NY Trip: Days Three and Four

Because these last two days have really the whole purpose of going out to NY, it's been pretty crazy, with very little time to stop and update. There's so much to talk about, and so little time before I probably start forgetting pieces.
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

NY Trip: Day Two

Today was much more chill than yesterday, or at least it seemed much lower in stress level. To help counteract jet lag, I went to bed as soon as I felt tired, which was 10:30 EST. I set no alarms so I would guarantee a full nights sleep, and to help make sure I wasn't disturbing all eleven of my roommates.
I woke up this morning around 7:30, feeling a bit groggy and with a headache, but otherwise fine. Hardly anyone else was stirring, so after a half hour checking my email, Facebook and twitter, I went back to sleep. 8:30 apparently was a better time to wake up.
After getting ready, I set out for Starbucks (I found one a block from the hostel) to grab a smoothie and banana bread, then caught the 1 and E trains down to the World Trade Center. It was crazy how much construction is going on down there, and also how tall all the skyscrapers are!
I didn't get to see the memorial, but the fact that I was at the site where thousands of people had lost their lives was incredibly powerful. I think I even teared up a little.
I proceeded to walk around, up towards City Hall. I took a break and sat by the waterfall in City Hall Park, then realized how close to the Brooklyn Bridge I was. Having decided to walk across the bridge, I set out, not realizing how LONG it is. Also, it was super windy. (you all will see when I get home and upload the pictures off my camera)
When I got to Brooklyn, I found the closest subway station, and went to catch the train back to Manhattan. Not realizing which direction was which, I incidentally caught the train going further into Brooklyn. It was sort of a laughable moment as the realization hit me, I stuffed my knitting back into my bag, and got off the train at the next stop. Two trains later, I was back at the hostel, rather hot (gosh, it's muggy here!) and footsore.
While I had been walking around today, I also got a call from one of the teachers I'm meeting tomorrow to tell me that it would be really hard to get me a pass to use the practice rooms at MSM (these kids practice so much, they have to sign up for rooms the night before! Crazy!). So, making a positive of the strange situation, I used my straight mute, while sort of hunched over in my bunk bed, to practice my horn. My face felt good, notes were there, and I'm excited for tomorrow! I have no idea where I'll warm up, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes, I suppose.
The rest of this evening looks to be pretty quiet, though I may wander the neighborhood to find something awesome for dinner. Then probably some more relaxing, knitting, and reading before my big day tomorrow!
And even more today than yesterday, I am so in love with this city! I hope that this trip will help all my hard work pay off, and tell me if this is where I get to be...so many nerves, and so much excitement! Truly, I've found what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Allie

NY Trip: Day One

So, today has mostly been full of travel. I got up and the most indecent time on the planet (3:45 AM), to catch my rather early flight (6AM). The good news? I was so exhausted, I slept for the first hour! I knit and listened to music for the nearly three hours after my nap, and only got restless near the last hour.
I had my stop at O'Hare, and expected only 20 minutes between flights. I was hungry (American apparently only serves drinks?), so I grabbed lunch and sat at my gate, where a flight to Austin was boarding. I chilled there for a few minutes, then started noticing that the waiting area was almost empty aside from those passengers boarding. Lo and behold, my flight had been cancelled! No big deal, though. They had automatically put me on the next flight, putting me only 35 minutes behind schedule.
When I finally got on the plane, I had the pleasure of having someone nearly my age sitting beside me (she was 26). We ended up talking for the entire flight from Chicago to New York. She was deeply interested in my degree, my future, and my trip. And goodness, she was full of great advice about what to see! It was awesome having someone friendly to talk to, and even though I know it probably won't happen, I hope our paths cross again.
When I got off of the plane, I got my bag at the baggage check and found public transportation. Very conveniently, there was a bus that ran from LGA to almost my hostel. It took an hour to do it, but once I got to sit down, I didn't mind a bit. Also, the bus had a luggage rack! These people are brilliant!
I got all checked into my hostel, which is amazing and worth the money, and headed over to MSM (Manhattan School of Music) to scope things out and see if I could practice. Turns out I couldn't (I called the teachers I'm meeting on Wednesday to see I'd they could get me admitted), but it was so cool how close MSM is to Columbia University. This all makes me want to go there so much!!!
After dropping my horn off back in my locker at the hostel, I took the subway down to Times Square. I felt so silly as a tourist, snapping pictures left and right, but it was worth it. I wandered uptown, after stopping to eat a hotdog from a street vendor, and made it all the way to 50th St before I decided I was tired and wanted to get back. I caught the subway, but did get off one more time to see Lincoln Center.

I think I found where I want to be. Seriously. Now I'm just praying that I can get here and go to school!

Til tomorrow!
Allie

A post concerning the insanity of planning a trip to NYC

I realize it's a strange title, and most of you probably clicked on this because you have heard bits and pieces, and are dying to hear the whole story...or at least the reason I'm going to NYC in the first place. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

So, starting a year or so ago, I started being very driven in my goal of going to graduate school in music performance on horn. With that in mind, I looked to some of my awesome professors to give me advice what I needed to do. One of the pieces of advice I was given was to go take lessons with as many people as I could, mostly to get myself out there, hear different opinions about my playing, and also to help me make the decision where I wanted to go for grad school. I filed this information away, knowing that I might need it eventually, but knowing that at the time, I couldn't afford to do something crazy like fly across the country just for a lesson or two.

Well, fast-forward to this summer. I'm in full grad-school-preparation mode now, and having basically done that sort of whirlwind trip once this summer (look back a couple posts if you haven't heard about my trip to Daytona Beach, FL), and also being a little more financially capable this year with my job at the Bucks, I decided it was time to go for it. Let me tell you, coordinating lessons with four professional horn players nearly two months out is a logistical nightmare. It's also very nerve-wracking if you've never done something like that before. I was positively scared silly at the prospect of hitting the "send" button on the emails. James actually had to talk me into it for a couple of them.

So, after finally hitting send, I got to start the waiting process. The first horn teacher got back to me that evening, which was really exciting! The second reply came two days later...and then I got to wait for another two weeks. Now, because I was aiming to get lessons with all four, I couldn't really confirm with the first two until I had heard from the last two. I also happened to know that one of those who hadn't replied was out of the country, and had limited internet access. I hate waiting, and practically jumped every time my phone buzzed that I had an email. Meanwhile, the time to buy plane tickets came up, and I leaped when I saw I could get round trip tickets from Seattle to NYC for only $330. Unfortunately, I still didn't know when those lessons would be, so I decided to go for the widest window I could manage: leaving Seattle Monday morning, and then returning from NYC on Saturday evening.

After two weeks with no replies, I decided to send another email, just in case they had missed the original one. It turns out to be a good thing I did...both of them had missed the original one somehow. So, now all four lessons were set up...or at least I had an idea when they wanted to meet. All of them apparently are available on the same three days. Another fun aspect to this was the fact that one of the professors isn't in NYC at all, but teaches at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.

I honestly can't give you a more detailed description of my schedule than this yet since we're still hashing things out. I do know that I'm heading up to ESM Thursday morning, and returning to NYC Friday morning. Thankfully, I can crash on a friend of a friend's floor for the night I'm up there. My wallet is thankful too! I'm happy to report that I now have all the big stuff booked and ready to go: hostel, plane tickets, and the general idea of a schedule. Plus! I get to see the NYP (New York Philharmonic) in their opening concert of the 2012-2013 season...Rite of Spring! So totally psyched!

~~~~

A midst the insanity of planning this trip, I also became an aunt this week! Actually...last night :) I'm a little sad that I'm not able to fly down and meet her because the ridiculous amount of money I'll be spending this year, but they might come up to my senior recital in May. Can't wait :)

Until next time!

~(Auntie) Allie

DIY Wall Decals

I've now done this three times in two years...I really wanted one of those cool wall decals, but either I didn't have the money, or the selection just wasn't what I was looking for. So, being an inspired and rather crafty college student (and with the introduction to such things by my college roommate, Chloe), I discovered the art of making my own wall decals out of black duct tape.

My very first "decal"

Now before you start freaking out about putting duct tape on the wall, don't worry! We're not sticking it straight to the wall. We'll be using paper to back the sticky part of the duct tape, which leaves you free to use whatever adhesive you want. This is great for those apartments where you're afraid to stick things to the wall that may not come off, or you want to limit holes in the walls. I will warn you, both of my really large decals are held up using a few staples in addition to the adhesive, just to help make sure they really stay.

So, here we go! Step one in this process is to figure out what your image is. Now, my first two decals were more of a general "idea" of what I wanted. I wanted a branch, so I just sort of drew it. The second one was a full out tree, so I got a general idea (I used a rubber stamp I found at a craft store), blew up the image as large as I wanted, and came up with my own variation on the original image.

My tree! That's our couch that seats three people comfortably, so about 7-8 feet wide!

It helps if your image is one color for this type of project, or that you're willing to make it more of an outline of the original image. For this tutorial, I'll be using my latest project: The Doors of Durin (which most people probably know as the entrance to the Mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring).

The original image (care of tolkiengateway.net)

I started by tracing the original drawing from my roommate's copy of the book. I wanted to make sure that it was pretty accurate, though we left the scripting until later to be done freehand. Here's what I came up with:

After tracing the basic parts of the original image, we measured our drawing to discover that it was something like 3 1/2" wide and 4 1/2" tall. I drew a grid using 1/8" markings, giving us a grid 27 wide, 37 tall. (Please note, if you're free-handing your drawing, you really don't have to do this step. We just wanted to make sure our proportions were picture-perfect!) We then did some conversions, figuring that because the wall we were putting it on was about 7 1/2 feet tall, 1/8" = 2 1/2".

My lovely roommate measuring out our grid on the giant piece of paper we made! (See the little drawing? That's the original...)

For our paper, we used one of those kids drawing art pads of paper you can get at any large chain store (like Walmart, Fred Meyer, etc.). We used the largest size, 22" x 16", so we could have the most paper with the least number of pages. We taped them together roughly. As long as they're secured together enough not to move around a whole lot, the duct tape will do the solid securing. 

TIP: Try to overlap your paper as little as possible. When it comes to the part where you trace your design, you want to be able to see the bled-through ink, which you can't when there are two pieces of paper (or tape!). 

Starting to draw one of the trees over the grid. Those holes are from the handles (downside of this kind of paper), which we just backed with some more paper so we wouldn't have holes.

I drew the design starting from the bottom while my lovely roommate continued drawing out the grid. By tag-teaming that part of the procedure, I think we helped reduce some time. I would be sure to draw your design in pencil, even though it's hard to see, because you will make mistakes! I sure did...

TIP: Roll up your paper as you go, especially if your picture is large. No one will see the creases in the paper because it will all be covered with duct tape!

Two steps in one! Make sure to outline your drawing in sharpie, then cover with duct tape!

Next step: outlining the drawing in sharpie. I specify using sharpie because it bleeds through to the other side of the paper, which is the side you'll be cutting out from. You need it to bleed through so you can see, even though the black duct tape. This also will make it clear how accurate your drawing is. As soon as you feel comfortable with your drawing (and have made sure you can see the ink on the other side), cover it with the duct tape! 

TIP: Try to keep there from being too much overlap on your duct tape. The thicker it is, the heavier your art will be, and the harder to cut through it will be. 

Once your drawing is totally covered in duct tape, flip it over, and start the job of cutting it out! This is actually really fun, but be careful of those overlapping lines! We accidentally cut off one of our little branches...fortunately a nice easy fix, but it still got our hearts pounding for a second when we realized! Scissors are a big help when doing a long haul of duct taping...all that tape ripping starts to really rub your fingers raw after a while. Another tip: if your drawing has lots of little details (which I do caution against doing...little details mean lots of extra time!), purchase an Xacto knife.

All cut out! My roommate did all of the Elvish scripting...so patient!

Now comes the group effort! Invite everyone over for putting it up on the wall, especially if it's big. It took just my roommate and I to put up and secure the pillars/trees section on the wall, but it also took both of our boyfriends to help get the arches up, and then we had some family members come over to help with the Elvish script. 

TIP: For the most part, permanent double stick tape is very effective in holding the decals up, but for really large pieces, I do recommend using a few place staples to help hold it up. Poster tape also works well, but is not invisible like double-stick tape. 

Ready for the final product?!

Welcome to our apartment! Quite a statement, and it gives our geekier friends a chance to show off by saying the password :)

Also, though this is very time-intensive, I've found wall decals that are similar in size to my tree cost around $200 (or more!). Buying the supplies to make this wall arch cost about $30, including three rolls of black duct tape, the pad of paper, and an x-acto knife. 

A Nice Big Summer Update!

Wow! So much has happened in the last month and a half, I don't even really know where to start. I believe I left off at the end of last school year (mid June) talking about the opportunity to study in Switzerland, and the fact that I would be heading to a camp in Florida to meet the professor of horn at that school in Switzerland.

Playing on the Boardwalk at Daytona Beach with our horn quartet!

Amazingly, everything came together so I could go. It was a bit tight, I honestly am still paying off those plane tickets, but it was so worth it to go! I got to have a one-on-one lesson with David Johnson (professor of horn at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana, and founder of the American Horn Quartet) and got to know a bunch of really awesome horn players. It also was a big boost for my playing for a couple reasons: 1) I really was not very good in comparison to everyone around me, so I spent the week kicking my own butt to get all caught up, and 2) I got to spend a week playing side by side with professional horn players, listening to some amazing tone quality. I could definitely tell a difference in my playing when I got back here, and I just in general feel much better about my playing because despite the fact that I'm behind where I should be for my age and year in college, there's a lot of hope that I'll not only catch up, but maybe even do better than expected! I definitely appreciated getting shoved into being a small fish in a big pond, rather than the big fish in a little pond. I also got to play side-by-side with a student who is going into his sophomore year at Eastman School of Music...one of the schools I'm considering for graduate school. It was definitely eye-opening to see what a difference going to a music school makes.

Evening concert at a local church. Playing a Disney medley in this picture.

 I definitely enjoyed my time there, and it was so worth it, but the story doesn't end with my flight home. First of all, said horn player from Eastman and I are still talking a lot, and have figured out an awesome trick of using the Voice Memo tool on our iPhones to send each other recordings of our playing, so that we can get almost instantaneous feedback. (Much better than dragging some unsuspecting musician into my practice room to get feedback lol) Also, David emailed me a few days after camp to inform me that he would be interested in having me study with him in Switzerland for grad school! So, unofficially, I've been accepted there! 


A few other cool things have happened recently for me as well. I've been getting a lot more hours at Starbucks since I got back, which means I can start saving up for my new horn, finally (or really, for plane tickets to fly out to grad school auditions...but you know. Same difference, right?). The weather is GORGEOUS in Seattle right now. I'm outside in the sun as I'm writing this...and I've never been happier. The vitamin D does wonders! And, also super cool, I've been invited to join a local horn quartet of recent graduates that all live in the Seattle area. First rehearsal is next Saturday, and I've never felt so...cool. Honestly. That, and they found out about me because my private teacher recommended me! There's hope I may just make it in this crazy business!


On a completely different note, my participation in the Tour de Fleece definitely didn't happen as much as I hoped. Going to muggy Florida killed any inspiration I may have had to spin because there is nothing worse than dealing with wool when your hands keep getting sweaty :P I'll keep working on my yarn though, now that I'm home.


The Olympics start soon, and therefore my next big project begins! What used to be the "Ravelympics" (google Ravelympics if you're curious) is now the "Ravellenic Games" and I'm still participating. I'm doing what's called the "modular relay"...my goal? Knit 100 hexipuffs over the course of the Olympics. Goodness. I'm hopeful though, and I am really excited to see some more big progress on my quilt :)


I'm so happy to be home, to feel driven and inspired again, and to have fallen in love with horn all over again. Life is beautiful, and I'm so glad I have so much of summer left! Just over one month down, two months to go!


~Allie

Summer!!!

It has finally arrived! That's right, after a long weekend of playing seemingly endless processionals and sappy music, I can finally say that my summer break has come. I look forward to putting my brain to rest for a little bit and just concentrating on making money and practicing.

After everything that was the craziness of finals, and how much time I took off from practicing/playing horn (translation: WAY too much...), I'm finally starting to feel super into doing it again. I enjoyed having a couple days spent baking and spinning, but I'm all ready to re-prioritize.

Not long before graduation, I got to say goodbye to one of my good friends before he went off and graduated on me. As we hugged, he gave me one last verbal kick in the pants by reminding me to work hard, and that he had faith in me and my ability. It's hard to realize that next year I'm starting this journey towards being a professional musician by myself...not that I'm totally alone, but now that I'm facing my senior year of my undergrad, I can't let myself lose steam. I got told a lot this year that this was the first time that my professors and fellow musicians really saw me buckle down and do what needed to be done, and I have to keep motivated so that I don't lose that over the summer.

My goal is to be back up to three hours a day by July. That gives me about 2 weeks, and then one week of maintaining it before I head to Florida for the horn camp where I'm meeting my (hopefully) private teacher for grad school. Not only is this goal practical (has anyone else ever been to a music camp where you aren't expected to play several hours each day?), but it reminds me that this is a really big opportunity, and I don't want to blow it. If I treat this like my grad school audition, I hope that it will help me to keep from getting complacent.

It's crazy to think about how much being a musician is both being an artist and an athlete. At least being a brass player is. I took a week off, and suddenly it feels like my abilities are back to being those of a 6th grader. You don't think about it at the time, but after taking the days off, you do feel like kicking yourself for being so dumb and not taking care of those muscles. *sigh* Someone remind me I said this the next time that school has become overwhelming and I'm deciding to take the day off of practicing for a little more homework time. So not worth it.

On a happier note, I am very proud to announce that I baked my very first pie this afternoon! I haven't taste tested it, but it smells amazing. :D