The review!

Okay, so I'm supposed to be doing assignments. But blogging is just so much more exciting.
Furthermore, I'm listening to The Idea of North at the present moment, and it makes me feel like talking all about it!
So here it is....

A little group of us met at Queen's...hehe. I didn't realise how varied my little sub-group was because I walked into the arch with Penny and was like, "Hi Min!", "Hi Emma!", "Hi Ed!", "Hi Anna!" in this amazing succession and also noticed that all the people who were supposed to meet were all there, but they weren't talking to each other because they didn't know each other - they're all from different walks of my life hehe!
Alas, we got to the tramstop, picked up a few extra people, and met Gina and part of her massive group.
We got to Flinders and I was a bit paranoid that the #72 wasn't going to come for a long time.
But alas, we did get it, and in good time too!
We got to the venue 20 mins before it started! This is an amazing achivement for us. Apart from the very first time when Sam and I went to the concert at Collins St Baptist Church, we have been cutting it very very fine at Chapel off Chapel twice already (due to mishaps with trams...)

Wow. We walked in and I must have recognised about half the people already there - this really is a testament to how big our group was! Haha. It was fantastic seeing so many people I knew there! We even spotted a few teachers from the con, including a lecturer (for the subject that Ed takes that he was writing an assignment on this concert for! Hehe..!), as well as two promiment figures in the Early Music Studio! (This is perhaps quite far from early music....oh well!)

[wow, this is totally following Gina's format exactly..I'm sorry girl, you've done yours so well! Haha...I'll persist...]

To tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive about Trish not being there! (Trish is on maternity leave! Which is totally exciting for her and all her family and friends! But kinda sad for us too...) So, filling in for Trish was Sally Cameron on soprano. She did a wonderful job - apparently she's learnt about 35 songs since December. This is a tough ask...! Considering how hard some of the songs are (I would particularly note 'Just Kidding' and the saxaphone song..!) Of course, she's not Trish - their voices are quite different, but she fitted in quite well!

The concert opened with Mas Que Nada. There have been lots of renditions of this hit song (Anna particularly likes The Black Eyed Peas version. I have to agree with her, it's so funky, it makes you feel like dancing!) This was so much fun :) Everytime I go to a TION concert and it starts out with something so cool, I just know that it will be a fantastic night!
Marie was next, where a dear old lady, Judy, was serenaded by Nick (awww..!) Haha. I love how this song becomes a running joke through the entire concert!
Sting's Fields of Gold was a new addition to the set - but totally a worthy addition. So too was the Aretha Franklin song. In this, plus Revelation I think Sally's voice suited very well. She has a different sort of power and tone to her voice that really does these songs justice.

To tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive about Trish not being there! (Trish is on maternity leave! Which is totally exciting for her and all her family and friends! But kinda sad for us too...) So, filling in for Trish was Sally Cameron on soprano. She did a wonderful job - apparently she's learnt about 35 songs since December. This is a tough ask...! Considering how hard some of the songs are (I would particularly note 'Just Kidding' and the saxaphone song..!) Of course, she's not Trish - their voices are quite different, but she fitted in quite well!
The concert opened with Mas Que Nada. There have been lots of renditions of this hit song (Anna particularly likes The Black Eyed Peas version. I have to agree with her, it's so funky, it makes you feel like dancing!) This was so much fun :) Everytime I go to a TION concert and it starts out with something so cool, I just know that it will be a fantastic night!
Marie was next, where a dear old lady, Judy, was serenaded by Nick (awww..!) Haha. I love how this song becomes a running joke through the entire concert!
Sting's Fields of Gold was a new addition to the set - but totally a worthy addition. So too was the Aretha Franklin song. In this, plus Revelation I think Sally's voice suited very well. She has a different sort of power and tone to her voice that really does these songs justice.

The German folksong unfortunately has never been one of my favourites on the CDs but seeing it live did it much more justice! I have greater appreciation for this song now! Hehe. It is so funny seeing it live; the stage presence and actions are just perfect! And who would have thought about replacing words with random noises..? Woof, hee-haw, others...hehe :P

The Chicken Song also featured. Hehe! This song is so fantastic live. I think Sally characterised the chicken very well in this. Trish's chicken is a more lovable fluffy thing while Sally's is a bit more blonde :) (I mean that in the nicest possible way!)

They did People Get Ready ('a classic Curtis Mayfield song')...I was wondering how they were going to do it considering that on The Gospel Project they do it with backing. But this was just beautiful :) Andrew doing his percussion thing...! Let It Ring, also from TGP was there...this is such a beautiful song; Nick really does Michael Leunig well! And they sang my SHOWER SONG! (But Not For Me, the Gershwin classic). I love this song! The reason it's my shower song is because I sing it in the shower and it fits into my vocal range that early in the morning.. :P Also because it's totally cool and Naomi gets the awesome solo (yay altos!)

The chaser for the end of the first set was hilarious. It has totally escaped me what the tune for this was, but it was familiar. Apart from you know, the change of words, imploring the audience to come back after interval :) Typical Idea of North... :P

Bach's Fugue in c minor from The WTC was performed on kazoos...just to prove that TION are not cover bands! In the middle of it, they launched into a jazz number, before the closing of the fugue! The subjects and entries were very clearly defined, the piano staff at the Con would be proud! Hehe. :P Nick made this awesome dig at cover bands (despite you know, respecting them and all...)....I mean, Melbourne has its fair share.....take the MSO for example.......HAHAHAH. [I had seriously just commented to Ed, "Well, we are all classical musicians, you know, we play in symphony orchestras...."!] This of course raises up interesting points and could launch into a full-scale debate about originality in (classical) music....oh well. This is not the time nor place......but I thought this was MOST ironic considering that Vivien and John (the two Early Music Studio people mentioned before) were in the audience!!! Hahaha.

Just Kidding was awesome too. That is so hard!!!! Chuck that in with No More Blues and I think you've got a beautiful little display of TION's virtuosity. But put Jackie in....! This song was originally a jazz piece, for solo saxaphone (and band behind it, I guess...) And then somebody went nuts and put words to the solo bits. It's absolutely crazy!!! ('I saw a mouse...' hehe!) The solos by all four of the singers were totally awesome. (One of those times Ed would have needed the "yeah" nodding look or the "no no no! You did not just do that!" shaking of the head...all in that jazz style..! Haha..)

Rachel, Trish's beautiful song was performed; so too was Fragile, much to the pleasure of Kenneth! That is a song that's beautiful live too. :) (Perhaps I'm just listening to some too often haha!) There was even the Ugly Woman song. I love this one. Haha. Don't worry Nick, I'm not sure if this has ever happened in real life, but none of us could ever imagine this! After one of Nick's solos, I commented to Ed, "And that's probably why every woman here would want to marry him (hehe!)" and Ed said, "Ooh, and me!" (don't worry, he has a girlfriend, but I think that just must be a testament to how awesome Nick is..!)

And they ended with Isn't She Lovely. Which was totally awesome. I know all the words don't really make sense...but this is a song I want at my wedding reception..! (Perhaps they could come do it for me....with some words altered..? Surely it's possible...! Hehe) And we all got to sing bits too :) We did sound pretty good, so much that Nick asked, "Are you guys are choir or something?" (somebody, Vivien, I read, said quite emphatically, "yes!"...haha). Well, considering that half of our massive group are musos.....

The encore was (read: WAS) a hymn (before Idea got to it..and did funny cool things!): Just a Closer Walk With Thee. I don't actually think I can remember how the original goes now! Haha. It was wonderful...Emma and I really wanted to sing along to it all..complete with harmonies! Hehe....(music nerrrrds..!)

It was a wonderful concert! Of course, things are a little different with Sally instead of Trish - there are only a few issues that you listen and think, "hmm.." but considering it's her fourth gig...it's pretty darn amazing! Again, it was filled with fun, humour, long rambling introductions by Nick, telling Nick off (hehe), cool solos (particularly percussion ones!), odd instruments and awesome awesome music!

We stayed around after to meet and greet them.....of course :P Sorry to my friends who wanted to go home earlier.....be warned: I do this! Haha. Unfortunately Sam went home early (of all people!! Haha) We got our obligatory photos....
We talked to Naomi and did confirm that her uncle is Jeffrey Crellin, oboist with MSO. Naomi was like, "He's freakishly musical, it's amazing." I so wanted to say, "Naomi, so are you!!" Haha. Having said that, I am in total respect of freakishly musical people, of which I know a few!
We had photos taken.
We talked to Nick, we told him the website is awesome (check it out at www.idea.com.au)
and generally had an amazing night.

(Hah. Nick, when we were talking to him made a reference to stumbling across Gina's blog which was pretty cool!)
Anyway, I have a few photos from the night that are currently posted on facebook
so look for them there. There are also two below......if you'd like the photos, please feel free to save them yourself. If you want me to send them to you, please ask too :)

Wow, that was my amazingly long review.
Which has gotten me out of doing my microeconomics assignment for about 45 mins. I wish my life was about singing! Or hey, perhaps playing piano...!




set lists - we had to take a photo because ed needs it for his Music In Australia assignment. We seriously contemplated taking them, but I pointed out they were doing another concert the following night. Imagine all the things that could have gone wrong...."What are we singing next..?!"

The Idea of North!

I know, I didn't even post up photos from my birthday, and that was last week!
But the reason is because there are about 170 photos from that, and I'm trying to sort through them all.
Alas, stuff is out of order! But here are pictures from tonight's concert by The Idea of North!
It was yet another great night out - and we weren't late this time (woohoo!)
They weren't launching a CD or anything, so there was a good mix of older and new-ish stuff.
The fill-in soprano is doing a great job - she fits in really well! And she's doing very well, 35 songs since December..? Very grand effort!
Her renditions in the Aretha Franklin song as well as 'Revelation' were particularly excellent.

Enough of pseudo-reviews....
Here are a couple of pictures!

Emma, Min, Tim, Naomi, me, Lauren

Naomi, Sally, me, Andrew, Nick (they're not actually all my height ie. short..
they were very kind :) )

stuff i'm working on

bach prelude and fugue (f sharp minor, bk2)
chopin etude op. 25 no. 11 (winter wind)
moskowzski etude (a flat major)
mozart concerto in d minor, 1st movt
should be looking forward to 2nd semester, including bach prelude and fugue (d major, bk2)
i wanted to do the bach-busoni chaccone. it's insane. but totally cool.
rautuuvaara (can't spell his name...) fire sermon (piano sonata)
beethoven piano sonata op.110
three debussy preludes
debussy l'isle joyeaux (from images..? or something like that..)
ravel, something from miroirs

that's just my solo stuff

ensemble stuff includes
trio music, trio by bruch (three pieces, out of eight)
we should really look at some more too....

accompanying
did 2nd movt, haydn trumpet concerto
did the schumann adagio and allegro
did gordon jacob horn concerto 3rd movt
haydn horn concerto
strauss 2nd horn concerto (sooo hard..!)
saint-seans romance for piano and horn
mozart horn concerto, 1st movt
two song cycles (poulenc, gerald finzi)
some other songs
beethoven cello sonata op.102 no.2


no wonder i'm playing a lot.....!


the most recent one is the beethoven cello. this is the most exciting proposal in a long while....
my name and number got passed onto zoe, who teaches cello at the con.
she's running a beethoven project, involving the performance of all the beethoven cello sonatas.
well, i thought it was just for her students to play with piano students. pretty cool, huh, get hooked up with somebody to play some awesome music?
anyway, she called yesterday and asked me to play this specific sonata....
then proceded to give me a date (july 31) to play for a LIVE BROADCAST ON 3MBS
so, it's not just for kicks and to play with somebody. it's to play FOR PERFORMANCE.
pretty sweet, is what i think!
even my teacher didn't realise it was for broadcast....she thinks it's pretty cool too!

also, i've been roped in to help co-musical direct the queen's musical.
now tell me where i'm going to fit that in....

also, if you're free at 3.45pm on tuesday 8 may, please come to melba hall to hear me play in the mozart concerto competition!
all welcome, competition runs that day, the previous friday, some other days..(can't quite remember them all..but all up about 3-4 days with lots of piano, strings, winds/brass)
to make it more interesting for you, although a stack of people are playing the same concerto as me (the d minor), i have written my own cadenza! oooohhhh!!!! BE THERE! :) [i'd love to see your smiling, supporting, encouraging face!]

hmm...

if you didn't know, i guess you could think something was up.
we're oh-too-friendly hehe!
the leaning in
the whispering in the ear
the catch of the eye
the knowing smile
the plans, currently in the early stages

i wonder what they must have been thinking behind us...haha!

but not for me...

A link you should check out...

http://www.queens.unimelb.edu.au/qi_static/clickstreams/2007/teamhoyt.html

I hope this is the right link....it's supposed to be of 'The World's Strongest Father', and is the most amazing story.
Hopefully you get a screen that has a lot of text at the top, and a video at the bottom.
Read the text first, then you'll understand the video.
Watch the video (the song is AWESOME!)
The video is so moving - I bawled my eyes out.
Tell me what you think.

[if this link gives you something about a reporter and weed...let me know, because that's the wrong one....hmm..]

so why am i here..?

if these are the things i'm currently involved in, or things that take all my time, apart from homework:

apollo choir
unichurch committee
jude's carlton music team
accomopanying
piano practice (technically homework, but oh-so-much more...for what other subject could you possibly claim to do up to 3hrs work a day on..?!)
connect
mentoring
possibly MD for musical
library work

these are the things that are due:
micro assignment
techniques assignment
global essay
piano prac! (this is not technically 'due', but is constant, and needs work...you definitely can't cram this one!)

no wonder.....!!!

things from the past...

So, a few weeks ago, I listened to a programme on ABC radio about the wandering mendiant monks in Japan. Who wore baskets on their heads. Who were like exiled ex-samuri masters. Who played shakuhachi. And who developed the repertoire for this instrument.
It was wonderful to re-learn all this.

And I went to the NGV with my family last week, and although we didn't get to see the entire museum, we did go to the Studying collection. Or something like that.
And I saw a painting or something which depicted or was at least part of the Ramayana Hindu epic. The story was on the little plaque that tells the context of the 'artefact'. It was totally cool that I knew what this was about.

And I've also come to the realisation, although I think I knew this a while ago, that if I like somebody, I sometimes shy away from giving them attention (to their face). It even manifests itself in not looking into their eyes. Just in case, just somehow, they could possibly look into mine and see that I like them. Silly, but that's how it goes. On the other hand, not to their face, they often receive a lot of good words from me! But you'd have to go to my friends for those...

So, briefly, the family visiting was nice. Unfortunately, had an assigment due that week, and had lots of piano practice to do, so I was basically coming into uni/Queen's every day. But I still got to spend time with them, which was good. We ate out almost every day - wow! The apartment was a bit squishy, but oh well. It was nice to see them. They really enjoyed Melbourne, and by the sounds of it, it would seem that my dad would be all too enthusiastic about moving here!

aww..that's cute!

yesterday i received a gift!
it contained things that made me laugh.
i smiled a lot as i opened each component.
i was expecting to be given more scores (much as i love gifts, i also love scores hehe)
but i was pleasantly surprised!

thank you for your thoughtfulness! :)

Les Miserables

'to love another person is to see the face of God'

i've recently been listening to all the tracks that i have from this musical.
and i remember why i think this is such an awesome show!
and also because i've been trying to pick whether the horn plays a hideous wrong note/mistake of a semitone out...(thanks sam!)

quotes

(about doing tremolo on the violin): "it's like brushing your teeth!"

(about meeting a friend on the tram to the opera): "if i didn't know who he was, it would have looked like you'd just scored a date to the opera on the tram"

(about a friend with whom it just wouldn't happen, at least not in the current situation): "you two look so couply"

birthdays
assignments - argh!
photos
musicals
operas
dinners
parents
movies
rsvps
facebook updates
gender-politics-economics-eastern europe
concerts
con friends

coming soon

will be the full review of One Man Dies.
plus pictures! (sorry, i was one of the annoying people with a flash camera, and for the first half, a noisy camera! but i have some great pictures - if you would like any, please let me know!)
i went last night to closing night - again, another very enjoyable night!
I think it gets better every night, and it was definitely worth going the second time...although i think some of the cast and crew kinda looked at me thinking, "didn't you just see this last night?!" hehe :P
it was great though!

the good friday service was very good yesterday. it was just beautiful and so reflective.
i am totally excited about easter this year - in the weeks leading up to it i've just felt this incredible enthusiasm and excitement about telling everybody about how awesome easter is!
i guess working through luke's gospel at jude's and bible study has just been pretty amazing too.

on a slightly different, yet related note, i have totally been getting into christian music.
the words are just so encouraging.
thanks heaps to the people who have helped me expand this collection!



so, my family is coming today! if you're at jude's on sunday night, they will be there! i'm so excited that they're finally coming to see what i rave on about!

anyway, i think i should go practice/pack/do homework.....i don't anticipate there will be much time for it once they get here..!
xoxo

what a busy day!

I did cheat today....even though i said id be at uni all day, i actually came home for a little while!
and listened to my lecture (was planning to do that at uni though) and also managed to have a little nap! (could not have done that at uni).
but it was a busy day.....today was the first day i'd been into the giblin library! and managed to find some books that were relevant to my proposed essay topic. there are HEAPS of books in there!!! wow!!!
we got to play more tchaikovsky in sinfonia today - it was cool :)

then (the real reason for this post!), we went to see the Jude's musical One Man Dies.
It was sooo good! Wow, it was done soooo well!

if you do read this, do see if you can get along tomorrow night - it's the last night that it's on!

sam was awesome in his portrayal of jesus, the characters of matthew, sarah and lazarus i thought were highlights. but no doubt, they were all totally awesome!!!!
WOW WOW WOW!
i think i should go tomorrow night as well. i really don't mind paying another $12 to see my friends perform and be reminded again of the easter story.

so, while i didn't get almost any work done today, i felt in other ways, it was productive.
i guess it's a pity that i often equate productivity with work. ergh!

wow wow wow. i am so impressed with it!
kudos particularly to ben and sam, who get my votes as heroes for today!
xoxo

commentary

inverted 5th and the root and its effect on global warming

hehe!

i kid you not, about seven different people commented about my hair today.
maybe because:
1) it's getting long!
2) it was out (rather than up)
3) it's CLEAN! :) (not that it isn't usually, but i guess more evident than up and clean..)

and people said that it looks nice! Hehe :P
that was nice.

random, i know. but i thought it was amusing.

even a good friend couldn't recognise me from the back! haha

as to its length, let me expain. when i was younger, i usually had fairly short hair (until i convinced my mum that i needed longer hair to do up for school, particularly at smags)
however, it was still fairly short.
but the latest time i went for a haircut (just the summer gone) i decided i wanted to finally keep my hair long. so all i asked was for a trim and a re-layering, so that most of the length was kept (i liked my length!). so here it is, growing itself out!

sorry, am really done with random stories now...!

so thanks for all the comments today :)

weird....

In the past week and a bit, these are the comments that have struck me the most, because different people have asked me these, several times:

1) Are you ok?
Like I'm not. Well, maybe I showed signs of not being ok. I dunno.
Either way, sounds like everybody is just that bit concerned.
Thanks for it guys :)
But really, I'm ok!

2) Are you THE Gladys from facebook?
HAHAHAHA.
People are stalking me!
Well, not really. There are just connections between friends, I guess.
It's actually more amusing than anything.
Because it proves that I'm not the only one clicking on other people's profiles... :P
And knowing stuff about other people...!
Don't worry, I don't have stalkerish tendencies!