Busy, busy!

I apologize for waiting almost a month to post again.  Like the title says, I’ve been busy, busy!  (…Hahaha.)  Between work, school, orchestra, violin in general, and college applications, I barely have a spare moment to blog .  Right now I’m in second period at school.  I’m supposed to have orchestra, but our teacher lets us take a free every 10 days.  He’s obvi the bomb.

Not to mention I’m all broken up at the moment over the disappearance of Scrabulous   I’m gonna sue Hasbro for emotional damages.  (Kidding, obviously.)

So, on to the important stuff: A few days ago, somebody forgot to think about my feelings, and I got upset.  When I get upset, I hold it all in throughout the day.  BUT when I’m sitting at the computer at one in the morning with no one to talk to, I get really bitter and I do things I regret.  This time I sent this guy who hurt my feelings an excessively angry e-mail.  When I woke up in the morning, I was like OH… CRAP.  Because clearly that was really unprecedented, and I should have just called him or something so I could keep my head together and think about what was coming out of my mouth.  So, how do I solve this problem?  I don’t check my e-mail for about three days because I’m absolutely PETRIFIED about reading his response.  It was pretty amazing, I didn’t use gmail chat once, and I went on Facebook a lot less because I wasn’t getting the notifications.

You’re probably wondering what the point of all this is.  What the heck does this have to do with violin?

WELL, when I checked my e-mail, among the 32 unread messages was one from the violin professor from one of the colleges I want to go to.  She was trying to get back to me about scheduling a lesson O.o

…And then I felt like a dummy.

But it all worked out.  I now have a lesson with that professor on Sunday   Don’t expect me to post again until after that because I will be CRAMMING.

How To Play The Violin

A weird animation called “How To Play The Violin,” by Jason Steele, A.K.A. the guy who made “Charlie the Unicorn.”

… I only posted it kus it ha the word “violin,” in it XD

SUCCESS!!

I checked the NYS site on Saturday, anddddd….

I GOT INTO PRINCIPAL  !!

I sent WCYO an e-mail the other day to let them know I won’t be returning.  The director was all, “I disagree that it’ll be a different experience, people came back here from NYS.”  She’s entitled to her opinion, but that was ONE girl, and she and I happen to be very different people.  (The main difference being string player vs. wind player, which is absolutely significant when considering different orchestras.)

Anyway, I’m very excited!  The first rehearsal is on Saturday. Unlike WCYO, NYS doesn’t have its music online, so everyone is sight reading the first day. This is good because even if they did have their music online, I would probably end up spacing out and printing it an hour before rehearsal, which would result in me barely looking at it beforehand. 

Which would result in me looking incompetent on my first day, which is bad.  Funny, but very, very bad.  xD

I have to go take my senior picture now.  BYE.

Possible goodbyes

As you may know, I often fondly refer to Thursdays as “Petko Days.”  (Petko is the name of the WCYO conductor, which is the youth orchestra I’ve attended for the past four years.)  Tonight at 5:45 pm, the first Petko Day of the season will begin!  It’ll be the firs Petko Day that I drive myself to!

It also might be the last.  If I get a decent placement in NYS, I will choose to no longer be a member of WCYO.  I find out on Saturday or Sunday whether or not I go into NYS and whether I got a good placement or not.  I’m going to attend this first WCYO rehearsal to see what my seat is and to play with this year’s group to determine the level of ability.

It’s kind of a bittersweet event.  On one hand, I’m incredibly excited to possibly be joining NYS.  All my friends from school orchestra are in it, and the group I’d (hopefully) be in is made up of older kids who are closer to my age, whereas WCYO probably recruited a bunch of seventh graders because they’re so desperate for members at this point.  On the other hand, I’m sad to leave the WCYO “family.”  I’ve spent a lot of time with some of those people and discovered a bond that can only be attained by playing music with others.

I joined WCYO when I was thirteen and entering the eighth grade.  I was not thrilled.  I had just quit the GBYO because I was having a horrible time.  At that point, I was not too excited about anything to do with the violin.  I had been hoping that, if I quit GBYO, my parents would let me quit youth orchestra all together.  However, my teacher and parents pretty much forced me into auditioning for WCYO because, as a young musician, it’s crucial that you play in an ensemble, blah blah blah.

I auditioned in August like everyone else. (this was well before the horrible anxieties, so I apologize if you were hoping for a dramatic fainting story or something.)  We had to play a piece of our choice, a scale of our choice, and an excerpt from Magic Flute. I placed in the back of the second violins because I had yet to understand the concept of practicing. Not to mention I was one of the youngest members in the violin section.  I wish I could give a lot of detail about the first rehearsal, but I barely remember.  All I remember is meeting Cicely, who is now a friend of mine.

That season, I also experienced my first REAL orchestra bonding trip.  Back in GBYO, they sent us to a YMCA camp for an afternoon where we practiced until it was time to go home.  Seriously, that’s all we did.  OH, and they fed us lunch xD.  Crappy camp-food-lunch and chewy bars.  The WCYO was quite different.  True, they ALSO took us to a YMCA camp, bu we stayed for two nights, and it was a legitimate family fun type place.  There were tons of things to do, such as hiking, apple cider making, and horseback riding.  No to mention I was October, so they had a bunch of Halloween-related activities.  But yes, we also practiced a lot and had intense coaching during sectionals.  I don’t think I realized it then, but I gained a lot of skill in that weekend alone just from working with the coaches and playing so often.  It was there that I made my first orchestra friends, Alice and Shwetha.

On a side note, it was on that trip that I was first introduced to Amadeus, my favorite movie EVER!  Our conductor set up a projector in the rehearsal room and started a fire in the fireplace.  We watched the part where Mozart is staring at the portrait of his father, and then he starts giggling and dancing around.  Our conductor wanted us to see that part because Magic Flute was playing in the background.  (I typo-ed that as “bachground.”  Haaahhhhh.)  We finished watching it on the way home.  Then we watched it again the next year, and the next year, and that was the beginning of my obsession xD.

Also, the ‘04-’05 season was the year we went to Paris!  My mom chaperoned, so it kind of sucked, but Paris can’t suck, so it was still amazing.  That was where I really made friends with Cicely.  It was my first time out of the country.  My favorite part was the dinner cruise in the Sein, standing outside and looking up at the Eiffel Tower all lit up.

The next most memorable season was the ‘06-’07 season.  That was the year we got a new conductor.  We had the pleasure of “auditioning,” the conductors.  They each conducted a piece with us, and we ended up finding the perfect one <3  He’s awesome, really.

In March we got to play at Carnegie Hall for a youth festival.  It took a while for it to really sink in.  When we were in the rehearsal room, my heart started POUNDING, and when we were out on stage, I was a nervous wreck.  Those halls are ENORMOUS, especially in comparison to our little, forty-person orchestra.  We played very well, though, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to play in such a hall.

As if that wasn’t thrilling enough, later in the month we got to go to another youth festival at Yale.  We did a workshop on improv, a sectional with a man from the NHO, got to play in Woolsey Hall (best hall I’ve played in acoustic-wise, I think), and played a Chinese piece called “Ping Pong,” with the NHYO and a solo piapaist. <– click if you don’t know what a pipa is.

And, MORE EXCITEMENT, we went to Austria in April.  This time my mom DIDN’T chaperon, so I was pretty much on my own.  We went to Vienna and Salzberg. (Both beautiful cities, by the way.)  The best part was playing AT THE HAYDNSAAL.  Click here to watch a video of us playing Beethoven’s Egmont there.

So that’s much a summary of all the wonderful things I’ve done with WCYO.  I have to get going to rehearsal in about forty-five minutes.  I really want to get into NYS, but part of me wants to stay : /

… Then again, I just found out that I have to print out the music for “The Wizard of Oz,” and  “The Promise of Living,” for rehearsal tonight.  I’m not too fond of The Wizard of Oz OR Aaron Copeland :p

See yah!

Viola?!

I mean to tell you guys this earlier, but I kept forgetting;

My brother, Matthew, is starting to play viola xD  He just started 3rd grade.  He’s going to rent an instrument and go to orchestra before school on certain mornings.  I’m kind of excited.  If he sticks with it, I can help him out, and eventually we can play duets!  Then again, he’ll probably drop it in two weeks like he did with drums, guitar, and piano.  My family is not a musical one, nor is it particularly decisive.  I was the luck one who was able to focus long enough to fall in love with my instrument.

My first question was, “Why not violin??”  Then my mom told me that the music teacher played the Harry Potter theme on the viola for the kids.  Figures.  Matthew says viola is “better,” because it has a deeper, “sweeter,” sound.

… Yeah, no.

Kidding xD  I have nothing against the viola.   It actually is absolutely gorgeous because of its deep sound.  However, my heart will always lie with the violin <3

Gerneral happenings

WELL.

I apologize for my long absences.  I started school on Monday, so now I’m REALLY not going to have time to type.  I’ll try to post every weekend, though.  But yeah, general happenings of interest:

I had my NYS audition. I think I did pretty well on Bach and Bruch.  I’ve definitely played BETTER, but I didn’t freak out like I usually do.  Obviously, my G minor melodic scale was fine.  But, uhh.. Sight reading was not so lovely xD  They had me try to read one, but at that point I was having trouble holding back my anxiousness, so I messed it up.  Then they had me read something different, but I messed that up, too.  Then the lady asked me, “have you considered yoga or meditation or something?” and I felt like a big dork.  Still, I think I have a good chance of being in.  I’ll find out this weekend, so wish me luck!  Cross your fingers, send good thoughts, whatever.

I started AP music theory at school. It’s probably one of the most useful/interesting courses I’ve ever taken.  Sure, I’m a little behind with all the kids who took music theory 1 and 2, but that’s all right.  I’ve been doing a bit of work on my own to catch up a bit.  Maybe I can test out of my first year of theory when I go to college!  (Haha, yeah, OKAY, whatever you say, Allison.)

And, last but not least…

THE VIOLIN IS OFFICIALLY MINE!!!!!!!!! !!!! We made the last payment on Saturday!!  I didn’t quite have enough, but my parents paid the difference.  I’m going to pay them back this week, though.  I just got my paycheck and I have enough.  (It’s only a little over $200.)  You have no idea how happy I am.

As a typical kid living in Fairfield county, I’ve pretty much always gotten things I want.  But this violin is something I got on my own.  Well, not entirely on my own, but I AM still a kid.  And besides that, everyone needs help sometimes.  In any case, I don’t have a lot of things of my own that have such significance.  I have my own room, I have a lot of knickknacks, and I have a whole lot of electronic crap that I don’t need.  Those are all things that it didn’t take much effort to get a hold of, or things that my parents got for me.  I love being able to think, “This is MY violin.  I’ve worked hard for the past year to raise the money, and now I have it.  I can succeed when I really want something. “

Anyway, when we went to make the last payment, the man who sold the instrument to us gave me a new case.  It’s probably the nicest case I’ve ever had.  It’s gray-black with a red interior, and it has a bunch of little pockets inside for rosin, shoulder rest, etc.  I’ll probably use one of them for left earrings xD  It also came with this little bag to put my violin in.  I don’t really get the point.  It also came with a cloth to cover it.  *shrug*  It’s still cute.  Haha.

He also touched up the varnish and cleaned off the rosin under the strings.  I really enjoy watching him work with the violins.  Normally I get nervous when people handle it and take off the bridge or whatever, but something about the way he handles the instruments is calm and intriguing.  He DID go to violin-making school.  But yeah, it’s all pretty and shiny now   He said the violin is starting to get it’s first “bumps and bruises,” and one day it’ll end up looking like one he had hanging at his work station at the moment.  I thought that was a very romantic thought, especially because I’m the first person to own it.  One hundred years from now, someone might buy it from a little shop and wonder about me.

Isn’t that just beautiful?

Well anyway, I have to get going.  I want to ride my bike because I’m going with my dad on a 25 mile ride in two weeks.  *needs to train*  Bye