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! :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, October 07, 2007
"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.....
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.....
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
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...!
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...!
Friday, September 28, 2007
'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
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
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
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!
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!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
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 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
Saturday, September 01, 2007
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...
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...
| You Are Romanticism |
 You are likely to see the world as it should be, not as it is. You prefer to celebrate the great things people do... not the horrors they're capable of. For you, there is nothing more inspiring than a great hero. You believe that great art reflects the artist's imagination and true ideals. |
Thursday, August 30, 2007
hehe
i could do with a laugh....hope you do too :)
"ooh Nick's singing"
S: "yeah and check out his pianist - she's hot!"
"Gladys Chua? who's she?"
S: "some little, asian chick, plays piano"
E: "and she's so short you dont notice her next to the piano"
S: "and she wears all black so blends in with the piano"
A: "I hear she's really good to work with"
S: "Coz you wouldn't know from experience would you?"
S: "no! not at all!"
i was amused!
well done nick! what an amazing ending....! loved fiona's comments, including "looking forward to seeing you guys work together again!"
S,A&E - you guys crack me up. i find out most stuff eventually ;)
"ooh Nick's singing"
S: "yeah and check out his pianist - she's hot!"
"Gladys Chua? who's she?"
S: "some little, asian chick, plays piano"
E: "and she's so short you dont notice her next to the piano"
S: "and she wears all black so blends in with the piano"
A: "I hear she's really good to work with"
S: "Coz you wouldn't know from experience would you?"
S: "no! not at all!"
i was amused!
well done nick! what an amazing ending....! loved fiona's comments, including "looking forward to seeing you guys work together again!"
S,A&E - you guys crack me up. i find out most stuff eventually ;)
Sunday, August 19, 2007
urinetown
and just like that, Urinetown is over.
but wow, was that an amazing week of all sorts! amazingly tiring, amazingly busy, amazingly stressful, and amazingly wonderful - all at the same time.
we bumped into the theatre just as we were about to completely outgrow the JCR, so that was good timing.
tech run was very stop-start-ish, but i guess that's what tech runs are like. including a 1-about 9pm (with a half hour break for dinner) on the tuesday. luckily i only have one class on tuesday (at 9am)
wednesday night was our dress rehearsal. i cancelled my music lesson coz i felt bad that i hadn't really done that much practice during the week. the dress went fairly well, although there were some hitches (as expected, when you do your first full run-through with everything).
i was so nervous on thursday. i had a class starting at 9am, then rehearsals/tutes going through till 1pm, upon which i had to sell ball tickets. and then i had a sound check at the theatre at 4.30pm, got home at 5pm and then had to be at the theatre at 6pm. i was so disappointed i didn't get time to nap. and surprised that i didn't just fall asleep in the show! the first show went pretty darn well. there were a few hitches at the beginning, but we managed to recover easily and slid back into the scheme of things. just before the show started, i physically felt so sick because i was so nervous! luckily, i felt more confident as the show went on, so i managed to push through it all!
the rest of the shows went fantastically. it was so wonderful to see so many people i knew come along with each successive show. the prize for the most enthusiastic probably goes to my brother though, because he flew in early on saturday morning and back out on sunday morning (yes, to and from PERTH) to see saturday night's show! pretty amazing! everybody i've told has been very impressed!
thank you to all who came and saw the show, and thank you for your support. i hope you enjoyed the show and that it lived up to all we were claiming it to be. xo
but wow, was that an amazing week of all sorts! amazingly tiring, amazingly busy, amazingly stressful, and amazingly wonderful - all at the same time.
we bumped into the theatre just as we were about to completely outgrow the JCR, so that was good timing.
tech run was very stop-start-ish, but i guess that's what tech runs are like. including a 1-about 9pm (with a half hour break for dinner) on the tuesday. luckily i only have one class on tuesday (at 9am)
wednesday night was our dress rehearsal. i cancelled my music lesson coz i felt bad that i hadn't really done that much practice during the week. the dress went fairly well, although there were some hitches (as expected, when you do your first full run-through with everything).
i was so nervous on thursday. i had a class starting at 9am, then rehearsals/tutes going through till 1pm, upon which i had to sell ball tickets. and then i had a sound check at the theatre at 4.30pm, got home at 5pm and then had to be at the theatre at 6pm. i was so disappointed i didn't get time to nap. and surprised that i didn't just fall asleep in the show! the first show went pretty darn well. there were a few hitches at the beginning, but we managed to recover easily and slid back into the scheme of things. just before the show started, i physically felt so sick because i was so nervous! luckily, i felt more confident as the show went on, so i managed to push through it all!
the rest of the shows went fantastically. it was so wonderful to see so many people i knew come along with each successive show. the prize for the most enthusiastic probably goes to my brother though, because he flew in early on saturday morning and back out on sunday morning (yes, to and from PERTH) to see saturday night's show! pretty amazing! everybody i've told has been very impressed!
thank you to all who came and saw the show, and thank you for your support. i hope you enjoyed the show and that it lived up to all we were claiming it to be. xo
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
bracing for a frightening few weeks
saturday 11 august: full run of show with orchestra
sunday 12 august: full run with orchestra, bump-in; re:charge; jude's music
monday 13 august: start of CU mission week; tech run act 1
tuesday 14 august: tech run act 2; mum and dad fly out of perth
wednesday 15 august: dress rehearsal
thursday 16 august: finalise all ball tickets and tables; urinetown opening night; old girls' dinner (obviously not going)
friday 17 august: techniques assignment due; urinetown gala night
saturday 18 august: urinetown matinee; urinetown closing night; urinetown after party; kristen's party; my aunt comes to melbourne
sunday 19 august: uni open day (apollo, music)
monday 20 august: orchestra concert - young & jackson's, here we come! (okay, so the main part of the night is the concert, but Y&J i guess has some bonding memories)
thursday 23 august: music ball
saturday 25 august: renee's 21st
so if i don't get time to see you all in that, i'm really sorry - please try to understand!
i am so scared that i won't get any work done in that time. especially piano practice. eek!
sunday 12 august: full run with orchestra, bump-in; re:charge; jude's music
monday 13 august: start of CU mission week; tech run act 1
tuesday 14 august: tech run act 2; mum and dad fly out of perth
wednesday 15 august: dress rehearsal
thursday 16 august: finalise all ball tickets and tables; urinetown opening night; old girls' dinner (obviously not going)
friday 17 august: techniques assignment due; urinetown gala night
saturday 18 august: urinetown matinee; urinetown closing night; urinetown after party; kristen's party; my aunt comes to melbourne
sunday 19 august: uni open day (apollo, music)
monday 20 august: orchestra concert - young & jackson's, here we come! (okay, so the main part of the night is the concert, but Y&J i guess has some bonding memories)
thursday 23 august: music ball
saturday 25 august: renee's 21st
so if i don't get time to see you all in that, i'm really sorry - please try to understand!
i am so scared that i won't get any work done in that time. especially piano practice. eek!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
very stretchy elastic
sorry to those around me who've had to endure my very elastic-like moods in the past two weeks.
it has stretched from ecstatically enthusiastic, to content, right to the other end of the scale, of severe mopiness (such as now), blah-ness and horrible illness-induced sadness.
i don't know what it is. but for some reason i've been missing lots of people quite a lot recently.
particularly home - it really hasn't ever happened since i moved here, but this semester seems to be quite bad. i suppose one reason is that getting sick makes you realise how much you just really want to be at home, getting TLC and just to be in your own bed, with somebody else pottering over you.
and while i love urinetown, it has been quite a lot of stress, i feel. perhaps i'm adding so much onto it. but conducting the whole show is a somewhat large task. and it's true, i guess people only look at the conductor when things go wrong...and i'm desperately hoping that stuff doesn't go wrong, or that it doesn't go wrong enough for me not to be able to fix it. i will be sad, and reminiscent (is that a word?!) but relieved when it's over.
i guess there's just been lots of pressure at the present moment...deadlines to adhere to, people waiting on my actions before they can do theirs. i've had to organise the sale of music ball tickets, which we're obviously hoping goes really well. i guess i'm so afriad of screwing up so often that i probably place a lot of pressure on myself to get it right. sometimes it pays off.
i went to see the JCH play last night. it was Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband", which is just a beautiful play. we studied it in lit in yr 12, so that was nice. this version was very well done, i thought. by and large, i thought the casting was fantastic, and the acting was quite good, particularly the leads - i loved the desparation of robert chiltern, the morality of gertrude, mabel's obsessive (with goring) nature, goring's fabulous expressive face and comic timing, and mrs cheveley's evilness! i had actually wanted to see the friend who was playing mabel (along with the rest of the show), but also managed to find that the girl playing mrs cheveley was a girl i'd gone to school with, and hadn't seen in a long time! so that was nice :) i really enjoyed going to see this production. that made me smile a lot.
i sometimes wonder at this stage whether there is something medically wrong with me. i really hope not. i really have no reason. my friends have been wonderful - thank you so much guys, i love you heaps, and really appreciate your love, care and concern for me. thank you so much to everybody who's been asking how i am, and whether i'm getting better. thank you for your care. i've just had a few moments of weakness, all in my own privacy. and i guess that makes me feel even more alone sometimes.
i guess all i want to do at this moment is to go to church, spend time with my friends and family, and play music.
it has stretched from ecstatically enthusiastic, to content, right to the other end of the scale, of severe mopiness (such as now), blah-ness and horrible illness-induced sadness.
i don't know what it is. but for some reason i've been missing lots of people quite a lot recently.
particularly home - it really hasn't ever happened since i moved here, but this semester seems to be quite bad. i suppose one reason is that getting sick makes you realise how much you just really want to be at home, getting TLC and just to be in your own bed, with somebody else pottering over you.
and while i love urinetown, it has been quite a lot of stress, i feel. perhaps i'm adding so much onto it. but conducting the whole show is a somewhat large task. and it's true, i guess people only look at the conductor when things go wrong...and i'm desperately hoping that stuff doesn't go wrong, or that it doesn't go wrong enough for me not to be able to fix it. i will be sad, and reminiscent (is that a word?!) but relieved when it's over.
i guess there's just been lots of pressure at the present moment...deadlines to adhere to, people waiting on my actions before they can do theirs. i've had to organise the sale of music ball tickets, which we're obviously hoping goes really well. i guess i'm so afriad of screwing up so often that i probably place a lot of pressure on myself to get it right. sometimes it pays off.
i went to see the JCH play last night. it was Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband", which is just a beautiful play. we studied it in lit in yr 12, so that was nice. this version was very well done, i thought. by and large, i thought the casting was fantastic, and the acting was quite good, particularly the leads - i loved the desparation of robert chiltern, the morality of gertrude, mabel's obsessive (with goring) nature, goring's fabulous expressive face and comic timing, and mrs cheveley's evilness! i had actually wanted to see the friend who was playing mabel (along with the rest of the show), but also managed to find that the girl playing mrs cheveley was a girl i'd gone to school with, and hadn't seen in a long time! so that was nice :) i really enjoyed going to see this production. that made me smile a lot.
i sometimes wonder at this stage whether there is something medically wrong with me. i really hope not. i really have no reason. my friends have been wonderful - thank you so much guys, i love you heaps, and really appreciate your love, care and concern for me. thank you so much to everybody who's been asking how i am, and whether i'm getting better. thank you for your care. i've just had a few moments of weakness, all in my own privacy. and i guess that makes me feel even more alone sometimes.
i guess all i want to do at this moment is to go to church, spend time with my friends and family, and play music.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
this side of it all
week one down, and already in the middle of week 2.
i feel as if the semester has started without me!
i managed to get quite horribly sick on tuesday night of week 1 (good start, ey?). we (helen, dave, ace and me) went to see the HP movie on monday night - i really enjoyed it! i suppose i won't do a review...if you want to know what i thought, came have a chat to me. i guess i really don't have the energy nor effort to write a review. in summary, i guess i could just say that i really enjoyed it, and although i didn't envision everything as it was portrayed in the movie, i didn't not agree with it, and it was definitely interesting.
had a lesson with lily with caroline on wednesday morning, which i sniffed my way through. i was supposed to have two rehearsals that afternoon (one with lily, one with trio), but i felt so ill that after my piano lesson, i came home, got into my pj's at 11.30am, and hopped into bed for the rest of the day. i kept waking up quite periodically to try and eat, but i felt so ill that it didn't really happen.
it was probably the first time in a very long time that i spent most of the day in bed due to illness.
on wednesday night, i had to page-turn for the seraphim trio concert at melba hall. i sniffed my way through this one, but surprisingly, managed mostly not to have to blow my nose like a trumpet on stage. penny, ace and sal also helped out with catering etc. thanks guys, you're all stars! as for the concert, it was an excellent one - the pieces were fantastic, and the ensemble was great. going to these concerts makes me think about how much i want to play in my own piano trio, because there is so much music for this genre. i just have to find a suitable violinist now...
on thursday, lily and i played the entire beethoven in concert class. both of us were feeling quite blah about it, but we did it anyway, which was good, because it was a chance to get through it all. we nearly fell apart at the end (we were like, a beat out for about two bars) but apparently nobody seemed to notice..? oh well, we got to the end. it turned out alright, we both weren't quite feeling it but it was good to play the whole thing.
had a lesson with zoe on friday, which was really helpful. zoe truly is amazing, and a fantastic teacher - i really enjoyed lessons with her. i had to write a bio about myself (which didn't end up being used), but it was quite boring. i had to try expand it a bit. this is what it is:
Gladys started playing the piano at the age of four, quickly surpassing her fellow students in her group class. Her piano studies continued after relocating from overseas to Perth, Western Australia, at the age of five; her principal teachers for the subsequent twelve years included Ann Taylor and Stephanie Colemen. Gladys is currently a Faculty of Music Merit Scholar at the University of Melbourne, studying music and economics, and has been studying piano under the tutelage of Caroline Almonte for the past two and a half years.
see? boring....i really haven't done much in melbourne, apart from playing in class.
i was supposed to meet xing for coffee (or equivilent) on friday afternoon, but there was a miscommunication, so that ended up not happening. hehe. oh well, we'll just re-schedule. friday night we had connect, which was enjoyable, as always. the vic always seems to fit more people in everytime i look! the new-look vic was most exciting, and the lemon slice cake was beautiful! hehe.
saturday was meetings and trying to get stuff organised. we went to the Idea of North concert at chapel off chapel on saturday night, for their Live DVD launch!
again, it was another fantastic concert. Fields of Gold, and the Aretha Franklin number were highlights, so too was Staying Alive. As well as a little bit of the extras from the DVD...hehe pizza. :P it was ace's first ION live experience, so that was pretty special - she enjoyed it!
wow, all i can say about the concert was that i thought it was awesome, and wish that it could have gone on for longer! there was a point where andrew (the bass) winked at somebody in the audience (i SWEAR it was ME...!!! not the 50 other women sitting on the left block..) and every one of those 50 women must have smiled because he grinned back. haha. ace and i had an argument to claim rights to that wink haha.
of course, afterwards we bought some stuff (i got the live DVD) and said hi to them all again. and it was nice, they remembered us :) well, i kinda expect gina to be remembered (nick surely did!), but i was kinda pleasantly surprised that naomi said, "And who could forget this group?!" hehe...and Andrew said "Ooh yes, I recognised your group, particularly...." (and picks out specific people, including ME! hahaha. I was most amused). So, had a good chat to them, and can't wait for them to come back (again! hehe). Indeed, they are an amazing live performance. for the meantime, the DVD and cds shall have to suffice.
sunday was a lot of rehearsals for urinetown. this show is overcoming my life, but will be over in just over two weeks, which is a scary thought. one this week is over, i can have my rightful pianist in :) yay!
on monday night, i went out for dinner with my cousin, aunt and uncle. my cousin actually lives two colleges away, but we are so busy that we don't really get a chance to hang out! we see each other more often over the holidays when we're at HOME instead of in melbourne! hehe. i didn't get a chance to see myaunt&uncle over the winter break because they'd left for europe before i got home, and returned to perth after i came back to melbourne, so it'd been since february that i hadn't seen them. so, we went out for dinner, which was nice. and of course, they tried to stuff us with lots of food, which we couldn't manage because there was SO MUCH!!! i went to visit my cousin's place at ormond, which was cool., and then my aunt and uncle came to queen's to see my room. the last time they came to queen's was when they came to melbourne to help us move in at the very beginning of this exciting melbourne adventure. they loaded me up with some gifts of clothes and food (necessary items!). it was GREAT to see them :)
on tuesday i had the LIVE AT THE CONVENT Broadcast of the Beethoven Project!
Heck, this probably deserves its own post, but i'm too lazy...so here i go...!
went to class in the morning, which was quite distracting. hehe. then lily and i headed to abbotsford convent, where the 3MBS studios are. we kinda missed the turnoff at first, then had to double back after driving for a little while trying to find a road to turn into and out of. we finally got there, and walked into the convent complex, to be faced with a map and confused directions of which building the radio station was actually housed in! we finally got there, and had to wait for a while for our sound check. we got a little mini-tour of the place, which was cool. i should totally listen to 3MBS more, not just ABC...
we got to go inside the studio where the guy (peter?) would be fiddling with the knobs to make it sound like we were in a much larger space rather than just the performance studio, which was quite small. we got our run, our 3rd movt kinda fell apart...eek! but it was a good run, we were feeling alright about it.
we had to wait for an AGE for the whole thing. the concert actually started at 1.30pm, instead of the information about 1pm that I'd received. oh well. at least some people managed to tune in - many thanks guys :) i know some of you had class, or got a lot of static from the con (who would have thought..?!) i'll be getting a recording (hopefully of all of the sonatas) so that we can re-create the whole effect hehe.
i page-turned for the first two, which was quite exciting....i definitely hadn't heard the beethoven cello sonatas, so it was a good opportunity to hear them all!
of note...the first cellist was emma ayres, whom i'm pretty sure is the same emma ayres on ABC (who does afternoons..?) i should have tried to say something intelligent to her. or at least just something (even if it was unintelligent)...because i really enjoy listening to her on the radio. oh well.....hopefully zoe remembers me when she has students who want to do stuff.
so, lily and i went pretty well. the 2nd movt was great, it felt very comfortable. the unique thing about the 5th cello sonata is that it is the only one with a complete 2nd movt, as a well-developed musical movement. so that's pretty exciting. zoe said some nice things at the beginning, of which i found out later hehe. the 1st movt stuck together, and i started pretty well, so i was quite comfortable. and the formidable 3rd movt has lots of double 3rds, 6ths and 8ves and is feindishly hard for the piano- and it all stuck together! the whole sonata felt fairly comfortable, the nerves really melted away after the first 3 lines or so, and we really enjoyed the experience. at the very end, just as we were finishing those V-I-V-I chords at the close of the 3rd movt, lily and i had fairly stupidly big grins on our faces, because we knew we had made it stick, and we'd gotten to the end together, and we both knew that THAT was the best we could have done at that time, which was pretty good!
so lily, thanks so much for such an enjoyable time playing beethoven with you! we shall look for more repertoire..! :)
right, my piano lesson this morning got cancelled, so i have no classes today, but some recording for urinetown to do, as well as a trio rehearsal. and i should really nip down to the library to photocopy some stuff. and to drop something off at the con.
and i should really go into work, at least for a little while....it'd be pretty horrible to have to say, 2 weeks in, that i'm too busy to work!
and i should get some homework done.....
i'm only taking 3.5 subjects this semester (i did 4.5 last semester, for a reason..!) and 1.5 of those are practical (prac 3-2, and chamber music....mmm..i should practice..), so i don't have too many hours, but somehow my time is being filled up..?
anyway....
sorry this is a mammothly long post....if you got to the end, congratulations. now you can go stare at that white wall to relieve your eyes....!
i feel as if the semester has started without me!
i managed to get quite horribly sick on tuesday night of week 1 (good start, ey?). we (helen, dave, ace and me) went to see the HP movie on monday night - i really enjoyed it! i suppose i won't do a review...if you want to know what i thought, came have a chat to me. i guess i really don't have the energy nor effort to write a review. in summary, i guess i could just say that i really enjoyed it, and although i didn't envision everything as it was portrayed in the movie, i didn't not agree with it, and it was definitely interesting.
had a lesson with lily with caroline on wednesday morning, which i sniffed my way through. i was supposed to have two rehearsals that afternoon (one with lily, one with trio), but i felt so ill that after my piano lesson, i came home, got into my pj's at 11.30am, and hopped into bed for the rest of the day. i kept waking up quite periodically to try and eat, but i felt so ill that it didn't really happen.
it was probably the first time in a very long time that i spent most of the day in bed due to illness.
on wednesday night, i had to page-turn for the seraphim trio concert at melba hall. i sniffed my way through this one, but surprisingly, managed mostly not to have to blow my nose like a trumpet on stage. penny, ace and sal also helped out with catering etc. thanks guys, you're all stars! as for the concert, it was an excellent one - the pieces were fantastic, and the ensemble was great. going to these concerts makes me think about how much i want to play in my own piano trio, because there is so much music for this genre. i just have to find a suitable violinist now...
on thursday, lily and i played the entire beethoven in concert class. both of us were feeling quite blah about it, but we did it anyway, which was good, because it was a chance to get through it all. we nearly fell apart at the end (we were like, a beat out for about two bars) but apparently nobody seemed to notice..? oh well, we got to the end. it turned out alright, we both weren't quite feeling it but it was good to play the whole thing.
had a lesson with zoe on friday, which was really helpful. zoe truly is amazing, and a fantastic teacher - i really enjoyed lessons with her. i had to write a bio about myself (which didn't end up being used), but it was quite boring. i had to try expand it a bit. this is what it is:
Gladys started playing the piano at the age of four, quickly surpassing her fellow students in her group class. Her piano studies continued after relocating from overseas to Perth, Western Australia, at the age of five; her principal teachers for the subsequent twelve years included Ann Taylor and Stephanie Colemen. Gladys is currently a Faculty of Music Merit Scholar at the University of Melbourne, studying music and economics, and has been studying piano under the tutelage of Caroline Almonte for the past two and a half years.
see? boring....i really haven't done much in melbourne, apart from playing in class.
i was supposed to meet xing for coffee (or equivilent) on friday afternoon, but there was a miscommunication, so that ended up not happening. hehe. oh well, we'll just re-schedule. friday night we had connect, which was enjoyable, as always. the vic always seems to fit more people in everytime i look! the new-look vic was most exciting, and the lemon slice cake was beautiful! hehe.
saturday was meetings and trying to get stuff organised. we went to the Idea of North concert at chapel off chapel on saturday night, for their Live DVD launch!
again, it was another fantastic concert. Fields of Gold, and the Aretha Franklin number were highlights, so too was Staying Alive. As well as a little bit of the extras from the DVD...hehe pizza. :P it was ace's first ION live experience, so that was pretty special - she enjoyed it!
wow, all i can say about the concert was that i thought it was awesome, and wish that it could have gone on for longer! there was a point where andrew (the bass) winked at somebody in the audience (i SWEAR it was ME...!!! not the 50 other women sitting on the left block..) and every one of those 50 women must have smiled because he grinned back. haha. ace and i had an argument to claim rights to that wink haha.
of course, afterwards we bought some stuff (i got the live DVD) and said hi to them all again. and it was nice, they remembered us :) well, i kinda expect gina to be remembered (nick surely did!), but i was kinda pleasantly surprised that naomi said, "And who could forget this group?!" hehe...and Andrew said "Ooh yes, I recognised your group, particularly...." (and picks out specific people, including ME! hahaha. I was most amused). So, had a good chat to them, and can't wait for them to come back (again! hehe). Indeed, they are an amazing live performance. for the meantime, the DVD and cds shall have to suffice.
sunday was a lot of rehearsals for urinetown. this show is overcoming my life, but will be over in just over two weeks, which is a scary thought. one this week is over, i can have my rightful pianist in :) yay!
on monday night, i went out for dinner with my cousin, aunt and uncle. my cousin actually lives two colleges away, but we are so busy that we don't really get a chance to hang out! we see each other more often over the holidays when we're at HOME instead of in melbourne! hehe. i didn't get a chance to see myaunt&uncle over the winter break because they'd left for europe before i got home, and returned to perth after i came back to melbourne, so it'd been since february that i hadn't seen them. so, we went out for dinner, which was nice. and of course, they tried to stuff us with lots of food, which we couldn't manage because there was SO MUCH!!! i went to visit my cousin's place at ormond, which was cool., and then my aunt and uncle came to queen's to see my room. the last time they came to queen's was when they came to melbourne to help us move in at the very beginning of this exciting melbourne adventure. they loaded me up with some gifts of clothes and food (necessary items!). it was GREAT to see them :)
on tuesday i had the LIVE AT THE CONVENT Broadcast of the Beethoven Project!
Heck, this probably deserves its own post, but i'm too lazy...so here i go...!
went to class in the morning, which was quite distracting. hehe. then lily and i headed to abbotsford convent, where the 3MBS studios are. we kinda missed the turnoff at first, then had to double back after driving for a little while trying to find a road to turn into and out of. we finally got there, and walked into the convent complex, to be faced with a map and confused directions of which building the radio station was actually housed in! we finally got there, and had to wait for a while for our sound check. we got a little mini-tour of the place, which was cool. i should totally listen to 3MBS more, not just ABC...
we got to go inside the studio where the guy (peter?) would be fiddling with the knobs to make it sound like we were in a much larger space rather than just the performance studio, which was quite small. we got our run, our 3rd movt kinda fell apart...eek! but it was a good run, we were feeling alright about it.
we had to wait for an AGE for the whole thing. the concert actually started at 1.30pm, instead of the information about 1pm that I'd received. oh well. at least some people managed to tune in - many thanks guys :) i know some of you had class, or got a lot of static from the con (who would have thought..?!) i'll be getting a recording (hopefully of all of the sonatas) so that we can re-create the whole effect hehe.
i page-turned for the first two, which was quite exciting....i definitely hadn't heard the beethoven cello sonatas, so it was a good opportunity to hear them all!
of note...the first cellist was emma ayres, whom i'm pretty sure is the same emma ayres on ABC (who does afternoons..?) i should have tried to say something intelligent to her. or at least just something (even if it was unintelligent)...because i really enjoy listening to her on the radio. oh well.....hopefully zoe remembers me when she has students who want to do stuff.
so, lily and i went pretty well. the 2nd movt was great, it felt very comfortable. the unique thing about the 5th cello sonata is that it is the only one with a complete 2nd movt, as a well-developed musical movement. so that's pretty exciting. zoe said some nice things at the beginning, of which i found out later hehe. the 1st movt stuck together, and i started pretty well, so i was quite comfortable. and the formidable 3rd movt has lots of double 3rds, 6ths and 8ves and is feindishly hard for the piano- and it all stuck together! the whole sonata felt fairly comfortable, the nerves really melted away after the first 3 lines or so, and we really enjoyed the experience. at the very end, just as we were finishing those V-I-V-I chords at the close of the 3rd movt, lily and i had fairly stupidly big grins on our faces, because we knew we had made it stick, and we'd gotten to the end together, and we both knew that THAT was the best we could have done at that time, which was pretty good!
so lily, thanks so much for such an enjoyable time playing beethoven with you! we shall look for more repertoire..! :)
right, my piano lesson this morning got cancelled, so i have no classes today, but some recording for urinetown to do, as well as a trio rehearsal. and i should really nip down to the library to photocopy some stuff. and to drop something off at the con.
and i should really go into work, at least for a little while....it'd be pretty horrible to have to say, 2 weeks in, that i'm too busy to work!
and i should get some homework done.....
i'm only taking 3.5 subjects this semester (i did 4.5 last semester, for a reason..!) and 1.5 of those are practical (prac 3-2, and chamber music....mmm..i should practice..), so i don't have too many hours, but somehow my time is being filled up..?
anyway....
sorry this is a mammothly long post....if you got to the end, congratulations. now you can go stare at that white wall to relieve your eyes....!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Live-to-air broadcast
3MBS, Melbourne's local classical music radio station, presents on Tuesdays their "Live at the Convent" series, featuring young Australian artists in direct broadcasts from their studio in Abbotsford, Melbourne. This Tuesday, 31 July, starting at 1pm (AEST; for time difference conversion, try http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ ), will be the Beethoven cello sonatas, of which I will be playing the 5th one (Op 102 No 2 in D Major) with a cellist. So I will be a little while after 1pm AEST but all of the Beethoven cello sonatas will be great to listen to!
If you are in Melbourne, you can tune into 103.5FM; if you are interstate, or even abroad, you can listen online by going to www.3mbs.org.au, and going to the "Listen Live" tab.
I hope you are able to tune in - your support is always appreciated.
If you are in Melbourne, you can tune into 103.5FM; if you are interstate, or even abroad, you can listen online by going to www.3mbs.org.au, and going to the "Listen Live" tab.
I hope you are able to tune in - your support is always appreciated.
Friday, July 20, 2007
new friends, new stuff in general
admittedly, i have been a bit dormant here. so i'm sorry if you've been waiting for posts, checking regularly only to find that i haven't updated.
but there is a good reason for this. and that is because i've been INCREDIBLY busy.
but now is the time to update on what this business has been.
so, went to ballarat for the first weekend i came back to victoria. ace and i caught the train from spencer street to ballarat, only took about and hour and a half. it was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING! good thing ace had figured most of it out, and pen had given us directions, coz i was absolutely lost! all i know that in ballarat, it is cold. we spent about an hour and a bit in one of the main shopping centres waiting for pen to finish work. most of that time was spent in a cute cafe where we spent them time eating yummy baked goods and drinking tea to warm us up! (you think melbourne is cold, go to ballarat..! haha) anyway, pen came to pick us up and we went to her house! it was so exciting!!!! her house is wonderful! we were treated so well. everything was so beautiful, and so comfortable! we watched pride and prejudice that first night (the new one) and fell in love with jane austen, and lizzie, and darcy, and bingley and all them delightful characters. we stayed up for ages talking that night as well, even when the lights were off! hehe (i find this always happens on the first night..!) it was wonderful being there with pen and her family.
we went to sovereign hill the next day, which has been voted the #1 victorian tourist attraction for a number of years. and golly, does it deserve it or what?! ace and i got 10% off the admission price, plus a free coach ride because we'd come on the VLine. cool offer! there's so much to do at Sovereign hill - watch displays of various sorts, go to the little stores/other town stuff like the school, gold-panning, watching shows, going into mines etc. So much fun. Plus it SNOWED!! at precisely 1pm and 4pm on the dot in the main street. mind you, the snow resembled bubbles from bubble machines very much..... hehe :P it was fun though! there were also guards who marched through the main street ('red coats'!!! ooh!!!) and we got some photos with them, including an amazingly hilarious one of four of us (in the style of pride and prejudice's "Officers!!") with one of the guys. i think his smile in the photo is incredibly honest..!
we went to church with pen's family on sunday morning, which was totally cool. it's nice seeing where people go about their everyday things. things that seem boring to one often seem interesting to others! we went to pen's work afterwards and got to see that too! in the afternoon, pen got her bells out and started playing for us. then i started joining in with some harmonies. eventually, we worked our way basically through an entire hymn book playing tunes with harmonies. it was hilarious!!! unfortunately we had to leave on sunday afternoon... :( but it was a most enjoyable weekend! it was great to hang out with such lovely friends :D
on monday we had a training day for welcome. there was mostly administrative stuff, and brainstorming things like "what will they feel like when they get here?". a fairly comprehensive of "what to do if this happens..." of everything. then we had a st john's ambulance guy come talk to us for about an hour and a half about basic first aid. oh my. this was first aid crammed into this time. and if you've done first aid of any sort, you know how much material there is!
so, what did we learn?
*blue ringed octopuses can kill you in about 6 mins if untreated.
*cone shells are also deadly (unlukily for us, they don't look dangerous at all)
*both of these sea-dwelling creatures live in australian waters
*(i think the box jellyfish also made it....? not sure..)
*sydney funnelwebs are insanely venomous. ie. you can die very quickly
*the taipan is also deadly
*these two also live in australia
(see why i didn't want to leave the room after the talk..?!)
*there are seven ways to burn yourself
*the treatment of spider and snake bits (tightly bandage from beyond the limb to the very top of the limb)
*if you get a snake bite, and if there is venom still on the skin, leave the venom there so they can treat you with the right antivenom.
*bleeding (well, loss of blood) is one of the biggest dangers of losing somebody
*in australia, the emergency number is 000. or 112 from any mobile in australia
*different poisons (ie. chemicals) have different treatments
lots of what the guy talked about i cringed at....especially the story about the blood spurting all over the room - walls, and ceiling - when he fell through a window. urgh, i'm cringing now....
the next day i did RSA training (responsible service of alcohol). this was held from 3-6pm. ie. ideal time for napping. there were times when i had to fight very hard to not fall asleep, particularly in that 20min video. the video was incredibly bad, particularly as it was made in the 80s, and you could tell......
and then there was an assessment at the end. where the instructor was like, "Ok, you have two choices on how to do this! either you individually do your assessment as an open book test or we do it all as a class, and if anybody can tell me the right answer, we can write it down. if nobody can give me the right answer, we'll revert back to the first option, and i'll probably give you the answer anyway." needless to say, i'm pretty sure i got 100% for that test...!
Welcome finally started on wednesday! people moved in, we lugged bags and more bags up lots of stairs. we met lots of new people, of whom i can hardly remember all their names. we met LOTS of new people, it was awesome.
throughout the week, we did lots of fun stuff, including going to:
*the melbourne museum (my first time inside this place, it's awesome! you should totally go, and students get in for free!)
*scav hunt through the city (this was excellently organised! one of the tasks was to go to the audi showroom, and get a quote and all that kind of stuff from the people there. some people actually got driven home in it, and others got a quote - read about $90 000 - for a car etc. it was amazing. they got lots of extra points! and another of the tasks was to buy krispy kremes for one of the hosts. hehe. one group did this!!!)
*Healesville sanctuary (first time there!). renee and i organised this day. there were a few glitches with timing, but mostly turned out well! pity it was so wet though! healesville was awesome, it's a really fun place to go! we had a bbq lunch (true australian style!) and then went to a winery on the way back. it was a beautiful day!
*footy match at the mcg! (first time i've been to the mcg, and first time i went to the footy!!) it was so much fun! admittedly, i think that footy looks quite barbaric, especially on tv. but seeing it live was much more exciting. and even though i didn't really support either team (collingwood or geelong), it was still fun. and it was almost sold out, about 85 000 people! pretty cool :)
on the last night we all went out for dinner (we split up into a few different groups) and then we all met up at commercial for our last night out. it was great to hang out with these new friends, and especially cool because we stayed around for two birthdays the following day.
welcome ended way too soon. it was really cool to meet so many new people, show them round our home, hear different experiences and the like.
had one day of rest, then it was straight into URINETOWN! we went out for dinner on the monday night, as a bonding session. then it was straight into INTENSIVE rehearsals. it has been intensive for the entire week...i know i get up early so that i can fit in some of my own piano practice! so, i'm doing orchestra rehearsals (going quite well!) as well as playing for some of the singing rehearsals (but thankfully freya could do about 3 days worth for me!) and looking in on some other rehearsals. it's a lot...!! it's been lots of fun to work with this group of people though - they're fantastic, usually quite light-hearted, and definitely dedicated.
so the latest development is that there absolutely needs to be a conductor for Urinetown. and that conductor is going to be ME!!! that's it, i'm CONDUCTING THE WHOLE MUSICAL. the whole 1 3/4hr show! me. with a baton in my hand. which means i can't play keys for it (slightly hard..there is a lot of piano in this show), so i've asked lauren to do it - she's agreed (what a champion). really looking forward to it, but am a bit freaked out as i've never done anything like this before. let alone wielded a stick for people to follow.....! any conducting tips would be greatly appreciated!
today i had a rehearsal with lily, which went quite well. then we had a lesson with zoe (lily's teacher) and that went FANTASTICALLY. zoe gave us lots of think about. and was really happy with some bits, so that made us feel more confident about what we were doing. we put in to play the entire sonata for next week's concert class, but we'll see how we feel about it. if all else fails, we'll just play the first movement. but it'd be good experience! and let me tell you, playing on a nice piano and in a spacious room (as opposed to a basement practice room) makes a lot of difference to how you play as well, and how you feel doing the performance, as opposed to just repeating stuff in a banal manner.
i haven't yet seen the HP movie - haven't really had time for very much besides rehearsals! (let me tell you, my own piano practice is taking a battering right now.. :S) but the book is comign out TOMORROW!!!!! like, in 9.5hrs!!!! ooh!!!!!!!!!!! i'm really excited for it, but don't really know when i'm going to read it (in-between rehearsals?!) penny and i went to the shops the other day to pre-book at borders (will be getting plush owl! hehe) - i used my borders gift card, i figured, i have it so i might as well use it!
anyway, just doing some looking over the beethoven (at the insanely hard, complex and weird fugue that is the 3rd movement) and finishing up last things for today, before an early morning down to the bookstore!! xo
but there is a good reason for this. and that is because i've been INCREDIBLY busy.
but now is the time to update on what this business has been.
so, went to ballarat for the first weekend i came back to victoria. ace and i caught the train from spencer street to ballarat, only took about and hour and a half. it was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING! good thing ace had figured most of it out, and pen had given us directions, coz i was absolutely lost! all i know that in ballarat, it is cold. we spent about an hour and a bit in one of the main shopping centres waiting for pen to finish work. most of that time was spent in a cute cafe where we spent them time eating yummy baked goods and drinking tea to warm us up! (you think melbourne is cold, go to ballarat..! haha) anyway, pen came to pick us up and we went to her house! it was so exciting!!!! her house is wonderful! we were treated so well. everything was so beautiful, and so comfortable! we watched pride and prejudice that first night (the new one) and fell in love with jane austen, and lizzie, and darcy, and bingley and all them delightful characters. we stayed up for ages talking that night as well, even when the lights were off! hehe (i find this always happens on the first night..!) it was wonderful being there with pen and her family.
we went to sovereign hill the next day, which has been voted the #1 victorian tourist attraction for a number of years. and golly, does it deserve it or what?! ace and i got 10% off the admission price, plus a free coach ride because we'd come on the VLine. cool offer! there's so much to do at Sovereign hill - watch displays of various sorts, go to the little stores/other town stuff like the school, gold-panning, watching shows, going into mines etc. So much fun. Plus it SNOWED!! at precisely 1pm and 4pm on the dot in the main street. mind you, the snow resembled bubbles from bubble machines very much..... hehe :P it was fun though! there were also guards who marched through the main street ('red coats'!!! ooh!!!) and we got some photos with them, including an amazingly hilarious one of four of us (in the style of pride and prejudice's "Officers!!") with one of the guys. i think his smile in the photo is incredibly honest..!
we went to church with pen's family on sunday morning, which was totally cool. it's nice seeing where people go about their everyday things. things that seem boring to one often seem interesting to others! we went to pen's work afterwards and got to see that too! in the afternoon, pen got her bells out and started playing for us. then i started joining in with some harmonies. eventually, we worked our way basically through an entire hymn book playing tunes with harmonies. it was hilarious!!! unfortunately we had to leave on sunday afternoon... :( but it was a most enjoyable weekend! it was great to hang out with such lovely friends :D
on monday we had a training day for welcome. there was mostly administrative stuff, and brainstorming things like "what will they feel like when they get here?". a fairly comprehensive of "what to do if this happens..." of everything. then we had a st john's ambulance guy come talk to us for about an hour and a half about basic first aid. oh my. this was first aid crammed into this time. and if you've done first aid of any sort, you know how much material there is!
so, what did we learn?
*blue ringed octopuses can kill you in about 6 mins if untreated.
*cone shells are also deadly (unlukily for us, they don't look dangerous at all)
*both of these sea-dwelling creatures live in australian waters
*(i think the box jellyfish also made it....? not sure..)
*sydney funnelwebs are insanely venomous. ie. you can die very quickly
*the taipan is also deadly
*these two also live in australia
(see why i didn't want to leave the room after the talk..?!)
*there are seven ways to burn yourself
*the treatment of spider and snake bits (tightly bandage from beyond the limb to the very top of the limb)
*if you get a snake bite, and if there is venom still on the skin, leave the venom there so they can treat you with the right antivenom.
*bleeding (well, loss of blood) is one of the biggest dangers of losing somebody
*in australia, the emergency number is 000. or 112 from any mobile in australia
*different poisons (ie. chemicals) have different treatments
lots of what the guy talked about i cringed at....especially the story about the blood spurting all over the room - walls, and ceiling - when he fell through a window. urgh, i'm cringing now....
the next day i did RSA training (responsible service of alcohol). this was held from 3-6pm. ie. ideal time for napping. there were times when i had to fight very hard to not fall asleep, particularly in that 20min video. the video was incredibly bad, particularly as it was made in the 80s, and you could tell......
and then there was an assessment at the end. where the instructor was like, "Ok, you have two choices on how to do this! either you individually do your assessment as an open book test or we do it all as a class, and if anybody can tell me the right answer, we can write it down. if nobody can give me the right answer, we'll revert back to the first option, and i'll probably give you the answer anyway." needless to say, i'm pretty sure i got 100% for that test...!
Welcome finally started on wednesday! people moved in, we lugged bags and more bags up lots of stairs. we met lots of new people, of whom i can hardly remember all their names. we met LOTS of new people, it was awesome.
throughout the week, we did lots of fun stuff, including going to:
*the melbourne museum (my first time inside this place, it's awesome! you should totally go, and students get in for free!)
*scav hunt through the city (this was excellently organised! one of the tasks was to go to the audi showroom, and get a quote and all that kind of stuff from the people there. some people actually got driven home in it, and others got a quote - read about $90 000 - for a car etc. it was amazing. they got lots of extra points! and another of the tasks was to buy krispy kremes for one of the hosts. hehe. one group did this!!!)
*Healesville sanctuary (first time there!). renee and i organised this day. there were a few glitches with timing, but mostly turned out well! pity it was so wet though! healesville was awesome, it's a really fun place to go! we had a bbq lunch (true australian style!) and then went to a winery on the way back. it was a beautiful day!
*footy match at the mcg! (first time i've been to the mcg, and first time i went to the footy!!) it was so much fun! admittedly, i think that footy looks quite barbaric, especially on tv. but seeing it live was much more exciting. and even though i didn't really support either team (collingwood or geelong), it was still fun. and it was almost sold out, about 85 000 people! pretty cool :)
on the last night we all went out for dinner (we split up into a few different groups) and then we all met up at commercial for our last night out. it was great to hang out with these new friends, and especially cool because we stayed around for two birthdays the following day.
welcome ended way too soon. it was really cool to meet so many new people, show them round our home, hear different experiences and the like.
had one day of rest, then it was straight into URINETOWN! we went out for dinner on the monday night, as a bonding session. then it was straight into INTENSIVE rehearsals. it has been intensive for the entire week...i know i get up early so that i can fit in some of my own piano practice! so, i'm doing orchestra rehearsals (going quite well!) as well as playing for some of the singing rehearsals (but thankfully freya could do about 3 days worth for me!) and looking in on some other rehearsals. it's a lot...!! it's been lots of fun to work with this group of people though - they're fantastic, usually quite light-hearted, and definitely dedicated.
so the latest development is that there absolutely needs to be a conductor for Urinetown. and that conductor is going to be ME!!! that's it, i'm CONDUCTING THE WHOLE MUSICAL. the whole 1 3/4hr show! me. with a baton in my hand. which means i can't play keys for it (slightly hard..there is a lot of piano in this show), so i've asked lauren to do it - she's agreed (what a champion). really looking forward to it, but am a bit freaked out as i've never done anything like this before. let alone wielded a stick for people to follow.....! any conducting tips would be greatly appreciated!
today i had a rehearsal with lily, which went quite well. then we had a lesson with zoe (lily's teacher) and that went FANTASTICALLY. zoe gave us lots of think about. and was really happy with some bits, so that made us feel more confident about what we were doing. we put in to play the entire sonata for next week's concert class, but we'll see how we feel about it. if all else fails, we'll just play the first movement. but it'd be good experience! and let me tell you, playing on a nice piano and in a spacious room (as opposed to a basement practice room) makes a lot of difference to how you play as well, and how you feel doing the performance, as opposed to just repeating stuff in a banal manner.
i haven't yet seen the HP movie - haven't really had time for very much besides rehearsals! (let me tell you, my own piano practice is taking a battering right now.. :S) but the book is comign out TOMORROW!!!!! like, in 9.5hrs!!!! ooh!!!!!!!!!!! i'm really excited for it, but don't really know when i'm going to read it (in-between rehearsals?!) penny and i went to the shops the other day to pre-book at borders (will be getting plush owl! hehe) - i used my borders gift card, i figured, i have it so i might as well use it!
anyway, just doing some looking over the beethoven (at the insanely hard, complex and weird fugue that is the 3rd movement) and finishing up last things for today, before an early morning down to the bookstore!! xo
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
quotable quote
Heard on national radio during the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition:
"If only more young men realised how sexy it is to play a string instrument."
I would be inclined to extend that to an instrument in general, but I guess particularly for me, orchestral. Or just classical in general...
"If only more young men realised how sexy it is to play a string instrument."
I would be inclined to extend that to an instrument in general, but I guess particularly for me, orchestral. Or just classical in general...
darn!
i have lost my second earring in three weeks!
this sucks. because they were both really good earrings (in terms of colours, and matching). i am looking for my second one, because i think it dropped out sometime around lunch time. perhaps i'll find it.
the first pair were just a black pair. the second a blue one. both highly functional. well, not anymore, because i only have one now.
i think it's got something to do with my left ear, because they both fell out of my left earhole.
so, what does this mean now?
i should only wear earrings that won't fall out. how i shall ensure this, i'm not too clear. but if anybody has suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
and now i have to go look for a pair of suitable replacement earrings. which probably means the market stalls at university, or to hope really hard that a nice friend will make some for me. or that i will learn myself!
gargh. this is almost as annoying as the mouse. :(
this sucks. because they were both really good earrings (in terms of colours, and matching). i am looking for my second one, because i think it dropped out sometime around lunch time. perhaps i'll find it.
the first pair were just a black pair. the second a blue one. both highly functional. well, not anymore, because i only have one now.
i think it's got something to do with my left ear, because they both fell out of my left earhole.
so, what does this mean now?
i should only wear earrings that won't fall out. how i shall ensure this, i'm not too clear. but if anybody has suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
and now i have to go look for a pair of suitable replacement earrings. which probably means the market stalls at university, or to hope really hard that a nice friend will make some for me. or that i will learn myself!
gargh. this is almost as annoying as the mouse. :(
Friday, July 06, 2007
new news
am now back in melbourne. had a good day yesterday, despite the 6am flight. ace picked me up from the airport, helped me move in a bit and then we had lunch, then went to the shops. then had a rehearsal with lily. that went pretty well; the fugue is going to be hard to co-ordinate, but we'll make it happen :) the first movement is most excellent, and the 2nd movement has lots of notes for both of us.
woke up at 6.45am this morning. practiced for a little bit, but didn't feel very motivated to practice more than an hour - poor effort :(
am in the mdist of packing and stuff, am going to ballarat today with ace to visit pen.
just then, i reached into the front pocket of my backpack, only to find a(nother?) STUPID STUPID MOUSE had obviously gotten in LAST NIGHT (GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and chewed at the muesli bar in there. stupid me for having left it on the floor. and it CHEWED THROUGH MY BAG AS WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so now my bag has UNWANTED HOLES. because of the STUPID MOUSE! they are so INCONSIDERATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it looks messy and is DISGUSTING!!!!! and i had just gotten mum to fix up the broken other pocket. but now, there are TWO OTHER BROKEN POCKETS!!!! GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of course, i didn't touch the muesli bar. and then i found ANTS on my wall. i saw them coming up the stairs, but i live on the THIRD FLOOR!!! there is a massive PEST PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As you may have guess, i am incredibly ANNOYED!!!!!!!!!! and freaked out that the mouse is STILL AROUND!!!!!!!!!! WHY OH WHY...?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
STUPID STUPID STUPID MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, i think that was my rant. Apart from that, i am really looking forward to seeing pen so soon! it should be heaps of fun, and i've never been to the 'rat, let alone you know, to country vic to visit friends. am in the process of trying to desparately organise everything that needs to be done before i go away. maybe it'll be good for me.
and i hope the mouse doesn't come back. I HATE MICE!!!!!!!!!
and hoepfully the ants don't attack my food. THIS SUCKS!!!! I HATE PESTS!!!!!!!!!!!!
GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
okay, that clearly wasn't the end of my rant, but i must depart now.....more stuff to sort out...i only did come online to see if the dude had emailled back (re: melbourne welcome). gah.
woke up at 6.45am this morning. practiced for a little bit, but didn't feel very motivated to practice more than an hour - poor effort :(
am in the mdist of packing and stuff, am going to ballarat today with ace to visit pen.
just then, i reached into the front pocket of my backpack, only to find a(nother?) STUPID STUPID MOUSE had obviously gotten in LAST NIGHT (GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and chewed at the muesli bar in there. stupid me for having left it on the floor. and it CHEWED THROUGH MY BAG AS WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so now my bag has UNWANTED HOLES. because of the STUPID MOUSE! they are so INCONSIDERATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it looks messy and is DISGUSTING!!!!! and i had just gotten mum to fix up the broken other pocket. but now, there are TWO OTHER BROKEN POCKETS!!!! GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of course, i didn't touch the muesli bar. and then i found ANTS on my wall. i saw them coming up the stairs, but i live on the THIRD FLOOR!!! there is a massive PEST PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As you may have guess, i am incredibly ANNOYED!!!!!!!!!! and freaked out that the mouse is STILL AROUND!!!!!!!!!! WHY OH WHY...?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
STUPID STUPID STUPID MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, i think that was my rant. Apart from that, i am really looking forward to seeing pen so soon! it should be heaps of fun, and i've never been to the 'rat, let alone you know, to country vic to visit friends. am in the process of trying to desparately organise everything that needs to be done before i go away. maybe it'll be good for me.
and i hope the mouse doesn't come back. I HATE MICE!!!!!!!!!
and hoepfully the ants don't attack my food. THIS SUCKS!!!! I HATE PESTS!!!!!!!!!!!!
GARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
okay, that clearly wasn't the end of my rant, but i must depart now.....more stuff to sort out...i only did come online to see if the dude had emailled back (re: melbourne welcome). gah.
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