Arkansas Audition

Hello from Little Rock, AR! I drove up here yesterday from Houston...up that terrible stretch on 59...the speed limit changes at every little town you enter...and there are stop lights along the whole thing...ugh...at least I had conservative talk shows to keep me angry and paying attention.

The audition was this morning, and I realized I was reading the schedule wrong and there were a total of six cellists there...a lot less than I was expecting. First round was behind a screen...Beethoven 5, Mozart 41, and Don Juan...we each had our own rooms, and there was no 'community room' so I just sat in my room by myself waiting to hear back...and then to my surprise I was advanced to the next round!! That was the first time that had ever happened.

Then I only had about 15 minutes before I went in again...this time the screen was down...there were supposed to be two more rounds, but due to the low turnout, the final two got compressed into one...I played Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Overture (random, right?) and Verdi Offertorio...then went back and read with the quartet, Beethoven 59 No.1 and Prokofiev 2nd String Quartet...and then I had to give a mini outreach presentation, as if the panel was a bunch of third graders.

I never really thought I would get that far, so I didn't really plan anything out...I just jotted a few notes down and figured that if I had to, I would just wing that part when it came to it...and then it came to it, and I winged it. I guess it was all that great training with Music for All at Eastman...

And then I found out that I won the audition. Totally crazy...so now I have to decide if I'm gonna take it or not...decided to stick around for another night so I could check out the town...and juts have a chance to look over all the stuff they gave me in the quiet of the hotel...what do you guys think??

Here We Go

Moving to a new place...even if you've been there for the past two years...is not very easy. It looks like I'm finally going to be able to move into my apartment this afternoon...after much trouble from my previous residence of two years (my new landlord needed to check my references, and they made me bring over a signed release statement and then they needed him to send them the questions in writing so they could respond...totally ridiculous!!) I'm so happy to finally be done (hopefully forever) with that horrible building.

Next on taps...actually moving in this afternoon...not a complete move-in, but all the stuff from my car and maybe a few boxes from storage. I don't have a ton of time today, since I am leaving tomorrow for an audition...I'll get a little settled and then probably practice more tonight. I'm totally cramming for this audition, so I've already written it off as just another "audition experience" under my belt...I think I'm probably going to chicken out of next week's Alabama Symphony audition, and just concentrate on Milwaukee...

Too Much

1. Made it all the way back to Chicago/Wilmette safely...(stayed overnight in Cleveland)
2. Spent two days in Chicago...mostly looking at cellos...more on that later...
3. Drove from Chicago to Batesville, MS to Layfeyette, LA, to Houston...
4. and then my car broke down after we (me and my dad) pulled up at our hotel.
5. So we had the car towed to the volvo place, and then we rented a car.
6. We drove all around Houston looking for a place and then found one that we both thought was too small and not enough kitchen...
7. and then after looking more decided it was by far the best one, so I took it.
8. But I can't move in for another day...so I have a car and a storage until full of stuff, and nowhere to put it.
9. And I need to pick a cello.
10. and I need to practice for my audition in Arkansas (on Saturday) and I'm not exactly sure which cello I will be using for it...
11. I've written this one off as a practice audition at this point...since I haven't played for days.
12. Even though I have practiced the music kind of a lot while I was at Tanglewood.
13. I miss Tanglewood
14. I'm kind of screwed...
15. omg

Goodbye Tanglewood :-(

Hello from the New York State Thru-way...I left the Berkshires this morning (after frantically running around all morning getting my car packed up and trying to say bye to everybody). Can't believe that I'm done with my third summer at Tanglewood...that means I can't come back again as a regular fellow, only if they invite me to be a Fromm Player, which is a very small chance...could be the last time I was in Western Mass for a long time...sad day...

I'm on my way back home to Chicago now, I'll be stopping somewhere around Cleveland and arrive in Chicago in the afternoon tomorrow...two days of looking at cellos in Chicago, and then its three days driving back to Houston...I'll be there a few days with my dad finding and apartment and getting resettled...and then I'm heading out to Little Rock, AR for the ASO/Arts Partner Quartet audition...been working on the excerpts for a while now, so I hope that it goes well!

I need to get some red bull.