Competition
Wow, the competition was awesome! I had such a great time; practicing cello 'till my arm fell off (not literally), freaking out over copying off 3 different copies of my solo music, being hounded by judges on who was in what ensemble and where they were at the moment. I was in two ensembles ("Fireworks" and "Latin Doll"), and a solo ("La Cinquantaine"). The judge for both my ensembles was Mr. Chang - a hilarious Chinese guy who says "Vibrato" in an English accent... His wife, Mrs. Chang - an incredibly sweet viola player - was my solo judge.
The "Fireworks" ensemble did okay. The violin player sitting beside me was playing the viola part, which I was supposed to follow, but she was so quiet it was hard to hear her. I managed, though, and we scored a "1" (On a scale of 1-5, 1 being "Superior," the highest you can get.). "Latin Doll" was a jazzy piece between me, two violins, and a viola. I was the only girl in the group, but it was really fun. We wore dark shades as a sort of 'costume' for the piece. While we were waiting outside the door, Mrs. Chang came out and gave us a funny look, saying, "I would hate to run into you guys in a dark alley." It was hilarious!
I did pretty well on my solo, considering my cello teacher pretty much told me that if I went in there with music, he would be ashamed to claim me as his student. Yes, that's right: I had to memorize an entire 2-page piece, and play it perfectly and with emotion, all for the benefit of my cello teacher's ego. It was okay, though. He's a great teacher, and it was actually easier to feel the emotion in the piece without staring at the notes. I didn't play it perfectly: I messed up during one of the last phrases, and was sort of winging it for a measure or two, but I didn't let it show, and I still got a "1" on the piece, and plenty of compliments from Mrs. Chang.
Afterwards, my dad met up with me and my mom, and we went out to a nice restaurant to eat lunch together. The funny part was that my friend - who had been at the competition and who I had seen only fifteen minutes before - had went to the same restaurant, and our tables were right across from each other! It was pretty fun, yelling across the noise in the room to talk to each other about the competition, and what the judges had said we could improve on.
Next time you're in a crowded restaurant, and you see a friend sitting near to you, try shouting out random musical terms and see the weird looks people shoot you. It's really quite funny.
Well, that was my Saturday adventure, and now that my busy weekend is finally winding down, I should probably get to work on chapter 23 of "Midnight Tears"... So I'll let you guys go!
Much Love,
~Kodu
The "Fireworks" ensemble did okay. The violin player sitting beside me was playing the viola part, which I was supposed to follow, but she was so quiet it was hard to hear her. I managed, though, and we scored a "1" (On a scale of 1-5, 1 being "Superior," the highest you can get.). "Latin Doll" was a jazzy piece between me, two violins, and a viola. I was the only girl in the group, but it was really fun. We wore dark shades as a sort of 'costume' for the piece. While we were waiting outside the door, Mrs. Chang came out and gave us a funny look, saying, "I would hate to run into you guys in a dark alley." It was hilarious!
I did pretty well on my solo, considering my cello teacher pretty much told me that if I went in there with music, he would be ashamed to claim me as his student. Yes, that's right: I had to memorize an entire 2-page piece, and play it perfectly and with emotion, all for the benefit of my cello teacher's ego. It was okay, though. He's a great teacher, and it was actually easier to feel the emotion in the piece without staring at the notes. I didn't play it perfectly: I messed up during one of the last phrases, and was sort of winging it for a measure or two, but I didn't let it show, and I still got a "1" on the piece, and plenty of compliments from Mrs. Chang.
Afterwards, my dad met up with me and my mom, and we went out to a nice restaurant to eat lunch together. The funny part was that my friend - who had been at the competition and who I had seen only fifteen minutes before - had went to the same restaurant, and our tables were right across from each other! It was pretty fun, yelling across the noise in the room to talk to each other about the competition, and what the judges had said we could improve on.
Next time you're in a crowded restaurant, and you see a friend sitting near to you, try shouting out random musical terms and see the weird looks people shoot you. It's really quite funny.
Well, that was my Saturday adventure, and now that my busy weekend is finally winding down, I should probably get to work on chapter 23 of "Midnight Tears"... So I'll let you guys go!
Much Love,
~Kodu