Mutemath at Club Nokia

Jared and I went to see Mutemath at Club Nokia on Saturday day night with our good friends Katie and Andrew Feistel.

We went to an awesome restaurant/bar called The Must before and Katie and I split chicken sliders and Mac and Cheese! So delish! It was a really cool atmosphere. Going out to cool places in downtown always reminds me of how I need to do it more often! It just adds up with parking and food, etc.

The concert was AMAZING! If you don't know Mutemath, please check them out here! At the end of the show the drummer threw his tom out in the audience, he jumped out and stood on it while people were holding it, then, he jumped off of the drum in to the audience! I don't think they were ready for him, because it took a while for him to come to the surface. Haha! The singer sounds just like he does on the CD, which makes me happy bc I hate when singers suck live! They also had a ton of cool instruments they incorporate in the show, and they have a lot of jam sessions on stage. This also makes me happy, bc I know they can ACTUALLY play their instruments as opposed to memorizing a few cool parts. Go see them live, you won't regret it!

Time to go practice while my laundry is going! Lesson with Jim Walker in a week!

Friday!

I am so glad it is Friday bc I have been waiting for this master class with Robert Dick for a couple of weeks now and have been stressing a little about performing his crazy piece in front of him tomorrow. I have a pretty good handle on things, but today is the last day to practice for the class. I just need to get the second movement faster and work on some of the awkward fingering transitions in the first movement!

On another note, I listened to the live broadcast on KUSC last night of Gustavo Dudamel's season opening concert in the WDCH last night! It was incredible. I am a huge fan of Adams' new work City Noir!

I asked for tickets to go see Dudamel and the Phil for my b-day, and I think someone might have purchased them!!! <3

Get out there!!!!

Please be inspired by the following!




I stole this off of a friends' blog and couldn't resist sharing!

I love LA and all...

BUT until today, it still felt like summer. I think I was having a hard time transitioning in to "work mode" from "summer mode" because it has been so warm. I was not focusing on my flute practicing like I should have been and did not prepare enough for the two youth orchestra auditions that I had this past month. In turn, I did not play the best that I could have. This is so disappointing after the fact because I really want to have an orchestra to play with. This is my own damn fault and I hate being aware of this! I have just been so distracted!!!

Jared pointed out to me yesterday that now I have a clear gauge of if I did well or not, where as few years ago, I didn't know if I played well or not at an audition. It sucks way more now being able to tell when you didn't play something up to your potential. It also sucks knowing that the judges excused you because you didn't play well, and you knew you were wasting their time while you were playing and should have excused yourself!!! YIKES!

I am turning over a new leaf, just as the seasons are turning. The following is more for me to write this out than entertainment value for you! Continue if you wish!
I am not going to schedule time to see friends until I have scheduled my practice time in for the week. This way, I will not get distracted by hanging out with people or even running errands or doing chores. I love all of those things, so it is hard for me sometimes to separate out my work time vs. chill time. I am also going to focus on the things that motivate me!

LIKE...
Listening to one classical piece every morning through our PS3, which can stream naxos.com while I eat my breakfast and drink my morning coffee! Listening to quality music always inspires me, no matter what it is! Then, I will get ready for the day and warm up (Taffanel and Gaubert, Monroe book, scales...even some piccolo!). Then, I will asses the pieces that I need to practice, and then include some that I want to as well. Some Jazz standards with improv and some Bach sonatas for fun and sight-reading purposes. I am also memorizing the Mozart Concerto in G right now. Definitely some orchestral excerpts and some flute and guitar music!

All of that to say, I need this new spurt of motivation! Thanks for reading!

:)

Flying Lessons

I have to learn two of Robert Dick's Flying Lessons from Vol. II by Saturday the 10th. I just got them in the mail today and realized how difficult they are. There are so many ridiculous fingerings that I have to learn! I always love these extended technique pieces after I figure them out and they sound pretty...BUT, until then, they are sooooo painful. I want to pull my hair out! I think it is so interesting that a composer can hear something so bizarre in his or head, write it out, then have it be so complicated that the person learning the piece can't hear how it goes until he/she learns everything perfectly. When sight-reading other pieces, you can hear the melody right away, even if you aren't expressing it the way the composer intended.

P.S. I have an audition for Debut Saturday that I need to practice for too. Anyone want to take it for me?

Dance!

For those of you who don't know, my friend Katie and I started taking a jazz dance class this summer. We decided to continue on this school year and we moved up to jazz 2! We are having a great time even though we have 9 year olds all the way up to our age in the class. Being honest, there is one other girl in college, and then the rest in middle school! The class says age 9-adult, so technically we are in the right place!

I found this picture yesterday when I was on Jared's computer. It sums up why I am taking my current dance class. I hope and pray we get costumes like this for our recital! Yes, I am going to be in a dance recital in June with 9 year olds. I will probably be in the back bc I am tall...For the record, I was in the front of the dance when I wore this outfit, because everyone followed me for the steps! I was probably 9 years old in this picture...no hips just like the girls in my class, although I think I could probably jazz walk better than they can! Ha!
My favorite part of this outfit is the backwards hat, and the bead "chain" on the front of the outfit! What about you!?

A Free Saturday!

This Saturday was one of the coolest days in a while! Jared and I were able to do a few free things that were very fun!

Saturday morning we got to go see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs in 3D! It was a great film! Hilarious, beautiful to watch, and a great story! I highly recommend it! For adults and kids!

Later, I got to play at an event for Gallo Family Wine Co. at the Hollywood Bowl before the concert. I played a number of jazz tunes as well as some latin and folk songs with guitarist, John Storie. We had a great time performing, and it seemed that everyone at the party enjoyed the music as well. Jared and a few friends got to enjoy the free food and wine and then we also got to see Pink Martini that night for free at the Hollywood Bowl!

I never thought I would be playing jazz at a dinner party, but there I was! I am having such a great time with it, and hope to continue to learn more about jazz and everything you need to know to be successful at "soloing" (If that is even what everyone calls it?).

I am slowly getting more calls for students, so that is great, and I hope to land a few more cool gigs this year!

:)