Well, friends... a short post today.
Today marks my last full day, here in South Carolina. It's been an exciting journey, these last six years, and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. I've learned so much about who I am and what I want from life, and what I want from music. I've met wonderful friends, whom I certainly hope and plan to keep for my lifetime. Life has truly been good here.
Now, it's time to move on to the next thing. I have enjoyed my life here So much, that there were moments I forgot I still had that last degree to go after. It's taken awhile to make that mental shift, but I'm finally there. I'm not really ready to leave my friends and colleagues, all the people I love -- but I AM ready to attack this DMA degree head-on. It's time.
I love you all dearly. Please stay in touch, and I will do my best to do the same.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Where Corals Lie
Not many adventures today, except for packing for the move, and trying to set up last meetings with friends. Today, I wanted to share a text that was set by Edward Elgar in Sea Pictures. It is a beautiful text, and Elgar sets it so effectively. The text is a poem written by Richard Garnett, I think. Enjoy!
Where Corals Lie
by Richard Garnett
The deeps have music soft and low
When winds awake the airy spry,
It lures me, lures me on to go
And see the land where corals lie.
The land, the land, where corals lie.
By mount and mead, by lawn and rill,
When night is deep, and moon is high,
That music seeks and finds me still,
And tells me where the corals lie.
And tells me where the corals lie.
Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well,
Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well,
But far the rapid fancies fly
To rolling worlds of wave and shell,
And all the land where corals lie.
Thy lips are like a sunset glow,
Thy smile is like a morning sky,
Yet leave me, leave me, let me go
And see the land where corals lie.
The land, the land, where corals lie.
Where Corals Lie
by Richard Garnett
The deeps have music soft and low
When winds awake the airy spry,
It lures me, lures me on to go
And see the land where corals lie.
The land, the land, where corals lie.
By mount and mead, by lawn and rill,
When night is deep, and moon is high,
That music seeks and finds me still,
And tells me where the corals lie.
And tells me where the corals lie.
Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well,
Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well,
But far the rapid fancies fly
To rolling worlds of wave and shell,
And all the land where corals lie.
Thy lips are like a sunset glow,
Thy smile is like a morning sky,
Yet leave me, leave me, let me go
And see the land where corals lie.
The land, the land, where corals lie.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Back to the U.S.
Day in Luxembourg
The Saarburg festival provides a direct bus service from the Luxembourg Findel airport to the festival. Saarburg is pretty small, but it DOES actually have a train station. Last year, since Dr. Parker-Harley knew how to navigate the bus and train system, we took a bus and then the train to Saarburg ... but we had an hour layover wait at a very deserted train stop. This year, I opted for the bus, even though it was a little pricier, because it was a 30-minute ride directly to Saarburg and they could drop us off directly at our hotel. It was so convenient.
For the return trip, there were supposed to be 2 buses: an afternoon bus and a morning bus, but since there were only five of us signed up for the afternoon bus, we all decided to take the morning bus to the airport. A handful of people didn't fly out until the next morning, and were going to wander around Luxembourg for the day. Since my flight didn't leave til 6:30 pm, I decided to join them. We walked around part of the historic district of Luxembourg City, where I took enough pictures to make up for the fact that I took zero pictures the entire week. It was so nice to get out and walk before being cooped up in aeroplanes for so long.
LUX --> AMS 6:30 pm
AMS --> DTW 8:15 am
We landed around 7:20 pm, so I settled in for the long layover...
Layover in Amsterdam
It turns out I don't particularly mind overnight layovers, if it's here in Amsterdam or another airport that has in-terminal Hotels for not very expensive. I stayed in a place called Yotel, which is very compact and efficient. I think is is probably more cost effective if you only stay there for a nap, but it sure was nice to have a semblance of shower and rest time. I took my shoes off and napped on and off for a few hours, which was glorious. The best part was the fact that it was AFTER you go through security in the airport, so I didn't have to leave the airport to be able to sleep. From now on, overnight layover/in-terminal hotel will be a definite consideration of booking flights.
4:33 am
After a few 1-hour segments of sleep since I was worried about oversleeping my alarm, the alarm went off, during the time, of course, when I really was finally enjoying being asleep instead of fitfully napping.
4:45 am: Breakfast, delivered to the room
Breakfast consisted of very well-done (read: dry and crispy but warm) croissants and pastries, some orange juice, and a cup of coffee. It could have been better, but it could have been much worse! It was also nice that they brought it to my room -- I'd never had room service before! It was also very nice not to have to make decisions that early in the morning, since I had ordered it when I checked in.
5:15 am
I left a little too early from the hotel room -- I didnt' know how long it would be to walk through the terminal, so I gave myself almost an hour and a half before boarding to leave. Turns out, it only took 10 minutes to walk, because I didn't have to go through security again -- that will be after they call us for our seats, I think.
I was walking here to this section of the airport, and kind of got to watch the airport wake up. It turns out I started walking even before the flight crews and workers arrived, because I think all of them passed me on the moving sidewalks as I walked here.
Right when I got here, the last few workers were arriving. Most of them, when they passed me, were talking amongst themselves, in what I presume is Dutch. One particular gentleman, however, told me good morning, then proceeded to ask if I had a parachute in my backpack! It was quite amusing. I replied, "No, though I suppose it's big enough for that, isn't it?" His next question, "Are you in the Army?" I told him no...this is just what I prefer to use, since the smaller backpack could connect to the bigger one. He kinda laughed, "Wow, so it can be an even BIGGER backpack?!" I said, "Yes! It's silly." He replied, "See you soon!"
I sat in one of the closer rows of seats, and watched the workers set up the somewhat random-looking customs checkpoint. It was basically a square with podiums in different places, then farther back, the beginning of the line for the security screening. The plane wasn't even here yet at that point, so I took pictures of it rolling up. It wasn't until they called for people to come up and go through security screening that I figured out just how well the system would work. They had a "gate monitor" -- basically the person's only job was to get the next person in line and tell them which customs agent to see. Then, the customs agent pointed you in the next direction, to the security screening line. It looked a little chaotic from the outside, but from the inside worked great.
Amsterdam also didn't make us take off our shoes. The first time I flew through there -- on the way to Luxembourg this year -- I took off my shoes and the security screening guy goes, "Why do you do that? They aren't metal, only metal objects you take off." Haha. Good to know!
This plane was the A330, I do believe, which is similar to the MD11 in size and passenger capacity. Very comfortable, which was a good thing since we would be in our seats for a very long time. Partway through the flight, one of the flight attendants started having a medical emergency of some kind. They called for a doctor or nurse to come to the back of the aircraft at one point, then about 20-30 minutes later, called for the same person to come to the front of the plane. We ended up having to land in Iceland so the lady could go to the hospital. Hopefully she is ok -- I talked to one lady who was a nurse and had seen her, and while she didn't mention what she thought was the problem, she did say that she thought the lady would be ok, but that she definitely had needed a hospital to treat the problem. At any rate, it was an...interesting experience which hopefully helped the lady become healthy again.
approximately 11:45 am, EST
The landing in Iceland only put us one hour late landing. This was fine, since I had a 4-hour layover. Lots of customs lines to go through, so by the time I navigated everything, I had one whole hour to wait. That was just the perfect amount of time to tell all interested parties about my safe arrival in the U.S, and it was off to the last flight. (Hmm...looking back on this, it doesn't seem correct, but I don't remember the actual times anymore. So, we will go with this.)
approximately 4:35 pm, EST
It was SO nice to be back...or at least not on airplanes any more! Whew.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Rain!
Small, short blog post. It's been raining on and off since this past Sunday, and will remain raining on and off til we leave. I am enjoying the humidity and rain as much as possible now, since I'll be soon moving to a place that rarely has rain and has more sunshine than I could ever want.
So, this evening will be spent indoors. Probably relaxing in my hotel room, but also perhaps getting some laundry done and packing started. Or research on different things that I haven't been able to do lately.
Tomorrow's schedule will also be playing it by ear. Tons I *could* do, but haven't decided what I *will* do. I might sleep in, for starters. I slept til 7, then dozed til 8 today, and it was glorious. Perhaps go to the bookstore. Wander around Saarburg for sure. The silly part? I could do a free wine-tasting at noon, courtesy of the Mayor ... or go to the cheese and honey festival in nearby Mannebach. (I think that's its name.) Thing is, I am pretty tired and am not sure that alcohol during the afternoon of a performance would be the best plan, even in small amounts. I have also developed a bit of a headache today and yesterday, which has made me a little less social than I might be normally.
So, on to my relaxing evening of possible naps and laundry. Enjoy your Friday!
So, this evening will be spent indoors. Probably relaxing in my hotel room, but also perhaps getting some laundry done and packing started. Or research on different things that I haven't been able to do lately.
Tomorrow's schedule will also be playing it by ear. Tons I *could* do, but haven't decided what I *will* do. I might sleep in, for starters. I slept til 7, then dozed til 8 today, and it was glorious. Perhaps go to the bookstore. Wander around Saarburg for sure. The silly part? I could do a free wine-tasting at noon, courtesy of the Mayor ... or go to the cheese and honey festival in nearby Mannebach. (I think that's its name.) Thing is, I am pretty tired and am not sure that alcohol during the afternoon of a performance would be the best plan, even in small amounts. I have also developed a bit of a headache today and yesterday, which has made me a little less social than I might be normally.
So, on to my relaxing evening of possible naps and laundry. Enjoy your Friday!
Week 2: Three concerts down, two to go
Well, it's been a busy week here in Saarburg. Monday night was our night "off," so that was the evening the Mayor of Saarburg (a very generous man) treated the faculty and staff to a lovely dinner. It was epic, and we all rolled away without any more room in our tummies.
Tuesday, we had the first student recital of the week. It was at Mannebacher Brauerei. The Brauerei is a lovely venue, with an outdoor Beirgarten near the modern addition to the building. The actual concert was in the modern addition, and the sound was actually quite nice -- just the right amount of live.
Random observation: The "simplest" waltzes are sometimes the most difficult to play! Still fun.
It's been raining all week, so we were quite glad that Tuesday and Wednesday venues were indoors. Wednesday night, the venue was a very beautiful, modern-looking "Atrium" in Orscholz. It had a nice natural feel to it, because the entire indoor was made from light-colored, non-finished wood, which reminded me of knotty pine. Who knows, it could have BEEN knotty pine -- I don't know my wood grains well enough. Whatever kind of wood it was, it was beautiful and the decision to not varnish it was perfect. The sound space was much drier than the other venues so far, so I got to use LOTS of pedal the entire time. It was fun, though a bit disconcerting at times, haha! It's strange to know that you want to play staccato, and still need to use a bit of pedal for that. All in all, though, the concert went well. All of the students are very well prepared, and it was great to get to see and hear them.
Thursday's concert was outdoors, in a place called Schmelz. This concert was the farthest away so far, at approximately 60 minutes away by bus. The performance was outdoors, underneath a lovely giant white tent. The atmosphere was a little more informal since there was no formal backstage area, but it was actually quite nice to be able to basically sit in the audience before going on stage. The audience was so supportive and really enthusiastic. I had a short chat with a lovely couple who actually remembered me from last year, and expressed excitement that I had transitioned from student to "staff." Another charming older gentleman asked me what it meant to be a "guest artist" instead of a "guest faculty." I explained that the main difference was they asked me to play for lessons and a few groups, and the main difference is I am not actually teaching anyone.
Schmelz: The new performer "green room" was so fascinating. It was on the second floor of an older house. This older house sat literally on top of a small stream, with a water wheel providing power to the house. The top floor room where we were for the beginning of our time there was a museum of sorts, titled "The History of the Anabaptists." We did not have very much time in that room, or I would have tried to figure out what significance this particular place had in the history of the Anabaptists. Even without knowing the significance of this location, it was fascinating: there was an old pump organ with LOTS of voices (!), some interesting looking farm equipment, and a few strange looking mannicans dressed in old-style clothing. I loved the outdoorsy, farm-type feel of the entire place.
So far, each of the venues have fed all the performers. The Brauerei gave us this amazing penne pasta dish, with a vodka-type sauce mixed with zucchini squash and other amazing veggies. It was SO good! But it was also SO much food. The Wednesday venue gave us cold-cut sandwiches, for which I was very thankful. (After awhile, you just can't continue to eat such large quantities of heavy food!) Last night, the Schmelz provided brats with a bread handle. Authentically German and very tasty. Though, I do notice my body is craving some more vegetables at this point. I am seriously considering buying a broccoli floret in the grocery store downstairs and just having that for dinner!
Tonight - Friday - is the one concert this week I have "off." Since I have been getting a little bit carsick during the bus rides, I think I will sit this one out and have a rather boring night here in Saarburg. I say "boring" but I really mean fun and restful and filled with lack of bus rides and an early bedtime. Then, tomorrow is the last student concert, followed by the farewell dinner, and it is going our separate ways on Sunday morning. The two weeks have flown by and have been filled to the brim with as much as possible.
Oh, and be warned: I have a grand total of something like 15-17 hours of layover on the way back, so I'm sure I will retroactively update different adventures here. Prepare for the random!
Tuesday, we had the first student recital of the week. It was at Mannebacher Brauerei. The Brauerei is a lovely venue, with an outdoor Beirgarten near the modern addition to the building. The actual concert was in the modern addition, and the sound was actually quite nice -- just the right amount of live.
Random observation: The "simplest" waltzes are sometimes the most difficult to play! Still fun.
It's been raining all week, so we were quite glad that Tuesday and Wednesday venues were indoors. Wednesday night, the venue was a very beautiful, modern-looking "Atrium" in Orscholz. It had a nice natural feel to it, because the entire indoor was made from light-colored, non-finished wood, which reminded me of knotty pine. Who knows, it could have BEEN knotty pine -- I don't know my wood grains well enough. Whatever kind of wood it was, it was beautiful and the decision to not varnish it was perfect. The sound space was much drier than the other venues so far, so I got to use LOTS of pedal the entire time. It was fun, though a bit disconcerting at times, haha! It's strange to know that you want to play staccato, and still need to use a bit of pedal for that. All in all, though, the concert went well. All of the students are very well prepared, and it was great to get to see and hear them.
Thursday's concert was outdoors, in a place called Schmelz. This concert was the farthest away so far, at approximately 60 minutes away by bus. The performance was outdoors, underneath a lovely giant white tent. The atmosphere was a little more informal since there was no formal backstage area, but it was actually quite nice to be able to basically sit in the audience before going on stage. The audience was so supportive and really enthusiastic. I had a short chat with a lovely couple who actually remembered me from last year, and expressed excitement that I had transitioned from student to "staff." Another charming older gentleman asked me what it meant to be a "guest artist" instead of a "guest faculty." I explained that the main difference was they asked me to play for lessons and a few groups, and the main difference is I am not actually teaching anyone.
Schmelz: The new performer "green room" was so fascinating. It was on the second floor of an older house. This older house sat literally on top of a small stream, with a water wheel providing power to the house. The top floor room where we were for the beginning of our time there was a museum of sorts, titled "The History of the Anabaptists." We did not have very much time in that room, or I would have tried to figure out what significance this particular place had in the history of the Anabaptists. Even without knowing the significance of this location, it was fascinating: there was an old pump organ with LOTS of voices (!), some interesting looking farm equipment, and a few strange looking mannicans dressed in old-style clothing. I loved the outdoorsy, farm-type feel of the entire place.
So far, each of the venues have fed all the performers. The Brauerei gave us this amazing penne pasta dish, with a vodka-type sauce mixed with zucchini squash and other amazing veggies. It was SO good! But it was also SO much food. The Wednesday venue gave us cold-cut sandwiches, for which I was very thankful. (After awhile, you just can't continue to eat such large quantities of heavy food!) Last night, the Schmelz provided brats with a bread handle. Authentically German and very tasty. Though, I do notice my body is craving some more vegetables at this point. I am seriously considering buying a broccoli floret in the grocery store downstairs and just having that for dinner!
Tonight - Friday - is the one concert this week I have "off." Since I have been getting a little bit carsick during the bus rides, I think I will sit this one out and have a rather boring night here in Saarburg. I say "boring" but I really mean fun and restful and filled with lack of bus rides and an early bedtime. Then, tomorrow is the last student concert, followed by the farewell dinner, and it is going our separate ways on Sunday morning. The two weeks have flown by and have been filled to the brim with as much as possible.
Oh, and be warned: I have a grand total of something like 15-17 hours of layover on the way back, so I'm sure I will retroactively update different adventures here. Prepare for the random!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Burg Eltz, Beilstein, and Burg Metternich
Yesterday we had a free day, where literally nothing was scheduled. One group of students and faculty was going to Bonn to see Beethoven-haus and Drachen Fels, one faculty member was going to Cologne, etc.
Our group was going the more rural route: We rented a car, and drove to Burg Eltz and the small town of Beilstein. It was absolutely gorgeous. The word "magical" even was mentioned a few times throughout the day. Many stairs and hills were conquered.
Burg Eltz is actually a very large castle with three distinct castle sections. It has a fascinating history, being one of the few castles that has not been destroyed at any point since its construction. Well, in its defense, it's not near any large metropolitan areas, haha.
More info here: (They explain it well.)
http://www.burg-eltz.de/e_index.html
Burg Eltz was beautiful. After touring the inside, during which time we were NOT allowed to take photographs, we toured the Armoury and Treasury, so I took many blurry pictures of fascinating things there.
After leaving Burg Eltz, we traveled to this town called Beilstein. It is beautiful also -- I would love to come back here sometime. We walked around town, ate ice cream, hiked to the top of the castle, then the top of the tower... Then left to come back to Saarburg.
Gabby and Ansgar, a wonderfully sweet couple whom Jennifer met three years ago here, were our tour guides for the day. They graciously had planned to cook dinner for us this evening! So, after a day at seeing beautiful castles, we relaxed at their house for the evening. First, we took a short walk through the forest, and fed the deer. (The deer were captive and being raised. Very interesting creatures -- I think they are smaller than white tail deer, shorter and stockier. And, the adults have spots on them also. I'm not sure what breed they are, exactly.)
After the short walk in the forest, we were definitely hungry! The dinner was fabulous and the company was wonderful. We all really enjoyed chatting and getting to know one another. Another family, friends of Gabby's, visited too, so all the young ones played together in the back yard.
So, leave time for castle: 9:17 am. Return time from dinner: approximately 10:45 pm.
All in all, a tiring, yet also very restful and peaceful, day.
I couldn't have thought up a better free day!
Our group was going the more rural route: We rented a car, and drove to Burg Eltz and the small town of Beilstein. It was absolutely gorgeous. The word "magical" even was mentioned a few times throughout the day. Many stairs and hills were conquered.
Burg Eltz is actually a very large castle with three distinct castle sections. It has a fascinating history, being one of the few castles that has not been destroyed at any point since its construction. Well, in its defense, it's not near any large metropolitan areas, haha.
More info here: (They explain it well.)
http://www.burg-eltz.de/e_index.html
Burg Eltz was beautiful. After touring the inside, during which time we were NOT allowed to take photographs, we toured the Armoury and Treasury, so I took many blurry pictures of fascinating things there.
After leaving Burg Eltz, we traveled to this town called Beilstein. It is beautiful also -- I would love to come back here sometime. We walked around town, ate ice cream, hiked to the top of the castle, then the top of the tower... Then left to come back to Saarburg.
Gabby and Ansgar, a wonderfully sweet couple whom Jennifer met three years ago here, were our tour guides for the day. They graciously had planned to cook dinner for us this evening! So, after a day at seeing beautiful castles, we relaxed at their house for the evening. First, we took a short walk through the forest, and fed the deer. (The deer were captive and being raised. Very interesting creatures -- I think they are smaller than white tail deer, shorter and stockier. And, the adults have spots on them also. I'm not sure what breed they are, exactly.)
After the short walk in the forest, we were definitely hungry! The dinner was fabulous and the company was wonderful. We all really enjoyed chatting and getting to know one another. Another family, friends of Gabby's, visited too, so all the young ones played together in the back yard.
So, leave time for castle: 9:17 am. Return time from dinner: approximately 10:45 pm.
All in all, a tiring, yet also very restful and peaceful, day.
I couldn't have thought up a better free day!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Upcoming Week: Schedules!
Before I tell stories about how amazing our one "off day" was and all the beautiful things we saw, I figured I'd give you an idea of a week in the life of a Saarburg staff collaborative pianist. It's fun and busy! I get to play in concerts Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so it will be fun.
Ready, go:
Monday:
9:30-11:00, 12:30-1:15 rehearsals
(lunch at Hospital @ 1:30 every day)
3:00-4:30 rehearsals
6 - 6:45 lesson to accompany
7:45 faculty dinner (a special treat!)
Tuesday:
9:30 - 1:15 rehearsals/ lessons to accompany
3:00-5:15 lessons
Concert that evening
Wednesday:
11:45-1:15 rehearsals (A later start -- yes!)
3-4:30 rehearsals
Concert that evening
Thursday:
9:00 - 1:15 rehearsals
3-5:15 rehearsals
Concert that evening
Friday: (lightest day!)
11-1:30 rehearsals, 4:30-5:15 rehearsals
Concert that evening (but this is the one I don't play)
Final day: Saturday:
4:00-6:30 possible dress rehearsals
Final concert plus farewell banquet
All in all, not a bad schedule considering I'm playing for 6 different pieces/groups plus 6 singers' lessons. Last week was comparable to this week, except my schedule extended to 6 pm every day. That was the one benefit of not having concerts every day last week - a later rehearsal schedule.
I enjoy working with all the different people that I have met this past week, and look forward to all the performances. Also, just in case you thought I was just traipsing around Germany on vacation these two weeks...now you know I AM actually working ;).
Ready, go:
Monday:
9:30-11:00, 12:30-1:15 rehearsals
(lunch at Hospital @ 1:30 every day)
3:00-4:30 rehearsals
6 - 6:45 lesson to accompany
7:45 faculty dinner (a special treat!)
Tuesday:
9:30 - 1:15 rehearsals/ lessons to accompany
3:00-5:15 lessons
Concert that evening
Wednesday:
11:45-1:15 rehearsals (A later start -- yes!)
3-4:30 rehearsals
Concert that evening
Thursday:
9:00 - 1:15 rehearsals
3-5:15 rehearsals
Concert that evening
Friday: (lightest day!)
11-1:30 rehearsals, 4:30-5:15 rehearsals
Concert that evening (but this is the one I don't play)
Final day: Saturday:
4:00-6:30 possible dress rehearsals
Final concert plus farewell banquet
All in all, not a bad schedule considering I'm playing for 6 different pieces/groups plus 6 singers' lessons. Last week was comparable to this week, except my schedule extended to 6 pm every day. That was the one benefit of not having concerts every day last week - a later rehearsal schedule.
I enjoy working with all the different people that I have met this past week, and look forward to all the performances. Also, just in case you thought I was just traipsing around Germany on vacation these two weeks...now you know I AM actually working ;).
Faculty and Student Recitals
Things have been pretty busy here, so not a lot of time to upload pictures or write. I will give a brief overview of our last few days, though.
My first unofficial piano lesson was AWESOME. I look forward to the next 3-3.5 years.
The faculty concert went pretty well. Everyone I was able to hear was just so musical and the music had great variety. Really enjoyable.
Student concert last night in the church was so good! Good start to the next week. I'm so proud of everyone. The church is a very live space, so it was great for the singers, and actually not too bad for the instrumentalists either.
More updates coming soon. Enjoy your Sunday!
My first unofficial piano lesson was AWESOME. I look forward to the next 3-3.5 years.
The faculty concert went pretty well. Everyone I was able to hear was just so musical and the music had great variety. Really enjoyable.
Student concert last night in the church was so good! Good start to the next week. I'm so proud of everyone. The church is a very live space, so it was great for the singers, and actually not too bad for the instrumentalists either.
More updates coming soon. Enjoy your Sunday!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Living in the Moment
Living in the moment ... in a healthy, positive way.
In the weeks leading up to this festival, I had begun to allow myself to get stressed because I tried to do everything at once: Packing the house (for the upcoming move), practicing for everything (this festival, upcoming lessons and just personal goals of music learning, etc. Trying to do everything at once is, well, a little overwhelming, and our brains were not wired that way. That's why I write lists, to try to help with this problem. Sometimes they don't work. That's when I actually allow the outside stressors to affect me.
It has been a cool experience so far, being here in Saarburg and being a "staff" accompanist. Or collaborative pianist. But at the same time, I allowed myself to get a little stressed. Knowing that I would be playing on the faculty concert (Friday!), I allowed that mean voice inside my head to question whether or not my musicality would be "good enough," or if my technicality would be proficient enough for the job. Silly, really. Regardless of whether or not I am "good enough," I'm doing it! This is me, as I am today, this week: Enjoy the music, or don't. But I will not allow concern over someone else's "judgement" cloud my complete and utter enthusiasm for the music I so dearly love.
Enough of that. Back to "living in the moment." I explain all that to give an idea about how I was totally NOT living in the moment! And, when you aren't in the moment, it's really difficult to play music well. Needless to say, my mental game wasn't so great for a few days there. It only took a short time of practicing, though, to change that. Slow practice really helps remind me how to mentally approach things, and how to really just Go for it in performance. That may sound strange, but it's true. I definitely had to make a conscious decision this week, though, to really just live in the moment and not allow myself to get stressed about work I was doing.
At lunch, I enjoy the people I'm with. I don't rush eating, and just enjoy the friendships I've made without worrying about getting back in 5 minutes to go practice. I walk to practice, but don't hurry, enjoying the world around me. Even in lessons, I do my best to focus intensely, but don't stress if I miss a note, because I am human and I make mistakes. (Of course, I make a mental note to focus on that section differently in the next run-through, or in the next practice session.) That's why I'm going back to school: Because I am not quite to the point where I can, on my own, be the musician I want to be. I don't necessarily like admitting that, but it is helpful to note that fact honestly. On the other hand, I know I have some very good tools that I can and do use on a regular basis, so it's not like I'm completely starting from scratch -- not yet, anyway. ;-) How does that relate to living in the moment? Well, if I'm beating myself up over some notes that I missed a few seconds ago, or yesterday, or a phrase that I didn't like, or something that is technically difficult that I haven't played yet -- that's not helpful in any way! (Just in case you wondered about that probably obvious fact.)
Living in the moment most especially applies to performing, though. It's difficult sometimes to switch gears from practicing, where you are constantly analyzing yourself and trying to modify the way you do things as you go, sometimes... to performing, where you have to just trust that the work you have done in the past was good enough, to allow yourself to be free to take musical risks, while also putting as much energy and focus into the performance as possible. It's really difficult! But, so worth it in the end, especially when all the pieces fit together and the performance was good.
That is what we are aiming for in these next few weeks. Work very hard while working, and work as much as need, but not apologize for play time or rest.
Now: Time for rest. Early day tomorrow.
I may be living in the moment, but I still have a plan, haha:
Tomorrow's morning goal: Get at least one hour of practice before having to walk over to the Stadhalle (performance venue for Friday night's faculty performance) for a 9:30 sound check.
Tomorrow's afternoon goal: Have an amazing first lesson. Since I tend to get more nervous playing for faculty one-on-one, it will be a good litmus test to see where the trouble spots still are in these pieces.
Tomorrow's evening goal: Well, it's the last evening before having concerts almost every night til the end of next week, so I haven't decided if I'm going to get extra practice or wander around the town and see the town at night. The biggest problem is it doesn't get dark til almost 11 pm, and that's a bit late for me. (yes, I realize it's after that time now. It's still a bit late for me.)
In the weeks leading up to this festival, I had begun to allow myself to get stressed because I tried to do everything at once: Packing the house (for the upcoming move), practicing for everything (this festival, upcoming lessons and just personal goals of music learning, etc. Trying to do everything at once is, well, a little overwhelming, and our brains were not wired that way. That's why I write lists, to try to help with this problem. Sometimes they don't work. That's when I actually allow the outside stressors to affect me.
It has been a cool experience so far, being here in Saarburg and being a "staff" accompanist. Or collaborative pianist. But at the same time, I allowed myself to get a little stressed. Knowing that I would be playing on the faculty concert (Friday!), I allowed that mean voice inside my head to question whether or not my musicality would be "good enough," or if my technicality would be proficient enough for the job. Silly, really. Regardless of whether or not I am "good enough," I'm doing it! This is me, as I am today, this week: Enjoy the music, or don't. But I will not allow concern over someone else's "judgement" cloud my complete and utter enthusiasm for the music I so dearly love.
Enough of that. Back to "living in the moment." I explain all that to give an idea about how I was totally NOT living in the moment! And, when you aren't in the moment, it's really difficult to play music well. Needless to say, my mental game wasn't so great for a few days there. It only took a short time of practicing, though, to change that. Slow practice really helps remind me how to mentally approach things, and how to really just Go for it in performance. That may sound strange, but it's true. I definitely had to make a conscious decision this week, though, to really just live in the moment and not allow myself to get stressed about work I was doing.
At lunch, I enjoy the people I'm with. I don't rush eating, and just enjoy the friendships I've made without worrying about getting back in 5 minutes to go practice. I walk to practice, but don't hurry, enjoying the world around me. Even in lessons, I do my best to focus intensely, but don't stress if I miss a note, because I am human and I make mistakes. (Of course, I make a mental note to focus on that section differently in the next run-through, or in the next practice session.) That's why I'm going back to school: Because I am not quite to the point where I can, on my own, be the musician I want to be. I don't necessarily like admitting that, but it is helpful to note that fact honestly. On the other hand, I know I have some very good tools that I can and do use on a regular basis, so it's not like I'm completely starting from scratch -- not yet, anyway. ;-) How does that relate to living in the moment? Well, if I'm beating myself up over some notes that I missed a few seconds ago, or yesterday, or a phrase that I didn't like, or something that is technically difficult that I haven't played yet -- that's not helpful in any way! (Just in case you wondered about that probably obvious fact.)
Living in the moment most especially applies to performing, though. It's difficult sometimes to switch gears from practicing, where you are constantly analyzing yourself and trying to modify the way you do things as you go, sometimes... to performing, where you have to just trust that the work you have done in the past was good enough, to allow yourself to be free to take musical risks, while also putting as much energy and focus into the performance as possible. It's really difficult! But, so worth it in the end, especially when all the pieces fit together and the performance was good.
That is what we are aiming for in these next few weeks. Work very hard while working, and work as much as need, but not apologize for play time or rest.
Now: Time for rest. Early day tomorrow.
I may be living in the moment, but I still have a plan, haha:
Tomorrow's morning goal: Get at least one hour of practice before having to walk over to the Stadhalle (performance venue for Friday night's faculty performance) for a 9:30 sound check.
Tomorrow's afternoon goal: Have an amazing first lesson. Since I tend to get more nervous playing for faculty one-on-one, it will be a good litmus test to see where the trouble spots still are in these pieces.
Tomorrow's evening goal: Well, it's the last evening before having concerts almost every night til the end of next week, so I haven't decided if I'm going to get extra practice or wander around the town and see the town at night. The biggest problem is it doesn't get dark til almost 11 pm, and that's a bit late for me. (yes, I realize it's after that time now. It's still a bit late for me.)
Monday, July 2, 2012
Mostly practice...and the rest of the journey to Saarburg
Day one: Mostly ... practicing! Surprised? ;)
Random backround stuff:
The hotel I am staying in this year is the one where most of the faculty are: Hotel Saar Galerie. Last year, Korinne and I stayed in Hotel Am Markt, an absolutely adorable hotel with an Italian restaurant (highly rated, from what I understand) on the bottom floor. Am Markt opens up to a cobblestone courtyard, where there are tons of tables and chairs, and it's nearly impossible to figure out which tables go with which restaurant! This year, I live above a swimming pool, parking garage, and grocery store. The store is called the Wasgau. Everyone here at Hotel Saar Galerie is super nice, even if they don't speak tons of English and I speak very little German. Seriously, my German is tragic right now. I'm definitely still mixing up French, English, and a little German when I try to speak. Highly amusing. The other day, I decided that speaking a new language is similar to improvising (music): It's really easy to freeze up and second guess yourself, and that only makes things worse! It's best to keep trying. At least, that's what I tell myself...
So Hotel Saar Galerie: a little less "adorable" and much more modern than Am Markt. It's awesome that it has the grocery store at the bottom, though, and is also closer to the gymnasium, where all the rehearsals and lessons take place. It's a very comfortable hotel, and even has a closet where my roommate Brittany and I can hang up our concert clothes! Brittany, by the way, is a French horn player and super cool. We are enjoying our roommate-time so far.
General overview of the first super easy day:
Randomly woke up at 5 am (hi, JetLag), and dozed on and off until 6:30, when I finally couldn't just stay in bed any more. Moved super slowly to finally make it to breakfast by 7:15 and took my sweet time to get to the Gymnasium by 9:20. Practice until 11:15 am, go get more music from Dr. C, rehearse from 11:30 until 12:30 with Heidi and Katherine, the two ladies I am accompanying this Friday on the faculty concert. We will be playing 5 Nocturnes by Arnold Cooke. I like them, a lot. Super cool pieces, but I won't be buying the score anytime soon, as it's upwards of 100 dollars on amazon right now.
Lunches are at the Krankenhaus again this year, but they seem ... better, somehow. Everyone walked over as a group since so many new people didn't know how to get there. I was somehow nominated the official leader, which was amusing, but unlike most of my solo travels, I did not go the wrong way and have interesting adventures.
At 15:00, the singers had a run-through of all the staged works, and it was my job to 1) turn pages, and 2) see what the vocal coach set for tempos in case I was way off. Apparently, I tend to play things somewhat leisurely, sometimes. It was relatively painless, and neat to get to meet some of the students whom I would be accompanying these two weeks.
Small break, followed by a short rehearsal with a chamber group on some Telemann figured bass, then some more practicing.
I think that's all the practicing for today, honestly. Elise, Caroline, and I are now about to walk to the old Castle Saarburg (it's ruins now), where I will hopefully take some pictures! I have not taken any pictures yet, at all ... with the exception of one mobile camera photo of the MD-11 compared to the Boeing 737-800. It's kinda ridiculous, so this problem will be fixed asap.
The rest of the week is much busier, with more chamber rehearsals, voice lessons, and hopefully lots of practicing!
Edit:
And the rest of the journey:
I forgot to add this earlier cause I was a bit in a hurry, but... most of the trip to Germany was uneventful. The only slight snag was when they gate-checked my bag from Amsterdam to Luxembourg. I know that the lady at the gate told me to pick up my bag at baggage claim... So we get of the small plane, and onto a bus to take us to the terminal in Luxembourg. RIGHT as they were closing the doors, I realized that my bag was the only one still on the baggage cart! In my defense, I had been uncontrollably dozing on the last two flights, so I was super groggy, but still ... I groggily went to the side door and tried to figure out how to open it, yelling, "Wait, I need to get my bag! Just leave me behind -- I didn't realize it was there!" but the bus started going. Some random other passenger noticed my plight, and yelled (in his decidedly manlier, boomier voice), "Stop the bus! Open the door!" Ha, so of course I ran there and back to get my lonely carry-on luggage. It's not necessarily a proud thing to have the distinction of being the sole person to hold up the two buses, but hey, I'm not going to complain if that was the only problem in the entire trip here!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Return of the Delinquent Blogger - Back to Europe
p.s. Sorry for the weird color issues. Not sure what's going on...Will try to fix later.
A few random observations: Apparently, I live in a time warp, because I only recently realized that I had not updated this in almost a year! I have been having plenty of adventures, but have been so caught up in too much work and other boring-sounding (yet not actually boring to me) life things going on. I may see if I can catch people up on what has been going on in my life the past year...probably will have time to do that on my 12-hour layover on the way back, actually.
Next: I have been "traveling" for 17.5 hours now, and only just dozed a bit on the plane here and there, so if any of this doesn't live up to normal standards, try not to hold it against me too much!
Back to the trip:
It has been quite the uneventful trip so far. This is due partly to the fact that I scheduled such long layovers. Flying out of Columbia, everything is always delayed -- and this time was no exception. The first flight was supposed to leave at 5:30 and arrive at 6:30, but it was delayed so much, that we didn't even get on the plane until after 8 pm, and did not leave until 8:15 or so. I felt a little bad for all of the people who most certainly missed their connections. (I mean, let's face it: who in their right mind would schedule a 4+ hour layover??) The only reason I didn't miss mine was I had a 4 hr 20 min layover, which ended up being no
layover at all -- I arrived at my gate just as they started the pre-boarding process. The young lady I sat next to on the connecting flight to Atlanta was traveling overseas alone for the first time. She was under the age of 18, so they did not allow her to leave the terminal to stay at a hotel -- apparently instead they had a "kiddie room." I hope she was able to get some rest and made it to Paris today. The flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam felt much longer than the 7.5 hours listed, but KLM really took good care of us -- the hot wet paper towels before each meal were a nice touch -- plus dinner and breakfast. Not bad. I was most impressed (food-wise) by the salad included with dinner: It was sauteed eggplant, black beans, mozzarella, and a few red peppers and sweet onions in an olive oil vinaigrette. Also, the stewardess called me "My Lady" and she called the men "Monsieur," which was interesting.
Local time here: 3:19 pm, one hour before boarding for the last leg of this trip. Then, I think it's just a short 40-minute wait for the bus once I arrive in Luxembourg. I am going to hope it takes 1 hour or less to get to Saarburg, because I would LOVE to shower and change before our faculty welcome meeting at 8:30. I'm definitely looking forward to meeting all the faculty and getting the week 1 schedule so I can plan my warm up/practice time accordingly. I may be that crazy person who wakes up before the students get there and practices before breakfast -- we will see if the building is open that early.
Pre-trip randomness: I had left my glasses in the car before packing for this trip. When I went to the car to get them, I noticed the earpieces had some junky stuff on them. I quickly realized upon cleaning them, though, that it was the actual glasses themselves. They had started to melt, because the ear piece was the only plastic part on the frame! I must remember to never, ever leave melt-y things (even non-traditional melty things) in my car in AZ. Next thing I know I will have music that melts!
That is all for the first short update. I will do my best to update this more regularly in the future.
A few random observations: Apparently, I live in a time warp, because I only recently realized that I had not updated this in almost a year! I have been having plenty of adventures, but have been so caught up in too much work and other boring-sounding (yet not actually boring to me) life things going on. I may see if I can catch people up on what has been going on in my life the past year...probably will have time to do that on my 12-hour layover on the way back, actually.
Next: I have been "traveling" for 17.5 hours now, and only just dozed a bit on the plane here and there, so if any of this doesn't live up to normal standards, try not to hold it against me too much!
Back to the trip:
It has been quite the uneventful trip so far. This is due partly to the fact that I scheduled such long layovers. Flying out of Columbia, everything is always delayed -- and this time was no exception. The first flight was supposed to leave at 5:30 and arrive at 6:30, but it was delayed so much, that we didn't even get on the plane until after 8 pm, and did not leave until 8:15 or so. I felt a little bad for all of the people who most certainly missed their connections. (I mean, let's face it: who in their right mind would schedule a 4+ hour layover??) The only reason I didn't miss mine was I had a 4 hr 20 min layover, which ended up being no
layover at all -- I arrived at my gate just as they started the pre-boarding process. The young lady I sat next to on the connecting flight to Atlanta was traveling overseas alone for the first time. She was under the age of 18, so they did not allow her to leave the terminal to stay at a hotel -- apparently instead they had a "kiddie room." I hope she was able to get some rest and made it to Paris today. The flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam felt much longer than the 7.5 hours listed, but KLM really took good care of us -- the hot wet paper towels before each meal were a nice touch -- plus dinner and breakfast. Not bad. I was most impressed (food-wise) by the salad included with dinner: It was sauteed eggplant, black beans, mozzarella, and a few red peppers and sweet onions in an olive oil vinaigrette. Also, the stewardess called me "My Lady" and she called the men "Monsieur," which was interesting.
Local time here: 3:19 pm, one hour before boarding for the last leg of this trip. Then, I think it's just a short 40-minute wait for the bus once I arrive in Luxembourg. I am going to hope it takes 1 hour or less to get to Saarburg, because I would LOVE to shower and change before our faculty welcome meeting at 8:30. I'm definitely looking forward to meeting all the faculty and getting the week 1 schedule so I can plan my warm up/practice time accordingly. I may be that crazy person who wakes up before the students get there and practices before breakfast -- we will see if the building is open that early.
Pre-trip randomness: I had left my glasses in the car before packing for this trip. When I went to the car to get them, I noticed the earpieces had some junky stuff on them. I quickly realized upon cleaning them, though, that it was the actual glasses themselves. They had started to melt, because the ear piece was the only plastic part on the frame! I must remember to never, ever leave melt-y things (even non-traditional melty things) in my car in AZ. Next thing I know I will have music that melts!
That is all for the first short update. I will do my best to update this more regularly in the future.
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