A Visit to MMS
Today I went to MMS for a make-up lesson with my viola teacher. He didn't show, so I spent the hour wandering around and marveling at their vastly superior music program compared to the one at SBMS. I was amazed, a little bit disgusted, and a little bit resentful. They have quite a facility. 3 ensemble rooms, a huge orchestra hall, a large band hall and at least 6 practice rooms are housed in "building 3." It's no wonder why they've won honor orch every chance they get. SBMS has nowhere near the assets of this place =(.
After exploring this pseudo-conservatory, I discovered something of much much interest.
I found the symphonic orchestra composite photographs in an ensemble room.
I found Mr. Shiu on 1993-94's pic; I did not know he taught there before he came to MHS. Mr. Alexander, the current Stratford director, had also taught there back in the day. Hmm.
It was quite a journey as I glanced over all the composites. I found Esther Lim, AJ Day, Thomas Cho, K. Adiska, and even Julia Carpenter in the first few.
The next year I saw Shari Lim, Karen Wu, Stephen Wu, Sarah Isgur, and some other familiar faces. Then I came to the years when my class was in 7th and 8th grade.
Hah; this literally tickled me. I think most difference was in haircuts, which isn't surprising, but nevertheless it remains hilarious. Nick Skizim, Will Grubitz; those two particularly stuck out at me. Back then their cuts were much more orderly and conventional, also expected I guess, but.... Well, you have to be in my position. Grubitz drastically surprised me in his 7th grade picture. He looked quite different, at least to me. But in the 8th grade composite, he was displaying his classic stare off into space, just younger. Eh. Skizz was shorter.
Russell Alaniz, Laura Abrams, Jennifer Jiang; they didn't change much. Raman stopped taking care of his hair in the 8th grade; Sarah wore glasses back then. Albert Fu and Chris Elliot (I find it much hard to see him in Orch) played violin and cello, respectively. Peter Dorn was quite a chubby fellow. AK Evensen, the person Saathoff tells me he mistakenly called 'KK' sometimes, was there. Kendall just looked innocent in her photos, but I guess people loose that look. Mr. Planks was an assistant there for the 7th grade year. Matthew Lim wasn't quite so lean in 8th. Too many things to list. I won't even get into the years I saw with the current juniors/sophs/freshmen in them. Hah. I even visited the band hall and saw some of those crazy folks.
I met Mr. Lawrence, the private lesson cello teacher, there. I've talked to him before, and I expressed my awe at the grandeur of this place. Two hundred and eighty string players, he told me. That's almost 3x my _high_ school orch.
That place is crazy. wow.
After exploring this pseudo-conservatory, I discovered something of much much interest.
I found the symphonic orchestra composite photographs in an ensemble room.
I found Mr. Shiu on 1993-94's pic; I did not know he taught there before he came to MHS. Mr. Alexander, the current Stratford director, had also taught there back in the day. Hmm.
It was quite a journey as I glanced over all the composites. I found Esther Lim, AJ Day, Thomas Cho, K. Adiska, and even Julia Carpenter in the first few.
The next year I saw Shari Lim, Karen Wu, Stephen Wu, Sarah Isgur, and some other familiar faces. Then I came to the years when my class was in 7th and 8th grade.
Hah; this literally tickled me. I think most difference was in haircuts, which isn't surprising, but nevertheless it remains hilarious. Nick Skizim, Will Grubitz; those two particularly stuck out at me. Back then their cuts were much more orderly and conventional, also expected I guess, but.... Well, you have to be in my position. Grubitz drastically surprised me in his 7th grade picture. He looked quite different, at least to me. But in the 8th grade composite, he was displaying his classic stare off into space, just younger. Eh. Skizz was shorter.
Russell Alaniz, Laura Abrams, Jennifer Jiang; they didn't change much. Raman stopped taking care of his hair in the 8th grade; Sarah wore glasses back then. Albert Fu and Chris Elliot (I find it much hard to see him in Orch) played violin and cello, respectively. Peter Dorn was quite a chubby fellow. AK Evensen, the person Saathoff tells me he mistakenly called 'KK' sometimes, was there. Kendall just looked innocent in her photos, but I guess people loose that look. Mr. Planks was an assistant there for the 7th grade year. Matthew Lim wasn't quite so lean in 8th. Too many things to list. I won't even get into the years I saw with the current juniors/sophs/freshmen in them. Hah. I even visited the band hall and saw some of those crazy folks.
I met Mr. Lawrence, the private lesson cello teacher, there. I've talked to him before, and I expressed my awe at the grandeur of this place. Two hundred and eighty string players, he told me. That's almost 3x my _high_ school orch.
That place is crazy. wow.