The family visit was really great! It was so nice to show my Mom and Sis what I've been up to, plus share my experiences without feeling too long winded. Sad to see them go, but I had a lot to keep me busy-I moved apartments and I have a great roommate and have actually made some Austrian friends!
Recitals are so tension inducing, there's the feeling of 'this is the best I can play, and the culmination of all of my work' that is extremely daunting. Like that one day is supposed to define you. That freaks me out!!
Eat some Mexican food for me, I miss it
So yeah, things are good here...I'm really glad I'm staying here a year. I had a really interesting conversation with an Austrian friend of mine last night...and he was asking, "Isn't it great to move, you can just completely reinvent yourself and be whoever you want to be"
and i thought about it and was like, well-I mean I always have that thought going into something, but I also know who I really am and I know I can't cover that up or get away from it. Like, people can try and disguise themselves and some people succeed-but I think that for me and a lot of people, the change doesn't come from trying to be something else-rather it just happens when you do/experience new and different things. Then you wake up one day and are like, hey how the hell did this happen!? Anyways, random tangent....things are going well and I'm more nervous about coming home than I was to come here.
But I miss orchestral playing sooo much :( I'm gaining a lot of good experience and trying to surmount my stage fright issues. Chamber music is really good for that, plus I'm getting in the mindset to give a recital. I worked on and performed 2 mvmts of Mozart 3, and I'm working on the Strauss 2....it's my dream to play it in my senior recital when I come back. I'm still trying to figure out something good to prepare for concerto competition. I'd love to know what you think. I'm going to play the Brahms trio this semester and some Mozart trio for piccolo and two horns (?!?! Arrangement maybe?)
I played a lot this last semester, but I don't know how much or little progress I made. I really like Franz, but I have a hard time telling whether or not I'm getting better. I think a lot of it had to do with my practicing habits, which were really bad this last semester for a multitude of reasons, mostly how my schedule worked out mixed with the European quiet hours and frequent closing of facilities. Maybe I've developed a more acute ear? I don't know...but I've recorded some of the performances and they're on my computer...I can't figure out how to upload them!
Here's me and Jacy playing a really cool piece last semester:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Life is good, I'm very nervous about coming home and how I might have changed and how I'm going to fit back into the conservatory and life in general. I think some of my priorities have shifted and I'm worried about the expectations people will have for me when I come home-mostly in the social realm of things.
Maybe a lot of that sounds angsty, but I am having a great time! I have a new roommate, Ali-she's a lot of fun and I am sooo happy to be living with someone again! Also, my friend Renee is here (we met at Cazadero) and that's been a total blast. I have been really bad about pictures in the last few weeks, and bad at updating this thing in general. So, my LATE new years resolution is to get back on the ball with this!
Bis Bald!
-Julie
1 comment:
Oooohhhh Cazzie reunion abroad! Jealous.
You are wise beyond your years, and I love you.
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