unplanned adventures, and such
Here's the interview questions given to me by hadara probably about a week ago, I finally got done with it lol Awesome questions, btw :)
1) When did you decide you wanted to pursue music as your life's endeavor?
In middle school probably. Up to that point, I wanted to be a professional soccer player lol In 8th grade I quit playing soccer and started focusing all my energy into music; started lessons, went to camps, started playing in orchestras outside of school.
2) Imagine you are stuck on a desert island. All you have is your cello and five scores. What pieces are they?
Well, the obvious one is the Dvorak concerto; I think a friend once called it my soul piece :) Then Beethoven’s 9th, the Nutcracker, Carmen, and Shostakovich’s quartet no. 8.
3) How much has your sexual identity determined your choices in life?
Very little actually. My first, and most important, love is music; and right now, that means travelling the world to find fulfillment in my life. I used to want a family and a nice house up in the Rockies, but now all I really want is a travel companion who shares my love for music and the world.
4) Imagine you can sit down with three composers, living or dead, and have lunch at your favorite place. Who do you choose to sit down with and what do you ask them?
The first two are really easy: Beethoven and Bartok. I don’t think I’d actually be able to speak in Beethoven’s presence, I’d probably just be staring blankly at him the whole time lol As for Bartok, I’d talk about ethnomusicology with him, ask him what drew him to that field of music. I can’t really think of who I’d choose for my third. There are several composers who’d fit there, but it’s tough to think of just one person.
5) As a composer, is there any specific dream performer you would want to have play your music - could be a specific artist or an orchestra or anything you can think of. Or do you have a different sort of compositional goal - an award, a fellowship, just being able to make a living creating music, just the artistic satisfaction and joy it brings you.
I haven’t given that much thought, being a composer for such a short time. All I know is that I would give the world to have Marin Alsop conduct one of my pieces. I absolutely adore and worship that woman! I suppose I would love to have Nina Kotova and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra play the cello piece that I may one day finish. I love her style and her passion; she brings such a harsh beauty to everything she plays, but I guess that’s what you get from a Russian musician.
INSTRUCTIONS:
01. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
02. I respond by asking you five questions of a very intimate and creepily personal nature. Or not so creepy/personal.
03. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
04. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
05. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Crazy weekend...
Saturday:
We decided to celebrate Mother's Day a day early, so on Saturday we went out to a wonderful brunch with our Korean tutor. I haven't had a breakfast that good since March! By the time we'd finished eating, it started to rain, but we had a full day of walking around Seoul ahead of us, so we trudged onward. We were planning on spending the day with YounHee (our tutor), but she was wearing very uncomfortable heels, so she ended up going home. We did, however, run into one of my mom's friends from work, so we ended up dragging him along with us.
Our big task of the day was finding a cello. There's a large building in Seoul that is filled entirely with musical instruments! Of course, most of them were guitars and pianos, but I was still in heaven! We also found a traditional Korean instrument store nearby, but it wasn't open. I'm going to try to find it again sometime during the week, cuz I'm very interested in getting a traditional two string fiddle (best of all, it would fit very nicely in my suit case!). So I found a decent practice cello; it was around $300, full package, very good deal. It's not the best sound in the world (it's very tinny, but I think that's due to the strings), but it is a full sound, and it's easy to play; basically exactly what I needed to keep over here!
After getting the cello, we decided to do some bar hopping. We went to an Irish pub first. I'll have to go back there again; it's where a women's rugby team hangs out... and they were trying on grass hula skirts while we were there ;) Then we went to Pacho's (a Mexican bar), where we met an English teacher from New Orleans. He was telling me about how teaching for a year or two in Korea after you finish undergrad is a really easy way to pay off school loans. So now the plan is for me to come back to Korea for a couple of years after I graduate! And think of how awesome that would look if I end up going to grad school for ethnomusicology! Even if Korean music isn't going to be my specialty. Then we went to a quaint little pub with amazing grilled ham and cheese (and very good hot chocolate as well!), where I ended up giving my mom and her friend a brief lesson on the Celts :)
Walking around Seoul with a cello on my back attracted a lot of attention. One man on the subway kept hitting my arm and talking animatedly. All we could figure out was that his daughter plays the cello too. He (as well as many others throughout the day) took a picture of me hauling that thing through the subway station. Let me tell you, walking up five flights of stairs with a cello on your back is not an easy feat!
Sunday:
Yesterday was basically a lazy day, we just hung out around the house for most of the day. The journey happened at night when we went to pick my mom's friend up from the airport. This was my mom's first time driving to the airport, as she usually uses a driver from work or takes a taxi. So we used our friend's GPS system (which is in Korea, btw, they just told us which buttons to push). Now, you must realize that the airport is in the same city we live it, it's about 20 km away actually, there's just no direct route to get there, so it takes about 45 minutes. My mom doesn't drive very often, she usually takes the subway everywhere. And it was dark. The airport was supposedly programmed under number 5, but what we think happened is that my mom accidentally hit number 4. We were driving along and my mom kept mentioning that she didn't recognize the names of places. We'd taken a couple of wrong turns, but the GPS would find us ways to get back to where we were supposed to go. About an hour later, my mom finally calls up her friend, asking if she knows where the hell we are. The GPS said we had about 25 km away from our destination, but we think something's wrong. So we restart the GPS and push number 5 again. The distance to our destination changes to 85 km away. We were in Suwon. Which is WAY south of where we needed to be. We drove through some very beautiful mountains though; or at least, we assume they're beautiful when you see them in daylight. Thankfully though, the woman we were supposed to pick up was very late and didn't get through customs and such until just before we ended up getting to the airport, so everything was good. Though on the return trip, the damn GPS tried to take us to MacArthur's Park instead of getting us home like it was supposed to; we ended up going through many a dark alley. One thing can be said about this... it was probably the most bonding Mother's Day ever!
1) When did you decide you wanted to pursue music as your life's endeavor?
In middle school probably. Up to that point, I wanted to be a professional soccer player lol In 8th grade I quit playing soccer and started focusing all my energy into music; started lessons, went to camps, started playing in orchestras outside of school.
2) Imagine you are stuck on a desert island. All you have is your cello and five scores. What pieces are they?
Well, the obvious one is the Dvorak concerto; I think a friend once called it my soul piece :) Then Beethoven’s 9th, the Nutcracker, Carmen, and Shostakovich’s quartet no. 8.
3) How much has your sexual identity determined your choices in life?
Very little actually. My first, and most important, love is music; and right now, that means travelling the world to find fulfillment in my life. I used to want a family and a nice house up in the Rockies, but now all I really want is a travel companion who shares my love for music and the world.
4) Imagine you can sit down with three composers, living or dead, and have lunch at your favorite place. Who do you choose to sit down with and what do you ask them?
The first two are really easy: Beethoven and Bartok. I don’t think I’d actually be able to speak in Beethoven’s presence, I’d probably just be staring blankly at him the whole time lol As for Bartok, I’d talk about ethnomusicology with him, ask him what drew him to that field of music. I can’t really think of who I’d choose for my third. There are several composers who’d fit there, but it’s tough to think of just one person.
5) As a composer, is there any specific dream performer you would want to have play your music - could be a specific artist or an orchestra or anything you can think of. Or do you have a different sort of compositional goal - an award, a fellowship, just being able to make a living creating music, just the artistic satisfaction and joy it brings you.
I haven’t given that much thought, being a composer for such a short time. All I know is that I would give the world to have Marin Alsop conduct one of my pieces. I absolutely adore and worship that woman! I suppose I would love to have Nina Kotova and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra play the cello piece that I may one day finish. I love her style and her passion; she brings such a harsh beauty to everything she plays, but I guess that’s what you get from a Russian musician.
INSTRUCTIONS:
01. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
02. I respond by asking you five questions of a very intimate and creepily personal nature. Or not so creepy/personal.
03. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
04. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
05. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Crazy weekend...
Saturday:
We decided to celebrate Mother's Day a day early, so on Saturday we went out to a wonderful brunch with our Korean tutor. I haven't had a breakfast that good since March! By the time we'd finished eating, it started to rain, but we had a full day of walking around Seoul ahead of us, so we trudged onward. We were planning on spending the day with YounHee (our tutor), but she was wearing very uncomfortable heels, so she ended up going home. We did, however, run into one of my mom's friends from work, so we ended up dragging him along with us.
Our big task of the day was finding a cello. There's a large building in Seoul that is filled entirely with musical instruments! Of course, most of them were guitars and pianos, but I was still in heaven! We also found a traditional Korean instrument store nearby, but it wasn't open. I'm going to try to find it again sometime during the week, cuz I'm very interested in getting a traditional two string fiddle (best of all, it would fit very nicely in my suit case!). So I found a decent practice cello; it was around $300, full package, very good deal. It's not the best sound in the world (it's very tinny, but I think that's due to the strings), but it is a full sound, and it's easy to play; basically exactly what I needed to keep over here!
After getting the cello, we decided to do some bar hopping. We went to an Irish pub first. I'll have to go back there again; it's where a women's rugby team hangs out... and they were trying on grass hula skirts while we were there ;) Then we went to Pacho's (a Mexican bar), where we met an English teacher from New Orleans. He was telling me about how teaching for a year or two in Korea after you finish undergrad is a really easy way to pay off school loans. So now the plan is for me to come back to Korea for a couple of years after I graduate! And think of how awesome that would look if I end up going to grad school for ethnomusicology! Even if Korean music isn't going to be my specialty. Then we went to a quaint little pub with amazing grilled ham and cheese (and very good hot chocolate as well!), where I ended up giving my mom and her friend a brief lesson on the Celts :)
Walking around Seoul with a cello on my back attracted a lot of attention. One man on the subway kept hitting my arm and talking animatedly. All we could figure out was that his daughter plays the cello too. He (as well as many others throughout the day) took a picture of me hauling that thing through the subway station. Let me tell you, walking up five flights of stairs with a cello on your back is not an easy feat!
Sunday:
Yesterday was basically a lazy day, we just hung out around the house for most of the day. The journey happened at night when we went to pick my mom's friend up from the airport. This was my mom's first time driving to the airport, as she usually uses a driver from work or takes a taxi. So we used our friend's GPS system (which is in Korea, btw, they just told us which buttons to push). Now, you must realize that the airport is in the same city we live it, it's about 20 km away actually, there's just no direct route to get there, so it takes about 45 minutes. My mom doesn't drive very often, she usually takes the subway everywhere. And it was dark. The airport was supposedly programmed under number 5, but what we think happened is that my mom accidentally hit number 4. We were driving along and my mom kept mentioning that she didn't recognize the names of places. We'd taken a couple of wrong turns, but the GPS would find us ways to get back to where we were supposed to go. About an hour later, my mom finally calls up her friend, asking if she knows where the hell we are. The GPS said we had about 25 km away from our destination, but we think something's wrong. So we restart the GPS and push number 5 again. The distance to our destination changes to 85 km away. We were in Suwon. Which is WAY south of where we needed to be. We drove through some very beautiful mountains though; or at least, we assume they're beautiful when you see them in daylight. Thankfully though, the woman we were supposed to pick up was very late and didn't get through customs and such until just before we ended up getting to the airport, so everything was good. Though on the return trip, the damn GPS tried to take us to MacArthur's Park instead of getting us home like it was supposed to; we ended up going through many a dark alley. One thing can be said about this... it was probably the most bonding Mother's Day ever!