Home for the Holidays

Things I love about being home:

-Mom's cooking (of course this is first on the list)
-The music made by my family
-The games played and time spent with my family
-Not having to climb a ladder to get into bed
-Water pressure in the shower (credit for this goes to a facebook friend)
-Being able to drive my car!
-Free time
-Did I mention my Mom's cooking yet?
-Seeing all the people I have missed (and some that I haven't missed)

Things I miss about Wheaton:

-The people!  The beloved friends, the times at the lunch table and dinner table, the conversations, the late night movies, the walks to and from the conservatory (even in the cold), the ideas, the energy, the community, everything that makes Wheaton what it is.
-My room, roommate, and suitemates!
-Fischer in general...
-The Conservatory
-My cello (I love the one here, but nothing beats my darling Henry)
-My dear friends (or did I mention that already?)

Nothing beats family time!  I have the best of both worlds.

God Bless, and Merry Christmas week!

Travel

6:19 in the morning.  Campus is quiet, of course, most everyone has already gone home.  Finals are over, life is much more relaxed.  Goodbyes have been said, hugs have been given, and planes have been caught. My journey begins in eleven minutes.  Goodbye, most beloved Wheaton, until 2012.  How far away that seems!  I will miss you with all of my heart.

On a brighter note, I will be spending the next few weeks with my family!  I am looking forward to eating Mom's cooking, playing Monopoly with my youngest brother, singing Broadway tunes with the middle brother, and playing with my Dad in a wedding my first morning back.  Life is beautiful, and, while I will miss Wheaton, I am excited about family time.

So goodbye, darling Wheaton!  My family awaits.

Thoughts

I cannot believe that my first semester in college is almost over!  I have learned so much.  My playing has improved an amazing amount, I can write and harmonize counterpoint, sight sing and dictate melodies, write better papers, and do my own laundry.  I feel much more independent, yet I still rely on my family for support (and care packages!). I have made so many good friends, and my music is even more important to me now than it was before.  

My professors and peers have all been so supportive!  The environment for learning here is fantastic.  I feel so much more knowledgeable now about the things I have been studying.  I am ridiculously excited about next semester!  

My favorite thing this semester has definitely been Symphony Orchestra.  The conductor, the students, the music - all of it is remarkable.  It is the best part of my week.  I cannot wait for all the music we will be performing next semester, and our Spring Break Tour!

Spring Semester?  Bring it on.

Finals Week

Christmas Festival was a great success!  After rehearsing every day last week, we were quite ready for our three performances!  It was so much fun getting to perform in the Festival, and I loved hearing the Concert Choir, Men’s Glee Club, and Women’s Chorale.  All the ensembles came together to make a wonderful Christmas event for the community.

Now the fun is somewhat over.  Finals week is quickly approaching!  This means that the majority of campus is completely stressed out, no one is getting enough sleep, and the local coffee shops’ profits are skyrocketing. 

 This is just the regular part of the school.  The Conservatory students have juries on top of all this, so our stress levels are potentially even higher than those of our non-Conservie peers.  There are literally no practice rooms available - we can only practice during our scheduled times.  

Accompanists are running around from one rehearsal to the next - thank goodness I found my accompanist a long time ago!  We rehearse on Thursday.  I feel good about my pieces.  I will be performing the first movement of the Elgar Concerto, the first movement of the Barber Sonata, and potentially the first movement of Bach Suite in C Major.  I can play them through quite well in the practice room, I just have to make sure nerves do not get in the way of all my preparation.  There’s the rub. 

Hopefully, with lots of coffee, prayer, and support from friends, we will all make it through these next two weeks.  

Christmas Festival

Wheaton College’s Christmas Festival is this weekend!  This beautiful program of Christmas music is performed three times over the weekend, and is comprised of the Wheaton College Concert Choir, Men’s Glee Club, Women’s Chorale, and Symphony Orchestra.  The groups perform separately, but will also perform two pieces (two movements from one of those, so it feels like three pieces).  The “Aria” and “Gloria” from the Bach b minor Mass are on the “together” portion, as is “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” arranged by our own beloved conductor, Dr. Sommerville.  The orchestra is performing Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” as well.  It is a most excellent orchestra piece for Christmas.

  We have rehearsal every evening this week in preparation for the Christmas Festival!  This makes me extremely happy, as orchestra rehearsals are my favorite part of every week.  Working on the Shostakovich has been quite the pleasure.  There are several particularly great cello lines, and it is definitely getting us all in the Christmas spirit!  Dr. Sommerville’s piece is absolutely beautiful. It has been a joy to work with him on his own piece, and to watch it come together.  Today was our first rehearsal with the choral ensembles and the organ.  It was beautiful to hear all the parts!  This is going to be the best Christmas Festival Wheaton has seen so far!

Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am thinking of all the things for which I am thankful.  I have compiled a list.

• God
• Family
• The absolutely wonderful friends I have here at Wheaton
• Cello 
• Wheaton College
• Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra
• The fact that we are playing Shostakovich’s Festive Overture for Christmas in orchestra.
• The fact that I get to go home for Thanksgiving!
• The fact that I get to come back to my beloved Wheaton after Thanksgiving (can I go without these people for five whole days?)
• All the things I usually overlook, such as food, warm clothing, a place to sleep at night, feeling safe and loved
• Did I mention the wonderful friends yet?  They keep coming to mind.  It is such a beautiful thing to live in a community that understands and values me, and to get to play music with such talented and fantastic people every day!
• All the great things to come

I hope you like my list.  Compile your own list of blessings.  See what great things you can be thankful for this year!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Performance Week!

I am performing in technique class this Wednesday.  This means I will play a Popper etude, acceleration scale, major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor scales, and arpeggiation patterns for my peers (from memory).  Guess what I’m spending the majority of my practice time on this week? 

On a somewhat happier note, I get to perform the first movement of the Barber Sonata in studio class next Monday.  That will be most enjoyable.  It is such a beautiful, emotional piece.  I look forward to performing it.

On Thursday, the Freshman Cello Trio will be performing the Popper Requiem for Open Recital.  We have been working so hard on it!  It sounds beautiful, and we are chomping at the bit to perform it for an audience.  The three of us work extremely well together, so it should be a great success.

Saturday is the second Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra Concert.  We will be performing works by Puccini, De Falla, Mozart, and Dvorak (his seventh symphony).  The Dvorak is my favorite - so many wonderful cello lines!  

So this is performance week!  We’ll see how it goes.  I am quite excited.

The Price of Pizzicato

I love the solo repertoire that I am currently studying.  The Elgar Cello Concerto is one of the most beautiful and emotionally evocative pieces I have ever heard.  I am working on the second movement, which involves lots of plucked chords.  This is extremely fun, and very good thing for me to practice.  Unfortunately, however, this is not the only workout my right thumb is currently receiving.  I have also taken up Mark Summer’s “Julie-O” just for fun.  If any of you know this piece, you will understand my thumb’s dilemma.  “Julie-O” involves many quickly strummed chords.    My right thumb has actually been bleeding several days this week!  My solution?  A lovely band-aid, of course!  Not only does this protect my wounded appendage from the bacteria that might cause an infection, but it also serves as a fake callous!  Now I am able to practice pizzicato even more forcefully, with practically no pain.  Hopefully my thumb will develop a good, hard callous eventually, but a band-aid is definitely a good thing for now.

A Week at Wheaton with Joshua Roman

What a week this has been!  Last Monday esteemed cellist Joshua Roman arrived on campus.  The cellists were quick to spot him and introduce themselves, and we had dinner with him and his colleague, Zsolt Bognar, that evening.  He entertained us with stories of his college days, and gave us tips on things everything from good Espionage strategies to which kinds of cereal go best with peanut butter.  

It was delightful seeing him around campus all week, and he gave a fantastic performance of Mark Summer’s “Julie-O” in chapel on Friday morning.  It was a rousing success.  Friday afternoon held a masterclass, in which several of my peers performed for Joshua, who critiqued and complimented. 

His performance Saturday evening opened with a cello choir prelude.  I was lucky enough to be part of this group.  We played an arrangement of Faure’s “Pavane,” and it was well-received by the audience.  Joshua’s performance was, of course, absolutely stunning.  We even got two encores!  He was kind enough to hang out with us a bit after the performance.  We had a great time.

So that was my week.  Are you envious at all?  It was amazing.  I hope you all have experiences like this.  I learned so much in such a short amount of time!  I have several new practice techniques that I have begun using, and I cannot wait to see how my playing improves.  

Jump in the conversation!  Have you had a good experience with a famous artist?