Orch/Band/Chorus trip photos!

Outside the Prudential Center waiting for the Duck Tour. I’M FLYING!!

Allison & The Asians on the Duck Tour

Chungy modeling my purse on the Duck Tour.

Me being free-spirited and life-loving on the Duck Tour.

Chungy and me on the Duck Tour.

Me and my pants <3 on the bus going home

On the bus, bothering Tommy

And again.

Gillian and Susy = my new best friends. We <3 pants. Yay, rest stop.

Ronald McDonald tried to attack me at the rest stop.

Susy pointing to Ronald’s pants.

The shirt I bought at the rest stop.

Back at the school with my lovers. Note that we’re all pointing to our pants.

Day 2

It’s day 2 of 14 of having the violin. I played around with the bows, and I found the one I like best. Although…I don’t have the money for the bow as of now. I need about $600 more for the violin as it is, so…we’ll see.

I didn’t get to have my lesson this morning because Matthew had skating and my mom had work. We moved it to tomorrow night. That’s probably for the better because my teacher gave me a theory assignment that I still haven’t done >_>. Usually she doesn’t do that, but with AP music theory and college auditions next year, she wants me to step it up a bit.

That’s all…I just wanted to give you an update/make a serious post so as to cancel out that last one X_X

True love is priceless <3

Today I ventured to New York City with my dad, and I happened to meet the love of my life; a beautiful, dark piece of wood that costs 7,500 dollars.

Whichhh is about $1500 more than I had planned to spend…but would YOU give up the love of your life just because the relationship was going to take more effort than you planned?! I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T.

We arrived at the shop around 11:30 a.m. It’s a snug space full of violins, paintings of violins, photos of people playing the violin, basically anything violin related, etc. It has this old-fashioned, off-white vibe. I played a bit of the Bruch on my presently-owned violin, and I told the woman working there (we’ve known her a while, and so has my teacher) what I was planning on spending.

And she said that I needed to go beyond it. Hahhh. She said she could tell I had outgrown the violin a loooonng time ago, and that it was time to go for at least $7000.

So I compared two violins at a time, playing a G major scale on each. I tried a bunch of really lovely instruments, but there was one that stood out. From when I first got into playing position, I felt comfortable. It was a petite violin, and I’m a little lady, so it was a perfect fit ^_^ Because of its size, I didn’t expect the deep, full sound that came forth when I played that first G. Such a deep, profound noise… a sound that you can almost feel, a sound you could surround yourself, that could suffocate your brain out of reality.

Does that make sense?

In any case, I fell in love. We narrowed it down to two; the other violin was lovely, too, but it had a sharp, piercingly bright tone that was beautiful, yet not my style. So I took the other one home, and now I’ve got it for two weeks I’m going to make everyone come over here and listen to me because I’m NOT taking it out of the house.

I want everybody and anybody who reads this to understand how much this means to me. I have been saving for a new violin for SO LONG. I saved the money by myself…no help from my parents. Up until now, I haven’t had many long term dreams that I’ve had the patience and perseverance to achieve. But this time I had the integrity to improve to a level where I needed a high level instrument, and THEN I worked hard so that I could get my hands on a high level instrument! And sometimes I thought it would never happen…yet here I am.

And what a grown-up sound it is. It’s a little bit frightening, actually. Suddenly I hear things…beautiful things…in my playing. I’m not just a girl playing some old dead guy’s songs anymore. I’m a young woman who puts her heart and soul into relating to and interpreting the works of the past, and then shares that understanding, that feeling, with the world. I really do have passion, and this instrument helps it to shine through more than ever.

:’)

Tomorrow (I think?) I’m going to look at another shop, but…I think I’ve already fallen in love ^.^

Angst + violin = real music

Let me just tell you the point of this post right off the bat: violin is one of the few ways I am able to relieve myself of the incredible stress of everyday life.

When I’m having a bad day, I cannot feel better until I pick up my instrument and pour everything out into my playing. It’s an amazing thing…I’m not so graceful with words, but I can communicate an emotion or a story by applying a certain amount of pressure on a string or by wobbling the fingers on my left hand. And nobody has to know what’s actually going on, you know? I can give people a window to my heart through my music, but they never have to know exactly what I’m thinking.

Violin allows me to let go and just FEEL. My generation is so analytical. I feel like I’m always evaluating people, evaluating my life, myself, situations, ideas, etc. That’s not fun for anybody. That’s not healthy, and it shouldn’t be normal, even though it is. Why can’t I just PLAY and not care about how good I am? Why can’t I just forget about standards and society and just focus all my energy on experiencing the things that make me human? For me, the music I play on my violin is a manifestation of the things that make ME human, the things that make me Allison. And it’s a beautiful manifestation, so whenever I’m down on myself, I can just play it all out, and then I can be at peace because I’m human.

All this is probably a bunch of nothing to the rest of you xD

Next time you listen to somebody perform a meaningful piece of music, take it as an opportunity to tap into that person’s individual humanity, and remember that it’s not about understanding completely; it’s about learning about someone, about yourself, about life. It’s about connecting with someone through a universal means of communication. It’s about taking what is given to you and enjoying the beauty of life.

Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture

Now that we’ve performed Hebrides, The Reformation, and some Mozart concerto (LOL), we’re ready for new music in orchestra! Among those new pieces is Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture.”  I found it fairly easy to sight read and catch onto, which made it all the more fun to play.  It’s also a super-awesome tune   I got REALLY EXCITED when Petko decided to tell us the story of Coriolanus XD.  Not that he doesn’t usually tell us such things.

So: Coriolanus (according to various historians) was a well-respected Roman general.  When the Romans decided that they wanted a democracy, Coriolanus argued against it.  This got him in loads of trouble, and he was banished from Rome.  He then proceeded to lead an army in an attack against Rome (talk about rancor).  However, his wife and mother were sent to beg him to stop, and he eventually gave in.

^ Coriolanus is the guy with the helmet, and the lady in white is his mother, on her knees, begging him to call off the attack.

Plutarch wrote a biography about Coriolanus, and Shakespeare also wrote a play about him.  These works inspired Beethoven to write the overture to go along with the general story of Coriolanus.  The piece pretty much focuses on the attack and the pleading that Coriolanus’ family does.  Petko talked about how this piece was a big deal when it came around because it dealt with fate.

Beethoven was a pretty big deal in general…his innovations kind of defined the gothic/romantic period.  He wrote things that people thought were weird, but he turned out to be a freaking genius.

ANYWAY, as I was saying, Petko said that the piece deals with fate.  He said that, sometimes, you don’t end up doing what you intended to do, and you instead do what your gut tells you or what you feel you “have to do.”  It didn’t really make sense in rehearsal…he’s a crazy, crazy Bulgarian man, so sometimes it’s really hard to understand him XD  But now that I think about it, it makes sense.  Coriolanus was this big tough guy, this high-quality general, and he called off his intricately planned attack on the Romans all of a sudden because the people he cared about came to tell him off.  I suppose he knew at that moment that he was not meant to lead a siege against his home.  And I guess that shows something quite admirable about human nature…maybe that we have the inclination to do the right thing?  I dunno.  You could go anywhere with this.

When I play it, I play it “like a sword,” like Petko says XD.  James and I wrote it all over our music.  “LIKE A SWORD.”  HAHA, he also referred to it as “schizophrenic,” because the first violin part has to play two characters at once (Coriolanus and his mother/wife).

Crazy, crazy Bulgarian man…I love him xD

As usual, I HIGHLY suggest that you listen to this.  It’s a really great piece of music

FINALLY.

I got a solo in my school orchestra!!

Well…technically, it’s not my solo.  It’s this kid David’s, but he’s not coming on the trip this month to go to this competition, so I get to play it!  And…technically, I wasn’t supposed to replace him; my stand partner was, but he didn’t want it, and I told my orchestra teacher that I really wanted it, so I got it!

It’s a TINY solo.  It’s for Queen of Sheba (Handel, I think?), and it’s not even a line long.  It’s for the outside player on the second stand (which is my seat when Andy, David, Kate, and Queenie are gone).  But I’m excited because I’ve never gotten a solo before!  and I get to play it for the judges :0  YAY <3

Classical music: Difficult to relate to?

Yesterday, my friend Olivia sent me a survey about music that she made for a school project. She did a wonderful job, and it really got me thinking. It shocked me (in a good way) when I proceeded to write an entire paragraph about how Mozart’s music embodies the baroque period.

Besides that, the second to last question sparked a realization. It went something like,

“Do you think most teens don’t like to listen to classical music because they want to listen to something they can relate to?”

Actually, I DO think that this has a lot of truth to it. I’s such an obvious point, but I’ve never really thought about it before.

Before I got into violin, I found classical music incredibly boring..I guess because it wasn’t familiar and I couldn’t sing along.  Hahah.  It’s not uncommon.  As young people, we tend to like modern things…things from our time period that we understand and things that we can take meaning from.  Pop songs tend to address common experiences that are easily identified.

What most kids…and maybe most people don’t know is that classical music deals with common experience as well.  In my opinion, classical music probably addresses a broader spectrum of emotions than any other genre of music.  Once you learn the stories and listen actively, a whole universe of communication is uncovered.

For example, my orchestra just played Mendelssohn’s Hebrides overture.  Petko, our conductor, told us how it’s about Fingal’s cave, a sea cave in Scotland.  Mendelssohn traveled there, and he was moved by the scene.  The piece depicts the water, the chilly climate, and the rockiness.  Petko described the main theme as waves rising, falling, rolling.  Knowing that, I could just see this place I had never been to or seen pictures of when we played the piece, and I was overcome by the beauty of it.

^ Fingal’s Cave.  I encourage you to look up the piece.  I hope I can visit there sometime.

All it takes is a little time and effort.  In this day and age, life is fast-paced.  People find it difficult to take the time to stop and listen carefully for the pictures and emotions that classical music presents.  Being young also makes it difficult to slow down and appreciate things, but if can manage to do this, you start to experience some pretty amazing feelings.

Once again…

I’ve changed the theme of my blog.  Hahhh.  I promise I’ll write something of worth as soon as I finish practicing.  I have to learn the frickin’ chords on the frickin’ first page of the frickin’ Bruch.