I am the proud new owner of.....

1. Pump It (my all time favorite, David's all time NOT favorite)
2. Don't Phunk With My Heart (I like it....don't judge)
3. Hung Up (cause time goes by....so slowly.....)
4. Queen of the Night aria (sung by Sumi Jo=unbelievable)
5. Mozart Wind Serenade, slow mvt. (the one in Amadeus that I absolutely love)

And................

6. Strong Enough ("Was she worth it?? Was she.....worth it????????")
7. Believe (cause its awesome)

I couldn't live another day without the TMC 2006 Soundtrack to David's car (except the Mozart - that was my own idea). So there goes $7.50. But now I'm happy. :-D

Oh, and I already had Hips Don't Lie. And trust me, they don't.

Hello Brian! I am adding Madison to the list!!!! :-)

Liza just made chocolate chip pancakes....mmm....its so nice to have a roommate who makes delicious pies, bread, muffins, pancakes, etc.

Its a rainy Saturday in Boston. I have nothing today till tonight at 7:30, and then I shall be attending the Handel opera Orlando. Its almost 4 hours long....both Heidi and Whit are playing in it. I wish I was! I'm excited to go...from the little Handel opera we looked at in theory, aural skills, and history at Eastman, I think I shall enjoy tonight very much.

Last night I turned pages for Heidi's quartet concert (for the pianist - they did Dvorak piano quintet). It was kinda scary (in the Dumka mvt., there are SO many repeats) - the pianist is actually famous for his harpsichord and pianoforte skills, and he did a very good job last night, and he is VERY musical and sensitive - but every once in a while, right after I'd turn the page he'd fumble for a minute. Probably because he was used to turning his own pages and then missing the first few beats of the next measure. I still had fun though. I love to turn pages for pianists. And I got good practice doing it at Eastman for the piano boys every once in awhile. Hearing a piano quintet made me very nostalgic, too. (sigh)

I talked to the one and only Jonathan Ware on Thursday night, for a good long time. It was so nice to talk to him. I talked to Mary on Thursday afternoon (hope she is feeling better!), and David a few times this week in the everlasting TMC gossip. Oh, and Paul for a while last Sunday.

I'm kinda ready for Halloween to be over - last night on the train coming home, it was incredibly crowded with drunken college students all dressed up in costumes. I even got groped by a jerk dressed as a firefighter. Lovely. I'm expecting tonight will probably be more of the same. I can't wait for November.....soon is just not soon enough.

I'm eating lunch right now, taking a break before more practicing. I know there are some in this world who believe I should not eat turkey because it will make me sleepy during the afternoons, but oh my goodness, it is so good. Its called "Santa Fe Turkey", with spices and stuff on it - I love it. (I realize it might be idiotic to name turkey, but whatever - its good) I think I'm going to go get some more tomorrow at Shaws - I'm currently eating the last of it. Plus a few carrots. Mmmm.

So, whether I like it or not, the vast world of summer music festivals has one again intruded upon my life. I was talking to David the other night, and we agreed - it seems the only thing we do except for about April - August is worry about where we are going during the months of June, July and August. Once September hits, we're suddenly THROWN back into that world. And sometimes it doesn't even end till May, if you're on a waiting list. I had been all set at the end of TMC this year to take this entire next summer OFF from a festival. I've done a full 6-8 week one every year since 2001, when I was 17. Now I'm 22. Time for a break. Except that along with the choice of returning to TMC, the teacher of the clarinetist in my new music trio wants us to audition for something called the Hampden-Sydney Music Festival, in Virginia. It takes place late May - early June, and is for preformed ensembles (CCE, did we look at this program???? its completely free). This teacher is the Artistic Director, so we're pretty much in. He heard us play at the clarinet studio class, and while I thought it was pretty awful, he LOVED it. This festival is also during Spilleto (am I spelling that right????), so if I even thought about doing that, I'd have to chose. (sigh) Or just not do anything. I wouldn't mind an early three week one, but I just can't do both TMC and something else. Then I might really die.

Hope everyone is well in Houston, LA, Rochester, Philly, Milwaukee, London, Indianapolis, and Denver (hopefully Mary Keener has come back with a tan!). Oh my goodness, we are all so spread out now!! :-( I think thats all the locations from where this is read. If I missed someone, let me know.

Post Manchester Tour Entry

The tour got done on Monday morning, and Tatiana and I drove as fast as we could to be back in time for orchestra on Monday at 3:15 (I'm STILL having a terrible time remembering that orchestra is at 3:15 instead of 3:45. Still. Its terrible). However, she decided that Route 2 would be better than Interstate 91, and I'm not sure why it was decided that way, but Route 2 ended up being full of construction. So we were 15 minutes late to orchestra. Oh well.

Otherwise, life is returning to normal. I put together all by myself my new desk last night. My digital camera has offically died, otherwise I would take a picture of my handiwork for you all to see! Its really nice - nothing fancy, but definitely gets the job done. Last night while sitting at the desk with the computer on top I got somewhat nostalgic for Eastman. All the nights of writing papers at 3 am on that computer with Mrs. Mary Keener. And David playing Dvorak sextet with the volume up. And Hong just in general messing around and invading my files. (sigh) Good times. The internet at the apartment is now officially working for both me and Liza now, however, its not quite as fast as I was hoping it would be. DSL is DSL. Cable internet is cable internet. End of story.

I've been getting some good gigs here in Boston. The church where my sister plays a Bach cantata every week has asked me for three more dates through October-November. I'm doing another wedding on Saturday morning (apparently at this beautiful mansion) and have a Christmas choir concert lined up for the first week of December. This will be the only 2nd year in the past 10 that I will not be playing at WLC for their concerts the first weekend in December. It will feel slightly weird. However, its probably good to get the whole $380 for staying here instead of only $50 of the $350 at WLC because I would have to buy a plane ticket. And miss orchestra AGAIN, which would make D.H. pissed off. Again.

Octet is going well, but I miss a smaller sized group. A lot. Adding all those winds and a bass player is quite a challenge for group ensemble.

Its starting to get a little chilly here in Boston. Not bad, but dreary and cold wind. I haven't worn my winter coat yet, and there's been no snow and I don't think the heat is on in the apartment, but soon it shall have to be. This is the time of year where I start to get excited about snow. And to think - if we were all still in Rochester, we'd already have a whole bunch! Go figure.

Peter (my teacher) is wonderful. I've started working harder on the Nielson violin concerto, and its not easy, but I really am starting to love it. And I'm doing Bach b minor partita. I keep hearing Hoe-Young playing it in studio class. I'm not sure why. Anyway, Peter ALSO wants me to start some Ysaye and a Paganini caprice. Oh, and Faure sonata. Ouch. Sara, what else are you doing with K besides Beethoven concerto?

This is a long post. I hadn't written in awhile though. I miss you all so much.

Back in Boston after a 24 hour stay in NYC. Tomorrow is a little insane, and at the end of it, I shall be driving BACK to NYC with Tatiana, a Manchester friend also here at BU (who has a car - VERY wonderful of Tatiana to drive me with her back and forth!).

It was good to see the big apple, and some old friends from Manchester. I stayed with Joana and Ari (the festival director and his wife) at their house in Yonkers last night, and it was SO nice. Not only did they take me out to sushi, but I got a huge room and a bathroom (+shower) all to myself. So comfy.

Tomorrow is lesson, coaching, and orchestra, all taking place within the span of 6 hours. Time for bed here soon, after doing some much needed laundry. Lovely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/arts/music/06hait.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Click to see a story about Bernie (aka Bernard Haitink). See also a picture of him conducting the BSO at Tanglewood this summer, and to read (I admit, a one line comment) about how he coached at TMC this summer!

I'm home alone and just cooked. I'm getting sentimental and wishful......

Life

Its been awhile.

Things have been crazy, with school, family, apartment, etc. I was very overwhelmed this week - so many things came up and slapped me that I had no idea were even issues. I've also been having trouble waking up on time in the mornings. Once again, like I do at the start of every school year, I try to have my alarm within arm's reach of bed. And once again, after the first month, it is a complete failure. Now I've moved it across the room, and must get OUT of bed to turn it off. And its helped almost immediately. I think from now on, that is where it shall always stay.

Apologies to Paul Miller. I WILL call you - I WANT to talk to you - I just am going insane.....I'm sorry, Paul. We will talk soon.

In other news, I leave for NYC/Manchester String Orchestra tour on Sunday. It could not be coming at a better time. I love Boston, and am SO happy here, and so far, the school has been good too. And my lessons are going SO well - I love Peter. Its so nice to have someone who knows what the problem is immediately and KNOWS how to tell you how to fix it! But some away time at this point will be very nice.

Liza's boyfriend is here visiting for the next week+. He is going to help get the couch here sometime this weekend. Very very nice of him.

I miss C house. Its just not as fun in the evenings without the ritual yelling down the hall to Mary and the boys.

And yesterday, I thought of Fimby all day, and her 23rd birthday. I miss her birthday parties. The last two were so fun.

Time to stop be dramatic.