New musical adventure: Taliesin West

I will explain more about this soon, but for now....

Today (and yesterday, for rehearsal) I had a new musical adventure:  I played piano as part of a memorial service celebration of life at Taliesin West.  Family and friends of Cornelia Brierly got up to speak about her life, how she inspired them and what she taught them.  She had the distinction of being involved in the designing of Taliesin West, I think, and lived and taught there her entire life.

It was largely a joyous occasion of remembrance, though there were understandably some tears among the people attending.  The most remarkable part of this whole experience, though, was the way her personality and person really came through in the stories and thoughts people shared.  I did not meet this remarkable lady, but the inspiration she had been for so many people...it was powerful.  I was an outsider in this group of people, but I still felt like I knew her, through their stories.  It was a wonderful return to perspective, seeing this group of people, so sincere in their love and strong in their memories of this remarkable lady.

I met a few people after the service, who shared stories of her and of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin West, and the love for music held by so many there.  It was so obvious how many lives this lady impacted throughout her life.  It was a happy reminder that if you pour your life into people, wonderful things can happen.

Amidst the day-to-day, week-to-week graduate school grind, I needed the reminder that people are always the most important.

I Drive a Future Lemons Car

"  Hey, can we borrow your engine?  "

Today, I was reminded about Lemons...not the fruit, the "race."   Lemons races fall into that "different" category for sure.  As crazy as they were, the Lemons races at CMP remain some of my fondest and craziest car memories. (Other ones: saved for later.)  If you haven't heard of these races, they are spoofs on the famous LeMons, and the basic rules are: Take a car valued at $500 or less, add safety equipment and pick a team "theme," and try to get the most laps over 2 days.

The first year, our awesome and spectacular team drove a 1986 (?) Ford Thunderbird, AKA the Deathmobile.  Too many mechanical happenings to list, but by the end of the race, we were limping along at 38 mph top speed, earning the "most likely to leave in an ambulance" award.  (Note: We obviously didn't, as were were quite good at staying out of the way.)

So, we decided heavy and slow was the bad plan.  Now, go for light and breakable.  And, hopefully fast. (Note: Faster than my daily driver.  Not actually fast.)   Enter the 198x Honda Civic hatchback.  Civics are everywhere, and they are not expensive, so ... it was an obvious choice.  The only problem?  Something about an oil pump and only right hand turns and ... bad things.   Other than that, they are bulletproof, just don't expect to crash and keep the car in one piece.

So anyway, since they are all $500 cars, you can imagine that most people bring as many spares as possible, and DEFINITELY as many tools as we can.  I was fortunate that pretty much every single person other than me on the team were very, very mechanically savvy, so I didn't have to poke around and go, "Hmm......"

Evening of day one race, and our neighbors' civic engine was toasted.  They were calling junkyards and everyone they knew to see if there was an engine they could have for day two...and they were striking out everywhere.  If they could just find an engine, they could swap it out in what, two hours?  One?  I'm not sure what their record was, but they are good.

My very-obviously-stock civic was parked kinda between our paddock areas.  One of the guys (don't remember who) pointed to my car and goes, "Whose is this?"  Chuckling to myself, I smiled and said, "Mine."   He goes, "So, you know ... any chance we could borrow your engine?  We'll give it back after the race tomorrow."
...
At that moment, I knew that I just HAD to let our neighbors borrow my engine. After all, what's the worst that could happen?  My engine could explode and then I couldn't get to work or school?   Nah, that'd never happen.  I have really good "luck" with my car. They had my engine out in an hour, even though it was kinda scary to watch. ... and the race went on the next day.   They were eternally grateful, and did a great job of reconnecting everything the next night so I could get to work.  It was so stressful to watch my only car be taken apart, that I swore I'd never do it again!

...  Ok, so the above paragraph didn't happen.  The question was NOT asked seriously, and I laughed and replied, "Sorry, not my daily driver..."   But they DID end up finding another engine, or fixing the toasted one, and finished the race with no problems.  And everyone noted that we shouldn't tempt people by bringing the most popular engine in all of Lemons.  (I think my engine fits in all models of civics or something, but don't quote me on that.)


Randomly, I am reminded of those experiences, and I laugh.    Yes, I am sure I look like a crazy person.  I'm that crazy person, laughing to herself while standing at the bus stop, or walking somewhere throughout town.

Crazy, perhaps.  So glad to have been able to have such good, crazy times with some of my favorite people?   Absolutely.

Below, Lemons 2011.  Happy times!  Miss you all.  From what I heard, y'all placed pretty high in the standings this year... Good job!  Wish I could have been there, but I will return.  Just thinking about it makes me grin!

Roundhouse Kick Racing: we are ALL Chuck Norris

Before the "parade."   VW wheels, cheap paint, denim fabric, and lots of sharpie-penned Chuck Norris quotes

Music (of course) and... Football?

[... but not at the same time.]

Music

First, "mandatory" music anecdote:  I have learned that if you are playing in a large ensemble, and are worried about proximity to percussion ... then wearing an earplug in one ear, for the last 1/3 of a piece, for the first time during the performance...... just *might* not be the best idea.  I feel like it saved my hearing, but I felt majorly handicapped for the last 50 measures of the piece.  Next time, if I need an earplug, I'll practice with it too.  It turned out fine, I am told, but it was not an aural experience I would like to repeat.

That being said, Schwantner's "From a Dark Millennium" was REALLY fun.  I would be really happy if the opportunity ever came up again to play it again.  Something about playing in large ensembles is just so rewarding.  I think it's because when a group that large really "clicks," it REALLY clicks.  And it's really exciting when that happens.  I love being part of a team like that.

Speaking of teams...

College Football

This past weekend (Oct 6), I actually watched part of a football game -- I saw the Gamecocks pretty much destroy Georgia.  I think it was the first SC game I have seen any part of...  but you know what?  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I actually enjoy sports in general, but watching sports instead of participating is sometimes the difficult part,  because I miss the limited team sports I used to be involved in.  Anyway...

I've realized --again-- that I am a really dreadful football fan.   In fact, for the past 12 or so years, I have almost actively AVOIDED football.   I don't own a television, and I don't keep track of when the games are.   I generally practice or shop during the games, because I know it will be peaceful and uncrowded.  The one exception has always been the Iron Bowl.  As I was growing up, it was the ONE game that we watched as a family.

Maybe I should start there.  Growing up.  My family has never been huge football fans -- casual ones, yes; caring about the Iron Bowl, sure (because that's basically mandatory) ...  We didn't have cable growing up either, so I don't even remember if any of the games came on the four channels we did get.

I was raised an Auburn fan.  My grandfather went to Auburn, both my aunt and uncle went to Auburn, and both of my parents did too.  Recently, my youngest brother also attended there, and is now in the midst of his Masters' degree.  I grew up an Auburn Tiger.

I grew up crying War Eagle.

So, when I wanted to pursue Piano, but Auburn didn't have piano performance anymore ... to Alabama I went.  Of course it was much more complicated than that, with plenty of happenings in-between, but that was the result.  My family occasionally teased me after I had made my decision that the only reason they "let" me go to Alabama was because they didn't offer my degree at Auburn.  (Of course they weren't serious, but it was years before I realized just how fortunate I was to have a family that is pretty chill about football in general.)

My time at Alabama is full of fond memories and wonderful friends, many of whom went to most of the games -- but during my six years of living in Alabama, I went to exactly one football game.  In fact, it remains to this day the only (college) football game I have attended, as I didn't ever make it to a Gamecock game during the time I lived there, either.  (I did, however, go to a baseball game.)

I actively avoided football.  Barely acknowledged its existence ... essentially decided there was too much I wanted to do in  my life to sit down for an afternoon and watch sports.  My excuses included something to the effect of:  "Work/school is more important." or,  "Learning about football would take too much effort and time that I don't have."         So, like politics, I avoided the issue.  Perhaps because I knew that I would never love it as much as so many of my fellow classmates ...  I didn't understand the hype...why a sports game was so important, so I just didn't even try.  Being completely out of the loop seemed like a better alternative than being a bad fan.  I still remember falling asleep during the 2005 Iron Bowl, even.  (I suppose that would technically be called a "low point.")

Lately, though... I realized it's actually something a little bit different.   Even though I haven't been an active football fan, I do still have very healthy "school pride."  I'm happy when "my teams" do well, even when I don't watch the games.  It's not that I don't care ... so why then, did I avoid watching any football for so long?

I think it has more to do with a couple things.  First, feeling like caring about football was "mandatory" -- because most people had such strong feelings about football, and I ... didn't.   I didn't like being told what to do, or how -- or what, to think, no matter who was doing the telling, society or individuals. (I've always been like that. Those of you who know me well have seen that many times.)  Second, my family ties to Auburn.  I suppose I wasn't sure how things would go if I became a huge Alabama fan, so I chose not to enter the potential conflict zone. (ha! excuses!)  Lastly, I didn't want to be a "bad" fan, so I chose "no" fan.

Then this year, I started hearing more about how good Alabama is this year, and realized I was secretly Very excited.  (I guess the secret is out now!)  Last week, watching South Carolina play made me realize that I may not be the most vocal fan, but I am still a fan.  I'm proud of both of my alumni schools, and will be rooting for both of them this year.  And no, I don't think that makes me any less of a fan, that I can root for two schools at once.  I will admittedly never be as big a fan as some, but I have learned to accept that.  Watching USC and cheering them on with my friends reminded me how fun it is to have an excuse to get together.  Of course, it really helps that a few of my friends don't mind explaining "what just happened?" since I still don't always get it.

Anyway, all that to say:

ROLL TIDE!!

GO COCKS!!

WAR EAGLE.




...Just, not at the same time.

Oh, essays...

Currently writing a few essays for a random scholarship I found.  It's interesting what you come up with when you're asked to talk about your "goals in life" for something like a scholarship program.  My plan has always to be as flexible and marketable as possible, and just see where life takes me, but you can't just say that in an essay if you want them to consider you.  So, I've been actually taking some of the "wishful thinking" ideas and putting them into "concrete plans" instead.   Anyone who says that scholarship essays aren't helpful hasn't tried this!

Even if I don't get the scholarship (statistically I'm sure I don't have a very good chance), this was a good exercise in putting some thoughts down.  Later, I may share the interesting parts with you all.

Happy Monday!

Upcoming Music

I think I said this in a previous post, but:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Dr. Robert Spring teaching here at ASU.

To celebrate, one of the cool things going on here is this weekend of clarinet amazingness (my word), where many of his students have returned for guest recitals and guest masterclasses, held throughout the weekend.  The end of the weekend's festivities is marked by Dr. Spring giving a recital today at 2:30 pm (with many, many guests!).  I must admit, I'm excited to hear some awesome music this afternoon, to start of the week of concerts!  (I personally am involved with three concerts this week - and yes, I'm also excited about those!)

Press release from ASU:
ASU School of Music alumni return for Robert Spring's 25th anniversary concert celebration


This week's festivities:
Robert Spring's recital today at 2:30
Barrett Choir concert tonight at 7:30
ACME concert Tuesday at 7:30
Wind ensemble concert Thursday at 7:30

And last this upcoming week, but the one I'm most excited about:
Thomas Nixon's final DMA recital, Friday at 7:30

Why is it awesome?  Because Thomas is awesome!

Here's the program:
Theme:  all original piano reductions or orchestral works by the composers themselves.

Leoncavallo: Stridono lassu from I Pagliacci
Beethoven:  String Trio in D major, Op 36 (Symphony no. 2)
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Ravel: La Valse


I'm so fortunate to have such wonderful colleagues and friends!

Music for the End of Time

Well, it's official!  The first concert of my new home is officially done.

I can now say that I have 1) played on a stage full of fog, and 2) played on a stage while "surprise" bagpipers walked in from the sidelines.  It was awesome.  The piece, written by Michael Schelle, was called "The End of the World," and it also happened to include pre-recorded thunderclaps.  The fog was the most interesting, though.  We only rehearsed with one fog machine, not two, so we had no idea what the end result would be.  My roommate, Qiudi, told me later that the director said something like, "I knew it was all over when I couldn't see Aimee anymore."  We were all just playing our parts in our small bubble of fog.  I remember at one point losing count of the measure number (the ending ~50 measures repeated the same 2-measure pattern until the end).  At that point I thought, "Ok, I'll just keep playing until I can see Prof. Hill again, and hope that the rest of the ensemble has the same idea."  Thankfully, we did -- great minds think alike -- and the overall effect seemed to work pretty well.   I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the ensemble performances.  It was SO much fun, and I hope I can keep this assignment during my entire stay here at ASU.


The back story...

For my scholarship, I play piano (and sometimes celeste) for the large ensembles here.  That means any orchestra or wind ensemble (or larger chamber ensemble) piece that needs piano, I'm their gal.  It has been an awesome experience, to go from playing under zero conductors for the last few years to playing for six different ones -- it really helped me get well-adjusted again.   Not well adjusted to following conductors -- that part was easy -- but adjusted to counting rests again without cues.  (Also, it should be noted, there are not six conductors for the large ensembles -- this number includes other ASU activities also.)

I must admit, at first I was worried about the transition to playing in large ensembles again.  The last time I played in an orchestra was 2005...in the second violin section...in the very, very back.  Second violin is very different from piano in orchestra -- mostly because you have 7-11 other team-mates to help you out.  So, if you miscount, there are people to help you, including the section leader.  And, well, you have teammates helping you!  Playing piano is a little more terrifying in large ensembles.  Thankfully, it was only terrifying on the first few days -- after I got used to counting 25+ measures of rest without having the other music in my part, it was back to being awesome.  Kinda makes me wish that wind ensemble/orchestra gigs became vacant more often, instead of once every 25+ years.

Anyway...
The orchestra and wind ensemble were very strong -- everyone had worked really hard for this concert, so it was exciting to hear it all.  I only played on two pieces (plus the Messiaen).  They were spread throughout the concert.  Because of this, I didn't get to see the concert from the audience, but I did get to hear from backstage.  It was so interesting, playing on such a large stage again -- it's been awhile.

My favorite aspect about playing with large ensembles is the fact that we are such a large group of people, a team, but can also be one single unit.  When things work well together, they REALLY work well.  I love the sheer energy you can feel on stage with that many people -- it's a different kind of performing somehow.  You can't always trust your ears 100%, because if you do, you will be behind.  Instead, it's a cross between what you hear and what you see.  That takes a bit of getting used to.  As a pianist, I can't "sneak" in like I used to be able to on second violin, ha!

Now that I'm adjusted to large ensembles again, I can't wait for the rest of the music for this semester:

Schwantner's From a Dark Millennium
Missy Mazzoli's Still Life with Avalanche
Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije
Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite
Ravel's Mother Goose Suite

...I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting, but that is all I can remember at the moment. Have a happy Tuesday!

More random cooking adventures

Since school began a little less than a month ago, I have gotten into the habit of cooking on weekends so I can have food for the week without thinking too much about it. 

So far I have been sticking to simple things, but hope to soon branch out.  Last week, I made a pasta dish:  Rotini with a creamy tomato sauce (and Roma tomatoes!), with sausage and grated cheeses.  Yum, cheese.  Oh, and onions, of course -- the staple of EVERY dish I make, apparently.   It was a huge experiment that turned into a decent success.  Seriously, I just started throwing stuff in a pot and stirring it, and just kinda made it up as I went along. 

Today, I had a recipe I wanted to try.  I read the ingredients, then started my own. I didnt' look back at the recipe once! ... Oops.  Just made it up.  I didn't quite get the proportions right, but here's a general overview of what I did.  

Sautee in pan: onions, bell peppers (yellow and green), carrots (sliced thinly), and Mexican grey squash (in thin small pieces).  Added spinach.  In a separate pan I browned turkey hot dogs (because they were cheaper than turkey sausage), also in tiny pieces. Then, added cheese and stirred it all together.  I guess it's kinda like a Southern stir-fry.  

If I did it again, I would probably add many more carrots and squash -- the onion to squash/carrot ratio is a little lopsided.  I also need to figure out the smaller end of how much butter or oil to saute things  in.  I just kinda guess and always put too much in the pot, haha.

It's interesting, though, because it's amazing just how far I've come in the cooking department.  A few years ago I would have never tried anything like this, despite the fact that this is very simple.   I have learned recently, though, that I very much like dishes like this -- ones where the meat and veggies are actually together.  Otherwise, I find myself just eating veggies, or just eating chicken -- not both.  

The best part about cooking for a few hours every weekend?  I feel refreshed for the upcoming week, and am much more highly likely to actually eat the leftovers throughout the week.   The other best part is that aside from things like sushi, I feel like anything I cook is probably going to be healthier, cheaper, and tastier than store-bought food.  Side benefit: because of this fun cooking "hobby," I haven't been out to eat since early August, right after I moved here.  I haven't even gone to Subway or Chipotle, which is pretty impressive since they are both directly across from the School of Music.

This coming weekend will hopefully be more stir-fried rice with chicken and LOTS of veggies.  More Mexican grey squash (I haven't figured out how it's different from zucchini squash aside from being lighter in color), lots more carrots, perhaps more peas or some beans...and of course, more onions.

Soon, I will write stories of playing fun music with wind ensemble and orchestra, along with fog machines, pre-recorded thunder, and bagpipers.  It was definitely a good way to spend this past Friday evening, so I will try to update about that evening sometime this week.