a few words from miami

Break so far has been excellent — and definitely very chill. By saying this I am by no means referring to the weather, which has been lovely (if a little humid) but rather to the lack of 247 things a day to keep me occupied. Well, there’s practicing, but that’s a given.
One of my grandparents’ [...]

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fundamentally something-or-other

At my last lesson Mr. Hunt and I talked a lot about fundamentals (vibrato, tounging/double tounging, flicking, intonation), so I’ve started spending two hours a day working them. It’s surprisingly fun — I’ve always been a sucker for scales — but also surprisingly difficult. Focusing on intonation and coordination and everything for that long is [...]

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thinking in music school?

A year ago when I was applying to music schools, I admit that I thought a lot about how great it would be to play bassoon all day without needing to think about z-scores or the Platt Amendment or why we read Heart of Darkness. It seemed unnecessary — and while some of it definitely [...]

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thunder-snow!

We had an amazing snow-storm today with somewhere between one and two feet of snow. Needless to say, I’m delighted — and tomorrow we’re supposed to get thunder-snow. Is that not the most exciting concept? I’d been wondering the other day if you could have a thunderstorm with snow, but having never experienced it, couldn’t [...]

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glad tidings we bring?

I just got back from watching No Country For Old Men. Amazing.
That said, it’s keep-you-sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat stressful, but have you ever seen an artsy thriller with fantastic writing and acting? I think you almost need to see it because of just how many odds it defies. It definitely deserves everything it’s been nominated for, and let [...]

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rocking out on the big bassoon

I’m playing contrabassoon this rotation, and with our concert tonight, I’ve found myself getting a little nostalgic about the time I’ve spent with the instrument. (In case you have no idea what a contrabassoon is, you can find out here.) It’s large and cumbersome and a pain to take to rehearsal — not to mention [...]

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let it snow!

As requested: four to six inches of snow today!
I know, weather is supposed to be what you talk about when you have nothing else to talk about, but snow is simply far to exciting not to talk about. Maybe there will be snow angels later today? Hopefully!
Right now I’m reading One Hundred Years Of Solitude, [...]

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if i had a nickel for every time i tried to read you like a book…

I know I rely onFacebook as a social utility far more than is safe, but still — my pet peeve is when people don’t list their relationship status. I’ve talked to people who don’t list it because they think saying they’re single makes them look desperate, and while I can sort of follow that logic, [...]

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while i’m actually sitting in my room…

My favorite kind of winter days are cloudy with the threat of snow, and my favorite winter nights are the ones with thousands of snowflakes falling, glimmering in street lamps. Today was my favorite kind of winter day, so hopefully (this is Rochester!) I’ll luck out with my favorite kind of winter night.
A girl [...]

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adventures in practice land, part the second

Sometimes when I practice it’s like magic. Today I was working on the David Concertino and the technique just suddenly came together. I tried to analyze it, and then it started to pull apart.
So I said to myself, “Just love it.”
And then it was fine.
That doesn’t always happen, but it’s so worth it just for [...]

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