Finale (Almost)

Our presentations of these projects are set for next weekend. Our teacher posted a rubric and we should be in the process of preparing a TedTalk-Style presentation, at a maximum time of 7 minutes. I have to admit I'm nervous about it. I don't know if things will go well, if people will like my piece or not... etc. However all I can do is try right? I have made finalization on my piece and will begin to practice with my partner in the next week whenever we have class time during orchestra. I also want to take this to my mentor/violin teacher one last time for last comments, although I'm not sure if I'll have a chance since I had my lesson yesterday, and might not see him again until after I have already presented. 

Reading Ahead

Practice all aspects of the presentation: speech, familiarity, eye contact, etc... 

Practice the piece

Be confident

Turkey Day

So this past week was Thanksgiving break, and as much credit as I would like to give myself, regrettably I did not make any progress on this project. I did however spend some time with a pianist and a camera, recording another video, this time for my college art supplements. That went well. My violin teacher actually let me one of his French bows to use for the recording. It was worth about $70,000, which made me so incredibly nervous to use it, but I have to say the sound it produced when drawn across a violin's strings was exquisite. Simply pure sound. I was amazed.

Since school is starting tomorrow again, I will have to get out of this mode of relaxation that I'm so comfortably in and get back to work soon.

Hopefully, by the next time I make a post, I will have accomplished a lot more.

Reading Ahead
Do something

Restez

Ahh Thanksgiving Break: finally a long break to rest. Even though I have a million things to do. This week I will be mainly focusing on preparing for a recording that I'm doing as a college arts supplement. I want to catch up on finishing up my composition because the deadline for this project is coming up soon but I think I'll have to put it on hold a little bit and practice a lot more than I have been.

That being said, I will be working more on music theory as well, since I'm quite behind in that class (I'm auditing the AP Music Theory class at my school occasionally). I was obligated to stay in orchestra the last few weeks instead of going to Music Theory in order to prepare for the Spaghetti Supper that we had and the Winter concert that is upcoming.

Good news from last week is that our concert went really well:D I was satisfied and proud so that was good. And even though I was sitting on the outside (the row closest to the audience) I was more confident in playing than I have been in the past. I didn't try to play softly or hesitate on my entrances.

Reading Ahead:
I am setting a deadline for myself to make the finalization on my composition. I want to have everything finished by Dec. 1st. That way I will have over a week to practice the duet with Richard.

PS
I thought that it would be cool to share some of my playing with you guys since I've talked so much about violin and you really have no idea how well I play. I'll let you judge for yourself (although I wouldn't say that I'm extremely good at violin:p).
This is a video that I made for an audition I had recently:
http://youtu.be/9t6UetKYNzo

Maestoso (What I hope this project will be)

The close of the semester is drawing near, so are our 20% Time presentations. We discussed these in class today. They will be in a TedTalk style format and no more than 5 minutes in length. With this in mind, I am currently planning my presentation. I want to incorporate some live performance of my piece, although, if it can only be 5 minutes long total, I would need to either only play an excerpt of my piece or shorten it. I want to leave enough time for me to be able to talk a bit about my project as well. This has been exciting and we've come so far. I believe that everyone will have a lot to show for their projects, despite the overwhelming amount of work we've had with college applications and whatnot.

Secondly, I'd like to shamelessly advertise my concert this week. On Wednesday (Nov. 19th), the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra will be having their first concert of the year. It starts at 8PM at the Emory Schwartz Center for Performing Arts (1700 N Decatur Rd. 30322). Admission and parking are both free so you should come!

Okay, back to this project. I think I will work more on cutting down my music this week, so that I can fit it into my presentation. I hope to finalize the score by Thanksgiving break at least so that I can give my partner enough time to practice and and for the both of use to rehearse together. I haven't tried to bring my composition to my mentor again because we've both been pretty busy. I plan on having him look at it at my next lesson this Saturday though.

On another note, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is back in business!!! I'm so excited. Check out their concert and ticket information here. Give them love and support because every musician there is amazing and they deserve the praise.

Reading Ahead:
Cut back piece to about 3 minutes, or find a suitable 3 minute section to play at the presentation
Bring piece to mentor for review
Practice for upcoming performances

Hi. I missed this week.. and I'm sorry.

Performance

AHA! Yesterday night was the school orchestra's annual Spaghetti Supper. My teacher being the biggest believer in my violin skills, put my performances second to last and last in the order of performers. =.=
I played the violin duet Navarra by Sarsate with my friend Angia, and I played Haydn's String Quartet in G Major Op. 77. It didn't go as badly as I had feared but at the same time it didn't go as well as it could have. I blame this in part to lack of time. We had only begun preparing these pieces a month ago, and Angia and I only had the chance to rehearse with our pianist twice before the show. Still we didn't stop in the middle or break down crying during the performance so I'm satisfied. I also found myself more in control of my body. I didn't shake, my face didn't flush red, and I was able to think more methodically about what I was doing. I was more focused. I liked that feeling.
I believe that part of my feeling of ease stems from the fact that this is the third time I've performed at Spaghetti Supper. Still, I see this performance as a success.

As for composing this week.... I did not complete last weeks goals. Do not hate me >< My days were literally filled back to back to back with practicing violin for my upcoming performances. I had Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal and I also did a recording yesterday morning for an audition that I have coming up. I'm pretty proud of what I've done this week in terms of actually playing. However, I will focus next week more on composing this piece for this project.

Reading Ahead
COMPOSE. srs... I will I promise!

Cadenza 

Every step of this project has been hard but now that the basics and beginning has been figured out, the actual composing is the hardest part. Since last week, I have written two more melodies for my piece and played a little bit with the melody. I am not sure if either motif is something quality that I want to keep but for now, I will settle for tweaking and playing around with it. I have a little more than 2 pages of music now but I'm still hoping to make the piece longer.

An aspect of this project that I have neglected until now is the performing side of things. The reason this is part of my project is because I've always had trouble performing in front of others. Call it stage fright or shyness or butterflies. It's a serious challenge I've faced as a musician who's ultimate pleasure comes from playing music. I wish I could be more comfortable in front of others. Over the years I have given more and more performances, not only with large ensembles but also with smaller string quartets and even duos. This week, I will be playing with a quartet for the Sophomore Academic Letter ceremony. This coming Saturday will also be the night of the school orchestra's annual Spaghetti Supper. I am playing in a quartet there as well as a violin duet with one of my friends.
I'm nervous because my nerves have always lowered my performance during these types of events. Still, I have pulled a lot of inspiration from others around me and learned tricks and tips from past performance experiences. I'm trying to channel the feelings of adrenaline and pending doom into my performance and use them to play with more alertness and stamina, rather than have them affect my mindset negatively.

In the long term, I want to work so that by the end of this semester, when I play this piece for my project presentation, I will be able to own it with confidence, and play freely, without worries.

Reading Ahead
Continue to compose
Take the composition to my mentor and to peers for review and critique
Get used to the performance atmosphere: eyes on me, everything quiet except the sound of my music.

*PS I named this blog entry Cadenza because a Cadenza is designed to reflect the performer's virtuosity and offer more insight on his or her interpretation of the piece. I am working towards showing off these qualities of myself as well.