(no subject)
It's been a long time since I wrote, so I thought a small update might be nice.
Let's see: I am still at Mannes, and have added a theory masters on top of the choral conducting masters. This will take me an additional year, but I was getting a lot of encouragement from the theory faculty to join the major. Now that I've done that, I'm getting encouraged to go for a PhD in theory, so now I'm seriously considering it.
The conducting masters is going well - my ears are getting better, and every year I learn more about how far I need to go in order to be a reasonable conductor. My baton technique is always improving (and can always use more work), but it turns out that baton technique is not such a big part of conducting - far more important is developing your inner ears and your ability to interpret, and no matter how fast I progress in that regard, it is never nearly enough. But I'm not giving up yet - my reasoning is that the guy who teaches me (who is, as it turns out, one of the greatest musicians I have ever encountered) tells me that I am making steady progress, and insists that plugging away is how you eventually become good.
The real problem, of course, is that as my ears get better, my idea of what makes for a "good" conductor shifts at a rate faster than I could possibly keep up with it. So, I may never consider myself to be "good". Which is okay, as long as I don't let myself get discouraged.
Now, as a result of doing two concurrent masters, I am taking far, far too many classes. Sixteen classes = 28 1/2 credits. Seriously.
Now adding:
classes
+ two jobs
+ masters recital (for which I am preparing now. See below!)
----------------------
= I am busy and underslept.
Otherwise, I'm basically happy.
During my free time (haha!), I have switched (for the moment) from learning Hebrew to learning German, and my computer game of choice has changed from Heroes of Might and Magic III (which was way better than II and IV), for which each game takes about five hours, to Minesweeper, for which each game takes about two and a half minutes. My top score on expert is still 151, which isn't terrible, but isn't great either. Undoubtedly this will continue to move down until I lose interest completely... It'd be cool to get below 100, though.
And what of women, you ask? That, my friend, is for another entry at another time. In the meantime, I am sleepy.
*yawns*
Oh, before I go: anyone in the NY area should come join my masters recital choir when we begin rehearsing in a few months. We're going to be performing some combination of music from Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, the Faure Requiem, selections from Holst's Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, and Janacek's Lord's Prayer. Also, there may be free pizza or vocal coaching involved. Keep checking this space for forthcoming details!!
In other news, I'm planning on seeing Wallace and Grommit on Saturday with some friends. How is it?
Let's see: I am still at Mannes, and have added a theory masters on top of the choral conducting masters. This will take me an additional year, but I was getting a lot of encouragement from the theory faculty to join the major. Now that I've done that, I'm getting encouraged to go for a PhD in theory, so now I'm seriously considering it.
The conducting masters is going well - my ears are getting better, and every year I learn more about how far I need to go in order to be a reasonable conductor. My baton technique is always improving (and can always use more work), but it turns out that baton technique is not such a big part of conducting - far more important is developing your inner ears and your ability to interpret, and no matter how fast I progress in that regard, it is never nearly enough. But I'm not giving up yet - my reasoning is that the guy who teaches me (who is, as it turns out, one of the greatest musicians I have ever encountered) tells me that I am making steady progress, and insists that plugging away is how you eventually become good.
The real problem, of course, is that as my ears get better, my idea of what makes for a "good" conductor shifts at a rate faster than I could possibly keep up with it. So, I may never consider myself to be "good". Which is okay, as long as I don't let myself get discouraged.
Now, as a result of doing two concurrent masters, I am taking far, far too many classes. Sixteen classes = 28 1/2 credits. Seriously.
Now adding:
classes
+ two jobs
+ masters recital (for which I am preparing now. See below!)
----------------------
= I am busy and underslept.
Otherwise, I'm basically happy.
During my free time (haha!), I have switched (for the moment) from learning Hebrew to learning German, and my computer game of choice has changed from Heroes of Might and Magic III (which was way better than II and IV), for which each game takes about five hours, to Minesweeper, for which each game takes about two and a half minutes. My top score on expert is still 151, which isn't terrible, but isn't great either. Undoubtedly this will continue to move down until I lose interest completely... It'd be cool to get below 100, though.
And what of women, you ask? That, my friend, is for another entry at another time. In the meantime, I am sleepy.
*yawns*
Oh, before I go: anyone in the NY area should come join my masters recital choir when we begin rehearsing in a few months. We're going to be performing some combination of music from Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, the Faure Requiem, selections from Holst's Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, and Janacek's Lord's Prayer. Also, there may be free pizza or vocal coaching involved. Keep checking this space for forthcoming details!!
In other news, I'm planning on seeing Wallace and Grommit on Saturday with some friends. How is it?