Chamber Music
If there is one thing, ONE THING, that I miss more than anything about college right now...
It's chamber music.
Granted, when I first started at WWU, I was all "whatevs" when it came to chamber music. I was in a clarinet choir in 8th grade and in 12th grade, and it was an alright experience. The challenge was getting everyone together to rehearse. It wasn't until I was semi-pressured into joining the saxophone studio my 2nd year at WWU that I started to really like chamber music. Sax octet was "okay," and I might have enjoyed it more if we were performing Beethoven's Octet (or rather, if we had just played it better...) I would have definitely had a more positive view on it. As the saxophone studio grew (bless my saxophone teacher for being suuuuch a great studio leader and teacher!) I was afforded the opportunity to be in the Upper Division Sax Quartet (aka The Power Ranger Quartet, 2nd out of 3 quartets) and it was super fun! My performance level definitely shot up a few notches from being involved in that first sax quartet. :) That year I also played a couple duets on clarinet and even though I was challenged by the rep (DAMN YOU, BAAAACH), I still had to step it up! :)
The best experience as a music major at WWU, I think, was being the bari saxophonist for the Western Sax Quartet last year (being in Wind Symphony is pretty close, though). We played some great lit, had a great time together, and kicked some ass in Canada. Even if we didn't win the Friends of Chamber Music competition, we were still way more cool than those other groups. Pfft! I never practiced so much, my chops became EPIIIIIC and so did my lung capacity (that combined with pep band, lol). I felt like I was a pretty decent bari player in the quartet. I don't know if anyone else felt that way, or if I even compare to other bari players, but starting out as a jazz bari saxophonist and evolving into a pretty good classical player made me feel AWESOME. God. Bari sax is the freaking love of my LIFE. PS- I'm not that sorry for my boyfriend, lol. ;)
I bring all this up because I'm currently lookin' at chamber music for clarinet.... a local teacher I know asked if I could find some clarinet music for her section, and I started looking at sax quartet stuff, lol. I want to be in a chamber group myself sooo bad! I hope someone will want to play with me... :( It would be great for me as a musician and woodwind player! Currently the only performance I'm doing is playing concert percussion for the WWE, and alto in the Motown cover band I'm in. I need more! Solos aren't any fun...
Btw, as an end note.... saxophone is the greatest instrument (family). Ever.
It's chamber music.
Granted, when I first started at WWU, I was all "whatevs" when it came to chamber music. I was in a clarinet choir in 8th grade and in 12th grade, and it was an alright experience. The challenge was getting everyone together to rehearse. It wasn't until I was semi-pressured into joining the saxophone studio my 2nd year at WWU that I started to really like chamber music. Sax octet was "okay," and I might have enjoyed it more if we were performing Beethoven's Octet (or rather, if we had just played it better...) I would have definitely had a more positive view on it. As the saxophone studio grew (bless my saxophone teacher for being suuuuch a great studio leader and teacher!) I was afforded the opportunity to be in the Upper Division Sax Quartet (aka The Power Ranger Quartet, 2nd out of 3 quartets) and it was super fun! My performance level definitely shot up a few notches from being involved in that first sax quartet. :) That year I also played a couple duets on clarinet and even though I was challenged by the rep (DAMN YOU, BAAAACH), I still had to step it up! :)
The best experience as a music major at WWU, I think, was being the bari saxophonist for the Western Sax Quartet last year (being in Wind Symphony is pretty close, though). We played some great lit, had a great time together, and kicked some ass in Canada. Even if we didn't win the Friends of Chamber Music competition, we were still way more cool than those other groups. Pfft! I never practiced so much, my chops became EPIIIIIC and so did my lung capacity (that combined with pep band, lol). I felt like I was a pretty decent bari player in the quartet. I don't know if anyone else felt that way, or if I even compare to other bari players, but starting out as a jazz bari saxophonist and evolving into a pretty good classical player made me feel AWESOME. God. Bari sax is the freaking love of my LIFE. PS- I'm not that sorry for my boyfriend, lol. ;)
I bring all this up because I'm currently lookin' at chamber music for clarinet.... a local teacher I know asked if I could find some clarinet music for her section, and I started looking at sax quartet stuff, lol. I want to be in a chamber group myself sooo bad! I hope someone will want to play with me... :( It would be great for me as a musician and woodwind player! Currently the only performance I'm doing is playing concert percussion for the WWE, and alto in the Motown cover band I'm in. I need more! Solos aren't any fun...
Btw, as an end note.... saxophone is the greatest instrument (family). Ever.