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.