CMI 2009
So, the CMI (Chamber Music Invitational) for 2009 has nearly completely come and gone. The performance is tomorrow night at 7:00, so if you happen to be in the Glen Rock area, you should come listen. I'm part of a quartet performing Beethoven's Op. 18 No. 4, first and last movements. Harmony and I switch off on the viola, she and Josh switch off for first violin, and James (oh James*) stays on his cello. We were supposed to have Spencer instead of Josh, but apparently Spencer's at basketball camp or something. Not that I'm complaining about being in a group with Josh - he's amazing. Actually, both Josh and James are amazing; if I recall correctly, both of them have performed at Carnegie Hall before. Also, they're both in both the morning and afternoon sessions of CMI, so they have to play for ~8 hours a day. Such troopers.
When I initially went to go find YouTube videos of the movements we had to play, the ones I listened to were crazy fast. As I accepted those as being perfectly suitable, I too practiced movements at breakneck tempos. When I actually got to the CMI, the tempo on Mrs. Wichert's recording was much slower (or at least it was for the first movement, anyway). For once in my life, I was actually able to play something faster than necessary! It was customary for our group to take not-so-secret 20-minute breaks after coming back from break, because nobody would be there to coach us, and we were all feeling lethargic. In one particularly memorable break, Lucy decided to give us all meat names. Harmony was dubbed "Turkey Pork Hamburger" (I don't think Lucy knows her meats as well as she thinks she does...), Josh became "Chicken McChicken Duck" (which later became "Duck Duck Goose"), and I was called "Steak Flounder Lamb". I don't remember James' full name, but I do remember that his first name was "Ham".
Today was the easiest day; Harmony and I got to futz around because Josh and James are also part of the Schubert quartet. When our group would practice, the other group would get a break, and vice versa. When we weren't practicing or recording, Harmony and I spent much of our time on a swing chair. I also went to listen to the Dvorak quartet, which was pretty fun. I just stood there creeping in the background for awhile, so everyone except for Nick P. could see me and occasionally glanced quizzically up at me. I particularly liked watching Nick W. play; he would pretty much bend over when he got really into his music, and all the while, he looked like he was ready to murder someone. Bonnie, on the other hand, looked positively serene, and even amused, while she was playing. At one point, they stopped to discuss certain aspects of their piece, and Nick W. was trying to encourage Bonnie, who thought she sounded bad at a certain part. He told her something along the lines of, "Bonnie, you sound great. You own those notes. You didn't borrow them; you bought them, they're yours, and now you're going to play them. In fact, you bought this entire song. You went on a shopping spree or something, I dunno." Mmm. Funny kid. :)
During lunch, I went and ate with Colin and Dan at a table that was 90% hidden behind some trees. There, we discussed our dislike of insects, and I discovered that along with being the only girl at the table, I was also the only one not planning on making a career out of music. That was fun. After lunch, we were all involved in an improv activity. We were told to get our instruments, and so Nick P. and I decided to fiddle around before the activity started and switch instruments. When it came time for the activity to start, we decided not to switch back, so I was playing Nick's cello and he was playing my violin (held like a cello). He sounded a lot better than I did. According to him, I hold/play the cello really awkwardly. But I'm not surprised, seeing as I have never played it before. But oh. Oh oh oh. That C-string is beautiful. We were eventually split into groups of 6 (Quinn was supposed to be in ours, but she peaced out) to come up with some group improv and given 15 minutes to practice it before coming back and performing for everyone else. Our group decided to make it real improv; we decided on the key of A minor and that Ellen would start. That was it. Oh, and at the end, following a short rest, we all played random-ass double-stops. It was nice. Let's not do that again.
To conclude the day, we all huddled in front of the TV to get appropriately embarrassed by ourselves on film. Due to time constraints, we weren't able to hear any of the songs completely, so we weren't subjected to things like my surprise notes and ignoring of repeats. :) At least I know more things to watch out for so I (hopefully) don't make those same mistakes tomorrow night...
*Completely irrelevant, but James has the most fantastically soothing voice. I said earlier today that it makes me think of clouds and fluffy animals. (Nick P. snickered at me for that.)
When I initially went to go find YouTube videos of the movements we had to play, the ones I listened to were crazy fast. As I accepted those as being perfectly suitable, I too practiced movements at breakneck tempos. When I actually got to the CMI, the tempo on Mrs. Wichert's recording was much slower (or at least it was for the first movement, anyway). For once in my life, I was actually able to play something faster than necessary! It was customary for our group to take not-so-secret 20-minute breaks after coming back from break, because nobody would be there to coach us, and we were all feeling lethargic. In one particularly memorable break, Lucy decided to give us all meat names. Harmony was dubbed "Turkey Pork Hamburger" (I don't think Lucy knows her meats as well as she thinks she does...), Josh became "Chicken McChicken Duck" (which later became "Duck Duck Goose"), and I was called "Steak Flounder Lamb". I don't remember James' full name, but I do remember that his first name was "Ham".
Today was the easiest day; Harmony and I got to futz around because Josh and James are also part of the Schubert quartet. When our group would practice, the other group would get a break, and vice versa. When we weren't practicing or recording, Harmony and I spent much of our time on a swing chair. I also went to listen to the Dvorak quartet, which was pretty fun. I just stood there creeping in the background for awhile, so everyone except for Nick P. could see me and occasionally glanced quizzically up at me. I particularly liked watching Nick W. play; he would pretty much bend over when he got really into his music, and all the while, he looked like he was ready to murder someone. Bonnie, on the other hand, looked positively serene, and even amused, while she was playing. At one point, they stopped to discuss certain aspects of their piece, and Nick W. was trying to encourage Bonnie, who thought she sounded bad at a certain part. He told her something along the lines of, "Bonnie, you sound great. You own those notes. You didn't borrow them; you bought them, they're yours, and now you're going to play them. In fact, you bought this entire song. You went on a shopping spree or something, I dunno." Mmm. Funny kid. :)
During lunch, I went and ate with Colin and Dan at a table that was 90% hidden behind some trees. There, we discussed our dislike of insects, and I discovered that along with being the only girl at the table, I was also the only one not planning on making a career out of music. That was fun. After lunch, we were all involved in an improv activity. We were told to get our instruments, and so Nick P. and I decided to fiddle around before the activity started and switch instruments. When it came time for the activity to start, we decided not to switch back, so I was playing Nick's cello and he was playing my violin (held like a cello). He sounded a lot better than I did. According to him, I hold/play the cello really awkwardly. But I'm not surprised, seeing as I have never played it before. But oh. Oh oh oh. That C-string is beautiful. We were eventually split into groups of 6 (Quinn was supposed to be in ours, but she peaced out) to come up with some group improv and given 15 minutes to practice it before coming back and performing for everyone else. Our group decided to make it real improv; we decided on the key of A minor and that Ellen would start. That was it. Oh, and at the end, following a short rest, we all played random-ass double-stops. It was nice. Let's not do that again.
To conclude the day, we all huddled in front of the TV to get appropriately embarrassed by ourselves on film. Due to time constraints, we weren't able to hear any of the songs completely, so we weren't subjected to things like my surprise notes and ignoring of repeats. :) At least I know more things to watch out for so I (hopefully) don't make those same mistakes tomorrow night...
*Completely irrelevant, but James has the most fantastically soothing voice. I said earlier today that it makes me think of clouds and fluffy animals. (Nick P. snickered at me for that.)