Music in the Mountains

The North Georgia Chamber Music Retreat was terrific. Nearly 60 musicians played tons of music with varying instrumentation nonstop for the weekend. Everyone brought music to share and I would guess there were 20 bins of chamber music to browse through. The event ran itself - you just picked something you wanted to play and then recruited the required instrmentalists to a cabin front porch, living area, conference center room or sitting room to read through as much or as little of the piece as the group chose. It was a chance to play new music for nearly everyone. I particularly enjoyed the one session of large group music. We played the Tchaikovsky Seranade and several other string orchestra pieces.

I surprised myself with my ability to keep up. Many folks were conservatory or graduate students with outstanding musical skills. Each person had a list of all musicians in attendance and you marked a person off when you played in a group with them. This encouraged mingling and not sticking with friends you already knew plus there was a nice prize for the person who played with the most musicians. I definitely recommend the experience.

Nervous excitement

I'm taking Friday off to head to the mountains for the Chamber Music retreat. I have worked hard on 5 or 6 chamber pieces to sharpen my sight reading skills. Maybe we will even play one of them. I have no idea what to expect and hope that I am able to keep up. We're actually heading through north Georgia to NC tomorrow for John's uncle's funeral. Uncle Bob was always a favorite. That makes 2 trips north in 2 days. I am tired of riding in the car already just thinking about it.

final SCSO concert of the season

We will play Orchestral Blockbusters tonight. I will play 75% of the notes! That is an improvement since the last time I whined about how hard this music is. We are also taking a new photo to put on the SCSO website. It's about time! I just did get my name listed this year after 2 years (and it's still in the violin section) and the photo on the website is at least 10 years old. Orchestra Sunday tomorrow at church and that will also be my last performace with that group until Fall. No more week night rehearsals for a few months = more practice time. I've got to find a teacher.

catch up time

I know it's been a while. Life happens, you know. Christen and Walie got off to South Africa and that consumed most of a week. Little practice time during those days. Three rehearsals and two concerts this week...and the chamber music is calling me every time I sit down to play. The pieces for SCSO are not under my fingers by any means. I can play 3 of the 6 fairly well and only parts of the other 3. For the last piece we will be joined by the Southern Crescent Youth Symphony Orchestra and they are playing a simplified version of the Meistersinger Prelude. It is the hardest piece I've ever attempted. I should be playing the youth part. I don't like feeling unprepared for a concert. The good news is that I felt one of those moments at church orchestra rehearsal tonight - those, "wow, I'm really playing better" thoughts. They usually come after I've been pushed with difficult music. The easier stuff seems soooooo easy all of a sudden. Hmmmm.....food for thought.

sore tips

I've played enough this past week to have very sore finger tips. Ouch - they are even tender when I type. I bought a year's membership to Virtualmusic.com, downloaded a bou-coup of chamber music and printed some of it out at work today. I need to practice church music and SCSO music, but all I want to do is dive into the quartet music. I can't wait to find out if I will be comfortable at the Chamber music retreat.

SPRING break

Yes, the SPRING is finally here in the break. We are flooded with dogwood and azalea blossoms in my neighborhood. I take Zyrtec and sit on the back porch as much as I can. These are perfect back porch days.

I'm going to the North Georgia Chamber Music retreat in the middle of May. I am sooooo excited and a little nervous. I have minuscule experience in chamber music playing on either the violin or the viola and I hope I am not too much of a beginner for these folks. There are 50 plus folks attending and everyone is supposed to bring music. It sounds like you just divide up in to groups and play nonstop for the weekend. Violists are much in demand for chamber music in general, so I want to shine. I spent the morning yesterday downloading ensemble music from a virtual music website (for a yearly fee you download and print your own music rather than ordering it from a company). I can't wait to go back to work so that I can print it all. I deliberately waited to start this project so that I would not be tempted to abandon my SCSO music. Hah!

Stuff...

I had a good practice session with the SCSO music last night - finally! I had a small break through with the very tough section of the Wagner and left my practice session feeling slightly better than previous sessions. There is HOPE after all ? I've given myself permission to say "I'll never get that passage in time for the concert" and will work on the 80% I will be able to play. I let go of the stress it was causing me and had a very productive session. I am also learning the Bach Suite 1 in G Major- 3 movements. It is not too hard and a delight to play. I need something that gives me pleasure to work on in addtition to the required stuff.

I've been shopping/lunching with friends most of the day. Came home and did some yard work, had dinner and am watching a movie. I'll get upstairs to practice in a bit. Afterall, it is Spring Break!