea (especially after a fairly unsatisfying dinner).

had a very long thursday. it kinda went something like this (some bits i'm very proud of!)
piano practice at 7am or so, for 1.5hrs before my 9am class. yes, that's right, BEFORE a 9am. class 9-11am. more practice in the basement, 11-1. went to a careers seminar (the lady was wafty) at 1.10, till 2pm. hung out for about an hour (revising that morning's lectures, no doubt on the couches in the con foyer...!), rehearsal 3.15-about 4pm, got kicked out, then went to sinfonia at 4.30-6.30. then came home. unfortunately i didn't go to the Switchfoot concert, which i'm a bit miffed about, but i 1) couldn't afford it (despite it being ridiculously cheap for a concert, $45 oh well), and 2) not enough time.

last week was just really busy doing stuff before the weekend...

so, the weekend was APOLLO CAMP!!!!
(gah, the bit that i'd written wasn't saved, and i can't remember what i wrote. darn! oh well)
so, apollo is the group i am involved in, with the choir in particular. we went to shepparton to rehearse some, the opportunity for med kids to look at the rural clincal school, perform a community concert and to basically hang out with each for a weekend.
it was a great weekend - admittedly, i had a smaller choir which was quite unbalanced, but it worked out well in the end.

and what camp wouldn't be complete without some sort of disaster? oh, it happened, just near the very end. take this: we were driving a small truck/large van (to and) from shepparton, and i was getting dropped off at queen's. i got all my stuff out of the back, and the other two guys got back in so they could drive to the next place to unload stuff, and the vehicle wouldn't start. hmm...one first thinks, flat battery. ok. we had to tell the honking taxi behind us that it wasn't going to move so his best option really was to back out the driveway. so, went and got my neighbour to see if he could jumpstart the car. had to push the vehicle so it didn't block the road (actually, watched in amusement as somebody else did it haha). couldn't find button to put the hood up. had to make a zillion phone calls to all sorts of people. i actually had to run off (i was really really late oops..) but it turns out it wasn't a dead battery, but something was actually wrong with the starter motor. sigh! oh well, hopefully all good now.

so, camp was actually really fun - had a great time, walking along the main road in shepp (to burn off the amazingly large amounts of food we ate at dinner on saturday night), interpretive dance to the wiggles' hot potato (including the best peeling of a banana i have ever seen), getting freaked out about extra people in rooms, the game we played on saturday night involving a round of charades which involved me taking (a layer of) clothes off (hahaha...probably don't want to know....! hahaha sorry), walking around shepp, almost driving into the shepp club, george (in a yellow fluoro jacket) directing us around a tight corner, dress-shopping (aka. helen and me diverting into a shop), looking for missing sunglasses and watch, rolls in a bag in the water ('oh snap' hahaha), cow statues of all sorts. fun times :D it was great to meet and get to know med people!

had a bunch of reherasals on tuesday afternoon: 1pm don giovanni sextet, after that some of my own practice, then a trio rehearsal at about 3.30-5pm. lots of playing. quite wonderful really. when i think about the prospect of just playing lots of piano in one day, it really gets me quite excited. nerdy, i know hehe :P

i sat through a faculty of music undergraduate studies committee meeting on wednesday morning. (My piano lesson was cancelled) there was the dean and other various important people representing heads of departments (instrmentally, and specialisation-wise etc.) there were some bits that were interesting - there are many changes going on pertaining to the melbourne model! however, there were some boring bits too...as with most meetings! i went to the MUCO concert on wednesday night (instead of the GM...). considering that reherasals weren't going all too well (as i hear), it stuck together quite well. i went out to koko black with kristen and jen afterwards, which was really nice! i had a chocolate ice-cream martini: wow!!! how amazingly beautiful. that place is just wonderful hehe.

had a rehearsal on thursday, which went well. (wow, can you see how my life could really be described as: "practice, rehearsal, meeting, rehearsal, more practice"?!) i went to sinfonia in the afternoon; john couldn't be there, so mark took it instead. it went really well! there was much more stop-starting, but that was ok. mark would always say something helpful or suggest a way of doing something, like, "play it like this violins" or "let's do something about those note lengths". it was great! i was leading the 2nds, which was scary but fun (we were so hot right now hehe). we played the overture from wagner's tannhauser (however you spell it..), and parts of brahms' symphony 4. much fun-ness!

there was an open vic night on friday night. not too many people came, because people had gone to med ball or home or on camp. but we watched STAR WARS!! (a new hope, and the empire strikes back). i've never really watched them before, so that was pretty epic! almost everybody else in the room had, so they knew when all the funny bits were coming up, and were laughing at those as well as at me, when i made noises of surprise or when i giggled at the funny parts! it was great! i didn't think i'd enjoy star wars at all, to tell you the truth, but after the first one, i fully got into it and promptly announced "we have to watch the next one!". don't worry, i will get to watch them all, it's pretty cool!

i haven't done too much this weekend....there has been a lot of lazing around, just because it's the first weekend of the holidays. so, practice has taken a bit of a battering at the moment. there is much to prepare and practice for!
i had several minor disasters this morning, all before 10 o'clock in the morning!! how terrible! but thankfully, ace was there to help me out, and andrew was there to say everything was ok! thanks guys, you know me too well - stresshead!!!! on our way home from hawthorn this morning, i pointed out that japanese crepe place where you can get sweet or savoury crepes. they were so funny that andrew thought we should have some. hehe. so much fun, it was really amusing actually!
so, today was actually just beatiful - music, friends, eating, enjoying the day. that just seems so ideal really! that's what i definitely could be doing all weekend, all year round :) thanks for so much fun guys! xo

i think i made it...

after getting through production week, i had to keep going through week 5.

went mask shopping last monday, to the city. thankfully it didn't take too long. also bought a book for chamber music notes. i figured that chamber music is something i really want to get into, and i sit in class listening to pearls of wisdom, which somehow exit my mind almost straight away, which is a waste. so, a book to write down these pearls for future reference.

went to the orchestra concert on monday night.
two bad ideas (completely my fault):
1. wear shoes that hurt. and i know they hurt. but then 1a) i suppose is that i didn't take precautions (ie. bandaging) to prevent even more hurt.
2. stay out wayyy too late. luckily, i came home with some friends, so thanks guys!

and Y&J didn't even open up the top part for us...
A) i got asked for ID at the bar, when i ordered a lemon lime & bitters. uhm....there isn't that much alcohol in that drink....it's basically soft drink..!!!
B) towards the end of the night i heard somebody in passing "is it just me or are there lots of really young people here...?!" um...we're not all young, like, underage or even just straight out of school thank you. i felt like turning around and telling her, "um, does that mean you're old?"

ball working-bee on wednesday involved writing names on placecards. daniel commented "the president and vice-president shouldn't be doing tasks like this!" haha. i like his idea of executive :) but it was fun anyway, doing the job with him, ed & bridie.

all years concert class was pretty good. the horn quartet cracked me up - who knew horns could swing it?! and will's composition was absolutely beautiful.
admittedly, i didn't really concentrate very much on thursday, and am surprised i even managed to sit still for part of thursday, because thursday night was MUSIC BALL!!!

photos may come later, no guarantees (ie. just get facebook). preparations started well in the afternoon - involving me having fantastic ideas about hair, and trying to source a lily hair piece. i was really hoping for a clip at the chemist. two chemists later (and no hair piece) i decided that a live lily would have to suffice. the conversation at the florist kinda went like this:

me: "do you have any oriental lillies?"
florist: "white or pink?"
"err..preferably pink, but white's ok too."
"well, we have these"
"i was actually just hoping for just one lily, you know, almost completely open, for tonight"
"well, i could sell you this one..."
i decided to take the whole stem, which comprised of one almost completely open lily, plus two more to bloom over the next week. the lady probably thought i was completely crazy haha.

then the hair-curling began. now let me tell you that my hair doesn't normally curl. it has never, and so i really was quite unsure whether my fantastic plans were going to work out. thanks penny for doing it, and for enduring such a shiny hand/finger from the hair spray. and check this out, i'm going to put in a photo because it's pretty phenomenal...:


i was a bit freaked out coz i had to make the welcoming speech, plus a few thankyous at the beginning of the ball - and if you know me, you'll know that i don't really like public speaking at all. but all ended up going well, and it turned out to be an aweomse night! ok, so we decided that it'd be a good idea at about 2am after the ball to go get macca's. it was a good idea at the time.....not so great afterwards haha. got to bed at about 3am, and woke up (after a sleep in yay!) at about 8.45am. i guess it's no surprise that chamber class was significantly less full than normal - to the extent that everybody could get a seat haha.

was very bored on friday night - i suppose after the excitement of the previous night, it seemed like a funny end to a great week!

went to renee's 21st on saturday night; this required a drive of about 1.5hrs in ben's hire car. hehe fun times. good conversations :) this party was so nice, i had a great time :) and admittedly, i've never been to that area either, so that was really cool!

on sunday night a few of us went to UC parkville, which was cool. that was the first time i'd been, so that was a new experience! we had the urinetown oscars at birra bella that night, after our final production meeting. there were some awesome awards presented, and a final chance to wrap up the excitement and experience that was urinetown. as i look back on the experience, i think several things:
1. I probably wouldn't really choose to do it again. this is not to say i didn't have a good time. there are several reasons for this:
a) this is a massive job. i unfortunately don't have the luxury of time. (although i was impressed i managed to do it, keeping on top of almost all of my uni work. and i didn't skip any classes!)
b) i don't find the music in musicals (in general) to be incredibly fantastic, in terms of the challenge it presents musically. of course, some of it is very hard, and is very good, but when you compare it to the piano repertoire (arguably one of the biggest) i struggle to keep interest when there is little more than oom-cha oom-cha.
c) of course, not to say i didn't enjoy my experience at all - because i did - or that recognition is the only thing one works for, but musical directors definitely don't get enough recognition for everything they do. i suppose it's because they're often left to their own devices, because something like musical directing is very specialised, and not many people can do it. and a lot of time and effort is spent in so many other (also important) things, but i think people sometimes overlook the music in a musical, as if it's a given. but the musical director is actually probably one of the most important people of the show - without that person, there is no musical, there is no show. if the music isn't hot, the show isn't hot. and i think MDs can be seriously under-appreciated.

those are my thoughts so far....

so thus began my week of going out YET AGAIN. i didn't realise this when i planned my semester. when i thought that the week after the show was going to be busy, i didn't really think about the following week. it kinda went like this:
sunday night - urinetown oscars
monday night - jude's smc
tuesday night - kungsbacka trio concert
wednesday night - dinner with mel and tim
thursday night - very long day at uni, didn't go out wow!
friday night - george's 21st
which leaves me sitting here on a saturday night, blogging.

cancelled apollo choir on monday afternoon, coz i felt horrible. i felt pretty bad about having to cancel though, so i went along and waited for a while while people trickled in, only to tell them to go home coz i felt sick. the sick thing is completely my fault - going out lots, not enough sleep. seirously self-induced, i know. but lucky it's med students: "what are your presenting symptoms?" haha. i love hanging out with them, they're awesome!

so, the jude's smc meeting was good. it was good to think about so many issues. thanks erica and jane for the ride home :) haha. and when we circled round the roundabout twice to check on the guy who was lying in the middle but apparently not drunk/passed out, when we realised he had a bag of grocery shopping, and then got up and walked home after we drove past again to ask him "are you ok?" haha.

i was debating all day tuesday whether i should go to the musica viva concert. in the end, the things that convinced me to go were:
1) my brother telling me that i should
2) mel asking me whether i would regret it if i didn't go (the answer was yes)
so i went. i coudln't find anybody else to go with me, so i went by myself. this thought was a bit intimidating, actually, coz i've never been to a concert (or similar kind of thing, such as a movie, or eg. going to dinner) by myself. but it was ok. because:
a) i saw a couple of people i knew (from the con)
b) i had an amazing seat - in the circle (elevated view) smack bang in the middle. all for $15!
c) i met a couple more friends i knew after the concert
d) we listened to the post-concert little chat with two members of the trio, plus one of the composers (obviously not schubert nor smetana...they're dead...)
e) i chatted a bit to the pianist; i told him that i really enjoyed watching him play, then had to explain that i was watching him quite a lot because i am a piano student myself
f) emma ayres (the cellist for the 1st beethoven cello sonata for the beethoven project with 3mbs in week 2, and most definitely the host of the afternoon weekday show on abc classic fm) was hosting this chat. i got to talk to her, she remembered me, then i actually did tell her that i enjoy listening to her :)
so the night was actually fantastic

i had a great piano lesson on wednesday morning. i was nervous, coz i didn't really know what i was doing with the chopin, and don't really play much beethoven (although after the cello sonata, i've been more enthusiastic!) so wasn't sure whether my interpretation was anything like what it's supposed to sound like! but she gave me lots to think about, which was good. i've had 3 lessons in 6 weeks, which by most standards, is not good at all. but it feels like those lessons have been productive, and feels like that i HAVE to be self-motivated (can be hard for me without lessons), and that it's a lot of individual progress, independant study. which i guess has to happen sometime, because a teacher can't hold your hand for your entire life.

went to dinner with mel and tim that night to a place called Rumi, which serves cuisine of arabic-speaking nations. so we had things like: dipping bread with their house-made yoghurt, cigar shaped pastry (omg, so good), persian meatballs, a cauliflower dish, and lamb on rice (best rice i've had in a long while!). it was so beautiful, and oh-so-filling! we walked a bit, came across a beatuful pastry store which caught our eyes (and stomachs!) and had to buy some stuff! yum :)

accompanied nick d for concert class on thursday - he sang poulenc's le bestiaire. it's fantastic. we got ripped for using half-stick, but that was about it. the ensemble worked fantastically. the ending was absolutely magical, this amazing g min 7 chord, labelled "long", "laiser vibrer", and tied over, plus a pause on the bar line. there was this amazing silence as it rang in melba hall. absolutely wonderful. i think that's how wonderful performances end (to quote/paraphrase another student's review) - in magical silence, or to raptous applause.

was a very long day on thursday - up at about 7am, had to meet somebody at 7.45am to give something to them, a day of uni (with funny breaks, not worth coming home to waste time, so brought homework to do on the couch - no wonder people never think i leave!), came home at about 7pm after sinfonia. no wonder i didn't want to go out thursday night!

friday was yet another intense day. (it was an intense week of piano, which is absolutely lovely!) M came to queen's at approximately 8am for our rehearsal at 8.15. J slept through her alarm, came at 8.30. we played through some stuff, then ran down to uni for our 9am chamber music tute. that was fairly intense, but good! H had good stuff to say about our playing, plus lots of comments and suggestions for doing stuff. at 10am, J had another tute (this time with her quintet!), M had a music lesson, and i had the hour off (couldn't find a practice room, sad!). then we had chamber music class, at 11am, whereupon our trio played! we were at the front for a while, about 45mins (of the hour long class!). we played quite well. we were very well-warmed up! so, yeah, about 4 hours of playing before lunchtime! pretty intense!! but fantastic. if only that was all i had to do....lucky i'd done my techniques assignment well in time :)

so, at the moment, working on rachmninoff prelude (b-flat major, pretty intense. i don't get it, caroline suggests stuff then says later, after i've completely committed to it, "it's hard". oh great..! haha). i really have to re-look at the chopin winter wind. it's an intense programme, actually. looks like this:

JS Bach: Prelude & fugue in D Major (bk 2); Prelude & Fugue in E Major (Bk 2)
Chopin: Etudes Op 25 nos 7 (the beautiful one with the conversation between the lh and rh), and 11 (winter wind)
Beethoven: Sonata in a-flat major, op 110 movt 1
Rachmninoff: preludes op 23 nos. 2 & 4

plus keeping up with chamber music:
4 of the 8 pieces for clarinet, viola and piano op 83 by max bruch

accompaniment stuff, including:
a strauss nocturne, saint-seans nocturne, the sextet from don giovanni

i don't think the concerto competition is going to be for me this year...i've hardly looked at it...

oh well.
so, sorry this is insanely long. if you've made it all the way, i'm incredibly impressed. leave me a comment if you did, i'll personally congratulate you! bed time...