Bassoons supporting Bassoons

 Ya know whats cool about being in a studio with lots of great bassoonists?

1. Our professor is generally proud of us and called us "truly an outstanding class." 

2. We continuously compare ourselves to each other. This may sound negative but it is in the most wholehearted manor possible. When speaking to each other about playing passages or in master class, its always something along the lines of "well I wish I played like you did in X..." Which is a really great problem to have because its constantly lifting each other up and simultaneously pushing us to get better. It's a healthy competitive atmosphere. 

3. We are always asking peers how to do things better or about equipment we use. I play a lot for my studio peers individually as I'd love their comments. A lot of these people have various different training backgrounds and most are very qualified to give feedback/suggestions. It's also super cool having a diverse studio as we all play with different equipment and since they're all super nice people they're more than willing to let you borrow or try out their equipment prior to committing to a purchase. Or heck even buy it from them with a food payment! 

4. We practice together. Almost every week we play the scale game in studio. Consists of; one person plays a scale (type determined in the prior week) and we go around the circle of fifths as we go person to person, each on playing one scale of a minimum of 2 octaves. BUT if you mess up/play an incorrect note - you must start at the beginning and play through all the scales. So we tend to practice scales together in private prior to presenting them in class, it does make it loads more fun.

5. We try to hold a weekly reed night. To get together once a week outside of school, decompress, talk about our weeks, assignments, make reeds, and play ridiculous chamber music/games. 

6. We generally really like each other. Obviously we don't all have to be best friends but I feel that most everyone gets along well. Well enough that we're trying to go on a camping trip over fall break. Could be a great time. 

Efficiency of mind or body?

Labor day weekend...

Did I do anything productive/even remotely 'normal' in terms of productivity over the glorious 3 day weekend? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Heck I took my bassoon out once, to test two reeds that were crap! It was great but a lot more stressful than I thought. It did give me a lot of time to think and plan my next moves/semester to see what I really wanted to do with this Graduate Degree... We're getting there but hey, its my money so who cares?

Day after labor day weekend...

Guys, I worked (as I do every M, Tues, Thurs 5a-9a, lifeguarding is really the way to go in order to work full time and go to school time plus have free time). Had class 10-11, sang some awesome Modal melodies that make way more sense than moveable Do sightsinging. Then I practiced for 2.5 hours, went home, lunched, napped (seem to be doing a lot of this but also at great times to gain weight, like right after eating lol) then went back to school to set up for rehearsal, practiced another 2.5 hours and was held accountable by an awesome new friend to run. It was supposed to be a 5k(ish) as its my first run post triathlon and we did over 4.

EM

Hours practiced - 5!!!

Rough first lesson... but so much to learn

 I had my first *bassoon* lesson today. I honestly feel kind of sad/depressed about it. Maybe even just disappointed in myself. 10/10 imposter syndrome. I prepared the Saint Saëns Bassoon Sonata (first movement) in about a week.... Played the notes on the page but there wasn't anything else there. Did some dynamics, most articulations and WOWZA tuning was all over. Passive playing rather than active/proactive playing. I'm currently having a hard time remembering that this is exactly why I'm here, to take my music to next level, its so cool but its so hard to hear.. 'thats great' (Unenthusiastically) but do this. Which is equally hard because its what I say to MY students - compliment sandwich. 

Listening back on my lesson there were a lot of good things. And in reality we only have an hour together so it was, 'that was good, now lets...' lol. As Michael said "High expectations probably means he thinks you can get there too." Which I absolutely agree with - its just more critiquing and nit-picking I'm not used to. Again, it's exactly why I'm here. To do more. 

I guess in summary it felt like a masterclass I was SUPER underprepared for. 

Saint Saëns Bassoon Sonata written in 1921, Saint Saëns stated, a model of transparency, vitality and lightness", containing humorous touches but also moments of peaceful contemplation." The scholar Jean Gallois states that this piece is “a model of transparency, vitality and lightness", containing humorous touches but also moments of peaceful contemplation."

I also just discovered Bram Van Sambeek as a bassoonist thanks to a fellow classmate and he has a great recording of this piece on youtube.

Guess Who's Back?!

 

I'm back in business and it feels so good! After some time off of school and working in real life it feels great to get back to music school. Real life isn't the most fun, especially when it's working in a field not based in your specialized degree. 

I've moved 14 hours away to North Carolina. I am currently studying for my Masters of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). And no, even though Michael believes that because it's a UNC school I'll be able to get (him) into basketball games with my school ID, I won't be able to. UNCSA is honestly the best of both worlds. It is a state funded school, hence the UNC portion, and decent scholarships. AS WELL as a school of the arts giving it the small conservatory vibe. At UNC we have five different speciality schools; Dance, Design and Production (DNP), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. This also means theres bound to be some sort of arts performance every day, AND THEY'RE SUPER COOL! UNCSA is a high school, undergrad and graduate campus housing about 1200 students. 

I had an incredibly difficult time finding housing prior to moving down here. I started looking in February when I received my acceptance letter. Time after time I was told the apartment complexes wouldn't know until about June due to a 60 day move out notice required from tenants. So I tried again in June (I basically never stopped calling and harassing the apartment complexes because I NEEDED a place to live and roommate options were slim pickings.) It was a week before I was due to move down and I still didn't have a place, so after a few mental breakdowns on Monday of that week (Sorry Michael) I contacted my professor asking for help and within 24 hours I had met my new roommate. It just-so-happened there was a girl who recently received a job position in New Jersey and needed a sublet. I moved in on Thursday. And by "move in" I mean, all of my belongings were in the living room and I was also sleeping and living in the living room. It really wasn't horrible! The only issue was my lack of semi-formal clothing available to wear to school (theres a big thing about no jeans here, which makes me SUPER nervous to even wear shorts!) 

There are no amount of words that can describe how happy I am to be back in music school. Everything was a hot mess getting there from housing, to health forms, to holds on my account and lack of communication from the school (that might still be happening) at times it would've been so much easier to stay in Michigan, live with Michael and work in an Aquatic facility for the rest of my life, possibly subbing and teaching lessons. Right as I was leaving there was an aquatic manager position opening at Borgess... But I wouldn't be fulfilled the way I needed to be. 

My first day on campus orientation was a rough 3 hour wait to get my student ID but once I stepped into the recital hall for our graduate student meeting, I learned of all the amazing workshops and masterclasses we will be hosting this year, stellar music programming and my graduating class full of pretty neat people. It honestly made me second guess my career path, maybe I do want to teach? Perfect world = teaching at a college and playing in a nearby orchestra? Ballet opera? No idea. 

Hours practiced 1ish (+2 more scheduled this evening)

Reed making 1ish hour

EM