Great job tonight, y’all! I hope you had a bit of fun, too. And did you hear the applause? I hope so! :-)
I took pictures, but not with flash, so we’ll see if anything turned out. Unfortunately I couldn’t see everyone, so you won’t see all of your faces. If anything worked out I’ll post ’em tomorrow.
I’m home, and have been so for about an hour. Driving from UCSC can take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. I usually drive counter-commute, so life is good. Today it was a nice, easy drive. So I get home, heat the last slice of Jameson’s pizza (thanks, Jameson!), and check comments here.
Now I rest up for a short time. Then I teach private students here.
And THEN?!
Well, then I drive back over the hill to hear the woodwind quintet play the first and second movements of the Taffanel quintet. (We always have to choose selected movements because there are a number of chamber groups that perform. I’m hoping that eventually they’ll get their very own performance night. We’ll see.) They sounded great this morning, so I’m expecting a fun concert, even while I’ll have to work very hard at stifling this cough.
I think I coughed some things out of place … I’m feeling somewhat funny. I also think I’m experiencing what a friend of mine used to deal with; my esophagus seems to be doing some kind of spasm thing … or at least something is weird. Just in time for Symphony Silicon Valley and Strauss, wouldn’t ya know? Okay. More information that you didn’t need to know.
So now I rest. I can’t be too weary when I go back & forth over the hill. (I know, I know, I AM over the hill … sigh.)
I’ve been watching a YouTube video of an oboe lesson. The woman talking says that oboists need to soak their reeds in tap water rather than their mouths due to the kind of cane we use. She says there’s a lot of protein in our cane, and saliva breaks it down (yes, I’ve heard that before). She implies that single reeds don’t have that issue. But I’ve also read that clarinet reeds are made out of arundo donax, which is what we use.
So if there are any clarinetists who read this, do you have anything to say about this?
I haven’t watched the entire video yet. Even if I had I probably wouldn’t critique it. I’m not into critiquing. (It can come back to haunt a person!)
Do the words “classically trained” bother you at all? Read what Elaine thinks.
(Because right now I’m sort of busy and don’t have much time to blog!)
If you are in the UCSC area, the woodwind quintet is part of the chamber music open dress rehearsal/concert at 7:00 this evening. (I think it’s called an open rehearsal so no one has to publicize it or something … I’ve yet to figure that out!) 7:00. UCSC recital hall. FREE.
