The Downhill Stretch

This coming week I have my last midterm of my last semester of my graduate program. It's a pretty heavy test! I've made 80 index cards and ran out, and had to buy more before I can even touch the listening portion of the exam.

Yesterday I judged all day for the NFMC festival in Nampa, and came home and tried to practice when I totally "hit the wall." I've been practicing about 3 hours a day for the last two years, and I thought I would DIE after about 40 minutes of playing. I got through the whole program, but it wasn't pretty! Try to make ART out of notes when you feel that way. YUCK. So I finished (against my will, or according to my will, what have you) and went to the Game Keeper with Scott to hear Sandon Mayhew (saxophone) and the New Trio Plus which includes Rob Walker on cornet. Usually Chuck Smith plays piano for them, but for some reason Andrew Cortens was on the keys last night. He did a pretty good job. They played one number that was especially good. I don't know the names of any of the music they play; it's all bop and I'm not really familiar with the tunes. But Rob gave an amazing solo, and then Andrew took a solo which copied most of what Rob did almost exactly. It was pretty cool. I also loved it when Rob and Sandon were playing in unison or in parallel motion. The energy was really high and the playing was tight and FUN. I almost gave them a standing ovation, but I don't think it's quite customary in a lounge setting. They also did one Gershwin number which Andrew sang, which I can't remember the title of, but it struck me as pretty unusual to hear a song that is nearing 100 years old played by a bop band, even though Gershwin tunes are all pretty standard with jazz players.

It's been a pretty awesome couple of months, even though I haven't written very much on the blog. I got to go hear Juli Draney play with the ballet, a Brahms set and a Gershwin set. Her playing inspires me. Her practice ethic of late inspires me. I got to hear Lorca Hart's trio live last week. They were awesome. I loved Lorca's manner. I want to play jazz more than ever when I hear these greats. Scott and I heard a fabulous trio at the Blue Door Cafe last week; I never got their names, but the level of playing was impressive! We had a pretty great time at piano club last month; Reed played some original pieces that were some of his best yet. Andrew Armstrong came to Idaho and played a solo recital, including 2 of the pieces that will be on my graduate recital. We had a roaring party here at the house afterward, and he and Juli and I stayed up till 3:30am discussing the virtues of Chopin and Stevie Wonder. Truly one of the most inspirational nights of my life. Juli and I did a play-through for each other of our upcoming concert pieces, and I think it was truly some of the best playing either of us has ever done. It was a high point for me, performance-wise. I'm really enjoying my American Music History course with Dr. Belfy. America's Musical Life by Richard Crawford is inspiring me with all kinds of ideas for what to do after I graduate. And, I buried my grandma, which was very, very sad, but also brought me close to many of my family members, and has brought back a flood of happy and unexpected memories.

I sent out 250 postcard invitations to my recital! I'm getting pretty nervous about it now. What if people actually come? What if no one comes? LOL, I'm pretty worried, either way! My bachelors recital was for about 40 people. This hall holds about 200, and I think it'll be pretty full. I'm excited and terrified. I'm going to try taking a beta-blocker and see if it helps me keep my composure a little better. I'll let you know how it goes.

I've had a wonderful time learning as I've worked toward this degree. I think I've accomplished already what I set out to do. Let's see if I can articulate what those things are: 1. Become a better pianist. 2. Learn more music. 3. Enlarge my network. 4. Learn more ABOUT music, for a springboard to more and significant music projects. 5. Obtain the Master's diploma that I have been coveting! 6. Enlarge my knowledge of existing repertoire. Even though I haven't graduated YET, (10 weeks to go!) I think I have accomplished most of those aims. I think this experience has set me up to be a better musician, and to be able to do some writing and to put together entertaining and artistic concert programs and recordings. I've got my eye on a bright future!

Progress

It seems like it must be time for another post. Last week I passed my Music History Predictive! Mostly. There were three big sections, with three subsections each. If you fail one of the big sections, you have to re-take the corresponding undergraduate music history course. Worst case scenario, re-take three semesters of undergraduate music history. I studied really hard for the renaissance section, and hoped some of my life experience would come through for me and I'd pass portions of the others, which I did. I passed 7 out of 9 sections altogether. I'm going to have to re-take one portion of the classical section and one portion of the 20th century section. I think if both of the sections I failed were in the same era, I'd probably have had to re-take one of the classes. This is a very good thing, because if you haven't passed the history requirement, you aren't allowed to register for your graduate recital, so it would conceivably have extended my program by a $emester. I'm very pleased with myself for doing so well!

Now, I'm getting ready for the concerto/aria competition. Last semester I learned the Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 4 in G Minor. The competition is a month away. I have it mostly memorized, but still have a ways to go. Listen to how cool my teacher is: He's going to play through my concerto with me every day next week. Normally we meet twice a week. Next week, we'll meet five times. I'm so grateful! He said, "You just need a jump start." Talk about incentive to practice. I'm going to have to make noticeable progress every day next week. Yowza. Think how great I'll be a week from today! Don't you just love Rachmaninoff?

Back to the Grind

Well, my friends, Christmas is over (sort of). I'm back to work on my studying for my music history predictive exam, which will be on January the 14th (I think). It's a great big test. I counted 280 items that I have to explain and date and name the nationality for (composers, forms, terms, publications, compositions). It's kind of like getting ready to pass the bar. I've just been studying for about 90 minutes, and I got 10 flashcards prepared. I haven't really STUDIED concepts, just gathered some information so I can study it eventually. I have about 85/280 flashcards now. It's slow going. I took about 3 days off for Christmas, but I have to get back to work now!

Scott and I watched "Julie and Julia" again last night. I was inspired. Julia Child inspires me to just keep on working toward my goal of being the best that I can be. I loved Julie's story, as well, reaching out toward people who might have a common interest by way of her little blog. Is anyone out there? I wonder if anyone reads this.

Kevin is home for another week, and everyone (but me) goes back to school in a week. It's kind of a tricky thing to balance my time over the break, because everyone is home on vacation, but this really can't be a vacation for me. I need to keep working toward passing this exam, and I should be practicing, as well. I've been working on learning Granados' "El Pelele." Do you know it? Youtube it. It's a very happy and DIFFICULT piece. I'm working hard, and making a tiny bit of progress at a time - just like Julie and Julia.