I guess I'm a real pianist.... yay!
Last weekend, I was the accompanist at a flute recital in Palo Alto. I only played two songs, and one of them was a super-easy arrangement of Dvorak's New World theme (Symphony #9) (and incidentally, I'm kind of interested in hearing some of Dvorak's symphonic poems). The other, however, was the second movement of Mozart's violin sonata K. 377 (theme and variations), arranged for flute instead of violin. This required a lot of practice on my part, and I still never got the thirty-second notes up to speed. Still, the performance was a lot of fun and went very well, and after getting a generous check for my time (well, it was generous from my POV, in any case), I guess I can now say that I am a professional accompanist. Of course, I accompany all the time, mainly singers, but there's a difference between being a teacher/musical director/accompanist and being solely sought out for pianistic skill. Here is a video of Kyung Wha Chung and Itamar Golan performing the movement, in its original incarnation for violin:
Right now, I am working on Scott Joplin's "Solace", which is a pretty awesome piano piece. I'm not crazy about the pedal markings in the piece, but other than that, it's just the most fun to play. I'm mainly just working on building up speed at this point.
Yesterday was my last "regular" teaching day. I'll be teaching lessons only two days a week through the end of July, and will hopefully have a mellow time of it, although next week is already looking pretty busy, both in terms of teaching time and in terms of other random things I am supposed to accomplish. Have also been attempting more exercise, although the heat has been my enemy this week.
And, lastly, but not leastly, I finally (FINALLY) finished the first one thousand words of the rough draft of The Novel. I think those were possibly the hardest one thousand words I have ever forced myself to write (with the possible exception of a 500-word essay on the Scarlet Letter wherein I learned the mysteries of the definition of the "thesis statement"). I have been the most distracted, procrastinating person the past few months, and on top of that, I've uncovered all sorts of writer-ly anxieties that have clamored to be dealt with. You'd think that after writing a musical, a novel wouldn't seem all that much different or any more daunting, but unfortunately, the idea of A Novel has had many more years to ferment in my mind. Ah, the fermentation.
Well, my goal for the summer (the six weeks of it that I have, anyway) is to focus more effectively on this project and whittle away at it at a more steady and regular rate. I will be reporting my progress (or lack thereof) in an effort to hold myself at least slightly accountable. Ah, how my brain quakes at that last statement! We'll see if I can hold my own and accomplish teaching, wedding planning, traveling, AND writing this summer. At least I'll be shooting high!
Oh, and I also have tickets to six shows in the next two months. Don't know how THAT happened. :)
Click to viewRight now, I am working on Scott Joplin's "Solace", which is a pretty awesome piano piece. I'm not crazy about the pedal markings in the piece, but other than that, it's just the most fun to play. I'm mainly just working on building up speed at this point.
Yesterday was my last "regular" teaching day. I'll be teaching lessons only two days a week through the end of July, and will hopefully have a mellow time of it, although next week is already looking pretty busy, both in terms of teaching time and in terms of other random things I am supposed to accomplish. Have also been attempting more exercise, although the heat has been my enemy this week.
And, lastly, but not leastly, I finally (FINALLY) finished the first one thousand words of the rough draft of The Novel. I think those were possibly the hardest one thousand words I have ever forced myself to write (with the possible exception of a 500-word essay on the Scarlet Letter wherein I learned the mysteries of the definition of the "thesis statement"). I have been the most distracted, procrastinating person the past few months, and on top of that, I've uncovered all sorts of writer-ly anxieties that have clamored to be dealt with. You'd think that after writing a musical, a novel wouldn't seem all that much different or any more daunting, but unfortunately, the idea of A Novel has had many more years to ferment in my mind. Ah, the fermentation.
Well, my goal for the summer (the six weeks of it that I have, anyway) is to focus more effectively on this project and whittle away at it at a more steady and regular rate. I will be reporting my progress (or lack thereof) in an effort to hold myself at least slightly accountable. Ah, how my brain quakes at that last statement! We'll see if I can hold my own and accomplish teaching, wedding planning, traveling, AND writing this summer. At least I'll be shooting high!
Oh, and I also have tickets to six shows in the next two months. Don't know how THAT happened. :)