I play with a contemporary classical music ensemble here in town and we perform local composers' works, many of who have or are getting their doctorate degrees in composition. The ensemble is of standard instrumentation: violin (I'm their core violinist and we hire others [and viola] in as needed), cello, piano, percussion, flute, oboe and bassoon. If we need horn or anything else, we also hire them in. We have been fortunate to be supported by many different grants, thus enabling us to be a truly professional group. I enjoy playing with them because of the huge diversity of the pieces I get to play. Some of the compositions are very tonal, some are quite the opposite. They range in instrumentation from violin/piano duet to full ensemble, plus every interesting instrumental combination you could think of. Tonight I'm playing one piece for string quartet plus oboe and bassoon. Another piece on tonight's program is for horn, violin, flute, cello, piano and percussion. They definitely stay fresh and interesting with the variety.
Anyway, I'm not really that nervous about it, but I am a little nervous I will have 3 friends (including one of my adult students there!) in the audience and the two non-student friends are both male--who might or might not happen to both be interested in me--and they have both only heard me play non-classical shows before. So I'm hoping things go really well tonight!
I'm going to squeeze a workout in then come home, shower, practice/warm up for a bit before our 5pm call time for an 8pm concert. There will definitely be packed snacks, as I never know if we'll actually get a dinner break.
I changed it up for breakfast with cereal today. I found this new cereal at Big Lots yesterday. It was $3 for a huge, 2-bag box!! It is DELICIOUS and the nutrition facts are pretty good.
(Nutritional information about the cereal here.)
They aren't kidding about the Fruit and Nut Pieces; I was THRILLED to find pieces of dates, freeze-dried strawberries, walnuts, almonds, and probably some other stuff. It's fairly sweet but has only 9 grams of sugar per serving. That's still more than my normal cereals, but I mixed it with this:
Then I topped my bowl with fresh strawberries, skim milk and spoon of PB:
With coffee:
So I mentioned my Big Lots shop. It's a cool store because of how cheap everything is. I got these:
and:
I know the South Beach stuff and the energy drink are full of fake chemicals and stuff. But I like them, and the water will be great as it's getting warmer and I don't always drink as much plain water as I should. Plus, they're great to throw in my purse.
But I'm most excited about these:
The only ingredient is Almonds, and it was just $3 for this carton. :)
I'm also excited about the Split Pea soup, which I've seen on other bloggers' sites, as well and the Peak Protein granola which I've wanted to try for a long time now, but never gotten the chance.
Well, I forgot to post pictures from the Josh Ritter concert the other day, so here you go:
Gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful!
His smile KILLS me!! Augh!!!!!
What a great concert!! He has the best stage presence I've ever seen! It's remarkable!
Well, I'm off to do a bunch of stuff before my concert tonight. Have a great day!
Break a leg tonight! I wish I could be there to hear you play; I'm sure you are more than fantastic! Have no fear, I'm sure the gentlemen will be blown away. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou seriously give the best and nicest advice about auditions, etc! It's true...I am so critical of my own performances but not of others because I don't listen just to hear mistakes. We don't know their extenuating circumstances or if they had an off day, but we know sometimes that we have no excuse for not playing as well as we could have. And I know that the conductors are listening and judging my mistakes, so it makes me so nervous! As a non-major, it's even harder for me because all the odds are against me before I even play a note. They have no clue that I practice 2-4 hours a day and hear me play individually once a year, so it's just hard.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your encouragement, though!