Sectional / Workshop
Today was a less intense day of playing - I could have spent some more time practicing but I decided to take it easy for today. I practiced for about an hour in the morning and then we had a sectional (like a group lesson with Mark on the Mahler). Bass sectionals are always dissapointing - you don't really realize how out-of-tune the section is until you isolate us. I think that bad intonation in the bass section doesn't tend to come across to the audience like it would in other sections, but still, it would be nice if everyone could play in tune with eachother. During the sectional we also worked on spiccato, which is a certain bouncing bow stroke that is notoriously hard to do. Mark had an interesting approach to it where you focus on what your elbow is doing - I think that I'll play around with it more when I get home.
Mark played with the bass section during Mahler rehearsal today - that was pretty fun! It was great to have him there to give us comments on the spot. He's the only faculty member that has been playing with the orchestra - it's nice of him to do it! (he has played with us in a few rehearsals now when he is not rehearsing for the faculty recital)
After dinner was a workshop where the faculty as a group answered people's questons about auditioning and told stories from their own experiences, both auditioning and hearing auditions. It was really interesing, even though I'll probably never take a professional orchestral audition. Well, who knows ;). They also talked about the importance of stretching and exercising and being conscious of how you breath and tesnion in your muscles while you play. Then one of the violin teachers took us outside and showed us some yoga stuff - that was fun. After the workshop I walked with Isabel and Patrick to a coffee shop that was having an open mic night. They brought a cello and played some music - the people there really liked it! Especially the bach cello suites. I didn't bring my bass since we walked there, but maybe I will on Saturday when we go back - they are having some event there for Canada Day.
Woo - it's late! Time for bed :)
Third Lesson / Opera!
Tuesday morning was my third and last private lesson with Mark. We worked on the excerpts that I'm playing on the mock audition Thursday. It was a really great lesson - we really covered alot of topics and made alot of progress. It was nice to study with someone again for a little while!
Tuesday afternoon was another Mahler rehearsal, and I did a better job sight reading than on Monday. I still haven't had a chance to practice the Mahler on my own yet - I've been keeping so busy with other music! I'm trying to focus more on preparing the mock audition right now and will worry about the Mahler later in the week - I have to prioritize :).
Tuesday night was the opera performance! It was really fun - I think it went well. After the show the conductor had a cast party at his house and invited the orchestra. He had lots of good food and wine there! It was a good time, and I got to talk more with the vocalists. Another late night though - I'm getting exhausted! I'll have time to catch-up on sleep when I get back to Boulder, so I'm not too worried about it.
Audition / Crazy Opera Day
Monday was a pretty crazy day! I got up early to practice for my seating audition - around 6am. I had just started looking at the excerpts from Mahler the night before and was trying to continue to drill them into my head. When the bus got to the complex I had to audition right away because they scheduled an opera rehearsal to start a half hour after the auditions started. I think I played pretty well considering my lack of preparation - I had never played those excerpts before the night before the audition - haha! I ended up 5th - Mark told me that he wanted to rotate the section and put me in the back since I was a strong player.
After the audition was opera rehearsal and lunch. Then we rehearsed the Mahler in orchestra for the first time - it is so hard!! 
We had dinner down on the beach - it was pretty good! Here is a picture of us out near the ocean. We had ANOTHER opera rehearsal after dinner! We were getting ready for the performance on Tuesday.
I think I played for more than 10 hours Monday - I was totally exhausted. I'm lucky that I'm not having pain/soreness problems - alot of other people here are having problems with their arms, wrists and shoulders.
I never eneded-up finding my watch :(. I went to look for it on Sunday morning but I think the tide took it.
Day Off!! (Almost)
I'm getting behind on my posts! I'm writing now about Sunday. In the morning we had an opera rehearsal, which was so bad!! I was really out of it, and I think the rest of the orchestra was, too. I got up early and did a load of laundry, so I wore my pajama pants to rehearsal - haha! It was the first rehearsal with the singers. We aren't doing the whole opera actually - we are cutting the recitatives. The orchestra is on stage on the side and the opera is staged on the other side. Putting an opera together in 8 days is pretty nuts! The singers just got their parts two weeks before they got here.
On the bus ride to the academy from rehearsal we were talking with Ali - she was organizing a kayaking trip for later in the day! I was thinking of practicing for my seating audition instead (it was today - Monday), but decided to go kayaing instead. A group of eight of us went. The g
uy who drove the bus let us borrow his van to drive there! It was in Lund, which is a little north of Powell River. The picture on the left is Ray and Jared (bass players), and on the right is Ali, Patrick, Marissa and Laura (flute, cello, harp, trombone). We got four double Kayaks - it cost about $25 Canadian for three hours. The kayaks were really nice - they had rudders that worked with foot pedals. Here is us trying out the kayaks on land 
(I didn't bring my camera 'cause I didn't want to get it wet). In the right kayak is Christine - she drove the van also (and plays violin). Kayaking was so much fun! I was in the back, so I steered the rudder with my feet. Christine and I were really good at paddling - we kept on getting ahead of everyone :). We saw tons of jellyfish (we were kayaking in a cove in the ocean), crabs, seals (just their heads popped up), and bald eagles! We went around some small islands in the cove and then came back.
After kayaking we drove to the Laughing Oyster - it was a really nice restaurant in Lund. I had salmon and prawns, some Chilean red wine, and pecan pie for desert. It was so good! The restaurant had a great view of the sunset over the mountains/ocean, too. Here is a picture of us after dinner. I always get such bad red-eye!After we got back I practiced for a few hours for my audition. I'll write about that tomorrow - It's late and I'm tired!
Concert!
Yesterday was our concert - it went really well! I'm kind-of disappointed that we're not going to play Shostakovich anymore, but now we'll start on Mahler, so it's ok :). Before we played the Shostakovich the conductor gave a really funny speech about it and the Mozart opera - he sounded really scatterbrained. I thought that the bass section sounded really in-tune for the most part, which was nice. Earlier in the day we had a dress rehearsal and were also going to have an opera rehearsal, but the conductor decided to put it off until today. At lunch I did some yoga with the cello section - it felt good to stretch some. I got pretty tan from spending so much time outside. I took the afternoon off from practicing and walked into town some - bought some liquor for after the concert ;). Last night I walked to the beach with some people (the ones in the picture below - that was at dinner before the concert - it is Patrick, Jessica and Christine) - there was no sand - it was all rocks about the size of my fist. I went in the water up to my knees - it was really cold!! I think I might have left my watch there - I'm going to go back today sometime to see if I can find it :(. 
Masterclass / Easier Day
Today was a little less intense than usual. This morning I practiced for an hour and then we had a masterclass with Mark. A masterclass is like a lesson but everyone else form the studio watches. On this class Jared played the Bourees from Bach's third cello suite, Kate played excerpts from Don Juan and Brahms' 2nd Symphony, and I played the recitative from Beethoven's 9th and the first page of Mozart's 39th. I thought I played pretty well and got some great feedback from Mark.
I'm starting to really despise the stool that I'm sitting on - there is no padding at all and spending so many hours on it a day is really starting to hurt. I've been stretching during breaks, so my back and shoulders feel better than they have been. At the end of rehearsal today a photographer from the local paper took a picture of me and Kate playing bass - it should be in the arts section of the paper on Wednesday?
After dinner was the first faculty concert. It was really good! Mark played on a piece composed by the trumpet teacher and a Nonet by Spohr.
Second Lesson / Mock Audition
Another crazy day. This morning I had another private lesson with Mark at 9am. The bus got to the complex right at 9, so I didn't have any time to warm-up. We worked on the last two movements of the Eccles sonata - he had so many great comments and ideas! I'm looking forward to incorporating some of them into my interpretation of the piece. I'm not sure how well the new bow grip is working out - we didn't talk about it, but I think I'll ask him tomorrow. After my lesson I practiced until lunch for our mock audition. Mark decided what excerpts he wanted us to prepare yesterday, and only one of them was one that I had prepared!! I have played all the others before, but most of them not since orchestra rep class at Michigan several years ago. So, this morning I was frantically trying to refresh my memory!
Lunch was good - we had chile. I've been pleasantly surprised at how good the food is here - I was expecting much worse. I've been eating about twice as much as I do when I'm at home - I think it's because I'm expending so much more mental and physical energy than usual. My arms, hands and shoulders are getting really stiff from all the playing - I need to stretch more before I start playing in the morning. After lunch I took a walk to the ocean - see picture below.
After lunch was symphony orchestra rehearsal - I got someone to take pictures of us rehearsing. After dinner was the mock audition. There are six bass players - three of us played a pretend audition of our excerpts and a solo while the other three and Mark listened. They gave us our comments and then we switched - they played and we listened and gave comments. There was a screen (a wall between the listeners and the person playing), which is standard in professional orchestra auditions (it helps to prevent discrimination/favoritism). I think I played pretty well considering that I put in a total of 2 hours of preparation on all but one excerpt. Everyone else sounded really good though - it's going to be difficult to hold on to my principal position for the Mahler concert next week, I think. We have our seating audition for that concert on Monday. I haven't really been practicing the Mahler yet, either!! I need to look at it this weekend.
Private Lesson / Audition Results
Today was another very bass-intense day - I'm totally exhausted mentally and physically. It's good though, I'm having such a good time playing. This morning I caught the bus to my lesson at 9am. That's a little early for me, and I didn't get to warm-up at all! I guess I met with Kurt and Marty (my research advisors) at that time every Monday during the semester, so maybe that was good preparation :). The lesson was great - Mark has a very logical and organized way of thinking and explaining things that really works well for me. We worked on the first two movements of the Eccles and he worked on my bow grip a little. He thought that I hold the bow out too far toward my fingertips. I'm trying something new to see how I like it.
After my lesson I practiced until lunch and then the seating audition results were finally posted. I am principal bassist of both the symphony orchestra and the opera orchestra!!! I am really surprised - I thought the other undergrad bass players from Juliard and the Boston Conservatory that practice all the time would play circles around me. I'm so happy that I'm playing in the opera orchestra - I think that I've already mentioned that we are doing Mozart's Marriage of Figaro - it should be great! The first opera orchestra rehearsal is tomorrow night after dinner. Then the orchestra rehearsed for three and a half hours. Uhhhh - that's so long for those of you that don't know. The section sounds pretty good. I put bowings in the Mozart during the break. I'm going to bow the Poulenc tomorrow morning, I think.
I didn't take any pictures today since I didn't really do anything new. Is there something that I've talked about that you want to see a picture of? If so tell me in the comments, and I'll post it when I get a chance. On Sunday we have the day off, so I think I'm going to go hiking or something and I'll take pictures then.
Whale Watch, Day 5: - Nothing today :( Why don't the whales like me?
Things I forgot/didn't think of to bring: - laundry detergent
- dryer sheets (I make have to make another excursion to Walmart)
Lots of bass!
Today seemed really long - I haven't played this much in awhile! I got up around 7:30 and walked over to breakfast in my PJs. I had a chocolate muffin with chocolate chips - yessss! Then they chauffeured my bass to The Complex - where the concerts, lessons, sectionals and auditions will be. Then I hopped on the bus with the rest of the low strings for our seating audition. We met Mark Morton, the bass teacher, and he told us what we were playing on the audition and gave us 45 minutes to warm-up. He gave us six excerpts from Shastakovich 10 and asked us to play a solo. Fortunately I'd prepared the Shostakovich pretty well - I knew all the excerpts that he asked for. I didn't really have a good solo to play though - you usually would want to play either a concerto or a movement from a Bach cello suite. All that I've really been working on is the Eccles Sonata, so I played that. I think that my audition went well- he had very positive comments for me after. He liked that when he asked me to play something again differently (more off-the-string, more flautando, etc.) that I could actually do it. Two bass players are arriving late to the festival, so they won't audition until tomorrow and we won't hear about our seating assignments until then. After the audition Mark and the four other bass players went out for coffee and he told us about his recent tour to Europe with a chamber orchestra. 
Here is a picture of us returning to The Complex from coffee - me, Mark, and Kate. The ocean and mountains on Vancouver Island in the background. Then we had lunch - it's great being fed by the orchestra and not having to spend any more money! It was actually good food, too. Then we had our first rehearsal. It was 3 hours and 15 minutes long!! We played through our entire first concert and rehearsed a bunch of stuff, too. The orchestra sounds pretty good - I'm looking forward to seeing how much we improve over the next few days. Dinner after rehearsal, and then bus back here! 
Here is everyone waiting outside The Complex waiting for the bus back to the academy after dinner. I'm exhausted, I don't think that I'm going to do anything else tonight. 
This is a picture of the hall where we'll have our concerts.
Whale Watch, Day 4:
- I saw a whale today - his name is Humphrey. Unfortunately, he is only visible in the infrared spectrum, so I couldn't take a picture of him. If I find another whale that reflects visible light, I'll let you know!
Things I forgot/didn't think of to bring:
Day Off
Today was a pretty relaxing day - probably the last one for awhile! I didn't really have the energy to take pictures of everything, so sorry about the fewer pics today. I got up around 9am, got ready, and took a little expedition to Walmart. It was one of the places that I found on my foraging/walkabout yesterday. I got some junk food, other stuff for lunch, and an umbrella. Not very many people came yesterday - people started showing up today. I met two of the other bass players just a little while ago - they seem nice. Bass players usually are :). When I got back from Walmart I practiced for awhile - our seating audition for the first concert is tomorrow! I practiced outside since everyone else was practicing inside - the Academy doesn't really have practice rooms. Then the orchestra took us out for dinner at an Italian restaurant down by the shore. We had lasagna - pretty good! I sat with two bassoonists and a hornist that all go to school together in Victoria. After dinner, more practicing. I lugged out the camera and took some pictures. Am I a bassist or a leper? You decide.
Whale Watch, Day 3: - Another disappointing day on this front. I'm keeping my eyes peeled, though. I saw some fish at the restaurant.
Things I forgot/didn't think of to bring: - clothespins (for practicing outside - wind blows the music around!)
- alarm clock
Shout-out to:
- My mailman back in Boulder. I forgot to stop my mail, so have fun trying to cram everything into my little mailbox for two weeks!!
To Powell River
Wow - today was a really long day! I got up around 5am to start getting ready to catch the bus to Powell River. Since it was daylight, Gina showed me around her house and property. She and Dan live on 5 acres in a more rural area. Picture below of Gina standing on a bridge that Dan made over their pond. They have two dogs, a gigantic Newfie named Ollie and a beagle named Popo. This is me with the dogs on the porch. 
They were very well behaved and fun! Gina drove me to the bank so I could get some Canadian money from the ATM and then we went to Tim Hortons! Oh Timmy Ho's, how I missed you.
We eventually found the bus depot at the airport and I loaded everything on the bus. I was the only person taking the bus from the airport. Thanks for getting up so early on a Saturday and driving me around, Gina!! I owe you big time. The bus driver only made me pay an extra $10 to take the bass, which I gladly paid - that could have been much worse!
The bus left the airport at 7:15am and drove to the greyhound station to pick-up more people. The bus stopped there for 45 minutes, so I got out and looked around. It was the nicest Greyhound station that I've ever been in: pic on the left. There was a gift shop and a McDonalds, so I bought a few things. Now might be a good time to point out that Canadians apparently love change. By 8am I already had a heavy jangly pocket. Look at how much change I had (ok, some of it is left over American change, too).
I was taking a closer look at the toonie (2-dollar coin). On the front is Queen Elizabeth (obviously... ? I'm still confused by Canada's association with the United Kingdom). 
What's on the back - an important Canadian citizen since they can't put one on the front? Wayne Gretzky? Mike Myers? No. It's a bear. Steven Colbert would be incensed. It was the first bear ever elected to parliament; I saw a statue commemorating the event on a corner from the bus.
The bus got going again - Vancouver looked really beautiful. I'd like a chance to spend more time there sometime. Pic of a part of Vancouver from a bridge on the right. One thing that I noticed was in the city some of the traffic lights would flash green. The driver told me that these are pedestrian controlled lights, and they always just stay green until someone wants to cross.
We got to the first ferry after not too long. It was called the Queen of Coquitlam. We got off the bus and looked around. The ferry was huge! It was a cafeteria, a coffee bar, and a gift shop on board. The ride lasted about a half hour, and the views were amazing:
Between the first and second ferries we stopped in a town called Sechelt, where I hopped out and got a really good blueberry muffin. Then I took a nap - I was really tired!! I woke-up in time for the second ferry. This one was much smaller than the first one. The views were just as spectacular - I saw a big waterfall in the distance on one of the mountains. It was really overcast and kind-of rainy, unfortunately. It would have been even better on a clear day, I think. In the pictures below I also showed the arrival dock and my bus in the lower deck of the ferry as they are about to dock.
The bus got into Powell River and Mike from the festival came to the bus stop to pick me up in his truck. He drove me to the Powell River Academy of Music, where I'll be staying for the next two weeks. We will be rehearsing in a different complex, so I think that I'm going to move my bass there on Monday. Until then I have it here at the Academy. I'm staying in a dorm that is a converted classroom - they put up walls like cubicles, and 
everyone has their own. See mine on the left. It's pretty small! Unfortunately my tux got really wrinkled in my backpack (as expected), so I'll have to find somewhere that can get the wrinkles out for me. Or an iron. There is a little computer room
(where I am right now), with some really ancient machines. I can plug-in my laptop, though.
Once I got settled-in I went out for a little walk to explore and find something to eat (the festival will feed us starting tomorrow at dinner). I walked to the dock where ferries can take you to some nearby islands. The view of the coast is on the left
.
And then I got a little lost. I eventually stumbled on an A&W and had some dinner. By this time of the day I had so much change in my pocket that I could buy my entire meal with it! Then I wandered around for about an hour and finally found my way back. Next time I go out I'm taking my map!
When I got back to the Academy I practiced for awhile. Our seating audition is on Monday and my first private lesson with Mark Morton is on Tuesday at 9am. I have alot of work to do!
Whale Watch, Day 2:
- I'm so disappointed. I really thought that today was the day to see an orca or something, but no whales whatsoever from the ferries. I'm sure that they're there, taunting me.
Things I forgot/didn't think of to pack:
To Vancouver
WOooo I'm in Canada!! I'm staying overnight at Gina's house, who lives in Aldergrove, which is southeast of the city close to the American border. I spent most of the day packing in Boulder. I decided that rolling around a big suitcase would be a pain with having the bass, so I packed all my stuff into my small backpack and my new big camping backpack. Everything just fits - I won't be able to bring much stuff back with me!
Selena gave me a ride to the airport. I don't really know very many people now with big vehicles for bass transport, so Jeremiah let us borrow his pickup truck while he is in Belgium doing research for a couple weeks. She came and got me from my apartment and we headed to school so I could pack my bass and load it up. My parents shipped me my flight case from Buffalo last week and I had it sent to school since I couldn't have it delivered to my apartment. It also can't fit in my car, so I just left it in my practice room at the engineering center. The case is actually really cool - it has airbags and a bungee suspension system inside. The bass ALMOST fit in the truck - we had to lean the very top on the tailgate. Of course, as soon as we finally got it all loaded it started to rain! Fortunately, it only rained for a few minutes on the way to the airport - this is Boulder, after all. My bass was so uberprotected that I wasn't really concerned.
We got to the airport with plenty of time for my 5:22pm flight direct to Vancouver. I could barely carry all my crap! I could sorta rest my small backpack and bow case on the bass while I wheeled it around. Part of the fun of walking around the airport with the bass is being stopped my people every three seconds with snappy comments about how I should have played the piccolo or asking if I have a cello in there. Sometimes people will have discussions amongst themselves about what could be in the case without actually asking me - that is always fun. So I wheeled it all the way down to the oversize luggage check-in, and actually wasn't hassled that much by the attendant. There was, of course, a $125 oversize/overweight fee. And I almost couldn't check it at all - they don't allow things that are more than 100 lbs. When I put it up on the scale, I was still holding onto the neck, so I could cheat it down to 99lbs ;). Suckers. They gave me a tag saying how much it weighs, so maybe they won't make me weigh it on the way back, which would be good since I don't think I could pull that little trick again.
When I got to the gate, I found out that the flight was delayed an hour, so I gave Gina a call to let her know. She decided to go home from work to let her dogs out instead of coming right to the airport to get me from work. Then I sat around for awhile and got bored - here is a picture of me with the sign in the background about the delay. The flight was actually great - there was some fun turbulence (I like it - like a rollercoaster but you can't see when the drops are coming) and there was an empty seat next to me, giving me some much-needed extra leg room.
When I got to Vancouver, there was a HUGE line at customs - it was more than an hour wait! Gina was already at the airport - she had to park at a gas station until I was finally ready - sorry Gina! I'm really glad that she went home earlier to let out her dogs. Fortunately I didn't have any problems with the customs agent one I finally got up to him, and my bass and backpack arrived safely.
I met Gina and loaded my stuff into her minivan. Gina works at EA on their March Madness basketball game - she helps to make sure that things in the games are authentic (courts at different schools, fight songs, cheers, etc.). Very cool! Her husband Dan was out of town on tour in Germany with the band Billy Talent - he is their lighting director. Also cool! On the way back to her house Gina stopped at Wendy's since we were starving. I hadn't had a chance yet to exchange my dirty American money for eco-friendly clean-burning Canadian money yet, so Gina got my dinner for me - thanks!! We got back to the house, I met her awesome dogs. I'll take some pics tomorrow since it's dark out now.
Ok, I'll probably have a whole bunch more to post tomorrow since that is my trip to Powell River!
Whale Watch ((c) 2006, All Rights Reserved), Day 1:- Since so many people come up to the BC coast to try and see whales, I figured I would keep everyone up to date on my own whale sightings. Not much luck today. That could be partly due to the fact that I spent most of the day in Boulder, which is in the middle of the country more than a mile above sea level, and flying. It could happen though, I've seen Fantasia 2000. Maybe more luck tomorrow.
Things I forgot to pack (so far):
- security lock for my laptop (it should be ok though at the festival)
- wireless network card
- network cable (this may be a problem!!)
- a belt (all my pants have mysteriously gotten bigger the lately - I bought an emergency belt at the airport :) )
- harpoon
Shout-out to:
- Mom and Dad, for shipping me my flight case and some extra $$ for the trip
- Selena, for the ride to the airport
- Jeremiah, for letting us use his truck
- Bob, for fixing my bass and letting me borrow a soft case
- Gina, for picking me up from the airport, letting me crash at her place, and for the Wendy's!!!!
Preparations
Well, with my trip less than a week away I'm getting pretty excited! I still have stuff to do before I leave, but I'm trying to take care of the most important stuff now. I'm trying to get some excerpts prepared - the festival asked us to prepare 5 excepts in addition to the music that we'll be playing at the concerts. They sent me music for:
- Shostakovich's 10th Symphony
- Mahler's 5th Symphony
- Mozart's Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra
and I'm preparing excerpts from:
- Mendelssohn's 4th Symphony
- Mozart's Marriage of Figaro Overture
- Brahms' 1st Symphony
- Mozart's 39th Symphony
- Beethoven's 5th Symphony
It's coming along but I need to put in some more work before I leave!! I'm also preparing Eccles' Sonata, which I'm going to be playing with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra next February. Hopefully the bass teacher at the festival, Mark Morton, will be able to give me some good pointers.
I won't be able to practice this weekend because by bass is in the shop - I just brought it down this morning. I have some major seams open that are rattling; those need to be closed before my trip down to sea level!
one of my nasty open seams 
I took my bass down to Bob Ross in Denver, who is an amazing luthier and a great guy.
Bob Ross with one of his basses
Last year I took my bass to Bob when it was practically exploding right before my Grand Duo concert with BCO! He patched cracks in 14 places (!), fixed my E-stop on my extension, shortened my soundpost, fixed my tuning machines, and a few other things, and did an awesome job!! It's always fun to visit him because he is also extremely technically-minded and asks me all about my research and how it might apply to bass stuff :).
me goofing around with a Ross bass
His basses are amazing, both in terms of craftmanship and sound! I hope that he'll enter the ISB maker's competition one of these years. Check out his dragon bass!!:
So, I probably won't post again until my trip starts. I'm arriving in Vancouver on Friday at 7:15 pm and am staying overnight with Gina, my friend Nell's daughter. Then I'm off to Powell River on Saturday by bus!
