a funny week

Went to Geelong last Saturday night, after a rehearsal that afternoon. The rehearsal went well, but we didn't want to exhaust K too much. Went to her parent's house first, hung out there for a little while, then the drive to Geelong..which wasn't so bad. Turned up to St J's early, which I kinda like. Had a little play; hung out for a while, met a few new people. We were announced out of order. That was weird......but we went on anyway. We were going well, but then the cadenza came, and there was some memory lapse. Oh well, these things happen. It's just what we learn from it, and how we learn to react. She wasn't too shattered by it, which was good. Although I think it would have been nice to get through to the next round. But that's ok. Like I maintain, it's about what we learn from it. How to improve for next time, and the time after that and after that; repeat ad libitum. We went out in Geelong that night with her parents and A and T (I finally met him! Yay!). I had been craving lemon meringue tart for about two weeks (in which I told K I had been for those two weeks), so we shared one. It just hit the spot. It was a lovely little place; if I came from Geelong, I think it would be a delightful venue for a 21st...! Or some other party....anyway, drove back to Melbourne that night, it was a pretty long day. But fun nevertheless. :)

We had two tables worth of people last Sunday night. It was most impressive.
And the person who's always gunning to break the record wasn't even there, poor thing..!

Then it was time to knuckle down for Micro study. I mean, I had already started studying for it and all, but Monday was the last day to cram it all in. I made some sense of it, I think. Well, it certainly felt like it before the exam. The exam was....HARD. I think everybody found it hard. Oh well, it's over, and there's nothing I can do about it now, is there? But I'm winging it on i) part marks for working/effort etc. ii) lots of people who don't know much about Micro. Right?

Had a rehearsal after the Micro exam. After stopping by the shops, of course (it's all about multitasking! Like now, studying for International Trade Policy, and blogging, and listening to Glenn Gould!). We were all pretty buggered, although I think I was the least so, even though I'd just exhausted my brain with an exam! Oh well. I was pretty excited that Micro was over, so that I could 'enjoy' the rest of the week of other high-pressure activities involving piano. Still enjoyable.

Went to the joint farewell party of H/G/D/V/A. It was much fun. And it was nice to see a whole bunch of Med friends that I hadn't seen in a little while. Good just to hang out with a cool bunch of people and enjoy their company. It's sad...I won't be seeing a bunch of them for a while; some are going overseas, some will be more busy/less time to devote to things like Apollo. :(
I have appreciated their contributions, and probably more touching, their friendship. I often think about my role in Apollo, and even though I head up the choir in an official role, becuase I'm about their age, I sometimes feel more like a friend rather than their director. Feels a little weird sometimes, but it's also a good thing.

Had a recording session on Wednesday for my AYO application. It didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but it was an interesting experience to do anyway. We'll see. I'm not incredibly hopeful of going to Adelaide over the summer, but I suppose I can only wait to find out the result. And yeah, there is only.....one pianist in an orchestra. The odds to start off with are fairly slim...
But I felt so privileged, I could have picked between the two Steinways on offer. That's not a luxury most people my age get....!
Worked that night at Melba (back to the Con!), at the Impressaria concert, which was fun. If there are jobs that I do like (that don't pay that well in comparison to playing piano), they'd preferably have something to do with music that I do enjoy. :) It's pretty exciting....

Had my tech exam on Thursday, which went alright. It was just super-loud, because the piano was. And the walls are thin. So the guy next door was playing a sombre Bach while I played scherzino-like Chopin, as well as dramatic Chopin. Must have been an interesting mix..! I thought in the middle of it, "Hang on, why aren't you nervous? This is the bit you have to concentrate extra on!" I hate having those dialogues in the middle of performances.....! But my examiner was really nice, he just let me do my own thing in my own time. The distracting part was when he was writing: I could hear the pen, but wasn't sure whether they were good or bad comments..! Gah...Oh well, that was a fairly non-traumatic exam, phew!

Went out that night with the girls for dinner, which was lovely. We haven't hung out all together in a while, we mostly do it in sub-groups, but you know, that happens. cool.
Then watched a movie at home (About a Boy, haven't seen that in ages...) which was amusing at the very least...!

Had chamber music exam yesterday. Now, this requires a bit of explanation.....
Practiced a bit in the morning. Then had to go to the shops to buy a ribbon to wear that afternoon. Thought I might do a bit of supermarket grocery shopping at the same time. I asked my housemate if she thought I was weird for "going to the shops even though I have an exam this afternoon". She replied with "Well, it means that you're pretty damn ready". Which I was. And also, chamber music is a group effort, yeah?!
We met for lunch, then warmed up. Left PLENTY of time to get there. Like, 45mins.
And one of the examiners was late. Because the office had told her that her lunch break was from 1-2pm, rather than 1-1.40pm. So the group that was scheduled to be at 1.40? They were pushed back till 2pm. Which was our time.
And the most amazing thing was that so many people turned up! I knew we'd invited 111 people (at last official count), and I knew some people were coming, but I didn't expect that many people to actually turn up! So, because we were running late, most people also watched the quintet before us (which they were very appreciative of, the audience I mean..).

Most chamber music exams and groups are lucky if they have five people (besides the two examiners) come and watch and listen.


We had about

THIRTY.

It was massive. It was like the size of the audience at the end of a super-long Concert Class that has run overtime.

It was so exciting. I was blown away. And I'm glad some people could make it, because i) some of my friends hadn't seen me play piano (even if they theoretically knew that I did...) ii) some people were very busy and took time out to come see us iii) some had never been to the Con/Melba for a performance.

I was listening to a (fairly good!) recording J's parents made from the performance.....and yeah, it was interesting hearing us play (I always have this thing where after a performance it tends to blur a bit in my mind), but the most heart-warming part was that at the end, there was a significant amount of people who applauded! Like a real audience! Unlike the awkward applause you get when there's only two people in an audience! It was so exciting.

Anyway, that was the chamber music exam. I was exhausted after it, because it's a fairly large work that needs a lot of energy. Which we gave. We went to Deep Dish afterwards to have something to eat and drink (muchly needed!) with some of our posse, which was fun. Then went out last night for dinner with the trio and some associated friends, which was lots of fun. And good to eat out! Which is kinda what I've been doing all week, but anyway.....Then had a rehearsal that started at 9.30pm. I know, weird, but it was the only time the majority of us could be there...I went home pretty tired all up.....

then today I had the funniest gig so far (ever?!)
See, on Wednesday, I ran into my teacher at the Con, and we were talking about all sorts of things, such as the fact that she was on the panel for YPA in Brisbane last week. And about the playing of those people. And how I'd sent her a message that she was quite touched by. And how she was in the middle of replying to me, but got distracted by her daughter...! (she even went into her drafts message folder to show me...!) And then after the recording, she saw me again, and complained that I didn't pick up my phone (It was on silent! I was recording..!) but asked me this weird set of questions...:
"what are you doing friday night?"
"Do you know melbourne storm?"
"do you read chords?"

Anyway, the gist was that a singer had called her up to play for her, as this singer had been asked to sing some pre-show entertainment at the Melbourne Storm (vs. Nth Qld Cowboys) match this evening at Olympic Park. Yes, that's right, classical musos at the rugby league. I had to laugh. So, I was picked up and taken to Olympic Park, was given a backstage pass (woo!), and then taken through to the changerooms. Then we had a soundcheck; we were positioned up on the little stage just in front of the field, set up with the sound system and what not. It was pretty cool. We were well looked after, there was plenty of food and drink; we were in the changerooms with the cheerleaders and mascots, whereupon I tried to study for International Trade Policy. A wanted to take a photo to send to my mum to show her that I was actually studying, and not just going out! (And just for the irony of the situation and all...!) We did get a photo with the Storm mascot though, which was pretty cool (we should have gotten one with Boom as well...). I felt pretty special, being led through by those management people who were called on to look after us (those ones with microphones and headpieces), and what not. And being taken to the corporate suite and all. I was amazed at how much detail goes into such an event (one football match..!), the timing of everything was down to the last minute (I kid you not..!), and everything rolls with all this communication in earpieces.
Anyway, much fun was had. The rest stayed to watch the match from the Corporate Suite, but I wanted to meet some friends for dinner, so I nicked off. Admittedly, I did need somebody to show me where to go; she was really nice, walked me out and showed me directions there, and gave me her number just in case I got lost (listed as 'Help' in my phone....!).

We met up, but wandered around Southbank for the longest time trying to find somewhere to eat! The lesson we learn from this is just to stick to the original plan.....or otherwise, just decide on something and wait. Particularly on a Friday or Saturday night, because everywhere is going to be busy. The thing that really struck me was that Melbourne is really busy on the weekend! I knew this was the case, but every so often, I see it again....particularly at restaurants. I see why they say it's Australia's food capital. As well as the shopping capital. And cultural captial. and Sporting capital. And piano city......haha is there anything Melbourne doesn't want to claim?
Anyway, we finally got food, wandered around a little more. Wanted to get cake. Then wanted to go get hot chocolate.
It was all a little complex, and we DEFINITELY learnt about sticking to decisions, and that we are all pretty indecisive. (remember, I sometimes make decisions for myself; I can fairly easily make decisions for other people though...!)

It was a fun night, even if it did involve much walking, hunger pangs and much indecisiveness. Oh well. :)
Maybe one time we'll actually get to go up Eureka tower....

right, I should be studying for International Trade Policy.....it's the last exam (finally!) but I don't quite know what's going on, and based on my mid-semester, I think I need to study a LOT..!!!

Hermit Mode

Hermit Mode probably describes me best during SWOTVAC and Exams. Because I usually hole myself up in my room, in a practice room, or in the library trying to study (ie. cram) for exams.
But of course, not before the conclusion of the semester brings a flurry of appointments, deadlines, people to see, things to do and other busy-ness.
It would probably be fair to say that most of May (and I suppose, most of the semester) was like that.
A brief run-down of May/early June so far (which hasn't already been alluded to, hopefully):
7 performances (of varying sorts...)
1 camp
5 dinner appointments
3 birthday parties (I didn't make it to two)
1 return trip in the Wiggles van
1 church camp
1 ushering job
2 microeconomics assignments
1 minimalism assignment
2 exams (oh, there are 4 more to go...)
2 lessons with another piano teacher
3 chamber music tutes
1 musical theatre show
1 MSO concert
1 AYO application
2 AYO excerpts
2 AYO excerpts with errors

It has been an interesting month or two of late.
I swing between being unenthusiastic, indifference, to musing about random things, to psyched up about various things. It doesn't make sense to me.

The state of my room has degraded to the floor space being taken up by books, files and previous days' newspapers. Not that the state of the room started out at a very neat level but it was the intention. I haven't even started studying for ITP just yet (it's on the 26th) - and I know I'm not very good at it. It will take MUCH revising and reading......
Just like Microeconomics. I really am not enjoying commerce as much as I thought I would. I thought a few years ago, that I just had to get through that year, because I was taking pre-requisite subjects, compulsory subjects, and that it'd be better in the near future because then I could take things I really wanted to take. But now I'm taking subjects to fulfill a major requirement. I'm not sure it's what I expected.
And the things I really want to take centre around Music, particularly playing as much piano as possible, and other practical activities. With a healthy smattering of techniques (including orchestration and the like) and history.

I've been listening to much 'classical' music lately, out of choice. I always listened to a lot. But now I'm choosing the things I listen to, when I study. Or want to have something to listen to. Am I getting too involved?!

I don't really know what I'm doing. I don't really know where I'm heading.

I often don't really know what to say. I sometimes feel like I have nothing intelligent to contribute to discussion, so I let it wash over me. I hope people don't mistake it for ignorance or stupidity, I'm only trying to absorb it all.

I hate turning down amazing opportunities.
But sometimes I have to.
I'm trying to have no regrets - it can be difficult.

I can't wait to play my technical exam. I can't wait to play my chamber music exam. I'm excited (though nervous) about recording my audition. I'm also excited but also a little nervous about the competition (which isn't even mine...!). I get excited about working at Impresaria.
They all have piano in common.
I wonder if I will continue to grow in enjoyment of music, or whether it will fizzle out in the future. I hope it's the former.

I often struggle to define myself much past my faith and music.

I realise that my friends don't see me as boring. But I fear that I often come across as that. Because of the above statement.

There's something that needs to be physically filled. Many try though they don't realise it. But I'll know when it's done. I'm not sure whether my reaction will be to be relieved or an outpouring of emotion or a stupid grin on my face. Perhaps all of them, simultaneously.



enough soul-bearing.
back to being a hermit...(ironically??)