Succesful Weekend

My parents were in Little Rock this weekend with the single purpose of helping me finally get settled in my new apartment. As you probably assumed, it has been a complete mess for the month I have lived here so far...but over the course of two days it has been transformed into a space that actually resembles an apartment that people do in fact live in. I still have a few odds and ends to finish up...but its much much much better and is actually a nice place to be in now!

Pictured above is my bedroom complete with panel curtains from IKEA...we didn't hang them the way they were intended because I didn't buy all of the correct accessories...but I think they look pretty cool the way we ended up doing it! You should all come and visit! (more pics up on facebook)

Franck Complete

The Franck performance went surprisingly very well last night...I think the energy from performing really helped us a lot and it turned out to be a really exciting concert. Much to my surprise, the concert was reviewed in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette!! The critic really liked the Sturgis Quartet in particular ("The four musicians played together as one, alternately handing off running lines and accompanying one another") and I even got a mention saying "David Gerstein's solos on cello were always welcome interludes to the frenzied parts of the movements."

Not exactly a rave review...but I'm just happy to have been mentioned for the first time in professional review...yay!!! Thank you to Laura Stevens for the great review!!

Franck Quartet

Today the Sturgis Quartet (of which I am a member) will present Franck's String Quartet in D at the Clinton Presidential Center at 7pm...I think we are all pretty excited (and nervous) about it. This is the first time we will be appearing as a quartet and we have worked pretty hard to put this piece together. For those of you who don't know...its nearly an hour long...and its pretty crazy...and really difficult to learn as the first piece you've ever played together as a quartet...the pic is of the only solution I could come up with for my page turns in the last movement...its seven pages with basically less than one measure of rest...I have to use to stand extenders...its kind of ridiculous.

Jay was here last week subbing with the orchestra. We hit up all the regular Little Rock places: Big Dam Bridge, Pinnacle Mountain, River Market (those are basically the only three places to go in Little Rock...exciting, I know)...it was my first time doing Pinnacle Mountain, and everybody kept telling me how ridiculously easy it was...so Jay and I went over one afternoon, expecting a nice easy hike...we were very surprised to hit a ton of huge boulders that seemed to go straight up...it was super hard work, but we made it up to the top. We later found out that we went up the difficult side which was rated "strenuous," the other side is a simple stroll up the mountain...

I guess I'll know better next time.

Back in Little Rock

As the title says...I am back in Little Rock now. The week in Houston went well...I think its safe to say the concert was a success. Everyone who came seemed to enjoy it and thought the poetry and silence was effective. And we managed to get through both of the pieces after a very crazy week of rehearsals.

Now I have roughly 80 billion things to take care of. I filled my entire dry erase board with a list of things to get done, and I'm sure when i finish that I will fill it up again with more things to get done. Sigh...on today's list is going to the gym, moving my living room shelf to my bedroom, building my new living room shelves, going through a million papers...and much much more!!

More from IKEA

I think that I officially have a problem...I have gone to IKEA four times since I've been to Houston...and yesterday, I went twice in one trip...I went through once and paid, and brought the stuff to my car, and then I went back in and went through again. But I'm sure that all of the things I bought will help breath some life into my semi-unfurnished living space (also known as my apartment)...I am now the proud owner of two LACK bookcases, all sorts of curtains and fabric, and a million odds and ends. Now I just have to put everything together. Tell me what you think.

The two bookcases will go next to each other in the living room (I'll move the big Janus shelf from The Container Store to my bedroom and it will become the home for my music) the heart shaped pattern will become curtains covering my washer and dryer...they had it displayed with the hearts upsidedown at the store, and I didn't eve realize they were hearts then...I think I will do it that way...and the blue panel curtains will go behind my bed.

IKEA etc

Today I went to IKEA to buy some fabric type thing to put behind my bed as well and a curtain to put in front of my washer/dryer...and I ended up leaving with a cart full of random items...none of which were the things I came in for. So I guess I'm gonna go back tomorrow and pick some things having thought about it for a day (none of the textiles are available online...).

My apartment will soon be equipped with new towel bar...a dish scrubber...a red ice cream scoop...a magazine file (to put my orchestra music in...right now it just sits on the kitchen counter)...some candle trays...and a bunch of candles...all sorts of things I don't really need at all...but I now own...

I really need to buckle down and get my shit together when I get back to Houston on Sunday night...I'm sick of living in a mess...my couch will be coming on Wednesday, and I want it to slip into a finished apartment...this probably isn't going to happen...but one can try, right?

CFP Day 1

The first rehearsals for the Concert for Peace (CFP) went very well today! At an early morning Schubert rehearsal we got through the first movement, and worked a bit on the 3rd...and at our afternoon Brahms rehearsal we got through the entire piece (with work mainly on movements one and two)...I'm sure that is all very exciting to you guys...to CCE: I'm realizing that we took some pretty crazy tempos, since I thought I was taking the 3rd movement of the Brahms under tempo for rehearsal, and then everyone in the group told me it was way too fast....hmmm...I guess we also worked on it for over a year though.

I also think the trio to the third movement of the Schubert Quintet is really strange.

Its nice to be back in Houston and not have to worry about school at all. I just have two rehearsals a day, and then I get the rest to hang out and visit all of my old spots...have already been to favorites: House of Pies, Mai's, RA Sushi, and Miyako...I think tomorrow I will pay a visit to IKEA to see what I can bring back to my place with me...and maybe the Galleria as well...just so I can remember what being in a real mall feels like...

And I recieved word today thay my couch is ready to be delivered!!! Hope they can swing by on Monday morning!

Greetings from Houston!

Hello! I'm in Houston for the week preparing for a concert this Saturday at St. Phillip's church. Its a "concert for peace" and I'll be playing the Schubert Cello Quintet as well as the Brahms Piano Quintet with some friends here in Houston (from Rice and elsewhere). We haven't started rehearsing yet...so I'm getting a bit nervous about throwing it all together...its going to be a crazy few days...and we just found out that we will be playing on the radio on Friday morning...yikes!!

I haven't updated in a while...so here's a recap of what has been going on:

1. I played two concerts this past weekend featuring cricus performers...it sounds totally cheesy, but it was actually pretty fun, and very entertaining.
2. I auditioned for the Milwaukee Symphony...I really hadn't prepared like I should have and I was playing on a cello that just really isn't good enough to be playing auditions on...so obviously, I didn't advance past the first round. But it was nice to see some friends there!
3. I spent some time at home in Wilmette with my parents (following the MSO audition)
4. I had a personal training session...it was really good, and he showed me a bunch of things I had never done before...now I just have to keep it up.
5. I rehearsed the Franck String Quartet in D major with my quartet (the Sturgis Quartet)...out first concert is coming up at the end of October, and we want to be ready!
6. I receieved and put together a MALM bed from IKEA...this was not very easy for me...but I managed to get it together...and it looks pretty good! And after a few days the matress has puffed out and become pretty comfortable. pictured above.
7. I drove to Houston...see the above paragraph.
8. Now you're caught up.