deepgreen18: (music)
I had a concert last night. My school orchestra (we call it the Philharmonia) performed excerpts from Porgy and Bess. I've been enjoying playing the pieces, as they are quite different from the usual Classical fare, and extremely well suited to the story they portray. George Gershwin knew what he was doing when he wrote this, and did it well with this opera.

Performing this piece reminded me of why I enjoy playing with a large group so much. As we went through the beginning of the first act, there is a classic buildup in volume and speed. One of the themes of the opera is the music imitating a train, which is a lot of fun. So here we are, piano leading to choir giving way to brass and finally joining in with strings. The moments of that were almost perfect in their synchronicity. Everyone was playing the same music, listening to each other, and watching our conductor for the beat. The feeling of collective gathering was palpable to me, and the music was so clear. The first time that ever happened to me I got chills, a large emotional reaction, and was rather scared of it, actually. It took me several years to understand that these rare moments of clarity in music are something for which to strive.

It is a shame we cannot do that more often, but it is a college orchestra that tends to disappoint those with high expectations more often than not. Still, though, we had it that time, and that will encourage me until I feel it again.

Greeny

Wow

Aug. 11th, 2009 11:21 am
deepgreen18: (Default)
I leave for four days and the world changes. Honestly, it's just my life, but that is my world (egocentrism, ahoy!).
To update:

I have a car, here are pics:





The best part of having your own car? Total ownership, I don't have to share! I almost felt selfish when I realized this, but I'm getting used to the feeling again. My favorite feature in the car (besides wonderful handling, plenty of room, and great A/C)? The heads up display:
New Car HUD

I just think it's cool, and it reminds me of a friendly Cylon, which is entirely geeky, but completely justified.

My band has a gig! It's on August 22nd, 8pm, at a nice place, called the Riverwalk. I can't wait.

I'm also getting back into teaching. All of my students have been contacted, and most are set up to take lessons for the fall. I'm nervous, but also quite happy with it.

My dad and I went to see Wicked on Sunday. It was an excellent musical. The singing was wonderful, the effects were impressive, the dancing evocative, and the story engaging. Totally worth the ticket price.

Finally, the knitting...take a guess at what's been going on with that and you'll probably be right.

And I'm off!
Greeny
deepgreen18: (Default)
I've got nothing to say, it's just that I'm actually listening to music and that never happens while I'm posting. That actually makes sense, music doesn't help me concentrate, unlike some people.

I'll be playing in a studio class on Friday. Perhaps I should tell people. It's basically a test run at performing a new piece. I totally still have to practice today. I don't want to. My little mystifying quirk: not wanting to practice as the performance approaches. I'm running through the piece with my accompanist tomorrow. Here's hoping it goes okay.

While I'm on the subject of performances, the university orchestra (of which I am a part) will be holding a concert with two choirs the Friday after next. November 21st in the evening. We'll be doing Mozart's Requiem, a big, somewhat boring-to-listen-to piece that is rather fun to play. We'll also be playing Tchaikovsky's Mozartiana, which is a fun little bugger.

And that's it!

Greeny

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deepgreen18

November 2012

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