Life and Music

New Moves

2012-03-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

I'm getting more flexible, bit by bit...

While I was in San Francisco I discovered that I can now do this cool new stretch... Only on my right leg, though (for now!). Here it is - the splits plus.... foot to the head!

And this is me doing another stretch for leg extensions...

                    Those were taken in Brother and Sister Fletcher's living room, who I stayed with while I was in San Francisco.   Brother and Sister Fletcher are soooooo nice!!!

            Okay, so then I got home and I tried it again in my house after ballet one night... Maybe I got a little carried away with snapping photos of myself using the timer function on my new phone... But I was so proud of myself for getting my splits that far.

And one more without the foot to head...(plus couch cushion intrusion on the left...)

There you have it... Jackie doing the splits! :-D

Waiting...

2012-03-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've really posted much to my blog!   I've been so busy with the concerts and auditions...but now everything is finished (until something else comes up!), and I can rest a little.

Some of you are wondering when I am going to post a video of my Ravel performance... The answer is soon, but it might be a couple weeks more.   I accidentally left my hard drive in San Francisco (when I told that to my teacher Dorothea, she broke out singing, "I left my hard drive in San Francisco!" to the tune of "I left my heart in San Francisco"!). The hard drive has several of my video and audio files from the concert.   So my friend in San Francisco has been keeping it for me and is going to send it to me in the mail this week. Hopefully it arrives safely and then I will be able to begin work on the videos!

Right now I am getting ready for my ballet school's recital in May... I will be playing the piano, accompanying one of the dance numbers, as well as dancing in a couple of pieces. Won't that be interesting?   I'm kind of excited about it.

Now, I am waiting to hear back the official word from SFCM and BYU about acceptance and scholarships into their master's programs... and from the Fulbright Foundation about my application for a scholarship to study in Italy.   All are good possibilities... So we will see what happens.

Well, I'm tired so I will say goodnight for now.

Goodnight!

One more day

2012-02-19T01:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe this is my last full day in San Francisco... in about 18 hours I will give my audition for the voice program at the conservatory, and then my plane will leave the next day to go back to Billings.

It has been a wonderful trip... I will have to write a lot when I get home and have a little more time (and don't need to get ready for an audition the next day!)

I'm sitting here listening over and over to recordings of Schubert's "Du bist di ruh", which I just memorized this week. I'm going to start with the Bell Song by Lakme for my audition tomorrow (I think). It's a long aria, so I don't know how much they will hear of anything else.

Wish me luck! And cross your fingers.... Or even better, say a little prayer! :-)

Goodnight.

Tomorrow, tomorrow

2012-02-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow it is!   Ravel will be played... and I will be happy!

     Rehearsals have been going well -- I have so much to write, but so little time. I will have to catch up when I get back.

        Two concerts this weekend in San Francisco with the SFCM orchestra.    The first one is tomorrow, and the next Sunday.   The Saturday concert, so I've heard, is already sold out. That makes me happy.

        Okay, goodnight!

Concert Ad

2012-01-21T11:34:00.001-07:00

The conservatory sent out this info about my concert in the "February Concert Highlights" email:

It's coming fast! Andrew Mogrelia is leaving his position at the conservatory after this, and the concert I will play on is the last performance he will give as conductor of the SFCM orchestra.

Conservatory Orchestra
Andrew Mogrelia, music director
Jacquelyn Weitz, piano

For his valedictory performances as music director of the Conservatory Orchestra, Andrew Mogrelia has chosen a dazzling program of orchestral favorites: Berlioz’s festive Roman Carnival Overture, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major featuring pianist Jacquelyn Weitz and Sibelius’s magisterial Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105.

Saturday, February 11, 8 p.m., Concert Hall, $20/$15
Sunday, February 12, 2 p.m., Concert Hall, $20/$15
Café Crème open for concessions before performances and at intermission.

Applications

2012-01-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it seems like I will never be done filling out applications... applications to schools, applications to competitions, applications for scholarships, applications for jobs, applications for everything. But it's a necessary process, if I ever want to go anywhere, or do anything.

I am almost finished now with an application for BYU. I decided to apply there for a Voice Master's as well, in addition to the San Francisco Conservatory. My audition for BYU, if I get one, will be on February 26th, the weekend after my audition in San Francisco. So much waiting and anticipation, always!

That's all for tonight...

Goodnight!

What to Wear?

2012-01-14T22:57:00.001-07:00

Okay - so for my concert with the SFCM orchestra in February, I ordered a custom-sewn dress (made to my measurements) from a dress shop in China, but it didn't turn out to be quite what I wanted. The color of the dress was supposed to be hunter green, but instead it is kind of minty, pale green (which for some reason with my skin tone makes me look really pale and kind of sickly). And even though the dress is sewn to my measurements, somehow it fits a little big on me. And when I sit at the piano, the sleeves fall down off my shoulders... which would not be good in a concert. It is pretty though, but I just don't know if I want to try to make it work for this. You can see in the close-up pictures how it's just a little lumpy. Sooooo...

What to do? I have a dress that is identical to the blue-green one that I wore for my recital this spring, except it is all white. I might where that one. Or I have a red one that my mom would need to do a little altering on... (fortunately she is good at that). But somehow I don't know if red is quite the right color for the Ravel concerto, or maybe just not for this performance, I don't know.

Anyway, I guess I'll figure it out. I'll have to where something, after all!

New reflections

2012-01-12T00:29:00.001-07:00

New post on reflections... "Knock and it Shall be Opened"

... me and my quest for perfect pitch.

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2012/01/knock-and-it-shall-be-opened.html

Re-mastering

2012-01-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

So I'm no recording engineer... but maybe if I keep making recordings of myself I'll end up becoming one by default. After talking to my friend, Matt Bowers, from Texas (who really is a recording engineer), he gave me some tips and ideas about how to clean up and bring out the piano sound on my song a little better. So here is the video again, with the piano like you hadn't heard it before:

And just in case you want to compare it to the previous recording, here it is:

New Poem

2011-12-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

New poem (well, actually an old poem I'm just posting now) on Reflections:

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/12/connection.html

New Recording - "What Do You Want"

2011-12-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a song I recorded at 3 in the morning Sunday night. I was actually trying to record another song, but tried about ten different takes and didn't like any of them. So then on a whim I started singing this song while the camera was still running, and I ended up getting a performance I was pretty happy with.

It's called, "What Do You Want?".

Voice Audition

2011-12-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

I got this email this week from SFCM...

I hope I'm not boring you by sharing my mail, but I thought maybe it might be interesting to some people who may never have seen an audition invitation from a conservatory... And it's memorabilia for the scrapbook, right?

I'm so excited!!!

Here it is:

Dear Jackie,

We are pleased to inform you that your voice audition for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music has been scheduled for Sunday, February 19th, at SFCM. Please read this entire message carefully and print this e-mail for your records.

1. To confirm that you will be attending, please reply to this email and add the word ‘Confirm’ to the subject line.

2. All applicants must check-in at the front desk at 3:00 pm and attend an orientation meeting at 3:15 pm. The meeting will provide you with information about our admission process and give you the opportunity to learn more about our school. Tours of the building will take place immediately following the orientation meeting.

3. Your audition time is 7:40 pm. In case we are running behind or ahead of schedule, please be ready to sing 15 minutes before your scheduled time and be prepared to stay later if necessary. The audition itself should last no longer than ten minutes. We do not administer any tests in theory, musicianship, etc. As soon as your audition is over, you're done!

4. We will provide a warm-up room with a piano for the 30 minutes before your audition.

5. If you signed up for a piano accompanist through the application, we will provide one for the audition itself. You will have a few minutes immediately before you enter the audition to discuss your music with your accompanist. We are unable to accommodate requests for advance practice time with your accompanist, but please rest assured that s/he is a member of our professional accompanying staff here at the school and will be very familiar with your repertoire.

6. Please bring music for your accompanist to the audition. Please also bring a short passage or poem to read after you have finished singing. You do NOT need to bring, or to send in advance, any additional copies.

7. Our building is located at 50 Oak Street between Van Ness and Franklin streets in downtown San Francisco's Civic Center. Information about visiting, including hotels, transportation and parking in the area, can be found on our website at www.sfcm.edu/prospective/visiting.aspx.

8. Coming to San Francisco for your audition will allow you to get to know our school and city. We encourage you to take advantage of your time here by attending classes, rehearsals and performances. Our performance calendar is available online at www.sfcm.edu/calendar/calendar.aspx. We would be happy to reserve a complimentary seat for you at any ticketed event if you contact us at least two weeks in advance.

You are also welcome to contact our faculty directly to try to schedule a consultative lesson. We recommend contacting them at least two weeks in advance of your audition. Faculty email addresses are available on their individual biography pages at www.sfcm.edu/prospective/faculty.aspx.

9. If you do not intend to audition for admission, or if this audition information is somehow in error, please contact us immediately.

We look forward to meeting you and presenting your application to the Admission Committee. Please contact us at admit@sfcm.edu or 800-899-SFCM with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Tessa Borelli
Associate Director of Admission

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

50 Oak
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.503.6231

San Francisco trip

2011-12-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

I got back from my trip to San Francisco on Sunday afternoon... I had a bunch of pictures on my phone that I was going to post on here, but when I tried to transfer them to my computer, somehow they all got deleted!!! I'm not happy about that.

But, Hannah played beautifully in her concert Saturday night (I had pictures of that too!!!).   I'm glad I got to hear her.   Now I have to get ready because I'll be on the next symphony concert in February!

I had two lessons with Paul and a lesson with Jane while I was there. It was so fun.

Jane had a really busy schedule and she wanted me to come to her house for a lesson on Saturday morning. But since she lives in Oakland it was going to be very difficult for me to get there, so she and her husband picked me up after she was done at the conservatory on Friday night, and they drove me to their house where I spent the night to have a lesson the next day.   But I forgot my bag at the conservatory that had all my music and clothes and everything! So Jane gave me a toothbrush and toothpaste and lent me one of her nighties to sleep in.    We talked a lot -- and I woke up Saturday morning to a breakfast of tea and bacon and scones that they had made. It was so lovely.

Jane told me when I first saw her at the conservatory Friday night that the voice faculty had watched my pre-screening audition video earlier that day and that I was accepted for an audition in the spring. So that makes me happy! I asked her how much of my audition they watched (because I had to submit three different recordings), and she said they only watched the "Der holle rache" by Mozart (the Queen of the Night's aria from the Magic Flute).   She said the faculty decided I could come after they heard only my first three notes, and they were going to stop the video, but Jane told them no, she wanted to hear the high notes and made them listen to more of it!! Of course I'm assuming they probably knew that Jane had worked with me before and was interested in having me for a student, which of course doesn't hurt in obtaining an audition....

  For the rest of the time I was stayed at my friend Dhivya's apartment, and on Saturday night Paul and Yoshi took us out to dinner before Hannah's concert. Then at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning I was on a Super Shuttle back to the airport, and Monday morning I was teaching again back in Billings....

      Now, tomorrow is the last day of classes at MSUB. And then next week I have to give a test and play for some juries.   But then it will be Christmas break, thank heaven!   Then I will be able to get some good practicing done....I'm so excited!

        Oh, I think I am going to post the video that Jane said they watched for my audition. I uploaded it to Youtube a while ago, but I haven't made it "Public" because my teacher in L.A. didn't think it was at quite a high enough performance level to post. But I will post it here. On the last high "F", I kind of squeeze that last note out and then I smile and break my character.... so that's one of the problems. But, a lot of the other singing is pretty good.  Jane did say to me, "It wasn't bad! It wasn't bad at all..."

Goodnight!

The joys of progress

2011-12-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know this might seem silly but I just did something that made me really happy.

       On Tuesdays and Thursdays I attend a religion class where we study the Old Testament, and usually when I go I play the piano for an opening hymn. Well, today, my teacher, Brother Reid, asked me if I could play a different version of "Away in a Manger" than the one that is in the hymnbook. He said he thought that there used to be a different version that he liked better than the one that is in there now - but that he couldn't remember how it went. I knew of the two different versions of this popular song, but I have never tried to play them without music... I told him I'm not a very good improviser, but that I could try - but that I probably would mess up. He said that would be alright, so I sat down and picked a key (F major), gave a little introduction, and they sang along as I played the opening hymn by ear!     Of course I made some mistakes but basically it was fine - and afterward Brother Reid thanked me and said, "Now that's the Christmas I remember!".

          My ears are getting better!!!   Mi fa felice!

Leaving on a jet plane

2011-11-29T01:18:00.001-07:00

In about thirty-six hours I will be boarding a flight to go to San Francisco... I'm so excited! I almost can't believe it's already been six months since I was there... and then on the other hand, it seems like it's been a year already.

I have two lessons scheduled with Paul, for Thursday and Saturday. Saturday evening will be Hannah's concert, and then I think we are all going to go out for dinner. That will be fun! Yoshi, my chamber music coach from my first semester, will come too.

I'm so nervous to play for Paul again! It has been quite a while since I have had a lesson with anybody, or performed my concerto for anyone... but that's why this is good for me, right?

I asked my friend, Anna if she could listen to me play through the concerto tomorrow before I leave for SF the next day... at least then I can be a little nervous again, and see if and where I have trouble.

I've been working on a number of new original songs recently, which I am excited about. I feel like my improvisation on the piano needs to get a little better before I can make a good recording of them though. But all things come in time, right?

Okay -- I'm going to go play through my concerto before I head to bed.

Goodnight!

Second Scarlatti

2011-11-23T04:06:00.002-07:00

Here is the next Scarlatti video from my recital... a slow one in B minor. So beautiful!!! I love Scarlatti.

     Just a few minutes ago I pressed the "submit" button on my application for the voice program at SFCM!! I'm so excited.   Now I have a couple more applications to do. I'm pretty sure that I want to go to San Francisco but I need to give myself some options.  So I think I may apply to the Boston and New England conservatories. One never knows what will or won't work out...

       In only a week I will leave for my short trip to SF...    I have a lot to do before then!   Number one, practice!   I haven't been doing enough of that lately and I really do not want to embarrass myself when I play for Paul...

       The weather has been so beautiful here lately... even if a bit cold.   About three weeks ago, I woke up to go to ballet class, and there was the most beautiful soft, fluffy snow falling everywhere around. I put on my sandals to go outside (I hadn't bothered even a couple of weeks ago to find my winter shoes yet!).   The sky was clear in the morning air and the sun was rising so everything was a little sparkly. It was so beautiful and relatively warm (for it being snowy!), that I just stood out there for several minutes in my sandals as the snow fell around me.   Then I got in the car and left for ballet, and didn't even bother changing my shoes.   I was certain the snow would quickly melt under the rising sun... but much to my surprise, I came out of ballet only one hour later to find my car buried in three or more inches of snow!    So my feet turned into snowballs walking through it in my sandals.   Still it was so beautiful I really didn't mind. . .

        Time to get some sleep.    Goodnight!

Scarlatti!

2011-11-19T12:05:00.008-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of Scarlatti sonatas that I played in my recital this spring. Here is the first one up:

And another aria

2011-11-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

And here is another! This is the "Bell Song" from the opera Lakme by Delibes.

New Aria

2011-11-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

New video up - I was working on videos ALL day and night last night because I had a prescreening recording due today for SFCM. This is me singing the "Willow Song" from the Ballad of Baby Doe, by Douglas Moore. It's from the recital I gave two weeks ago to help prepare me for the Met Auditions. . .

Plans in the making

2011-11-13T01:03:00.002-07:00

I don't remember if I wrote about this before, but just to fill you in to the plans I have been busy making for next year. . . . In September and October I was very occupied working on my application for a Fulbright scholarship/grant to study abroad in Italy next year.  They will let me know in January if I am selected as a final candidate.

But, since I don't know what the outcome of that will be, I am also planning to apply to a couple of different Master's programs now, in voice!   I called my teacher, Jane Randolph from the San Francisco Conservatory today, and talked to her about the possibility, and she seemed positive about the idea of me coming. So I will definitely make an application to SFCM, and then a couple of other places I haven't decided yet (but I am hoping for SFCM...and/or Italy...!).

And today I bought a plane ticket to go back to San Francisco for a few days in early December. My friend Hannah Nicholas won the lower string concerto competition at the conservatory last spring, right after I won the piano concerto competition (both of us from Paul Hersh's studio! - Paul, by the way, teaches both piano and viola at the conservatory.).   So I will go hear her play her concert on December 3rd.     While I'm there I will have a couple of lessons with Paul on my concerto and a couple of lessons with Jane on my Met audition program.   I'm excited - it will be nice to go on a trip and get back to the big city for a while (and out of the December weather in Montana! :-).

I've been working on getting a couple of other videos posted on youtube but for some reason when I put them through my software right now the sound doesn't come up matching with the video, so I have to work on that some more....

I have to get up early tomorrow to play the organ at church!   Goodnight...

New song...

2011-10-31T01:47:00.000-06:00

I recorded this new song I wrote a few weeks ago but hadn't had the time to get it uploaded to Youtube until now. Enjoy!

New poems

2011-10-28T21:20:00.000-06:00

Two new poems on "Hear Me" : http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/10/spider.html

http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/10/beauty-that-i-see-in-thee.html

Dancing

2011-10-28T20:18:00.001-06:00

Since I've been back home in Montana, I started taking ballet again with my old ballet teacher. I really love dancing, and I find that taking a dance class is one of the only ways that I can motivate myself to exercise regularly.

I also decided to try a new type of dance for the first time - a beginning modern dance class on Fridays. Since this is my first time dancing modern, I am taking the class with girls who are from ages 9-13. The movements are really really different than ballet so I feel like it's taking me a while to get used to. However last Friday in class my teacher, Ricki, asked me, "Do you take ballet?" "Yes," I said. "Have you ever considered coming to dance with my Terpsichore dancers?" I was surprised because "Terpsichore" is a small modern dance company that my teacher founded here in Billings, composed of about 8 women. "No, but I'd love to!" I said. I went to a performance of theirs a couple of weeks ago and I really enjoyed it - the women were all really strong and the dancing was beautiful. So now I am going to dance with them! I am excited about that.
I went to the first rehearsal on Monday night, and it was difficult. The combinations are long and complicated, and it is hard for me to remember them. And the other dancers are all very advanced and catch on really quick, so it makes me feel pretty dumb. But that will get better with time, right? Anyway, it was still fun and I am sure it will get more fun as I get better! I am posting some pictures below of the dance company:

The woman in the front of the picture above is my teacher, Ricki.

They are beautiful, aren't they?

Change in Plan

2011-10-28T19:53:00.000-06:00

Well, I've had to call off my audition this weekend for the Metropolitan Opera National Council. I was supposed to be leaving today with my dad and my accompanist, Sandi Rabas.... However today my cough has gotten worse enough that I feel like I can barely speak two words without coughing and I have a headache and an earache... So altogether it's not looking so good.

I tried singing a few things over the phone yesterday for my teacher Dennis and he was surprised, for as sick as I am, that I could do as much as I could do, but still some of the notes just didn't want to come out and it was really unpredictable when they would come out and when they wouldn't.

However all is not lost -- I plan to submit another application to compete instead in the Met auditions in January in Denver. It's just that the trip is a little farther and it will be fairly close to my performance with the orchestra at the San Francisco Conservatory so it will be a little more stressful. But I will have a lot of time until then to get my program really polished, so maybe it is a blessing in disguise.

Now I think I'm going to take some Nyquil and go back to bed.

Stupidity

2011-10-25T11:35:00.000-06:00

So I stayed up too late a couple of nights ago, working on some grading for the class I teach.....and the next day I started coming down with a yucky cold/cough! I'm not very happy about this, considering that my Met audition is in just a few days now... Hopefully it will get better quickly. But for now this means I can't rehearse...practice...sing....etc.

I cancelled the lessons that I have to teach today so I could stay home and rest. And this morning my voice teacher, Dennis, told me to gargle and drink water with baking soda in it to help it go away faster. So I did that (it made me gag!!!). And I've been taking vitamin C. So hopefully it all works. If anyone feels like saying a prayer for me that certainly couldn't hurt, either! :-)

New recording up

2011-10-21T00:21:00.002-06:00

This is from a rehearsal I had at the San Francisco Conservatory for the Handel Aria concert of the Baroque Ensemble. It's not a perfect performance - the flautist and I are improvising the ornamentation so it gets a little weird once or twice where I'm not sure what notes I'm singing! And my flautist's music falls off the stand at one point so you can hear that, as well.... But overall otherwise I think it's a pretty good recording.

Ah, La vita!

2011-10-20T21:05:00.000-06:00

Sorry that it has been so long since I last made a post on my blog! I have been so busy since I started teaching at MSU this semester, it has been crazy.

I decided (at my teacher Dennis' encouragement) to try the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions this year, and the first round is coming up for me next weekend in Pocatello, Idaho! My dad is going to drive down there with me and my accompanist, Sandi Rabas. The competition will take place in the afternoon on Saturday, October 29th.

This Sunday I am going to give a mini-recital in preparation for the competition, to try performing all of the repertoire (a lot of it I have never performed before!).

Here are my 5 arias that I have decided on for the audition:

Les oiseux dans la charmille (The Doll Song) from Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach
Ou va la jeune indoue (The Bell Song) from Lakme by Delibes
Tornami a vagheggiar from Alcina by Handel
Deh vieni non tardar from the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart
Willow Song from The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore

My mom got a new video camera this week and I asked her to record the recital on Sunday so hopefully I will be able to get a good recording of something I can put up!

My mom took this picture of me doing yoga the other day... I'm just beginning to be able to hold this pose for a short period of time (anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds) without losing my balance:

Cool yes? My fingers look like they are posed and ready to play the piano down there on the carpet...

La vecchia macchina

2011-08-19T19:55:00.000-06:00

My poor little car (a 1989 Chevy Celebrity...in desperate need of a new coat of paint) has been broken down almost since I got home this summer. It started running really roughly, almost as if one of the cylinders was not firing, and it was almost dying as I drove it and the speedomiter was not working at the same time. I took it to three different mechanics - the first two wouldn't even agree to look at it because they didn't know what was wrong... Then I took it to another place, and they told me it needed a "tune-up" and that a leak needed repairing. So I agreed to the tune-up, in hopes that that would take care of the problem. Well, they did the tune up -- they changed some spark plugs and wires and cleaned a filter or two -- and charged me $438. But... I went to pick it up, and the car was still not working. They said the intake and radiator were both leaking so I needed to have more work done on it... $1000 worth all together. I had just had some leaks repaired last summer and I haven't noticed any fluids dripping from underneath, so I thought this sounded very strange.

So I took it back... but was out of money for the moment so I knew I had to wait a little longer to have anything major done. But I took it back over to one of the other places I took it to in the first place, and asked them to look at it again and see if they can tell what was wrong. They said they wouldn't do anything to it unless I was willing to spend $200-$300, and I agreed. (I think they were concerned because it is such an old-looking car that they thought maybe they would try to fix it and it wouldn't get fixed and then I wouldn't pay them)... So they agreed to take it; they kept it there a week and a half (enough time for my aunt to send me $200 for my birthday!) and then called and said that the computer in it had gone bad (and that they checked the intake and there was NO leak!!). They said they went to the salvage yard to find a used computer so that the cost wouldn't "bury me" (like the cost of a new computer would)... and then told me I could come pick it up the car today.

There was a bit of a scare when I went to get it with my mom, because after they gave me the keys and I got into the car to leave....I turned the key in the ignition, and I couldn't get it to start. The mechanic had to come start it for me. He said he thought that there was just some dirt in some pipe that they sprayed and that it would clear itself out, but to bring it back in if I had any more problems. I went to the school and practiced for a little while, and when I went to leave it started like a charm. :-) Good old car.

And I'm so grateful when I find an honest mechanic....

Some new posts on my reflections blog: http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-feel-as-if-god-placed-his-foot-into.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/08/by-small-and-simple-things.html

A new type of practice

2011-08-05T21:17:00.002-06:00

I think I mentioned in a recent post that I was wanting to start practicing yoga. Well I started watching some videos this summer on Youtube, and then got a book at Barnes and Noble a couple of weeks ago:

and started practicing on my own...

But I was very happy today because I was able to do a pose I have been working on for a few weeks for the very first time:

A failed attempt...

It's called the "Bow Pose" or Dhanurasana.

And here's another one, called the "King Dancer" pose, or Natarajasana.

They'll get better as I get more flexible. Right now I can only hold each of these poses for a few seconds before I fall out of them... actually the bow pose I can probably only hold for two seconds, haha.

But I really like yoga! I think I'll probably keep doing it now for the rest of my life.

New Video - Handel "Oh Sleep Why Dost Thou Leave Me"

2011-08-03T23:17:00.000-06:00

Here is a new video from my recital at the San Francisco Conservatory in May. It's one of the arias I sang by Handel, called "Oh Sleep Why Dost Thou Leave Me".

A Beautiful Wedding

2011-07-16T19:33:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my family drove to North Dakota to attend my aunt Shanna's wedding. She got married on top of a butte on my new Uncle's farmland... It was so beautiful. We took a hayride part way up to get to the wedding site. Here are a few pictures from it:

My sister and her boyfriend and I sang a country song, "I Know How the River Feels" as part of the service. My sister and her boyfriend played the guitar (I have to learn to do that!! :-)....

This is my dad and mom:

Me.

Some wedding guests admiring the beautiful view.

Coming from the trucks/haywagon:

The ceremony beginning:

On the haywagon.

My aunt and uncle:

Thoughts on the temple

2011-07-15T00:45:00.001-06:00

And one other post (not a poem) on my "Reflections" blog today... : http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/learning.html

Cleaning and a Wedding

2011-07-15T00:15:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow my family and I leave for North Dakota, to go to my aunt Shanna's wedding.

I have been busy the last couple of days trying to clean up my room (which is a TOTAL disaster!!). It's probably going to take me the rest of a week to get it all in order. Seriously. Aaaaaa!!!! When I get it all cleaned up maybe I will take a picture for you... maybe. :-)

I have been busy reading and studying a lot. I got the instructor copies of the theory books that I will be teaching my class from in the fall. I'm kind of excited about that. There is so much to write and so little time because I have to go and pack... but I will try to write some more next week.

Ta-ta!!

p.s. - new post on 'reflections':

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/look-down-on-me-with-love.html

Silver threads

2011-07-10T02:24:00.001-06:00

New poem on my poetry blog:

http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/silver-threads.html

2011-07-06T21:24:00.000-06:00

Sheesh I'm bombarding my reflections blog these last two days.

Four more new posts: (and my first post ever in Italian! Hopefully my grammar is, for the most part, correct...)

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-do-i-know-that-god-is-real-i-guess.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/che-cosa-dio-vuole-da-me-che-cosa.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/practice.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/teachers.html

New Reflections

2011-07-05T23:37:00.000-06:00

A few new posts on my reflections blog... Actually only one of them is really "new" (the first link below), the other ones I actually composed several months ago and never published. One of them is just a scripture, two of them are poems, and the the last one is actually the very first post I ever wrote for this blog... I finally just pushed the "publish" button on it today... so now my first entry on this blog has finally arrived! It's just a thought written in a couple of lines (the fourth link, below).

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/unto-furthest-ends.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-want-so-badly-something-which-i-do.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/evidence-of-things-not-seen.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-believe-that-depth-of-soul-is-as-wide.html

busy again...

2011-06-30T19:35:00.000-06:00

It seems like forever since I've written but I guess really it's only been about ten days...

But I am home now in Montana.   And life is good.   I have a little bit of exciting news and that is that I am going to be teaching voice and music theory this coming year at the local college - Montana State University Billings. That will be a very interesting new experience for me.

I also just accepted my first-ever improv student... a lady called MSUB looking for a teacher that could help her learn to improvise and understand chord progressions at the piano, and guess who they recommended?? That's right, me. I'm a little intimidated since I feel like I'm still learning how to improvise myself, but I am sure I can help her. There aren't many people in Billings, MT who do this sort of thing.   And we will continue learning together, right?

I tried to get a new video posted the other day, but my software is not sophisticated enough to do the things I want with the video editing. I have a couple songs from my recital I am going to post but first I have to get the new software that will allow me to have more than one video track at once.   I have some different camera angles I want to use in a single video, but with only one video track --every time I try to make an edit all the synchronization gets messed up between all the other video cuts and the audio.

Guess what I've decided to do now?? Yoga! I met this girl in San Francisco that was an AMAZING yogi...and she totally inspired me. I'm going to start taking ballet too (I took ballet for a few years before I left for my master's degree), but I really want to start dancing again, and doing things artistically and expressively with my body. I think it helps my playing to dance, as well, and of course it's just healthy in general. Plus the flexibility and strength required to do yoga poses will really help me with my dancing, as well... I'm so excited!

Before I start yoga or dance classes though, I have to start teaching a few lessons again so that I can have the money to pay for them!!! So much to do, always.   It's exciting though.

I am about to go work on cleaning out the spare room of my house because we have company coming in a couple of days.   I will post more soon!!

Cable Car Ride!

2011-06-17T23:37:00.001-06:00

One of the last days before I left San Francisco my friend Kelsey and I went for a ride on a cable car down to the warf.

We stood on the back of the cable car in the open air and watched as the road fell behind us.

A man stood on the back with us who was the brake operator. He cranked the lever by hand every time the car had to come to a stop.

One of the stops of the cable car is the famous "Lombard Street", which is a very very curvy street down a hill, with a beautiful view of San Francisco. Kelsey and I didn't get off here though.

We got of here: at the last stop on Hyde street, next to the water.

Alcatraz Island

2011-06-13T02:00:00.000-06:00

One thing I felt I simply had to see before I left San Francisco was Alcatraz Island. (I don't know why, exactly, except that it is so famous and I was curious). My friends Hannah and Dhivya went with me.

Here is a picture of San Francisco from the boat we took to the Island:

The seagulls flew alongside the boat and picked food out of the children's hands who were feeding them.

The wind was blowing (as usual).

The Alcatraz cell-house.

A stairway going up the hillside of the island.

We took an audio tour of the cell-house. This was the first thing we walked into - the showers.

A typical cell:

Through the bars:

A game many of the inmates liked to play - a one-man bridge game.

The view from inside a cell.

This was the library.

This is a view from inside "the hole", where they would lock prisoners who caused trouble in solitary confinement. One of the tour guides closed the door on me while I was inside so I could experience what it was like, and it was pitch-black. On my audio tour, I heard an ex-inmate of Alcatraz say that when he got locked in there, he would tear a button off of his jacket, and throw it on the floor of the cell. Then he would make a game of trying to find it. As soon as he found it he would throw it down again, and try to find it again - to keep his mind busy and from going crazy. Another inmate said he would focus really hard on the darkness, until he could see a point of light, and then the light would grow, and it was as if he could see a TV screen, and he would travel different places in the darkness with his mind's eye this way.

    If the prisoners behaved well they could have some hobby items in their cell. This one had a checker board.

Four prisoners were able to escape alcatraz by making fake heads out of wax and scratching away at the air vent in their cells with metal spoons. They were never found, but they think they probably drowned trying to swim to San Francisco (because the water is so cold and the swim is quite long and wavy).

The Alcatraz cafateria menu board. They say the prisoners were fed well.

Flowers growing on the hillside of Alcatraz. Many women and children lived on Alcatraz island (whose husbands/fathers worked at the prison). The children took a boat to school in San Francisco every day. They say they really liked living on the island.

Dhivya snapping photos.

Hannah and Dhivya.

A view of San Francisco from the island - we're about to catch the boat back.

back home

2011-06-13T00:39:00.000-06:00

Here I am again, back home in Montana. It is very nice to be home, and it feels so weird!!! I just lived in San Francisco for a year, and now all of the sudden I'm back here again, and it feels like I've been in some sort of time warp - because my life in San Francisco was so completely different from my life in Montana, and now I return to Montana, and my life is almost exactly the same as it was when I left.

Now I am figuring out what to do with myself again... I am thinking now that I really really want to try to go to Italy to live for at least a little while sometime within the next two years. I studied Italian so intensely this year at the conservatory, and I was able to go through the beginning, intermediate, and advanced Italian classes, but I am still not fluent. My Italian teacher told me though, that he thinks that if I went to Italy, even for just a few months, that my Italian would get to be amazing. I also know several wonderful piano teachers in Italy that I have worked with before at different piano festivals. Wouldn't that be exciting? I think I might apply for a Fulbright scholarship for next year so that I can get some money to go... We will see what happens.

I am really excited because my parents said they are going to buy me some basic recording equipment and let me set up a small recording studio in one of the rooms of their house. I am so excited about that - It will make it a lot easier for me to make and edit recordings, and get them posted online! If I can get some professional-quality stuff maybe I could even start making them downloadable... and maybe even make a little money at it!! That would make me sooo happy.

I find myself missing my teachers in San Francisco this week... but next week I will have some lessons with my teacher here, Dorothea, so that will make me feel better. I always like having another person's input on my playing.

I feel so excited one second... and then so discouraged the next... and then so hopeful... and then so afraid... Life is so strange!!!

I lay awake at night for the past three nights until 4, 5, or 6 am every morning. My mind has just been whirring and I can't get myself to fall asleep. But today I had to get up early for church so maybe I am tired enough to fall to sleep more easily tonight. Here's hoping!!!

I have some pictures from some of my adventures in San Francisco and the trip home that I will be posting soon.

ta-ta for now!

Singing Quote

2011-05-23T19:42:00.000-06:00

A couple from church, Brother and Sister Harris, came to my recital last Sunday, and afterwards Brother Harris told me that watching my recital he was reminded of a quote that he would give to me at church the following Sunday. So Sister Harris gave me the quote in an envelope at church yesterday, and I thought it was very beautiful so I am writing it down here on my blog so I don't lose it or forget it. Here it is:

Rabindranath Tagore
from Gitanjali

When thou commandest me to sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes.

All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony---and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea.

I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence.

I touch by the edge of the far-apreading wing of my song thy feet which I could neer aspire to reach.

Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.

China Town and Telegraph Hill

2011-05-21T18:48:00.000-06:00

On Thursday I walked around Chinatown in the afternoon and then went up to Telegraph Hill in the evening, where the view of San Francisco was amazing.

Here are some sort of antlers for sale in one of the Chinese herb shops.

There were some amazing flowers hanging from trees in the gardens on Telegraph Hill. Sorry the picture is not very good. The flowers were so big and beautiful though. It was like a roof of lilies overhead.

Here is a view of the Bay Bridge from the hill. It was so beautiful!

A walk along the Seacliffs with Sister Fletcher

2011-05-21T18:38:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week a very nice lady and friend of mine from church, Terri Fletcher, went with me to the art museum in San Francisco called "The Legion of Honor". It was a very beautiful museum. Afterwards we took a walk along the seacliffs and then the beach. I took a bunch of pictures on my phone (and Sister Fletcher took the ones of me for me).

The Golden Gate Bridge in the distance...

The pathway along the cliffs:

I like this one through the trees:

Me on a big tree that is growing sideways.

With a sign that warns: Don't walk off the edge of the cliff.

On the beach.

Sister Fletcher and I.

A nice view of San Francisco from Hayes street.

A bunch of wind-surfers were out that day.

A painter

2011-05-21T18:25:00.000-06:00

I was walking down Market street a few days ago and passed by this painter on the corner by the Zuni cafe... and snapped a couple of photos with my cell phone. His painting was very good.

Conservatory Goings-On

2011-05-21T18:21:00.000-06:00

I got a new cell phone a few weeks ago and I got really behind on posting any pictures because I couldn't figure out how to get them off the new phone. But I just bought a micro SD card and now I have uploaded them all to my computer... So here come the picture posts! This giant guitar ice sculpture was part of a festival for the famous guitarist, Pepe Romero, who received an honorary doctorate from the conservatory a few weeks ago. I heard Pepe play in his concert and it was really amazing. This ice sculpture was amazing too.

Below is a picture from where I was sitting in the balcony of the recital hall at the conservatory, where Leon Fleisher was teaching a master class. The student in the picture was playing the Beethoven 2nd Concerto, as I recall.

Post-recital pic

2011-05-18T22:49:00.000-06:00

My friend Dhivya took this picture of my Italian teacher congratulating me after my recital on Sunday- (he's just about to kiss both my cheeks). She thought it looked like a scene from an old black-and-white movie. And so it does... haha.

Recital Day!

2011-05-16T03:03:00.000-06:00

I just finished my very first ever recital where I both play the piano and sing!! It was so fun! It went very, very well, for the most part. I am so happy!   I had the recording department tape it, so as soon as I can I will post some videos and/or audio from it!   I had a nice audience with probably about 20 people from church and ten or fifteen people from the conservatory. I was lucky enough to have FOUR of my dear teachers there tonight -- my piano teacher, Paul, my voice teacher, Jane, my Italian teacher, Brioni, and my voice teacher who drove all the way from Los Angeles, Dennis. I felt so loved!

      Now it is strange though to be all by myself again in my little room at the dorm.

     Two very nice friends of mine from church gave me bundles of flowers too. I don't have a vase right now so I cut the top off one of my water jugs and put them in there. They are very beautiful.

     Tomorrow I have my final jury for my Professional Studies Diploma at the conservatory, at 3:45 in the afternoon. Then I will be really finished with ALL of the requirements for my diploma! Can you believe it? This year has gone by soooo fast.

       I'm so excited to see what the future holds in store for me next. :-)

                              Goodnight!

Concerto!!

2011-05-13T19:42:00.000-06:00

I just got an email from the orchestra manager at the conservatory that the dates for my concerto performance have been set... I will have two performances of the concerto next year with the orchestra, on February 11th and 12th. She told me that I need to plan to be available for two weeks ahead of the performance for rehearsals, which should work out nicely since Paul already told me that I could stay at his house and have lessons before-hand. That will be so fun!! I'm so excited. I'm really happy that I get two performances of it, instead of just one. Usually I always play better on the second night...

Yaaaay!!

new poem

2011-05-07T21:53:00.000-06:00

I just finished (I think!) a poem I started a few weeks ago on "Hear Me":

http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/04/darkest-hour.html

Finished!!!!!

2011-05-06T14:58:00.000-06:00

I just finished my last final project/presentation for the year!!! I am so happy! I wrote a fable last night based on an Italian proverb, and today we all read our stories to each other, and discussed our plans with each other for the summer, and now I am done! Now I just need to memorize my voice music for my recital, and practice and rehearse a lot. But that will be all I need to concentrate on for the next week. I'm so excited!

I had a voice lesson this morning with Jane. She has helped me so much this year... My coloratura passage-work is getting to be so much easier for me.

Tonight I have a lesson with Paul (Ack! I need to practice!!), and then my friend Dhivya is giving her recital at eight o'clock.

I feel like having a party.... :-D

Hooray!!!

P.S... New post on my Reflections...http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/05/happiness.html

Finals week

2011-05-03T19:18:00.000-06:00

I am sitting here in the computer lab at the conservatory and decided to take a little break from working on my final project/presentation on the Brahms Requiem for Oratorio Workshop tomorrow morning.

I've been feeling much better this week after I was able to get some very good and long nights of sleep. Now I just have to make it through the next few days and I will be done with all my final exams except for my recital and my jury!! Friday will be the last day of finals :-D!!!!!!!

Mr. Mack McCray (the chair of the piano department here at the conservatory and the director of the Zephyr chamber music festival in Italy) stopped me on the sidewalk today and told me that I have been accepted to the festival and that they want me to come, and that they have a scholarship for me. I am not sure how much the scholarship will be, but he said to come visit him later this evening (he is going to call me), and let me know the details. It would be fun to go to Italy this summer! We will see what the scholarship ends up to be.

It will be so nice to be back in Montana this summer, too. I miss the Rims and the mountains and big wide open spaces.

My parents might be getting me some recording equipment this summer so I can start making recordings more easily. That would make me happy! It won't be anything super fancy, but recording technology (along with every other technology) is advancing so quickly that I think I'll be able to do quite well with some basics. Hopefully I can learn how to use the equipment well enough to get some professional-sounding stuff.

Anyway, lots to think about and plan for! I guess I should go get back to work.

Until later...

Tired

2011-04-26T16:12:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness things have been so busy and crazy... There are only two more weeks left of school - except for my recital on May 15th. It's so crazy! These nine months have gone by very fast.

I have been so stressed out with so many things to do -- final projects for continuo, improv, and oratorio classes, my recital planning/practicing, three classes of Italian (lo imparo parlare molto meglio! -I am learning to speak it much better!), voice lessons, piano lessons, studio class, Baroque Ensemble voice classes... Aaaaaaaaaa!!! Thinking about all of it all the time is making it very difficult (if not impossible) for me to sleep - and for the past 2 weeks I only slept on average three hours per night. I just lay there for hours, trying to sleep, but not succeeding. The last two nights I have taken some melatonin (at my Mom's suggestion) to help me, which it has somewhat... but it makes my head feel a little weird so I don't really like it. But it's better to sleep with melatonin than to go crazy from not sleeping! It's been making me feel like a bit of an emotional basket case being so tired.

Anyway.. I will make it. Just a couple more weeks. And then I will be so sad to leave because I have learned so much here this year and made so many friends and worked with so many wonderful teachers. But I don't have to think about that now.

I had a concert today for continuo class, where I accompanied a cellist on a sonata by Bonocini, playing the harpsichord. That marks my very first harpsichord performance on stage, ever! I'm sure there will be more to come.

I think I might go try to take a little nap and get some dinner now. Happy week after Easter, everyone!

2011-04-18T02:33:00.000-06:00

Recent posts on my other blogs:

http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/04/midnight-musing.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/04/tonight-i-am-so-grateful.html

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/03/to-father.html

Moving on

2011-04-18T02:06:00.000-06:00

My mom called me yesterday and told me that a letter came from the University of Colorado in Boulder, telling me officially that they will not be offering me any scholarship money for the coming year (zero!!).  At this point I actually am not surprised by the news because the situation there has seemed very much in limbo for the past weeks. After my audition Dr. Korevaar told me that an offer would be coming for me in early March, but early March came and went, and an offer did not. So I wrote an email to them and didn't hear back for several weeks, so finally I called the graduate office and a lady there told me that she didn't see my name on the list of scholarship recipients - They had already sent out their offers to their first choices, and I was not one of them. She told me though, that I might be on the "2nd tier" or "3rd tier", so that if somebody who received an offer rejects it, they might offer it to me instead. But now it's clear that I was not on the 2nd or 3rd tier, either!    So, I was disappointed about that (because I had been really excited about going there)--- but I think that there must be something much better in store for me (I don't know what yet... but something!).

     This reminds me of the time that I auditioned for the Artist Diploma program at TCU, and received no scholarship money. Back then I was really upset and disappointed, and hurt actually, because I knew all the teachers there and I had thought they would offer me something. But if I had gotten into the program there I would still be there right now, and would never have come to the conservatory here in San Francisco! And I am sooo happy I have had this amazing opportunity. I have learned and changed and grown so much this year.   And now, I guess because this one door has closed to me, all the others are still open now!   We will see what the future holds... :-)

     Tomorrow I have to play the last movement of my Schubert Sonata for studio class. I just got it memorized aaaaaaaa! I'm nervous, but I'm nervous about my recital in general; everything is coming up so fast!     My time at the conservatory is going to be over in a flash! I can hardly believe it. One month left with all my wonderful teachers.   But they are all so wonderful that they say I can come back any time and they will listen to me and give me lessons again (Jane and Paul have both told me that!). And I'm sure my Italian teacher would be happy to meet with me and chat in Italian again. I love it when I feel like I have made a new (or a few) life-long friends. Life is good.

Okay must go sleep so that my brain can try to organize all the work I did on Schubert today.

Goodnight!

New Program

2011-04-16T01:55:00.000-06:00

Oh my gosh the days have been sooo busy here at the conservatory I have had no time to write! I am so tired tonight... But I wanted to write just a litte bit before I go to bed.

Today I had a lesson with Jane and we spent it looking at possible music for my recital program. I think I have pretty much decided on the songs I will sing and the pieces I will play. Now I just have to learn them!!! I have one month - I think (and hope) it will be possible. I've got to get back to practicing long hours.

Did I tell you that my Italian teacher, Brian Neilson, invited me to go to the Advanced Italian class now? I am so happy! That happened last week. It actually happened when I missed my intermediate class and he said I could come to the advanced one to make it up, but then when I went he told me that I could keep coming. Of course I'm happy to go and have the opportunity to keep getting better so fast at Italian! The advanced class is a lot of fun because it is just a few students that sit around a small table in Professor Neilson's (we call him Brioni) office. He brings snacks and we sit and work on exercises together, watch Italian movies and have discussions in Italian. I love it! Now I really want to go to Italy this summer. I am hoping it can work out. I applied to a summer chamber music festival that one of the teachers here runs, called the Zephyr Chamber Music Festival. Mack McCray is the director.  Mr. McCray came into my practice room a couple of weeks ago and told me that Paul "highly recommended" me to him for the festival - so I submitted an application and played my audition last Thursday.

So in case you are curious what I am currently thinking will be my program for my recital, here it is:

Piano: Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Major (I think from Book 2)
Voice: Bach: "Aus liebe" from the St. Matthew Passion

Piano: Schubert: Sonata in A Major, Op. 120
Voice: Schubert: Du Bist di Ruh
                        Im Fruhling

Piano: Liszt: Paganini Etudes Nos. 3 and 4
Voice: Liszt: I Love But Thee
                  Oh When I Dream

Piano: Rachmaninoff: Moment Musicaux Nos. 4 and 5 (or 3 and 4)
Voice: Rachmaninoff: I Long for Thee
                               Lilacs

How does it look? I hope it's not too long (or too short)... I need to figure out the exact timings for all the pieces. But I can do that tomorrow.

This will be a very interesting experience for me because this will be the first recital that I have ever given like this - where I sing and play classical music on the same concert.   I am wondering if it might be difficult to "switch gears" so much back and forth between singing and playing... But it's something I really want to do, so if it is difficult then I will just need to get better at it! And of course there always has to be a first time for everything.

Well I guess I will go and get a little sleep now. Goodnight!

Paul and I

2011-04-05T02:54:00.000-06:00

Today in studio class I played the first movement of my Schubert Sonata in A major from memory for the first time. Paul had a lot to say about it, and my friend Dhivya was there with her camera taking pictures (she enjoys practicing photography in addition to the piano!). Here is a picture of Paul demonstrating for me at the piano:

He is such a wonderful teacher and person. I'm so grateful I got to come here to study this year!!!

New Blog Views

2011-04-03T13:40:00.000-06:00

I was on my blog-editing page and saw that Google has created some new ways for people to view blogs. If you type in the address of my (or any) blog that has the views enabled, and then type " /view " after it, you will be able to see the different views. So mine would be: www.jacquelynweitz.blogspot.com/view
and
www.jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/view
www.jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/view

There is a little pull-down menu at the top that says "sidebar" and then other views are available underneath it such as "snapshot" and "mosaic". You can see a lot more posts in these views than in the normal blog view. Enjoy!

Jazz fun, plans and other ramblings

2011-04-03T13:24:00.000-06:00

On Thursday in my improvisation class we improvised for the first time as a group from a "lead sheet" (the piece of music that has the melody and chords written out for a jazz tune). That made me really happy because so far in the class we have mostly been doing a kind of "free improv", where we don't try to plan or follow a pre-determined melody or harmony. It was actually a lot of fun... and it felt more natural to me than I thought it would, even though my improvisations were not very good. We each took turns improvising first on the melody, and then improvising a "walking bass line", while the rest of the group comped the harmonic progression. The way Mario (our improv teacher) explained how to make a walking bass made it seem so simple - and it has always seemed like such a mystery to me how bassists come up with their walking bass patternds.  Basically, though, to make a walking bass we use the first and the fifth note of each chord change as a guide post, and then make "walking" (or mostly step-wise) patterns between them as the chords change, trying to (usually) end up on the root (first note) of the chord at the beginning of each measure. To start out Mario said that you can just try to play the root on the first beat of each measure, and the fifth on the middle of each measure, and then start to make the walking patterns between them. Then from there you can start coming up with lots of variations... and by listening to what other people do you can borrow from their ideas.

I am so excited to keep studying jazz... But I don't know where I am going to be living next year!!! I want to keep playing with a jazz group though so that I can keep improving -- And then someday be able to sing and play jazz songs while improvising!

I feel in kind of a weird place right now because I still don't know where I will be in the fall.   March went mostly by and I didn't hear anything about the results of my scholarship audition at the University in Colorado in Boulder... So I called the graduate office last week and left a message asking about my scholarship status. A lady called and left a message at my home in Montana saying that she looked up my name on the list of scholarship recipients and I wasn't there.... but she said I could possibly be on the "2nd tier" or "3rd tier" or "4th tier" (which means if somebody decides not to accept their offer from CU Boulder then I could be next in line to receive it... or 3rd, or 4th, etc.). But she said she doesn't have access to that information.    So I just have to wait and see.   If a scholarship doesn't come through for me then I will have to figure out something else to do. Maybe I am meant to do something else.
       The options that seem most plausible for me right now are: 1. Go home to Montana for a little while and practice and make recordings and study with my teachers there (and live at home for free).  2.  Try to get a job here in San Francisco (if I could earn enough money to pay my rent and living costs) and keep studying with Paul and Jane. 3. Go live in Madison, Wisconsin with my grandma or great aunt (for free probably) and study with the teachers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. 4. Move to Los Angeles and try to get more into producing recordings and videos. If I move to L.A. I would also need to find a job... There are some jobs open there for various churches that I am considering applying for.   and # 5. Possibly going to Italy for a little while to study/perform there and perfect my Italian!
        Decisions, decisions! The hard part is I still won't know anything for certain from Boulder until at least the end of May. But also I am waiting to hear from the America's Got Talent auditions... that could influence my decision as well. I think that the AGT auditions should be contacting me by the end of April if I got in. If I didn't get in then I just won't hear from them.

       I am really overwhelmed with everything I have to get done this week as well as before the end of the semester...   I have to perform in studio class tomorrow some of my Schubert Sonata which is barely memorized and was not very good yesterday when I was practicing it. Then Tuesday I have to perform some new music with a singer for continuo class, on Wednesday I have to be ready to sing new repertoire for both Oratorio workshop and Baroque Ensemble, and on Thursday Paul wants to hear all of my Schubert sonata from memory at my lesson. I don't know how I will get all of this ready but I will try. I also have a concert coming up in only a couple of weeks where I will be playing the continuo part on the harpsichord for a cello sonata. I need to set up some rehearsals with my cellist for this weekend.

        Today is a General Conference broadcast for my church, so I'm going to try to watch some of that.   I guess now that I should go get practicing!!! :-S Happy April Everyone!

poems again

2011-03-29T21:29:00.000-06:00

Another new "Reflections" poem: http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/03/to-father.html

and a most tiny one on "hear me": http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-bear-my-soul-through-music-and-never.html

new reflections

2011-03-28T02:46:00.000-06:00

I just posted a new poem to my "Reflections" blog: http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/03/illumination.html

Yesterday I got back from a trip to go visit my sister and brother-in-law and their new baby. She was so adorable! It was a very nice trip. But now spring break is over and school starts again already tomorrow!

I have a confession to make.... I did not practice one iota over spring break. I think I needed the time off... However, now I am not prepared for my continuo class and my piano lesson and everything that I will have to be playing new music for this week! I will have to practice very hard tomorrow... I need to get started learning all of my recital repertoire!

Goodnight!

Final Cut

2011-03-18T12:42:00.000-06:00

Joseph got the videos edited together! Here is the final version:

I'm pretty happy with it... It's sooo much better than the first version I made myself! :-) And I'm starting to be able to improvise... which makes me even more happy. I'm not as good as I want to be yet, but at least I can accompany myself with some harmonies while I sing a song. That makes me happy :-D.

I am going to take the first three versions of the video out of the search results on Youtube, so only the final version will come up if people search for me or the song. I will leave the other versions as "unlisted", so if you want you can still view them from the links on my blog or facebook page.

We'll see how the producers like it at America's Got Talent...

Videos from yesterday's recording session

2011-03-17T11:42:00.000-06:00

After getting some feedback on the first video that I made of my song - I decided to try to do it again with better audio. I found a guy named Joseph Macrino (outside of SFCM) who was willing to come help me out at the last minute. He took videos with two different cameras - so here are the two videos I have from two different angles. Let me know which one you like better because I have to submit one of them to America's Got Talent by tomorrow. :-D

Camera One:

Camera Two:

New Song, New Venture

2011-03-15T01:35:00.000-06:00

The auditions for the TV show "America's Got Talent" are due this week, and I decided to try submitting a video! I recorded myself a couple of nights ago in Paul's studio singing and playing a song that I wrote called "If You Really Love Me." Unfortunately the sound quality on my camera is not too good - but hopefully they will be able to get a good enough idea of what I do.

I went to my friend Dhivya's apartment to use her high-speed internet because the wireless internet where I live is soooo slow. I started to upload my video last night and when I woke up in the morning, it said there were still 20,000 minutes remaining to upload! haha. So I decided to give up. At Dhivya's place it only took 15 minutes, which is much better! We went and got a pizza while it uploaded. :-)

Now I just have to wait. The America's Got Talent website said they will contact the people they decide to put on to the show by mid-April, but they will not be contacting the acts they do not choose. So hopefully I'll be hearing from them within a month!! :-D

In any case, I hope you enjoy my new song... It actually has another verse that I didn't include because the videos for the auditions are supposed to be really short. Hopefully I can get a better recording of it made soon.

Goodnight!

2011-03-12T17:32:00.001-07:00

I posted a new poem on my other blog: http://jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-need-you-now-just-like-i-always-have.html

Happy-ness

2011-03-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been such a blur... I've been so tired but very happy! But I've had so little motivation to practice anything since the competition!!! But I MUST practice now because I have another concert this weekend - I will be playing the Dvorak quintet again with a different string quartet at a piano salon on Market Street here in San Francisco on Sunday night.

I decided to start "linking up" my three blogs by putting links into my "Life and Music" blog whenever I post updates to one of my other blogs. That way it will be easier to keep track of and to relate all together (time-wise). Since I wrote so much about the concerto competition in the last couple of weeks, and I wrote a post about the competition last week on "Reflections," here is a link to that post.... and from now on I will try to post the new links whenever they come up.

http://jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com/2011/03/pre-competition-jitters.html

Off to practice!

So Much Good News!!

2011-03-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

Many of you may have already seen from my Twitter and Facebook update the news - but here is my official blog announcement........ I won the SFCM Piano Concerto Competion!!!!!!!   Yes, it's true! I really won!

I will tell you the story. Last night (Friday) was the night of the competition. There were four finalists playing (two of them are friends of mine, and one of them was a girl I didn't know). They programmed us in alphabetical order of our last names, which ended up meaning that I played last on the program.    Since the concert started at seven thirty, I ended up playing at or a little after nine pm.   There was an audience of five or six hundred people there! It was very nice to have a large audience; it made it feel more like I was performing instead of just competing.   When I started my concerto I was really nervous and my hands were shaking - but it got better as I went along. The second and third movements of the concerto went especially well. One of my friends afterward told me that my second movement made her cry, and that it seemed like I was singing (I have to tell my teacher Paul that, because he is always trying to get me to play the piano more like I sing!!).   Right after my performance, as I walked off-stage, Erica Johnson (the SFCM registrar) and the stage-hand congratulated me for my performance. I said "thanks" and went back to the green room to be alone, and sat down on the couch to call my mom. I called her and of course her first question was, "How did it go?" I told her I thought it was good overall...but I wasn't sure...and now I just have to wait and see. I talked to her for a few minutes, and was in the middle of responding to a text from my friend Dhivya, when Erica came into the green room and said, "Congratulations!"
"Thanks," I said.
"No -" she said, "You won!"
"What?" I said.
"You won!"
"Wait, are you serious?" I said.
"Yes."
" Are you serious!?!?!?" - I think I almost shreaked.
"Yes, I just wanted to tell you before I go and make the announcement."
"Oh my gosh, are you serious? What do I do? What do I have to do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? Where do I go? Do I have to do something?"
"No, you don't have to do anything. Congratulations!"
I think I might have said "oh my gosh, are you serious?" a few more times before I stood up and walked aimlessly around the room and backstage, until finally Erica left and went onstage to make the announcement. I went back to the green room to call my mom again... and the conversation went something like:
"Mom.... I won!"
"You did? Oh my goodness! That's wonderful!"
"Yeah - I'm so happy. I can hardly believe it."
"That's so great. That's so exciting."
"Yeah... I think I'm gonna go now." (I think I was still sort of in shock at this point and didn't know what to do with myself).
"Okay you can go and can call me later."
"Okay bye."

After that I wandered around a little more, and was greeted by many people in the audience, and a number of my friends congratulating me, until my friend Tia found me (a singer who sits by me in my Italian class), and asked me if I want to go and celebrate. I definitely did... So we went and got crepes afterward for a wonderful celebratory evening. Before we left though I made sure to make a few more phone calls - to Dorothea (my piano teacher back in Montana), to Paul (who was off giving a performance of the Beethoven 5th Concerto with another orchestra this weekend), and to Dennis (my voice teacher in L.A.).  I also called Jane today.  Such happy news is so nice to share!!!

Paul said something really nice to me when I told him I won - he said "Well congratulations - I didn't hear the competition so I can't really make a comment about it. But I know how well you have been playing the Ravel - and I can't imagine anyone playing it more beautifully. I'm very happy for you."   That made me feel so good. :-)

After the dinner with Tia and her boyfriend I went home to my little dorm... I didn't try to go to bed until one or two in the morning, but I was still sooo happy and excited that I couldn't sleep at all!! I laid in my bed until five in the morning, until finally I decided to get up and take a hot shower. I thought maybe it would help relax me. I think it did - because afterwards I came back to bed and I didn't wake up until noon today. :-) So tired... But so happy!

In addition to my happy news - my sister also had her own very happy news this week! On March 2nd she gave birth to a beautiful baby! Here is a picture of the beautiful little girl:

Isn't she perfect? This is baby "Clara." She looks so sweet. I am so happy for my sister.

What a wonderful week. I can hardly stop smiling. :-D

Concerto finals!!

2011-02-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

I played tonight in the SFCM concerto competition... and I got a message on my phone about a half hour ago from my accompanist, Keisuke, that said: "Congrats! Looking forward to the finals!" I hadn't heard anything yet, but he saw the results posted on the SFCM website at about 11:30 or midnight -- and I am on there as one of the finalists! I am so happy! But now I have to get ready for the final round on Friday! There were four pianists chosen out of twenty-one for the finals, and on Friday the four of us will play our entire concertos through with our accompanists in the concert hall for the public. Then the judges will choose one winner to perform with the SFCM orchestra next year... so please send me all the positive energy and powers and prayers that you can (or good "mojo" as my voice teacher from L.A. calls it!). I will be working very hard the next few days...

Yaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!

Goodnight!

at the beach

2011-02-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

The other week I had a diction coaching with the diction teacher at the conservatory (her name is Marcie Stapp. Her house is right next to the beach so after my coaching I went and hung out there for a little while. It was such a beautiful day!

Ravel-ing (or Un-Raveling)

2011-02-22T01:27:00.000-07:00

The run-through of Ravel in studio class went well today! So it's definitely a go for Friday! AAAAaaaaaa!!!
Now I officially have Ravel's Concerto in G major in my repertoire. So happy!

:-D

Rainy days

2011-02-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

It has been raining and raining and raining here the past three days. Here is a picture from my street in San Francisco this morning...all wet.

Concerto Update

2011-02-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I played through my concerto with Keiseke, who will be accompanying me in the concerto competition. I made it through the whole thing from memory, but it had several rather large mishaps... He had some good suggestions for me on it though because he has played it before.

Today I practiced only Ravel most of the day... Tomorrow I will do the same. And Monday Keiseke and I will play it for studio class and see how it goes. If it seems like an acceptable performance on Monday then I will go ahead and do the concerto competition... If not... .... well I might still try haha! I think I can I think I can I think I can....

Next Deadline

2011-02-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from my Colorado Audition... and now I'm trying to get my Ravel Concerto ready for the concerto competition at the conservatory by next Friday! I don't know if I will actually be able to do it or not. I just memorized the last two movements recently and they are still not solid in my brain at all. I played it for my lesson for Paul today and needed to play the 2nd half of the 2nd movement with the music.... And tomorrow is my first rehearsal with my accompanist for the competition! I will just have to practice every spare minute until Friday next week... and we will see if I make it.

I asked Paul this morning, "So do you think I can do this by Friday?" His response was, "You know, you interest me very much. You played quite well in studio class last week. I was impressed that you could get up and play such a long program so well. You're a good performer...and you like it...." I guess I will take that as a "yes"...

All done!

2011-02-13T02:17:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness I have been laying in bed trying to sleep for two hours... but it has been so hard to fall to sleep these past few days! Tonight I finally decided to give up and write on my blog instead.

I am sitting here in a hotel room in Boulder, Colorado. My flight leaves tomorrow at noon to go back to San Francisco. I am here with my dad....He drove here from Montana to meet me and we drove around Boulder a lot this weekend to look at the area and possible places to live (if everything comes through for me with a scholarship). Tonight we had a movie and pizza party in our hotel room to celebrate because I had my solo audition today at CU! I am very happy because I think it went quite well. I messed up in my left hand at the first entrance in my Scarlatti sonata (L. S6), but all the repeated notes after that were perfect. A couple of other minor mistakes happened in some of the other pieces - but I think it was an effective performance. I prepared an hour long program but they only listened to bits and pieces of it. They probably heard about 20 minutes of my playing altogether. That is how it always is at these sorts of auditions. The judges will stop you in the middle of a piece and then ask to hear something else.

This morning I had my interview with Dr. Korevaar for the teaching assistantship, and yesterday was the audition for the accompanying assistantship. Those also went alright I think... We will see though!

The university just remodeled its concert hall and it is so pretty! I'm going to paste some pictures here I found of the various music halls at CU that I found on their website:

Grusin Music Hall where my audition was today (except there were only the three piano faculty members in the audience!):

And from the onstage vantage point (where I was - sitting at that beautiful Steinway):

Here is the outside of the music building (but right now it is actually all snowy!):

The BIG hall (called Macky Auditorium). They mostly perform operas and symphony concerts here:

Nice, yes? Maybe one day I will be able to play to a full house in Macky! That would be awesome. I heard that Macky seats about 2000 people. The biggest audience I have ever played for so far was at the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings -- That was when I played the Mozart Concerto and that was a sold-out concert in a hall of about 1300 seats. That made me happy!

I am so happy this audition is all over. Now I can focus my concentration back on what is going on in San Francisco. And I will be back there tomorrow afternoon! Time is such a strange thing...

Goodnight!

On my way

2011-02-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I leave for my audition in Colorado! I am so nervous and excited and I feel weird!

I played through my entire program yesterday for my studio class (the class where all of Paul's students meet to play and listen to each other and give each other comments). It actually went really well. I was very happy overall. I think it was probably the cleanest I have ever played an hour-long program...which means I am getting better! I didn't really have any memory slips...and relatively few technical mishaps either. My friend Hannah afterwards said, "You have nothing to worry about! You didn't make any mistakes!" It's not really true -- I did make mistakes, but if she couldn't tell that is a good sign! She is a very good musician. Paul also made me play and sing my "Meet me in Montana" song for the class that I performed for Governor Schweitzer last week. They all liked that too.

......................................

Tomorrow my flight is a straight shot from San Francisco to Denver. That will be nice. When I fly anywhere from Billings I always have a layover.

So, here's the schedule: I fly in to Denver/Boulder tomorrow evening. On Thursday I practice and look around the city to get an idea of where I might want to live if I go there in the fall... Friday I have my accompanying audition where I will perform the first movement of Beethoven's 2nd Cello Sonata unrehearsed and have a sight-reading test. Then Saturday morning I have an interview with Dr. Korevaar for the teaching assistantship. Saturday afternoon at 2:50 I will play my hour long solo audition program. Then I fly back to San Francisco on Sunday.

When I come back it will be back to classes and I will need to start practicing the Ravel Concerto like crazy for the concerto competition!!!!!

Wish me luck! I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I can...

Improv Debut!!

2011-02-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had my first ever performance where I improvised an accompaniment for myself while singing! I am so happy!

Last month someone contacted me to ask me to play and sing for a conference in February where the Montana governor and the Montana Ambassadors would be present. They asked me to prepare one classical piece on the piano, and then to play or sing one piece that was kind of "Montana-y" (something not classical and possibly country-western).

Since I haven't really sung any country music before, I called my mom to ask for her help finding something to sing.  The next day she found a song on Youtube that Dan Seals and Marie Osmond sang as a duet, called "Meet Me in Montana". It seemed perfect, so I immediately went online to order the sheet music.

Alas, to my dismay, I could not find the sheet music anywhere. It was not available for download or mail-order - and when I did a little more researching I found that the sheet music was in fact, not available anywhere from any publisher, or even from the library of congress.

So, I found some guitar tabs for the song online, which had the basic chords lined out. I tried playing around with it a little bit, but was really nervous and didn't feel ready to improvise for myself at the conference. I decided the best thing would be to find a guitarist who could come and accompany me... So I asked around at school - about six or seven different guitarists, and none of them were available to play for me tonight!! (I guess the guitarists at SFCM have just as busy a schedule as I do!).   I really wanted to perform THAT song though, so I decided I would have to face my fear and play for myself.

I worked on it a lot, and yesterday I still thought it was still sounding pretty bad... my melodic improvisation in my right hand was haphazard and disorganized.

But then this morning at my piano lesson with Paul, he had me play and sing it for him, and I decided to try it from memory.   To my relief, it actually went quite well. I found that under the pressure of performing it for him I simplified things quite a bit, and in so doing my playing sounded much more under control.  That gave me the confidence to decide to go ahead and perform it without the chords or words in front of me tonight at the conference.

So I did - and the audience loved it! Several people, including the governor, told me after my performance that my song moved them to tears!

I am soooo happy about that. Only a year ago such a thing would have been impossible for me - I would not have been able to hear the chord changes well enough and I would have messed up a million times.

I plan to keep doing more and more improvising - and I will keep improving at it.  I want to improvise and play classical music and sing all combined at my performances... I really enjoy it and it makes me feel complete.   I love life!!!

Another push

2011-02-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

There is always more to do... My concert went pretty well on Friday night. I sang three arias by Handel: Care Selve (from L'Allegro and Il Penseroso), Sweet Bird (from Atalanta), and Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre (from Joshua). Then I sang a Bach aria from "The Hunt" cantata: "Sheep May Safely Graze."   My favorite part was performing with the flautists and harpsichordist. That was a lot of fun.

Now I am trying to frantically get ready for my audition at the University of Colorado in Boulder in only a week and a half. I have to play an hour's worth of music plus a cello sonata. I am re-auditioning for scholarships for their doctoral program.  The nice thing is I am already definitely accepted into the program because I auditioned there last year and they accepted me, but I chose to defer my enrollment for one year so that I could go to the San Francisco Conservatory and get the Professional Studies Diploma.   They said that if I choose to defer they cannot guarantee a scholarship, so I have to go and re-audition for scholarships and graduate assistantships now. My audition is on February 12th. I'm pretty nervous about it. I feel like I haven't had enough time to prepare for it with everything else that has been going on.

On Thursday this week I play a mini-concert for the governor of Montana, who is coming to San Francisco for a meeting with the "Montana Ambassadors". I am going to play "La Campanella" by Franz Liszt, and then I will have my "improvising-while-singing" debut! They wanted me to perform a song that was related to Montana, something country-western. So I am going to sing a song that Dan Seals and Marie Osmund performed as a duet, called "Meet me in Montana".   I'm going to accompany myself on the piano with chords while I sing... just like Billy Joel! :-)    I'm excited about that. It makes me happy because my improvising is getting so much better.... I would not have been able to do such a thing even a year ago.

But now I should go and get some sleep. I have a voice lesson with Jane early in the morning.

Goodnight!

And another...

2011-01-29T01:54:00.000-07:00

This is another recording from that same performance in November. It is a traditional ballad that has been sung for centuries, called "Barbara Allen". I performed it a capella - at the suggestion (and near insistance) of my Baroque Ensemble director, Corey Jamason. I put pictures on the video from the photoshoot Rachel took of me last summer -- Some of the lyrics in the song seemed to fit perfectly with the pictures such as "When green buds were a-swellin" and "As she went walking through the fields", etc.

When I first performed this ballad for the Baroque Ensemble class, a bunch of people started crying! It is a sad story.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAmb9pj-ZzQ

If My Complaints...

2011-01-28T03:07:00.000-07:00

I just posted a new recording on Youtube, from a live performance I gave in November with Tatiana Senderowicz on the guitar. My singing isn't perfect, but overall I think it's a pretty effective performance. Tonight I perform three Handel Aria's and Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze"! I'm excited about it... but I should sleep now!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FawCwxZcv0A

Baroque Ensemble Concert

2011-01-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm back at school and already the concerts are coming up fast!!! I have so much practicing to do! Here's the email I got from my Baroque Ensemble director about our concert coming up on the 28th of January - where I will be be singing three Handel arias and a Bach aria:

Hi everyone-

Could you please send me your availability for coachings for this week and next week? The concert on the 28th
is being advertised very well and I understand the place will be
packed, happily. I would like to get at least two
coachings in the book asap with the possibility of a 3rd run-through  session.

- Corey

I'm so excited and nervous about that! I will try to get somebody to video-tape it so that I can hopefully post a video later.

Off to practice!!!

A Few Montana Pics

2011-01-10T01:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I leave in only three days to go back to San Francisco. The break went by so fast! I didn't get nearly as much practicing done as I had wanted or planned... But visiting with my family and celebrating Christmas was a lot of fun.

My sister Stacy took these pictures when she was visiting Billings for Christmas (I "borrowed" them from her!). This is our adorable little Chihuahua, named "ChiChi". He is about eleven years old now!

These are some pheasants that are nesting somewhere in our backyard - My little sister Rachel loves to feed the birds and she has quite a menagerie going!

This is my brother-in-law shoveling snow off the driveway:

The snow and cold is, in a way, quite invigorating and refreshing... But it will be nice to get back to the warm days in San Francisco!

New Year

2011-01-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

My New Year's Goals:

Finish my diploma at SFCM (give all my recitals successfully!)

Study jazz at the conservatory and in Boulder (my dream would be to get good enough to improvise while performing comfortably by the end of the year)

Make some high-quality recordings.

Exercise regularly :-)

Sound good? If I think of anything else I can add it later.

Happy New Year!!

New Videos

2011-01-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Last night I was able to upload 2 new videos to Youtube - they are from a practice performance I gave with the Rimrock Opera last summer of Menotti's "The Telephone". Here they are:

Audition results... and other news

2010-12-25T02:12:00.000-07:00

I got the results from my audition for Gilbert and Sullivan's "Trial by Jury" at last! (I auditioned December 10th in San Francisco before I left for home). Here is the email they sent me:

Dear Jacquelyn:

I'm sorry to tell you that we will not be offering you a role in the upcoming productions of "Trial By Jury" and "Engaged". We saw an exceptional group of incredibly talented people at the auditions, which has made the decision-making very difficult. Unfortunately there are just not enough roles to go around!

Thank you so much for auditioning. We do hope to see you back to audition for other Lamplighters shows soon!

With very best wishes,

Sarah

Sarah Vardigans

General Manager

Lamplighters Music Theatre

So that won't be happening this spring. That makes me a little sad, but it is probably actually a good thing because maybe it would have made my schedule too busy this semester.

I got an email from David Korevaar (a concert pianist and teacher) at the University of Colorado in Boulder this week as well, informing me that they would like me to re-audition in January or February for scholarships for their program this coming year. CU Boulder was the first school I auditioned for last January. The audition went very well and I liked the school a lot, so I was seriously considering going there until I got offered the scholarship at the San Francisco Conservatory. Since the Professional Studies Diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory is only one year long, however, I decided to defer my enrollment at the University of Colorado until next fall so that I could plan on going straight there after my year at SFCM.

Now because of the my CU scholarship audition coming up, I have a lot of music to practice and and prepare by February 12th (the date I chose for my audition). So, like I said, it is probably for the best that I didn't get into "Trial by Jury"....

Of course I still would have loved to have been in it!

Tonight my family opened presents for Christmas (we have a tradition of opening them on Christmas Eve). I got some new shirts, a beeping remote-control key-finding keychain (because I am always losing my keys), and... a new portable hard drive from my Mom and Dad to go with my new laptop from Niclas! That will be very handy for backing up all my important files. I'm so excited to get to work again!

Things have been so busy this week with my family. It has been a lot of fun, but I can't wait to start practicing all my new music and working on recording! I might practice a little bit tomorrow even though it's Christmas.

Tomorrow we get to talk to my brother Joseph on the telephone for the first time since he left on his mission in September. It will be so nice to hear his voice! He will call us on our home phone at 2:00 in the afternoon. All of the family will be here to talk to him... I'm excited about that!

All my family has gone to bed so I'm going to go and get a little sleep now too...

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

A Wonderful Christmas Present

2010-12-22T23:42:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you an amazing story that happened to me. Those of you who have been reading my blog may remember that I wrote a few weeks ago about how my laptop has not been functioning since this summer... The hard drive crashed and everything on it got deleted, and the computer was totally unusable because of it. It was driving me crazy not to have my laptop at school but I was waiting until I could get a little more money to be able to afford a new hard drive to fix it...

Well, soon after I wrote that blog post, I received an email from a very nice person who read about my problem on my blog offered to pay to have the hard drive fixed for me. His name is Niclas and he left a couple of comments on my blog before (and on Youtube as MrCapacitors). I wrote back and said that I would be very happy to have it fixed - but that it would probably cost about $100. He wrote back and said that was fine - and before I had the chance to write back he wrote again, saying that if my laptop is old perhaps it would be better for me just to get a new laptop, and then offered to pay for a completely new laptop for me.

It seemed almost too good to be true... I didn't want to get my hopes up too much in case it actually didn't happen... but this generous person actually went right away and found a computer that would be good for my needs (especially for the sound and video editing that I do), and transferred the money to my paypal account. So I ordered a wonderful new HP laptop from Amazon the night before last... And it came with free one-day shipping for Christmas so it got here today! I am writing this blog post on it right now! I am sooooo happy about it - what a wonderful surprise Christmas present.

Tonight is the first time in months that I can upload pictures straight from my camera again (I could only send pictures from my cell phone before)! And here is a picture of my new computer:

Pretty, yes? It even has a fingerprint scanner!!!

Soon I will start putting some more music online... I'm so excited!

Merry Merry Christmas! And thank you so much to Niclas who just made my life much easier...

:-)

Down by Fisherman's Wharf - and Outside the Conservatory Window

2010-12-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

There was a huge Christmas tree down by the wharf when I went there last week! You really can't see how gigantic it is in this picture... but each of those Christmas ornaments were almost the size of a soccer ball.

I love this picture I got of the boats on the water with the clouds:

And here was the view from my practice room window last night while the sun was setting:

This was from the window above the stairway:

Ho finito!

2010-12-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness I have had so much going on and I have lots of good news to write about but right now I don't have time so I will just write a little...

This morning I finished my last final for the semester - it was my oral exam for Italian class. I think I did well! I am so happy because my Italian teacher is really amazing - his name is Brian Neilson. I am learning so fast in his class.

Tonight is my audition for the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, "Trial by Jury". I am a bit nervous for that because I just started learning the excerpt that I will be singing last night, and it is not very well-memorized yet. Fortunately it is only two pages long... I am just going to work on it most of the day today, until I have to go to the audition.

And tomorrow I have another audition with a small opera company (the San Francisco Parlor Opera) for Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffman". I will be audition with the "Doll Song" for that, and a couple other pieces if they ask for them.

Tomorrow our chamber music coach, Yoshi, is taking my quintet out for dinner! That will be fun. It will be right before my opera audition though, so I am a little nervous about getting there in time. My group said we will choose a place for dinner that is very nearby.

That's all for now... I have to go practice.

Last week of the semester

2010-12-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

First of all as an update - The concert on Thursday went really well! I was so relieved when after the first movement finished, a man in the audience yelled out, "WOW!" and the whole audience started clapping, even though they knew it wasn't the end yet. After the whole piece was finished (it's about 43 mins long), we got a standing ovation - so I know the audience liked it. That makes me very happy.

Now it's the last week of class... I have a final project due in Continuo class - which is a sonata by Handel for Oboe and continuo. I will have to learn it and rehearse it on my own with the oboist, and then perform it in class Thursday for the final.

I also have two finals this week for Italian, because I am taking both the beginning and intermediate classes simultaneously this year.

I'm so excited because next semester I will be taking a class in jazz improvisation! That is something I have been wanting to learn how to do for a long time.

And on Friday I have a singing audition for a San Francisco theater company called, "Lamplighters", which specializes in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. I have to learn the excerpts this week for that, as well.

So, this week is very busy... but when it's over the semester will be over!! And then I will have a nice break at home in Montana.

I'd better go get practicing....

Concert prep...

2010-12-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! I will be playing the Dvorak Piano Quintet in A Major on the second half of the SFCM Chamber Music Concert at 4 o'clock!

I was so nervous today but we played it through in my teacher's studio class and it went pretty well. Tomorrow I am going to skip my Italian class so that I have time to take it easy, eat lunch, get dressed, and warm up before-hand.

So, send me good thoughts around 5:00 pm California time!

Sausalito

2010-11-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend Joe drove me over to the Golden Gate Bridge to a beautiful little town right by the water called Sausalito.

The view from the shore of Sausalito:

An adorable little dress shop in Sausalito where I bought a very beautiful concert dress for only nine dollars (it needs a new zipper):

More shoreside views:

Joe was wondering why I was taking pictures of the seagulls... but I thought it was pretty sitting there.

improvisation

2010-11-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

(Dec. 22 2010 update: read a follow-up to this post here!)

My improvisation skills are gradually getting better and better on the piano. It is actually starting to become enjoyable for me to 'make something up'...where not very long ago it used to be pure torture. Last night I got into it and was making stuff up and improvising until one in the morning. Most of what I do is not sounding 'good'...but I think it will be in not tooooo much longer. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!! Then I am going to sing and play and play and sing and write and... yes, it will be fun! I've been working on some songs of my own that I want to record, as soon as I can afford to get my laptop fixed. Its hard-drive crashed this summer before I came to the conservatory, so right now I can only use the conservatory computers, which don't allow me to upload anything. :-S But all good things to those who wait, right? !!!!!!

Two stories of Unwanted Roommates

2010-11-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on my bed the other night, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something move beside my backpack sitting on the floor. I looked and saw nothing, but I heard a little rustle as if something had just run from my view. I suspected it had been a mouse. I walked around see if it was hiding somewhere, but I couldn't find anything.

I wasn't sure if I had actually seen anything or if I had just been imagining, but just to be certain I thought I would do a test. I left 10 almonds on the floor, gathered up all my sheets and blankets away from the edges of the bed (I didn't want any creatures to be able to climb up them), and went to sleep. In the morning I checked the almonds and there were only nine. I wondered if I had counted correctly the night before...It seemed strange to me that a hungry animal would only bother taking one almond. However just to be safe I went and told the man (his name is Bob) at the desk downstairs that I thought maybe I had seen a mouse - he didn't act at all surprised, and told me he would make a note of my room for the pest control. Then I talked to a boy who lives across the hall from me (a composer named Sunny), and told him I thought I had seen a mouse in my room. "Oh yeah!" he said. "You have to stick socks in the holes in the walls so they can't get in." I laughed, "Are you serious?" "Yeah," he said, and he showed me the mouse entrance into his room at the base of the floor... So I went back to my room and I noticed a gap between my sink and the wall where I thought maybe a mouse could go in or out, so I took out some duct tape and taped over the space.

Later that night I was sitting on my bed again reading, and in my peripheral vision I saw something moving across the room. I looked up and a mouse jumped and tried to hide behind my trash bag, but he knew I had seen him so he jumped out again and darted toward me and past me so fast that I couldn't see where it went. I looked around the room and picked up a few things I'd left on the floor, and looked around again to see if I could find any other holes. I thought maybe I had actually trapped the mouse in my room, taping up his doorway by the sink the night before. I decided the only thing I could do was lie down and rest, and see if I heard anything. I wasn't laying there very long when I heard a rattling coming from near my head. I sat up quickly and turned on the light, but once again saw nothing. I have a bunch of cords plugged in right next to my bed's headboard (for my phone, reading lamp, camera charger, etc.), that I thought maybe the mouse had been climbing up or chewing on. I gathered them all up and unplugged a few to get them as far away from the floor as possible. As I was doing this (I was making quite a bit of noise), the mouse darted out from behind my bed and into my closet. So I followed him to the closet and started moving my stuff around to get him to come out again. He darted out again, and this time ran behind the mini fridge. So I went and pulled out the mini fridge and found a hole in the wall, where he must have gone into. Once again I got out my duct tape and taped up the hole. I felt a little sorry for the guy though and stuck a couple of almonds in the hole before I closed it up.

Later that night I had a nightmare that a giant mangy rat was crawling on me and trying to sleep on my bed with me. In my dream I eventually got him pinned under my head as I was laying there, but when I woke up I was very relieved to realize that the only thing under my head was my pillow.

I haven't heard or seen anything since I taped over the hole... However last night I decided to put one almond on the floor across the room from me. And I left a few almonds on my table and a few on top of my refrigerator. When I woke up this morning, the almond on the floor was gone, but the almonds on the table and fridge were all still there. So I think the mouse is still getting in somewhere (I checked the holes I taped over and they are still covered). However I am glad to see that the mouse apparently isn't currently able to climb my furniture.

I have dealt with rats before (big nasty mean ones) in an apartment I lived in in Texas when I was going to school there, and this tiny mouse is considerably less alarming. The rats in Texas could climb up high, and they made a lot of noise. For quite a while I actually had thought my apartment was haunted, because every time I turned the lights off I would start hearing noises - rattling and rustling and falling things - and sometimes my CD player (which was on the floor) would randomly start playing on its own. However one day I was sitting there playing my electric keyboard and I saw something on the floor beside me, and it was a big fat rat looking straight at me. "Ooooh," I said. "So it's you!" and then I chased him into my bedroom and caught him under a laundry basket. I tell you what - he was MAD. He was squeaking and squawking and baring his teeth and trying to chew (very rapidly), through the rungs of the laundry basket. I had to keep hitting his nose with a shoe to keep him from being able to chew through it. I called my friend Chris who came over right away. We slid a big piece of cardboard under the laundry basket and carried the whole parcel to the car, where I actually held it on my lap and continued bopping the rat's nose every two seconds as he tried to escape from his makeshift cage. We drove to a field far away next to a highway, and let the rat go there.

As soon as I came home though, I heard squeaking and crying coming from behind my sink!! I surmised that I had caught the mother rat who had a nest somewhere in the wall behind my kitchen sink... I went and bought some rat poison and set it out places. I couldn't stand to sleep in my apartment that night and stayed with a friend (even though I had already been staying there for weeks with the rats - just unaware!). A few days later I encountered a baby rat...which I also caught under a laundry basket this time with my friend Russel's help, and then we also took it out to the countryside. Fortunately, I was leaving for Thanksgiving vacation to go back to Montana very shortly, so I didn't have to stay there more than a day or two after that. When I came back the rat poison was all eaten, and I didn't have any problems with rats (or hauntings) after that.

So those are my two stories of "The Unwanted Roommates".

(Story #1 to be continued....)

At the Palace/Art museum for an Organ Concert

2010-11-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

Last week on Sunday I tried to go to an organ concert of a lady I met at a funeral I sang for. Some people from my church took me there.
We ended up missing the concert (we weren't sure where it was and found it right as it was finishing), but we saw some very beautiful scenery in the meanwhile.

k

Chamber Music Class

2010-11-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

Every week on Thursday I go to Chamber Music Class in the concert hall. All of the different chamber music groups take turns performing the different chamber music works they are working on, and they (or we) receive comments from the teachers and students. We all sit on stage for the class. The girl sitting next to me is my friend Hannah, a wonderful violist.

Stunning San Francisco - after church at Ocean Beach Sunday

2010-11-13T00:06:00.000-07:00

Success!

2010-11-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

Yaaaay! I just sang at a concert tonight for the Baroque Ensemble at the San Francisco Conservatory. It went really well - I sang 23 verses of the ballad of "Barbara Allen" acapella! As soon as the school gets the recording in the library maybe I can post it up here for you to hear it. I also sang one other song, called "If my Complaints Could Passions Move" by John Dowland. I'm so happy and relieved that it all went well tonight. I got lots of positive feedback from people - a few people told me that "Barbara Allen" made them cry. So, happy day! :-)

Almond Brain

2010-11-02T17:14:00.000-06:00

The night before last as I was leaving the school after a long day of classes and practicing, I began chatting with a man who works the night shift for security at the front desk of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music - He is very nice (his name is Jim), and he was asking me about my goals in music. I don't know what nationality he is but I think he might be from India... He asked me what I think of my musical abilities and I kind of laughed and said, "I dunno."
"No!" he responded. "You must say: 'I am the best!' You must always say this."
I sort of chuckled again, "Okay." He continued,
"Why not? Why shouldn't you be the best? Why should anybody else be better than you? We are all made the same way, right? Does somebody else have golden fingers? Or golden eyes? What makes anybody better?"
"Well sometimes they are smarter," I said.
"But it is still the same mind!" he said. "Other people's brains are no bigger than yours. Perhaps they are even smaller. We can use them the same. You can be the best. What matters is time - you have to work hard. You can choose to go hang out at clubs, or you can say, 'No, I have a goal, and I need to work toward it'" He proceeded to tell me that he believes that in ten years my name will be everywhere (and then he asked my name) - I laughed again and said, "How do you know?" He said, "Because I see you work very hard. You are always here working. You will make it, but you have to have the goal, and you have to believe it."
"Alright, I do," I said.
Then he asked me,
"What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as a musician? Are you a good performer?"
"Yes, I think I am a very good performer," I said.
"This is very important," he said, "And a very difficult thing. Many people cannot even speak to an audience, they are so frightened."
"Yes," I said. "But I feel my weakness is in my ability to learn music quickly enough, and to memorize it solidly...It seems like I always have some little slips in performances, and it causes me trouble in competitions."

"Ah!!" he said, "Then I tell you what you must do. Go to Trader Joe's, and buy yourself a big bag of almonds. Every night, put fifteen of them in water, and soak them overnight. In the morning, take the skins off the almonds with your fingers, and eat them. Do this before you eat anything else. And if they taste too bitter, you can dip them in sugar."
"Why take the skins off?" I said.
"Because the skins have a different effect. In one month you will see the results, I promise you. You will see your memory will become very fast, and you will have a lot of energy and feel very good. Try it for one month. You will see."
"Okay" I said. "I will."
He continued, "Back home we put the almonds outside overnight to get the dew on them, and that has a different effect... But you can also just do it in the kitchen."

So yesterday I went to Trader Joe's, got a big bag of raw almonds for 4.95 (I can't believe how cheap almonds are in California! :-) and followed his directions. This morning I ate my first dose. The soaked almonds actually tasted a lot better to me than regular almonds, they get a little softer and taste sweeter and fresher. I was a little worried about the process of 'skinning' them, but the skins actually come off really easily when you just squeeze them. I think I could see that the ends of the almonds were actually just beginning to sprout... I could grow an almond tree!

Anyway, I am going to continue with the almond experiment (along with as much practicing as I can bear...) and I will let you know how it goes. :-)

poetry blogs

2010-10-30T22:09:00.000-06:00

By-the-way...

I like to write poetry a lot so I decided to start another blog devoted to that, instead of posting it here all the time (because that just always feels weird to me so I don't end up posting anything). Then, after making one new blog, I decided to start another one to devote to my more religious poems/ideas/stories...so now all of the sudden I have three blogs! Anyway, if you want to check them out there are links to the right! Or click below:

www.jacquelynwrites.blogspot.com

www.jacquelynsreflections.blogspot.com

Beautiful Montana

2010-10-30T14:49:00.000-06:00

I was back in Montana a few weeks ago for my little brother Joseph's missionary farewell. He left to go on a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We got family photos taken up on the Rims of Billings (the Rims are cliffs that run all along and through the city). It is a very beautiful place. When I get the family photos I will post some!

Temple Hill Orchestra Concert

2010-10-30T14:46:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I went and heard the Temple Hill Orchestra (a volunteer orchestra conducted by John Pew) perform at the Interstake Cultural Center next to the Oakland Temple. I introduced myself to the conductor...Maybe I'll get to play/sing a concert with them in the future. That would be fun!

Organ concert...Organ lessons

2010-10-30T14:43:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday I sang at a funeral in San Mateo. It went very well. Afterwards I stayed to hear a concert give by two young organ prodigies (a thirteen and fourteen year old boy and girl). They were playing works like Widor's organ toccata, Franck's Toccata and Fugue with Variations, and Bach's organ Toccata. I am going to start taking organ lessons from their teacher when I get a little more money next semester! Her name is Angela Kraft Cross. I'm so excited about that.