So yesterday I had some quite awesome experiences. To start with, I was in Elliot Magaziner's Office during my normal time (he's the conductor, I'm the orchestra manager) & my friend comes over to chill. So we're looking through past programs and music that the conductor had. First of all, there were some amazing orchestral programs in the past (he's been there for about 40 years or so now). There were programs where they did all of Carnival of the Animals, or had Shostakovitch & Mahler on the same program... I wish we could do things of that caliber in orchestra now...
2 exciting discoveries came out of this:
1. A set of duets for cello & violin where the cello part is mostly in treble cleff. My teacher is going to coach it next semester & had a few other ideas of things we could wok on.
2. Copies of the "From the New World" When it was Symphony No. 5 (apparently they discovered back in the 70s that there were some more in between 4 & the rest...)
So that was really cool. On top of that, I had a neat lesson. Since we've gone through the 1st 2 Bach Suites in my previous 3 lessons, and the rest of the music on my recital is basically chamber music, we took a bit of a different direction this time. We worked on technique, first doing octave shifts & concentrating on alignment, then coming up with the idea of doing octave double stops, which is quite cool. Then my teacher introduced me to the "nail that pitch in thumb position" game, and said that I should do that while practicing to really solidify my pitch in that register and to develop reference points. After that (or maybe it was before all this), we worked on Popper 11, which I did pretty well on considering that I haven't looked at it in weeks. We talked about some of the harmony in it & the practice methods for it (doing it *really* slowly for intonation & hand position) & right hand technique, which involved a loose wrist, jumping off the strings with the elbow of the bow hand for string skips & having firm fingers. So basically it was a cool & somewhat more relaxed, but still instructional lesson. Now I have all this work to do on Bach, and I still need to learn my piece that I'm rehearsing to night for cello/clarinet (it's an original work by Jen Castellano)...
So anyway, here's the amazing part. My friend Andrew (from earlier) & I go up to Pleasantville to see Brian Skarstad to get our bows rehaired. To start off, he's an amazing violin maker - really knows his stuff & is quite cool. We talk about music and stuff for a bit, I recommended Break of Reality to him. Then he asks us if we want to see something cool... He pulls out a violin from a crappy plastic case & says "This is Paganini's Violin". I asked him how he could possibly know that (and of course was wondering how it's in Pleasantville, NY of all places, instead of... um, Italy!). He pulls out this book with pictures of rare violins & looks it up in there. Sure enough, it had the same markings and patterns and all that. Here's some pictures of it http://www.giordanoviolins.com/english/cannone02.html . So after that amazing experience, we talked a bit more, gave him our bows to rehair, and I went home & started looking up Paganini... I wish I could play some of his music, because he would have so many interesting stories for program notes... I'd say maybe I could shoot for one of the caprices for next year, but I'm not sure I'd believe it.
After that, I practiced for about 3 hours straight... well, probably about an hour/hour and a half was experimenting with alignment, which was quite productive. The rest was slow practice spent on the Allemande from the 2nd Bach suite & on technique (I'm evolving my previous method):
1. Play a barred fifth in tempo with the following rhythms - 1 Quarter, 2 8th, 3 Triplets, 4 Sixteenths ... basically working on subdivisions of 1, 2, 3 & 4 ... I'm going to add in quintuplets, sextuplets, septuplets & 32nd notes eventually, which should prove quite challenging even at slow tempos.
2. Repeat the above, only change the interval from a P5 to a M6 - great for intonation/hand position & callous building.
Afterwards, while I was reading stories about Paganini, I became inspired to start writing music & wrote the intro to what I think is going to be a suite for solo cello... I really want to start to work some writing for flute into my stuff soon too...
That's all for now... dress rehearsal that I'm not ready for today & then a performance on sunday - Then I have 5 days to have all my recital material perfect!! Also, playing at a memorial service for a teacher who passed away last year...
Friday, September 28, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Some thoughts & reflections
So, I've been insanely busy lately & haven't had much of a chance to update this... not to mention, i's been a struggle to find enough practice time, which is beginning to frustrate me - it's so hard not to socialize too mcuh...
On the other hand, some other things of note:
1. Universal Arpeggio Fingerings
minor: 1 4 1
major: 1 4 2
dominant: 1 4 1 2 (change of position always on the septime)
diminished: 1 4 1 4
2. I'm going to stop showing up to lessons underprepared - I don't care what classwork I have to cut out, or how much sleep I don't get - it's extremely unbeneficial to me & the teacher, and everytime I don't practice, I lose that much more of the focus... I need to hang on to my memories of summit more vividly... it's beginning to seem distant though...
I was gonna write more... but I'm awy too exhausted...
On the other hand, some other things of note:
1. Universal Arpeggio Fingerings
minor: 1 4 1
major: 1 4 2
dominant: 1 4 1 2 (change of position always on the septime)
diminished: 1 4 1 4
2. I'm going to stop showing up to lessons underprepared - I don't care what classwork I have to cut out, or how much sleep I don't get - it's extremely unbeneficial to me & the teacher, and everytime I don't practice, I lose that much more of the focus... I need to hang on to my memories of summit more vividly... it's beginning to seem distant though...
I was gonna write more... but I'm awy too exhausted...
Friday, September 7, 2007
Not Quite Keeping Up the Pace...
Wow, it has been an intensely busy week!
I had my lesson to day, and it was good/productive, but I went into it a little underprepared... and, though I've been making good progress since coming back to school... I'm starting to lose sight of the vision just a bit... though not being really prepared for my lesson, sorta kicked me into shape, and it's amazing to see the effect that technical work has been having on me...
Still though, it's been hard to practice everything I'm supposed to be working on & on top of that, I realized earlier today that I haven't actually practiced piano for the whole 2 weeks that I've been here, which is really bad, b/c I'm supposed to know this piano piece by monday (It's cool, it's a Lydian Nocturne)... thankfully, I've learned how to work on pieces and memorize them from keyboard harmony & from all my cello work since summit... it's just a matter of finding the time to put in for piano on top of finding the to put in for cello... I want to get at least a few days where I practice for 6 hrs. a day... I miss doing that...like3 hours has been really inspiring, but I know that I could do so much more with 6 & I *really* need to step things up so that I at least have a chance of making it into conservatory in 3 years.
On a good note though, my technical improvements keep making me think of Mr. O, which is incredibly inspiring, and my bow arm is getting a lot smoother/I'm playing in the string a lot more... I may be cutting off a day from work at some point since I've got so much going on...
I had to turn down what seemed like a really sweet opportunity to play in a musical... the pay wouldn't have been that great, but still, it would have been amazing... that kind of sucked, but oh well... also, I responded to an ad that was looking for a cellist to play the Kol Nidre service, so hopefully I've got that gig... can't wait to hear back from them...
I guess that's it for right now... in my last two lessons, I've plowed through Bach Suites 1 & 2 ... now I just have to technique the crap out of em & have them completely memorized & up to performance standard in about 3 weeks ... I also have to create my program notes very, very soon... that should be cool...
I had my lesson to day, and it was good/productive, but I went into it a little underprepared... and, though I've been making good progress since coming back to school... I'm starting to lose sight of the vision just a bit... though not being really prepared for my lesson, sorta kicked me into shape, and it's amazing to see the effect that technical work has been having on me...
Still though, it's been hard to practice everything I'm supposed to be working on & on top of that, I realized earlier today that I haven't actually practiced piano for the whole 2 weeks that I've been here, which is really bad, b/c I'm supposed to know this piano piece by monday (It's cool, it's a Lydian Nocturne)... thankfully, I've learned how to work on pieces and memorize them from keyboard harmony & from all my cello work since summit... it's just a matter of finding the time to put in for piano on top of finding the to put in for cello... I want to get at least a few days where I practice for 6 hrs. a day... I miss doing that...like3 hours has been really inspiring, but I know that I could do so much more with 6 & I *really* need to step things up so that I at least have a chance of making it into conservatory in 3 years.
On a good note though, my technical improvements keep making me think of Mr. O, which is incredibly inspiring, and my bow arm is getting a lot smoother/I'm playing in the string a lot more... I may be cutting off a day from work at some point since I've got so much going on...
I had to turn down what seemed like a really sweet opportunity to play in a musical... the pay wouldn't have been that great, but still, it would have been amazing... that kind of sucked, but oh well... also, I responded to an ad that was looking for a cellist to play the Kol Nidre service, so hopefully I've got that gig... can't wait to hear back from them...
I guess that's it for right now... in my last two lessons, I've plowed through Bach Suites 1 & 2 ... now I just have to technique the crap out of em & have them completely memorized & up to performance standard in about 3 weeks ... I also have to create my program notes very, very soon... that should be cool...
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Immersed in a world of cello
It's getting near the end of the first week of my junior semester, and already things are off to an inspiring start.
Here's a list of my classes:
Cello Lessons
Classical Piano Lessons
Jazz Piano Lessons
Poetry Workshop
Jazz Improv.
Yoga
Chorus
Music of the 20th Century
Advanced Ear Training
Orchestration
Ensemble Playing: Jr. Recital
So in light of that, I have a million things to work on. Such as:
Haydn Divertimento, trans. by Piatigorsky (that's just cool!)
Yampolsky D Major exercises (a bit modified by my teacher)
Bach Suites 1 & 2
Popper 11
Knowing all my key signatures cold.
Learning the 7 modes and knowing what they sound like on my instrument
An original work for Cello & Clarinet by Jennifer Castellanos
An original work for Cello, Flute & Violin by Ashley Murtha
Stuff that I'll be working on a bit later:
Elgar Concerto - I'm going to enter my school's concerto competition
Seven Tunes Heard In China - Bright Sheng
Cellist of Sarajevo - maybe??
Original work by Danny Gray for Cello & 2 Violins - maybe??
On a cool note, I found Bright Sheng's contact information, so I can conttact him once I start working on that piece - can't wait!!
So far, of my classes, I'm enjoying all of them, particularly Jazz Improv & Ear Training... in Orchestration, we covered the Harmonic Series - quite cool!! I really want to learn more about the physics of music & all that... but anyway, everyone is telling me that orchestration is one of the most useful classes I could ever take, so it's quite exciting... later today I have another cello lesson (we moved the day from tuesday to thursday) & I'll have my finalized Jr. Recital list - it's going to be a combo of classical rep & original works & quite possibly some improvisation.
So everything is amazingly cool & going well ... but the coolest thing. I've made a pact with one of my friends - Ashley Murtha, an amazing flutist: Starting monday, for 6 days a week we are both going to practice a minimum of 3 hours a day (this was inspired by John Petrucci & John Myung from Dream Theater, who practiced 6 hours a day, every day in high school before going out w/ friends!!)
On top of that, I'm checking into local music events & wow is there some really cool stuff going on at SUNY Purchase!! I"m gonna be going to see Matt Haimovitz & Itzhak Perlman once I get tickets - can't wait!!
So that's all for now... I have to go do my orchestration homework & then get to practicing...
Here's a list of my classes:
Cello Lessons
Classical Piano Lessons
Jazz Piano Lessons
Poetry Workshop
Jazz Improv.
Yoga
Chorus
Music of the 20th Century
Advanced Ear Training
Orchestration
Ensemble Playing: Jr. Recital
So in light of that, I have a million things to work on. Such as:
Haydn Divertimento, trans. by Piatigorsky (that's just cool!)
Yampolsky D Major exercises (a bit modified by my teacher)
Bach Suites 1 & 2
Popper 11
Knowing all my key signatures cold.
Learning the 7 modes and knowing what they sound like on my instrument
An original work for Cello & Clarinet by Jennifer Castellanos
An original work for Cello, Flute & Violin by Ashley Murtha
Stuff that I'll be working on a bit later:
Elgar Concerto - I'm going to enter my school's concerto competition
Seven Tunes Heard In China - Bright Sheng
Cellist of Sarajevo - maybe??
Original work by Danny Gray for Cello & 2 Violins - maybe??
On a cool note, I found Bright Sheng's contact information, so I can conttact him once I start working on that piece - can't wait!!
So far, of my classes, I'm enjoying all of them, particularly Jazz Improv & Ear Training... in Orchestration, we covered the Harmonic Series - quite cool!! I really want to learn more about the physics of music & all that... but anyway, everyone is telling me that orchestration is one of the most useful classes I could ever take, so it's quite exciting... later today I have another cello lesson (we moved the day from tuesday to thursday) & I'll have my finalized Jr. Recital list - it's going to be a combo of classical rep & original works & quite possibly some improvisation.
So everything is amazingly cool & going well ... but the coolest thing. I've made a pact with one of my friends - Ashley Murtha, an amazing flutist: Starting monday, for 6 days a week we are both going to practice a minimum of 3 hours a day (this was inspired by John Petrucci & John Myung from Dream Theater, who practiced 6 hours a day, every day in high school before going out w/ friends!!)
On top of that, I'm checking into local music events & wow is there some really cool stuff going on at SUNY Purchase!! I"m gonna be going to see Matt Haimovitz & Itzhak Perlman once I get tickets - can't wait!!
So that's all for now... I have to go do my orchestration homework & then get to practicing...
Monday, August 13, 2007
Reflections on Summit
Ok, so I still have some masterclass notes to post up, but I get the feeling that those will be waiting until I actually have a working computer in my own home...
So anyway, The Summit Festival is now over. On one hand I wanted it to end, because there was lots of pressure & it was costing me a crazy amount of money (I believe I spent something like $160 in gas over the last two weeks, because my mother doesn't have a job... man did that suck!)... but anway, I met a bunch of amazing people & even got to make music with some of them... there were amazing concerts every night & even more amazing masterclasses... the things that stick with me the most are:
Concerts:
Julian Milkis - I've never heard clarinet *drown out* piano and violin before... plus he played an awesome version of Gershwin's really famous prelude with his son & wife ...
Emannuel Gruber - He played one of the Beethoven cello/piano sonatas & this is the only classical performance that's really come close to comparing to a rock concert for me in terms of how much it moved me... it gives me hope that one day I'll find a classical performance that does as much for me as rock/metal does...
Sergiu Schwartz -Performed a program of Jewish music, which not only was very cool, but reminded me of how much I like the Jewish style of playing (Itzahk Perlman anyone?)
Yuki - forgotten his last name, but another violinist who's playing inspired me a bit
Matt Haimovitz - If only all recitals were given like his! He played Bach & then he played two pieces that he had had commisioned by living composers... on top of this, he talked between pieces & let his baby cry at one point... it was a great performance & a great recital ...
Masterclasses:
Harpsichord - It has such an amazing sound, and it was beyond cool to hear about things from the perspective of someone who's into early music... they have a very different approach & I think it's more organic... If I had a harpsichord to use around me, I would so learn it...
Nathaniel Rosen - This was such an amazing class from the only American winner of the Tchaicovsky competition. He has a great command of the cello & really knows what he's talking about. On top of that, he doesn't try to super-impose his interpretations onto students, and acknowledges that they can have their own musical desires... great guy ... If he's there next year, I'm maybe going to try and approach him and/or see if I can play for him
Steven Isserlis - The best masterclasses I've ever been to! Besides that he is one of my favorite cellists (living or dead), his approach to music is so through and contains so much depth. He has everything memorized & can play the accompaniment to everything he plays/teaches just as well as he can play the actual part... he has such an amazing character & an amazing sense of humor... I'm really going to try and integrate his approach into my own - I think there's so much value in using it as a foundation...
Schwartz - I got to learn about Bach from the perspective of a violinist, who's playing I like... the most important things I got from it were the concepts of stylized dance & the reminder that the genius of Bach is in his harmony...
Matt Haimovitz - I only got to stay for the Lalo concerto, but he's an amazing teacher as well as an amazing performer...
People I met... (I'm trying not to forget anybody... hopefully that will actuall work out...)
David Krieger - A very nice old man... we don't see eye to eye regarding tradition, but otherwise, he is a very caring person who means well for everyone & I may approach him in the next few months to potentially take lessons... all depends on money..
Georgina - Much to say... a 14 yr. old girl from Chile, who seems much older than her age & is into finnish culture a lot (when I met her she was wearing a nightwish shirt - amazingly cool...). She was fun to be around and talk with & I got to become friends w/ her friends...
Erica - One of Georgina's friends ... didn't really get to know her much till the last couple of days..
Polina - a girl from Great Neck, NY (just occurred to me, I know someone else from there...), who goes to MSM prep. ... also one of Georgina's friends that I got to know.
Martik - My armenian violinist - we had chamber together & discussed classic rock & fiddling and all sorts of cool stuff... the kid lives in Syracuse, but is from Russia... very cool kid ... needs to get a little more on top of stuff like being on time & writing stuff down, but hey, don't we all??
Weipeng Liu - He was my Manager for Stage Managing ... very nice guy & great technique... He opened up a lot musically during the festival...
Jeong-Bo - One of Martik's friends; a violinist. Mostly knew classical rep ... cool kid.
Akiko Maruyama - Amazing Pianist & a very nice person - for the most part, her and Riko split all the accompaniment for the whole festival - they're both very amazing players!
Katherine Harris - Amazing pianist! I got to work with her in chamber for 2 weeks and I learned so much from her. She's very thorough and has qualities that would make her a great teacher if she decided to go down that path! I wish all pianists played as musically as her ... I might like some more of the classical rep. then... On top of that, she's very open-minded & is actually aware of popular music and not just classical... Apaprently she lived near the Trans-Siberian Railroad (she's from Russia)...
Hannah Tarley - Jewish violinist from California. Her and her mother were both very nice people & on top of that I liked her playing quite a bit.
Yuki - Like I said above, amazing violinist ... one of the older students I actually got to talk to every now and then... very nice guy... I threw him off on the last night, when I said that I liked his playing a lot even though I don't usually like the violin ... what can I say... everyone's got their prejudices...
Matt Dunnoyer - One of the few black musicians studying classical that I've actually met. I got to know him while he was outside smoking, he works at MSM & is into jazz as well, I think. Cool kid.
Sean Cotty - When I first saw him, my reaction was that he was probably a soccer kid... I was dead on. Good pianist too... played some Bach Prelude & Fugue that reminded me of Billy Joel's "Pressure"
Sam Lavery - I think I met him for a bit, but didn't get to know each other too well... seems like a cool kid though...
Katya - A french-canadian girl who plays violin... very nice, though she has extremely conservative views about music ... Plays very well though... we both like Kodaly quite a bit (or at least the performance we saw)... he's definitely one of my favorite composers ... he uses the pentatonic scale amazingly...
Bong-Shin Ko - Amazing cellist, has definitely mastered her instrument, though we feel music pretty differently. She was my chamber coach for the Haydn & I learned a lot from working with her
Richard Clark - My other chamber coach, also conductor of the senior orchestra & a freelancer... While I didn't always agree with his way of doing things, I learned quite a bit from him & am certainly going to keep a lot of what he taught me with me at all times...
Allan - Cool violinist who's into alternative styles ... particularly techno... has a seeing device to help him see music, was fun to hang out with...
Umm, I think that should cover most of the people I met (particularly the ones I later got in touch with through facebook)...
So now for a general reflection... the past two weeks were beyond amazing... Like I mentioned, I met people from all sorts of places & the cool thing is that most of them played so much better than me. I feel so priveleged to have had the opportunity to do a music festival in the first place & am quite grateful to Prof. Kuan for pushing me to do it. It was amazing to be around music all the time, though it was tiring at times too... I wish classical people would incorporate ethnic and folk music as well as electric instruments some more. But either way, it was an amazing experience & I learned so much, plus for the first time got to see what the level of playing actually was for people my age. It was amazing to see their enthusiasm (in most cases) for what they're doing too. I learned so much from it & will definitely do it again next year... I can't wait for it again ... For once I'm going to have plans for something exciting to do over the summer! Plus it might be at Manhattanville next year, which would be phenomenal (speaking of which, I can't wait for our new building to go up... it sounds quite exciting...)
Now I have to go get to work on the things I need to prepare for my fall recital...
So anyway, The Summit Festival is now over. On one hand I wanted it to end, because there was lots of pressure & it was costing me a crazy amount of money (I believe I spent something like $160 in gas over the last two weeks, because my mother doesn't have a job... man did that suck!)... but anway, I met a bunch of amazing people & even got to make music with some of them... there were amazing concerts every night & even more amazing masterclasses... the things that stick with me the most are:
Concerts:
Julian Milkis - I've never heard clarinet *drown out* piano and violin before... plus he played an awesome version of Gershwin's really famous prelude with his son & wife ...
Emannuel Gruber - He played one of the Beethoven cello/piano sonatas & this is the only classical performance that's really come close to comparing to a rock concert for me in terms of how much it moved me... it gives me hope that one day I'll find a classical performance that does as much for me as rock/metal does...
Sergiu Schwartz -Performed a program of Jewish music, which not only was very cool, but reminded me of how much I like the Jewish style of playing (Itzahk Perlman anyone?)
Yuki - forgotten his last name, but another violinist who's playing inspired me a bit
Matt Haimovitz - If only all recitals were given like his! He played Bach & then he played two pieces that he had had commisioned by living composers... on top of this, he talked between pieces & let his baby cry at one point... it was a great performance & a great recital ...
Masterclasses:
Harpsichord - It has such an amazing sound, and it was beyond cool to hear about things from the perspective of someone who's into early music... they have a very different approach & I think it's more organic... If I had a harpsichord to use around me, I would so learn it...
Nathaniel Rosen - This was such an amazing class from the only American winner of the Tchaicovsky competition. He has a great command of the cello & really knows what he's talking about. On top of that, he doesn't try to super-impose his interpretations onto students, and acknowledges that they can have their own musical desires... great guy ... If he's there next year, I'm maybe going to try and approach him and/or see if I can play for him
Steven Isserlis - The best masterclasses I've ever been to! Besides that he is one of my favorite cellists (living or dead), his approach to music is so through and contains so much depth. He has everything memorized & can play the accompaniment to everything he plays/teaches just as well as he can play the actual part... he has such an amazing character & an amazing sense of humor... I'm really going to try and integrate his approach into my own - I think there's so much value in using it as a foundation...
Schwartz - I got to learn about Bach from the perspective of a violinist, who's playing I like... the most important things I got from it were the concepts of stylized dance & the reminder that the genius of Bach is in his harmony...
Matt Haimovitz - I only got to stay for the Lalo concerto, but he's an amazing teacher as well as an amazing performer...
People I met... (I'm trying not to forget anybody... hopefully that will actuall work out...)
David Krieger - A very nice old man... we don't see eye to eye regarding tradition, but otherwise, he is a very caring person who means well for everyone & I may approach him in the next few months to potentially take lessons... all depends on money..
Georgina - Much to say... a 14 yr. old girl from Chile, who seems much older than her age & is into finnish culture a lot (when I met her she was wearing a nightwish shirt - amazingly cool...). She was fun to be around and talk with & I got to become friends w/ her friends...
Erica - One of Georgina's friends ... didn't really get to know her much till the last couple of days..
Polina - a girl from Great Neck, NY (just occurred to me, I know someone else from there...), who goes to MSM prep. ... also one of Georgina's friends that I got to know.
Martik - My armenian violinist - we had chamber together & discussed classic rock & fiddling and all sorts of cool stuff... the kid lives in Syracuse, but is from Russia... very cool kid ... needs to get a little more on top of stuff like being on time & writing stuff down, but hey, don't we all??
Weipeng Liu - He was my Manager for Stage Managing ... very nice guy & great technique... He opened up a lot musically during the festival...
Jeong-Bo - One of Martik's friends; a violinist. Mostly knew classical rep ... cool kid.
Akiko Maruyama - Amazing Pianist & a very nice person - for the most part, her and Riko split all the accompaniment for the whole festival - they're both very amazing players!
Katherine Harris - Amazing pianist! I got to work with her in chamber for 2 weeks and I learned so much from her. She's very thorough and has qualities that would make her a great teacher if she decided to go down that path! I wish all pianists played as musically as her ... I might like some more of the classical rep. then... On top of that, she's very open-minded & is actually aware of popular music and not just classical... Apaprently she lived near the Trans-Siberian Railroad (she's from Russia)...
Hannah Tarley - Jewish violinist from California. Her and her mother were both very nice people & on top of that I liked her playing quite a bit.
Yuki - Like I said above, amazing violinist ... one of the older students I actually got to talk to every now and then... very nice guy... I threw him off on the last night, when I said that I liked his playing a lot even though I don't usually like the violin ... what can I say... everyone's got their prejudices...
Matt Dunnoyer - One of the few black musicians studying classical that I've actually met. I got to know him while he was outside smoking, he works at MSM & is into jazz as well, I think. Cool kid.
Sean Cotty - When I first saw him, my reaction was that he was probably a soccer kid... I was dead on. Good pianist too... played some Bach Prelude & Fugue that reminded me of Billy Joel's "Pressure"
Sam Lavery - I think I met him for a bit, but didn't get to know each other too well... seems like a cool kid though...
Katya - A french-canadian girl who plays violin... very nice, though she has extremely conservative views about music ... Plays very well though... we both like Kodaly quite a bit (or at least the performance we saw)... he's definitely one of my favorite composers ... he uses the pentatonic scale amazingly...
Bong-Shin Ko - Amazing cellist, has definitely mastered her instrument, though we feel music pretty differently. She was my chamber coach for the Haydn & I learned a lot from working with her
Richard Clark - My other chamber coach, also conductor of the senior orchestra & a freelancer... While I didn't always agree with his way of doing things, I learned quite a bit from him & am certainly going to keep a lot of what he taught me with me at all times...
Allan - Cool violinist who's into alternative styles ... particularly techno... has a seeing device to help him see music, was fun to hang out with...
Umm, I think that should cover most of the people I met (particularly the ones I later got in touch with through facebook)...
So now for a general reflection... the past two weeks were beyond amazing... Like I mentioned, I met people from all sorts of places & the cool thing is that most of them played so much better than me. I feel so priveleged to have had the opportunity to do a music festival in the first place & am quite grateful to Prof. Kuan for pushing me to do it. It was amazing to be around music all the time, though it was tiring at times too... I wish classical people would incorporate ethnic and folk music as well as electric instruments some more. But either way, it was an amazing experience & I learned so much, plus for the first time got to see what the level of playing actually was for people my age. It was amazing to see their enthusiasm (in most cases) for what they're doing too. I learned so much from it & will definitely do it again next year... I can't wait for it again ... For once I'm going to have plans for something exciting to do over the summer! Plus it might be at Manhattanville next year, which would be phenomenal (speaking of which, I can't wait for our new building to go up... it sounds quite exciting...)
Now I have to go get to work on the things I need to prepare for my fall recital...
Db Major
So I've been working on fill in the gaps of my scale knowledge & consequently I went after Db major, with it's 5 flats... it's such a cool scale... there's something deeper about it then a lot of other scales...
My technique is finally starting to get back to where it once was (though still not there yet...)
I still have to post reflections of Summit... but my time at the library is up...
My technique is finally starting to get back to where it once was (though still not there yet...)
I still have to post reflections of Summit... but my time at the library is up...
I need to start teaching myself...
So, I'm on the ICS Forums and I saw the following post:
http://p078.ezboard.com/I-NEED-STUDENTSAND-TIPS-TOO-PLEASE/fcellofunyoungcellists.showMessage?topicID=1488.topic
I really need to start finding some students of my own by the fall... I think it's safe to say my technique is sufficient to be teaching younger kids (elementary & middle school) & maybe even some high school kids ... plus I've got the business cards... I go for my road test tomorrow, so if all goes right, I've got my license ... I really need to get that moving then by fall, cuz man do I need money! Plus I would *love* to teach...
I think I need to come up with a set of goals to complete before going back to school, so that I can actively work towards those...
http://p078.ezboard.com/I-NEED-STUDENTSAND-TIPS-TOO-PLEASE/fcellofunyoungcellists.showMessage?topicID=1488.topic
I really need to start finding some students of my own by the fall... I think it's safe to say my technique is sufficient to be teaching younger kids (elementary & middle school) & maybe even some high school kids ... plus I've got the business cards... I go for my road test tomorrow, so if all goes right, I've got my license ... I really need to get that moving then by fall, cuz man do I need money! Plus I would *love* to teach...
I think I need to come up with a set of goals to complete before going back to school, so that I can actively work towards those...
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