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| Today's Fortune...Yup, another delicious meal from Happy Wok. By no means is this a great Chinese restaurant, but the fact that it's a two minute walk from my apartment makes it quite appealing!!!
"You will always have good luck in your personal affairs."
Glad to hear it. | | |
| ClarityIn the last week, I've talked to two friends who are graduating this year with their Masters Degrees, and have no clue what they want to do in life. Just like me a year ago, they're finishing degrees in Music Performance, and have decided to "take a year off" to figure out what it is they actually want to do with their lives. It's a reassuring feeling, actually.
A year and a half ago, I was on track to continue on with my doctorate in trombone performance. A wrench was thrown in late in the semester, and it looked like that would no longer be a possibility. A fact that I haven't told many people is that not long after I learned my assistantship wouldn't be renewed, there was a possibility of receiving a fellowship so that I could actually continue on to get my doctorate. I opted not to pursue that possibility. I was in the same boat as my two friends are currently. I realized that going for the performance DMA was the logical next step for me, but not necessarily what I wanted to be doing with my life...at least not at this point in my life. Taking this past year to think things out has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
My headline on this blog indicates that I'm "short on long-term goals", meaning I have no real idea of where I want to end up, and what I want to be doing. That's starting to change, slightly -- at least, I have an idea of what I want to be doing with the next few years of my life. I have some thoughts as to what I'd want beyond that, but there's no point in getting ahead of myself. The good news is, I'm close. I think I'm on the right track to being exactly where I want to be right now. In fact, if financial stability and location weren't important -- I'd actually be right about there. This is good news. From here, I continue on this track -- in the direction of where I want to be, and what I want to do with life. Possibilities for next year are still open, but it's looking like it'll be a good situation regardless.
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"What if we decide NOT to fall apart? What if we decide NOT to wait to
see what happens, but instead decide what we want to happen and then
decide how to make it happen? It's like Burt Reynolds says to Jerry Reed in
Smokey and the Bandit: 'We ain't never not made it before, have we?'"
-- Rob Sheffield
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| Circus MaximusLast night, I had the pleasure of seeing John Corligliano's Circus Maximus (Symphony No. 3) performed by the DSO. Yes, that's right -- the Detroit Symphony performed Corigliano's symphony for band! Even better, this was done under the baton of Leonard Slatkin -- who is pretty much the Corigliano conductor! Obviously this involved bringing in various additional players -- many of them from the University of Michigan, but it's a landmark event. John Corigliano is probably my favorite contemporary composer -- and being that I'm such a huge bando, his Circus Maximus is a very important piece. What thrills me, though is that this may be the first time a major symphony orchestra has performed an actual symphony written for band. That in itself is monumental. The fact that a major conductor, deemed this piece worthy of programming is quite the score for the band world. This piece is already a massive achievement within the band community, but now it's finally getting respect within the orchestral world - which is where true "acceptance" occurs. I can only hope that more orchestras will perform Circus Maximus in the future, and the genre of the wind band can grow to be more respected. Who knows, this can either lead to orchestras doing more band works on their concerts -- or even the concert band becoming a more acceptable and respectable performance medium.
I won't say much about the concert, itself. I'm very familiar with the piece and glad I got to experience it live. At the same time, the inherent problem with a new piece like this, and a symphony orchestra schedule is that the orchestra only rehearsed this piece in the week leading up to its performance. I wonder, exactly, how many hours UT put into their preparation of the Carnegie Hall premiere. As a result, the actual performance didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked. It seemed to me that the performers were a little hesitant to "unleash" at some sections, and the various parts of the symphony didn't transition as seamlessly as they do in the recording I have. (Commercially unavailable, but I have connections!  ) I wish I could see this performance on Saturday night, as that will be the third and final performance of the piece, and I imagine everyone will feel more comfortable.
So, honestly, I was disappointed with the performance. At the same time, however, I am so grateful that Mr. Slatkin chose to do this work. He is helping to expose a rather conservative audience to a genre of music that is, in its nature, quite fresh and innovative. I can only hope this trend will continue and, and a larger audience of listeners will come to appreciate this genre of music. (And, at the same time, hold all band music to the high standards that are held in the orchestral repertoire!) Perhaps this will also inspire other "acceptable" contemporary composers to tackle the wind band ensemble. This can only lead to great things.
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| Little-known fact about me:
In the last few years, I've gone through periods of time where I can't sleep in my bed. Literally, I'm incapable of achieving an unconscious state while in my bed. Usually the result is me sleeping on my nice comfy couch. Thing is, this isn't just a once in a while sort of issue -- this can go on for weeks, even months at a time. This is an issue that I feel has gotten worse in the last year. The old routine used to involve falling asleep on the couch, waking up in the middle of the night, and then going to my bed. Lately, however, it just became sleeping the whole night on my couch. Reasons why? No clue -- maybe there's something about having the TV on while I fall asleep which helps. Maybe there's some unknown insecurity I'm carrying that causes me to require the womb-like comfort of my couch.
Here's my confession. I returned to Michigan from Christmas break on January 3. I didn't actually sleep in my bed for 8 weeks after returning. Hell, after a while my bed became like second desk for books, documents, etc. Lord knows I wasn't using it for the purpose of slumber. In fact, the only reason I actually did end up sleeping in my bed was Daniel was staying over one night, and prefers my living room. I slept one night in my bed, and the next night went back to the couch. Since then, I'm proud to say, I've been sleeping in my bed every night.
I have no explanations for it -- it's a very comfortable bed, and my room is actually much warmer than the living room. But here's the new thing...I've been having really weird dreams since I started sleeping on the bed. Like, REALLY weird. I won't go into great detail about all of them, but they usually involve an unlikely or even unknown cast of characters going through strange situations with me.
The most recent, and strangest dream so far... I think I was Kevin Costner -- or rather, a character from a movie that was played by Kevin Costner. In this particular movie, I (Kevin Costner) began dating a single mother, and we began an exciting new relationship. Naturally, I had to deal with her kids, including two teenagers, and an adorable, precocious little girl who did not want me in her mommy's life. It was a rather cliche' plot, and I have no clue who the other characters actually were. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had a dream where I wasn't myself.
Any psychologists wanna chime in on this one???
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| Today, I enjoyed a delicious lunch from Happy Wok, down the street. My fortune cookie read, "Keep your plans secret for now." Alas, I shall do just that. But fear not, loyal blog readers, for I do indeed have a plan (kind of).
More to come at a later time... | | |
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