Wednesday, I woke up early to get prepped and ready for my first lesson. Because the lesson was fairly early in the morning, I wasn't able to warm up in the hostel. Instead, I went down to Lincoln Center, and using my straight mute, warmed up in a grove of trees between the Met and Avery Fisher Hall (NYP). I actually had forgotten my checkbook back at the hostel, so after my warmup, I ended up jumping back on the subway to grab that. I still arrived back at the Met with plenty of time to spare before my lesson with Michelle Baker.
The lesson itself went pretty well. I was very impressed getting to go into the depths of the Met's backstage area, and it was pretty cool to go inside the pit for a bit. In our lesson, we covered three excerpts: Till Eulenspiegel (opening), Tchaikovsky 5 (1st horn solo), and Shostakovich 5 (which by far, scares me the most...low and loud!).
We concentrated mainly on breathing and she taught me a new, interesting way to use my diaphragm, expanding it outward rather than pulling it in to gain support. We also discussed airflow, and making sure that my air went all the way through my horn, rather than my tendency to play only to the end of my lead pipe.
After my lesson with Michelle, I had a few hours, and decided to go back to the hostel, take a nap, and relax before my next lesson at 3.
My next lesson with Al was at his place, not far from my hostel. I decided to walk there, finding some lunch on the way. Despite taking my time eating at a fun diner, I still got to his place nearly 45 minutes early, so I kept walking another block to a cool park. I sat and knit, enjoying the sunshine, while a guy sat nearby playing some quiet, peaceful guitar.
When 2:55 rolled around, I got to Al's place, and rang the bell to get inside. After getting buzzed in, I climbed up the stairs and was greeted by the most lovable old shepherd/heeled mix named Abby. By far, that was the best beginning to a lesson I've gotten to have. She proceeded to lie down and nap through my lesson, but it was nice knowing she was there. Al was incredibly nice, and I never felt nervous in front of him. We started by having me play the first movement of Strauss 1, which went pretty well. He had some notes on a few of my mistaken articulations, and even complimented my breathing, ear, and tone. (kind of funny since only 4 hours earlier I had heard how little I was breathing.)
We went on to play Mahler 1 (low Frere Jaques excerpt), Tchaikovsky 5, Ravel Pavan, Beethoven 3, and Strauss Ein Heldenleben. He had a lot of positives to say about my playing (good breathing, pitch, rhythm, and musicality) and we worked a lot on my beginnings of phrases (definitely the thing I struggle with most).
I learned a lot of helpful things from him, and came out of the lesson feeling good about my playing, but also inspired to get so much better. He also said we covered a lot of details he wouldn't normally cover in a first lesson. He also may have helped me begin to overcome my hatred of Conn 8Ds. We'll see if I can find one that I like...
He also encouraged me that everyone takes their own path in music, and told me that I have plenty of talent and potential, and that I'm smart, so he could see me doing just fine getting into grad school after my undergrad.
After my lesson, I headed back to the hostel to get dressed for going to the opening night of the New York Philharmonic. Al had given me comp tickets for the show, which was incredibly cool, and made me feel like some kind of insider to an exclusive club.
The concert itself was AMAZING! The first piece was a 20th century work for piano, timpani (both of which onstage with the conductor) and a menagerie of instruments like tons of percussion, harmonicas, a horn, some strings, trumpet, trombone, etc., all of whom were standing at the back of the hall, on three different levels. It was very different, but I loved the surround sound effect. The second piece on the program was Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto. The orchestra was well balanced, especially when the had to stay below the soloist, and my gosh, the pianist was fantastic.
After intermission was when the real amazement began. They doubled the size of the orchestra, and launched into Rite of Spring. It was mind-blowing! The horns were incredible, the full orchestra was spot on, and it got so loud that my ears were ringing for a half hour after they stopped. They definitely deserved all three rounds of applause, and the standing ovation.
Day Four:
The next morning was an early one. I got up at 5 to catch my airport shuttle to JFK at 5:30. My flight didn't board until 8:50, so I had plenty of time to knit and just chill until it was time. Once we boarded, we found out something was wrong, and ended up sitting at the gate for another 30 minutes until it was fixed. Once we got in the air, it was a very short flight up to Rochester.
I was definitely excited about getting to Eastman and seeing Billy, my horn-playing friend that I met in Florida. The excitement was tempered a bit by the discover at baggage claim that the handle in my suitcase had broken...no one likes finding out they have to lug 30+ pounds of suitcase rather than rolling it. Nonetheless, I got a taxi to Eastman (my very first taxi ride!) and was able to get into a practice room to warm up.
By 1, Billy's friend Caitlin (another horn player who was nice enough to let me stay in her room), came to my rescue and both let me dump off all my stuff in her room, but also got lunch with me. I got to meet a bunch of awesome people, who were all incredibly supportive of me as my nerves started to kick in for my 3:30 lesson with Professor Kurau.
I managed to have time to get some buzzing on my mouthpiece just before my lesson, and then found my way to his office.
We talked for a minute as I came in, and I confessed that I was rather nervous. He kind of played a mind game with me, saying that he should be the one to be nervous, since I was evaluating his teaching. We took some deep breaths, and once I felt relaxed, we delved into my etudes.
We started with Kopprasch, and he immediately found some different things to fix, such as smoothing out my articulation, and helping to equalize note volumes. We next covered Maxime-Alphonse, where there was more work on articulation, as well as working to project shorter notes (such as 16th notes) and those in my middle to low range.
He asked what I wanted to play next, so I jumped on the opportunity to play the first movement of the Gordon Jacob concerto. He had a lot of really awesome ideas about interpretation, as well as more to say about articulation and volume. The most amazing part of the lesson was when he isolated exactly how I was tonguing, and had me adjust everything and suddenly, though it was awkward to change such well-established habits, my sound became clearer, and articulating was easier. Everything he said was incredibly clear, and he was very demonstrative. It was amazing how much it helped to have him do different things such as hold my horn at precisely the angle that was best for bringing out low notes, or when he helped explain how to drop my jaw and open my oral cavity without spreading my lips.
He continued to have great insight through Tchaikovsky 5, and I came out of the lesson with many great tips and ideas I know I want to work on. I also made sure to ask about how many grad openings he expected (2) for next year, and I expressed to him how much I already had begun to like Eastman and the people there. I think it was an incredibly insightful lesson.
After my lesson, I got to change back into normal street clothes (I don't want to see my heels and slacks for a while), and went for really awesome pizza with Billy. He gave me a tour of the Eastman Theater, which is spectacular, and then just hung out until there was a horn sectional at 9. I really enjoyed watching and listening, and despite how young they all were (freshmen and sophomores), they really did sound fantastic.
I'm now on day five of this crazy trip, and on the train from Rochester back to NYC for my last night in NY. I miss Eastman, and the people there so much. I actually started tearing up as I left, just because I never thought I would find a place with everything I could ever want in a school: amazing teacher, great location, supportive, wonderful peers, and tons of opportunity. I know I'm ready to be home in my own bed, but I'll truly miss Eastman the most of everything.
I'll be home tomorrow night, then work Sunday morning, and school starts Monday. What a whirlwind!
Until later,
Allie
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