Long Day

Yesterday took forever...at least 27 hours or so, I'd think. This whole "There are only 24 hours in a day" thing is obviously a liberal ploy to make us all lazy communists.

I went to sleep from a long day of teaching, rehearsing, and writing on Wednesday at 4:15am early Thursday morning. Oy...I spent a great deal of time putting thoughts of genius to paper (except digitally).

Two hours later, at around 6:15, I woke up and got my rear end to a sectional for a Brahms Violin Concerto. Let me tell you, it's hard to whip the folks in shape when you're that tired. Of course, then I had to sit through another 2.5 hour rehearsal of my own. My afternoon was spent running errands and yelling at my clarinet.

At 730, a concert in Jersey that was wonderful. Of course, I wasn't playing, but was supporting a couple of friends in their new chamber music series. (Cough cough...for which I'll be playing in April. More to come later on that.)

Then, catching a band at a local establishment at around 1230. Went to bed at 3am. Okay, so only 23 hours yesterday. Hyberbole....sue me.

Today...Halloween! I'm wondering how many ghoulies will show up at the house this year. Seems like a very suburban neighborhood, so I stocked up on the candy just in case.

Rat Race

What the hell? This place is like a ghost town. Nothing is here.

Here's the lay of the land. I've been able to get a handle on reeds, a mouthpiece that's acceptable but not ideal, and am working on plenty of music.

On that note, why is Schumann's 3rd Symphony so boring? I've got to play it for the first time ever in a few weeks. I seem to remember conducting it with a lab orchestra in school, but I haven't sat in the orchestra yet and played it. Honestly, it's just not up to snuff. It's not nearly up to the same standard as his art songs or even his piano concerto. I hope I don't have to spend too much effort to learn the clarinet part.

Another shot at the Brahms Violin Concerto coming up soon. The last time I played it was with Leonid Kavakos on the solo part. That guy was a stunningly beautiful player. I don't remember who will be playing it this time. Some new (to me) Kodaly on the same program.

Also working on a new piece for clarinet and laptop for a concert in Dec. Will write more about that.

Also, I'm also getting to learn the Bernstein Sonata for the first time. In total, I'm learning a ton of music. Life could be worse.