Woo! First week… DONE!

Friday September 28 2007

It’s been a busy first week, but I’m happy with what’s happened and everything that is going to happen.

Well, I couldn’t hack it, so I dropped out of counterpoint. Call me a wuss, call me a slacker, I just call myself too busy. But I did register for a “Wind Rep” class with Bob Ponto, the head guy of the U of Oregon Wind Ensembles. He’s a very nice guy, and very friendly as well as a terrific musician. I actually had the pleasure of playing under him a bit when I was in high school at South Eugene High School and he would guest conduct every so often. The “small group” (there’s four students, and him) class is a lot of fun. We sit around for an hour, listen to music of wind ensembles of various sizes, dating from Bach to music written in the 21st century. Occasionally we have to write reports on composers, but that’s it. Pretty easy. I joked with him that I felt like I needed a 6 pack and a bag of Doritos, to which he exclaimed, “Just bring enough for the five of us!”

I’m also enjoying my History of Opera class, which is a strict musicology class. I’ve always loved musicology, and enjoy reading the documents and analyzing the music that is required. Marian Smith is a very nice professor, and seems to be a very positive influence upon the class. I have a feeling it will be one of those classes where “the more you put in, the more you get out” which is great, because I expect to “put in” a great amount. This week’s opera: Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” (By the way, why do you think professors often put pictures of themselves up from the 70s for their bios on University websites?)

Well, I’m certainly going to have my hands for with performing here. This quarter I’ll be playing only EH in the Wind Ensemble, along with :

Orch:

• 1st×Symphonie Fantastique
• 1st×Funeral March of a Marionnette
• 1st×Danse Macabre
• 2nd×Rainbow Body (Theofanidis)
• 2nd×Beethoven 5
• 2nd×Cantata Academia (Britten)

Chamber Music:

• 1st on Zelenka Sonata II
• 1st on Zelenka Sonata V
• Ligeti’s 6 Bagatelles

I’m playing so much, that it’s hard to come up with the endurance to practice, not to mention prepare for my lessons for which I’m supposed to be working on this quarter:

• Mozart Concerto
• Le Tombeau de Couperin
• La Scala di Seta

I was also asked to play in the TA woodwind quintet, but for some reason I turned it down. Call me lazy.
Did I mention this is for the Quarter? As in 10 weeks.

My head hurts.