I also wasn't planning on performing during the second concert because I had tickets to a Zoe Keating concert that was taking place at the same day and time, but decided it was worth it to perform, instead of watch a performance. Hopefully, I'll be able to attend one of her concerts in the future. Anyway, here's the concert video:
During the second movement of the first concert, I was lost a lot of the time and couldn't do the harmonics so I ended up air bowing, but the second concert went much better for me and I was able to play a lot more of the notes. It's a total bummer that I'm not in the video after all my hard work, but you can see my busted middle finger pizz'ing and bowing away (in the veeeerrry far right hand corner of the screen) playing Part 4. I swear that's me! :)
This definitely was a great learning experience, especially playing a piece that was far outside my comfort level and abilities. I would say in the beginning, 15% of the music was playable for me, and by concert time I was able to play 95% of the first movement and 70% of the second movement. Pretty good all things considering.
Now that's over, I have to start practicing for our upcoming summer cello concert. We are creating this concert for a teenage girl (13 yro.) who has a critical illness. She loves musicals and popular music, so our resident composer is creating arrangements and an original composition for the concert. The program we will be performing is currently:
1. Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
2. Viva la Vida (Coldplay)
3. Chim Chim Cher’re (Mary Poppins)
4. Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen)
~~~ Intermission ~~~
5. Simple Gifts, from Appalachian Spring (Copland)
6. Somebody That I Used to Know (Gotye)
7. Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Sound of Music)
8. Rolling in the Deep (Adele)
9. Composition
I'm really looking forward to this concert because it has a lot of popular music!
Big news again, I'll be moving out-of-state so I'll have to look for another cello teacher. ...arghhh...:(
But I'm excited to move and be able to get more practice in since I'll have some free time for the first couple of months while I look for a job and I won't be organizing a group. Although I will miss organizing the Boulder Cello Project a lot!! There may be some plans to organize another group where I move to, but we'll see... However, I really need to get some cello lessons and individual practice in.
Congratulations on your performance! I am so impressed that you are not only playing this crazy advanced material but doing it in a group of people who are probably more discerning than a typical audience member. Muchos Kudos! I really get the amount of bravery that requires. I hope I get the courage to start practicing and performing with groups sometime soon. I had a quartet lined up for April, but that seems to have been delayed for the moment, and the local community orchestra is still several notches above my current ability to keep up.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I've thought about moving to another city too, and the first thing that pops into my head is "I wonder if they have amazing cello teachers there?" Luckily for me, the only other city I'm seriously considering moving to is Portland, and they are pretty well known for their music scene. I have heard that cellos are almost as common there as ukuleles & bicycles.
I'm actually moving 30min away from Portland!! :)
DeleteI'm still looking for a teacher and community orchestra I can participate in though. The community orchestras out there seem to be very high level too. I just barely squeaked by because I was performing in a cello ensemble! Everyone was very helpful and friendly too.
Yeah, my prerequisite for moving to a place is that they have to have a great dance and music scene, and cellists - lots of cellists! :)
You are so lucky! Oregon is a beautiful green gem of a state, and Portland is about as close it gets in the US to being in modern European town. Be sure to check out the Columbia River Gorge if you haven't already, it's like Yosemite with all of its breathtaking waterfalls, but without the 1000s of tourists or insane death defying hikes.
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