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..!!!