Voglio Tempo!

Return of the ZOMBIE!!

2012-01-31T14:32:00.002-05:00

Hello!! It's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't blogged here in AGES.

It's not that I haven't anything interesting to blog about; it's actually been quite the opposite. SO MUCH has happened these past few months. After failing to blog regularly, there just became too much to catch up on...

So I decided to see where things go from here...things might be more sporadic, but I hope I can start on a clean slate, as they say.

One reason why I haven't blogged here so long is because I looked at my past posts and covered my face in embarrassment. Everything sounds so insincere and fake...and sometimes I literally would blog about nothing. Not that blogging strikes me as terribly profound, but I want to be interesting and have something meaningful to say if I blog.

Another reason is that I have been busy writing...I finished writing my 365 Sonnets summer last year, and I've been busy working at my other, long-neglected poetry blog, Some Turbid Night.

And the biggest reason I stopped blogging - school is crazy!! As always.

But I'll try to juggle everything as I validate the title of this blog everyday: "Voglio Tempo" - "I WANT TIME!!" There simply are not enough hours in every day! Till next time...

Show and tell

2011-07-10T16:03:00.003-04:00

I really like performing at the seniors centre...a lot of the residents really appreciate it. Some are very moved and tell me very charming stories. A few have asked me to come to their room after I play to look at their memorabilia.

While I'm sure it really brightens their day to listen to me play and for me to visit with them, I'm equally touched by their endearing treasures.

One man showed me his collection of his son's programmes. His son conducted a symphony orchestra for over 30 years and he kept all of the concert pamphlets. He gave one for the upcoming season, which will be his son's final year conducting. He also showed me pictures of his wife and daughter, who are both sopranos.

Another man told me that he carved the wooden ducks in his room by hand. I didn't believe him, so he showed a photo album - of all the dozens of things he's carved and crafted, from baby cribs to cabinets and more.

And this morning, another man took me to his room and showed me his digital piano. He's been trying to learn how to play the piano using beginner books. I told him that one of my teacher's most loyal students started with her 20 years ago - and he started when he was 60! (He's quite an accomplished performer now.)

It's the simple moments like these that really make my day! :)

My mom, Tarzan

2011-07-09T17:49:00.002-04:00

Everybody is your sister, brother, aunt, or uncle in Chinese culture. A few weeks ago, one of my "sisters" arrived from China.

She's the daughter of my mom's best friend from childhood. We had her over for a couple dinner parties and my mom got all excited. She told us tons of stories from when she was little.

Apparently...my mom was a biiiig tomboy. And this is a woman who's a Chinese literature major turned accountant whose lifelong dream was to become an anchorwoman. Not that thrill-seeking.

She told us that she and the girl's mom were super-close when they were little. They used to have "swing" - it was a tiny plank of wood hanging from a tall tree, which would have broken all the safety regulations today.

My mom (who was tiny!) would sit down and her best friend would put her legs around my mom's waist and stand. And they would swiiing...till they almost fell off.

Sometimes when my mom was left at home to be babysat. Her friend would climb the tree to my mom's room. She pulled my mom out of her room through the window and they would jump out of the window. Once they were free, they would play outside the whole day like monkeys.

After they were done, my mom climbed the tree back through the window into her room!

My mom points zealously at her many freckles. "These," she says proudly, "are from too many fun afternoons in the hot sun." It's true. She has tons of freckles.

It was all rather surprising for me to discover this since it came from my mom, someone who doesn't let me or my brother get into any kind trouble at all - like any good mother.

The moral of the story: never judge a book by its cover...even if it's your mom.

Thoughts on LRCM

2011-07-08T20:36:00.002-04:00

At my ARCT convocation a year and a half ago, I thought, "Great! After 11 years, it's finally DONE!"

Then this woman walks over and hands me this booklet. She excitedly says, "You should try this - it's new!"

It's was the syllabus for the new LRCM (Licentiate) piano performance examination which is equivalent to a Master's in music. So the AR isn't the end of things after all! Ahh!

Pretty much everything in the repertoire syllabus is impossible...from Liszt's piano sonata to Ravel's Gaspard de ls nuit. And then there are concertos like Rach II and III, etc. :O

I've attempted a few LRCM pieces so far on my own:

Bach's Partita No.1 in B-flat
Mozart's Fantasie in c minor
Chopin's Polonaise-fantasie

...with dubious results.

I'm not sure if I'll one attempt the exam (ever) but in the meantime, I've gotten yet another reason to keep practising! :)

I Dream of...Tribal Art?

2011-07-07T18:54:00.000-04:00

I normally don't dream at all, but I've been having really bizarre dreams this past month. Is my subconscious trying to tell me something important?

I'd like to think so, but I can't find anything reasonable in the madness of my dreams. A few weeks ago I dreamed that I solving a murder mystery. I found a dead body under a car and was then told to look in a cookie tin in my house's kitchen. I found a cheque for ten million dollars that was crossed out and instead read two million dollars.

That one actually had a somewhat reasonable plot, but last night I had a really vivid dream that made absolutely NO sense:

I was in a space ship with a bunch of other teenagers. We were apparently preparing for a space mission.
There was this gigantic refridgerator in front of us

We were all seated on the ground packing it full of frozen treats. We put in exactly 8 boxes of caramel ice cream and tons of boxes of ice cream sandwiches. We were having trouble fitting it all in.

All of sudden, I was at a Native reserve by myself. I went inside this huge tent thing as big as a store. There was a stout British woman dressed in sage green with round glasses.

She was sitting down and showed me how she made North American native art. She was holding a stuffed buffalo toy she already made and was sewing on parallel vertical stripes with a needle - first blue, red, and then white. Like a messed up French flag, I thought.

Then suddenly I woke up at 6:30 to my alarm.

I've been trying to think about the dream's significance because it's so unexpected and contains so much precise detail, but I'm completely bewildered. I obviously have a very peculiar subconscious mind...

Strawberry Social

2011-07-06T15:46:00.002-04:00

One of my favourite things to do is perform. I play the piano at a seniors home and I love my very receptive and appreciative audience, but I also got to enjoy and help out with a lovely strawberry social last week.

Image source:

http://detalovemamapapa.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/strawberry1.jpg

I was sitting at the table with the residents with dementia since they tend to wander off. I also know all of them from performing on their floor, so it's just like sitting and chatting with old friends (no pun intended).

This is what we all got to eat:

strawberry shortcake
strawberry tart
chocolate-dipped strawberries
strawberry ice cream
strawberry juice :)

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to enjoy the event for once rather than having to entertain!

All in all, it was an unexpectedly nice surprise, but one that I really enjoyed. I guess that sometimes it doesn't take much more than strawberries to have a good time...

Before the Tooth Fairy...

2011-07-05T22:04:00.001-04:00

There was a time in a my childhood when the Tooth Fairy did not exist. This was a time when my parents were poor students...figures.

We would go outside on the warm Texan mornings with my latest tooth.

If it was from the bottom of my mouth, I'd throw it on the roof. The tooth would thus "grow to the sky".

If it was from the top of my mouth, we'd bury it in the ground and it would "grow down to the earth".

Sounds really one-with-nature, doesn't it?

Fast forward to the modern day....my brother recently managed to lose one of his lower jaw teeth.

Unfortunately, the *Tooth Fairy* was a little forgetful two nights ago (somehow it might have been my mom's fault). He was looking for the $$$ under his pillow, but all he found was his tooth.

So I pretended to get my Blackberry from my backpack and in the process grabbed a loonie. I reached into his pillow and "found" something. Voilà!

I told him what I used to do with my lost teeth in the ancient days before the tooth fairy. We threw his latest forgotten tooth on the roof...albeit, a very different, larger, Canadian roof.

How things have changed...

Haydn & Mozart

2011-06-12T21:03:00.007-04:00

I've been performing a selection of Haydn and Mozart sonatas this weekend. It's such a great pairing because the two composers both exploited the sonata, but each in his own unique way.

The interesting thing about Haydn's 52 sonatas is that you can really see his development of his compositional prowess through his sonatas. His early ones are short, really easy, almost Baroque little things, musically and emotionally limited. As we go along they get more difficult and inventive and shift to the typical three-movement Classical sonata. His late sonatas are not so Romantic as Beethoven's for example, but they are quite reminiscent of the high Classical age - sort of like very accomplished Mozart I would say with a racy edge. I like Haydn because he's very much like me - not prodigiously talented, but having reached a high calibre through sheer determination, hard work, and dumb luck.

Mozart's 18 sonatas are also interesting but they are the complete opposite. Even from Sonata No.1, the Mozartian elegance and inimitable Classical charm is undeniably there, almost fully formed. There is this astonishingly consistency in the quality of his music, and even if not always terrifyingly complex, always delightful and unique. His two most Romantic, stormy minor-key sonatas rival those of Beethoven, but are not late ones at all (i.e. No.8 / 9 is an early one and No.14 is a middle period). I think it's interesting that Mozart was almost born ready to compose and his compositions simply are a testament to his enormous creative genius. I scarcely can imagine what things he would have written if he lived to be 90 - it seems any age wouldn't have been enough to provide enough time for all the marvelous ideas jammed in his head to be committed to paper - in fact, some of his most popular works remain mysteriously unfinished to this day.

So in a way, two incredible composers of very similar music - but one who perfected his skill over many, many decades through practice and effort and the other who was born as a precocious prodigy who barely had enough time in his short life to jot down all of his musical ideas. To pair them together is almost to say - genius or not, life is short and art is - forever.

Not a nurse, sorry

2011-06-11T16:53:00.003-04:00

Well, I was selling refreshments @ an emergency room yesterday and this distraught mother came over to me with her daughter. The poor girl had an ice pack and was bleeding from an eye.

"My daughter just got hit by a soccer ball in a game!" she explained to me.

"OK then, what would you like?" I asked, thinking an iced tea would probably be appropriate?

It took a few more seconds and a glimpse at the coffee and muffins for the mother to realize that she was probably not where she wanted to be.

"Oops...where are the nurses?" she asked.

I pointed her in the right direction...though they did come back after a few hours to buy a cookie ;)

I want to be a doctor one day but unfortunately...I'm not one yet. :(

English is my second language!

2011-06-09T17:27:00.001-04:00

Monday night we had a huge HUGE thunderstorm with hail and it knocked us out of power and water for a whole day! My mom and I decided to buy me some new glasses since we both had a rare afternoon off together.

The lady at the store very quickly helped us choose the glasses. She was an attractive brunette in her twenties, maybe thirties? She was very nice and had a good eye for good glasses. :)

Then something funny happened when she was typing my mom's e-mail address. The last letter was "i" and she typed in an "e".

My mom was like, "No, it's an 'i', not an 'e'..."

And she was like, "I"? She drew a blank and asked another employee to come over. "Which one's 'i'?" And the other person pointed it out for her.

My mom and I were super confused. I thought she might be one of those blonde bimbos who couldn't read and who dyed her hair brown in order to make herself seem more intelligent.

After everything was finished, she explained, "English isn't my first language either!" Well, even though my parents are Chinese, English is my first language because I was born in Edmonton!

Anyway...turns out she'd only been in Canada for 9 months and was a new Dutch immigrant! My mom was really surprised that she spoke perfect English, but Europeans are pretty multi-lingual...reminds of Diane Kruger, that German actress who speaks perfect American English and French...

I have a friend who was a German exchange student in my Grade 11 French class. He spoke good English, perfect French, German...AND Polish since his parents are originally Polish. And he wants to be a diplomat!

Pretty interesting stuff. :) Just wanted to share that after my loooooong absence from this blog...life has been busy! Today I played with babies, watched middle school kids cha-cha, and performed for a tea party!

#askthestrings!

2011-05-20T16:26:00.000-04:00

I joined Twitter a few months ago and it's been SO FUN. One of my favourite things is being able to follow my fave classical musicians - opera singers, violinists, pianists, etc. I'm so star-struck when they reply to my @mentions! lol

I went on Twitter for the first time in a while today and I got caught right in the middle of #askthestrings day!

You can ask your fave professional violinist/violist/cellist/bassist your related questions and they'll answer back (hopefully)! Take a look at who's in on it and when: http://askthemusicians.com/participating-strings

Just send your tweet @someone and include the #askthestrings hashtag and wait for a response!

I asked Sarah Chang & Anne Akiko Meyers questions since I love them so much! Such amazing ladies with such huge talent and fun personalities :P

I asked:

"Do you ever get too excited to go to sleep after a performance and how do you deal with it? @sarahchang @anneakikomeyers #askthestrings"

Sarah Chang answered:

"There's usually a reception or dinner after every concert,so there's time to wind down after coming offstage! @365sonnets #askthestrings"

Anne Akiko Meyers answered:

"@365sonnets yes! sometimes I can't get rid of a tune for weeks! I have a glass of vino and start worrying about the next rep! #askthestrings"

My follow-up question:

"@anneakikomeyers Definitely happens to me too! :P What's your fave snack you eat when you're bored / between concerts? #askthestrings"

Anne Akiko Meyers answered:

"@365sonnets dark chocolate with ooey gooey caramel filling..just major YUMMINESS! #askthestrings"

And another one:

"@sarahchang Since your rep is planned in advance, do you ever get sick of playing the same works for a while? #askthestrings"

"@365sonnets @sarahchang Or maybe do you try to mix things up between venues? #askthestrings"

Sarah Chang answered:

"Oh,I change rep nearly every week!last week was Bruch,next week is Brahms,the week after that is Mendelssohn,etc @365sonnets #askthestrings"

Now I want some chocolate! And maybe some mad talent on the violin! See all of the on-going action here: http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23askthestrings

Happily Lost

2011-05-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone's enjoying the lovely weather...it's finally warm here!! Well, I would love to say more, but I am actually so happy to say that I am too busy to blog.

Summer's here, but I have so many creative / artistic projects and volunteering...I'm a happy workaholic. :)

Often when I'm blogging I feel like I'm putting on a face because I really can't say what I feel...I must say something that's somewhat presentable and/or entertaining and/or informative but unfortunately...real life really isn't like that. Not mine anyway. Sometimes there's nothing to blog about, sometimes there's too much - my life has no normalcy!

So, weirdly enough, discombobulated from everyone that I really know on a daily basis has me feeling like I'm living life more than before. So until the next time I decide to blog...ciao! And enjoy ;)

Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T13:09:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone tells their mom how much they truly appreciate them...I have to say that my mom is a super-hero. I think my family would be toast without her. She's truly a one-woman show. I LOVE YOU, MOM! :)

And to celebrate this special day, I am spending the day in a mental institution...volunteering, duh ;) Hope everyone else spends a fun day with Mom!

Found in translation

2011-05-06T12:54:00.001-04:00

My paternal grandparents are staying with us for a couple days on a little visit. I was raised a little bit by my grandparents when I was little, so I think that's where most of my Mandarin was learned. I still have this video of me when I was little singing a song and reciting a poem in Chinese.

I was born in Canada and grew up a bit in the U.S., but I have somehow still managed to keep my spoken Chinese relatively intact.

Things have certainly changed...my parents and I speak in English at home since both have been working in Canada for over a decade so they're quiet fluent now. Occasionally we dabble with Mandarin, but it's just easier to speak English. My parents still speak to each other mostly in Chinese.

My little brother's Chinese is really bad on the other hand, since he didn't really have much Chinese spoken or taught to him when he was little, but he knows some words and can understand some, which is good.

When I was his age, a few Chinese families with young children got together in our town and took turns on Sunday teaching each other's children Mandarin.

I hated it at the time and we mostly just played, but now I regret not paying attention some more. It's funny because when people hear me play piano, lots of people tell me that they took lessons and stopped but always wished they continued. Persistence definitely pays off...in whatever you do.

So I guess I wish I were more fluent in Chinese? It's always great to be able to master the language of your ancestors...not just for communication, but because it also gives you a crucial part of your identity and opens you up to a whole different culture.

Oh well - I guess I'll just keep practicing with my grandparents.

I was a third-grade mascara monk

2011-05-05T18:22:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day is on Sunday, isn't it? My mom was cutting my brother's hair last night and I remembered a funny story about my first baaaad haircut.

I used to fidget a lot when I was getting haircuts. So I was fidgeting as usual and then my dad called my mom so she turned and "zipppppp"...she sliced of a chunk of my hair!

Hehe...so I learned that you do not fidget when you get hair cuts from your mother.

So I had school the next day and my mom came up with a brilliant idea. I was like, "Nooooo...." but I was desperate. Good thing it worked.

My mom put mascara on my bald spot.

The rest of my hair was all short anyway...so nobody at school noticed. Or at least they didn't say anything and were all laughing behind my back.

But after we were heading back to class after going to the school library, my best friend at the time was right behind me in line and she definitely did notice. "Why is there a coloured in spot on your head?"

Scarlatti Snapp'd

2011-05-03T19:25:00.001-04:00

Man, so much stuff has happened since I last blogged...the Royal Wedding fiesta wrapped up, Bin Laden was killed, Stephen Harper got his majority...etc. *sweeps grand news of the world away*

Well, my life has been just as busy, but far less headline-stealing. Now that I have time to blog, I will recount a story of how Scarlatti caused a ruckus today.

After playing for another 2-hour marathon this morning, I started playing in the café downstairs. A lady was doing an interview with a potential volunteer and another group of people were having lunch.

I was playing Scarlatti sonatas. Not Spanish woodpecker Scarlatti, but calm and slightly depressing Scarlatti.

One of the ladies eating lunch has the nerve to interrupt me...she's like, "Can you play quieter please?"

WTFFFFFF?

I am so pissed. I looked her in the eye and I'm like, "Yo, I volunteer here three hours everyday. I don't HAVE to come here but I do it out of the goodness of my own heart. If you hate it so much, eat somewhere else!"

And she's like "We enjoyed it the other day when it was quiet..." WTF? I was playing Beethoven, lady...and half-compliments don't cut it. I don't come to be background music...I come to be listened to and to be enjoyed.

After I pulled some more Scarlatti snaps, I went out to another place to play. The lady doing the interview came out and was like, "For the record, I like it better when you play in the caf". Aww, thanks...

In my two years playing at the seniors home, I have never, ever gotten anything less than praise.

Because I enrich the lives of the elderly out of the goodness of my heart. If you can't take the heat, got outta the kitchen! Because I have a temper and I'm not afraid to use it...

Pip pip cheerio!

2011-04-29T15:34:00.005-04:00

I headed off to my old high school at noon...surprise! Some friends had just finished their "royally themed" foods class and had scrumptious leftovers to share.

I got to eat their cucumber sandwiches and deliciouuuusssss sticky toffee pudding. So good! Gotta love a free lunch :)

But I still have no idea why British toffee pudding is more like a cake though! Weird...

Obviously I had no time to watch the Royal Wedding this morning! First thing I did after breakfast was wrench the seniors over from their *tellies* for long enough to play the aristocratic first Viennese school for them - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and yes...even good ol' Schubert too. ;)

Then after that, my friend and I, who had pioneered our Nutrition Club from scratch, answered our Nutrition Club's myths and musings about university in a Q & A session.

We also met the "third generation" of students taking over the club next year! Our legacy continues...

But this will definitely be my final farewell "Pip pip cheerio" to my high school I'm thinking...will not be going back there anytime soon! :P

So it was a great morning! Can't wait to watch the Royal Wedding later tonight with my family on our T.V. recorder thingy...Royal Wedding fever has just begun!

Making do?

2011-04-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

Today was my second day back at the seniors community performing. Every time I go, I feel like I'm entering a sauna because it's always SO hot, no matter what weather it is outside! Yesterday was pretty terrible because I wore a cotton dress shirt which left me sweating like a pig!

My daily schedule is: play for an hour on two of the seniors community's 4 floors, and then for another hour in the café. Every night I choose things that will make up about an hour's worth of music, and then play the same stuff two or three times.

Today I performed Schubert's 6 Moments-musicaux along with a charming Mozart sonata. The dementia floor is always funny because this one lady is very "vocal". At the end of the Mozart sonata's big finish, she was cussing at me for being disrespectful! hehe...what would Mozart think of that?

Well, I was in the café today and was astounded once again by the AWFUL state of the piano. The high notes didn't even work and some of the keys stuck after I hit them!

Embarrassing stuff...so I compromised and played stuff that didn't require so big of a range and stuff that required a more "atmospheric" (i.e. hazy and muddy) sound from the piano. So it worked out.

Tomorrow, to celebrate the *Royal Wedding*, I'm thinking about playing some variations on British themes by Beethoven and sonatas by Haydn+Mozart? Very aristocratic indeed...

A day in the life....

2011-04-26T21:09:00.001-04:00

Busy busy...

Had an eye appointment this morning...my optometrist said my eyeballs were slightly inflamed? What does that mean??
Had bloodwork done by an Indian vampire.
Managed to set up six different volunteering venues to do this summer...starting with a three-hour recital tomorrow morning ahhhhh...
Finished exams yesterday on Easter Monday...after like, three weeks of exams.
Posted online ads to sell my old textbooks this morning.
Coming to speak at my school this week...?
Polishing up my French and Mandarin since I claimed I was fluent in both...
Somehow bribed a nurse into giving me free stuff (hehe).
Etc. etc. etc. And I thought I was free after exams!

Happy [Home-made] Birthday!

2011-04-23T14:43:00.001-04:00

Last week my 9-year-old brother had his $200+ birthday in a movie theatre...I told him about my first real birthday party...my very, very different, low-budget 8th birthday.

I can happily say that after a decade of hard work, my parents have great careers and can afford all the modern amenities of a North American upper-middle class lifestyle.

But growing up, I had two immigrant students for parents who had a very different income at the time. So when I was around my brother's age, life was definitely not always easy!

Anyway, on my 8th birthday, we had some other Chinese family friends' kids come over to our house.

I think we had pizza and cake...the cake we almost couldn't get because most places were closed since my birthday happened to be on Civic Holiday that year!

And then for loot bags...my mom and I made "bags" out of construction paper and staples. The stuff inside was from the handy-dandy dollar store.

Items included erasers, pencils, dinosaurs, and a calculator for each kid! Oh yes. Just amazing. In home-made construction paper loot bags.

So we've come a loooong way from that. Since then I haven't really had a lot of birthday parties but hey, it's great to know that at least my brother will never have to experience a low-budget birthday party! Lucky kid.

Ghetto Goose

2011-04-21T12:49:00.001-04:00

A goose walked right in front of my car as I was heading into a parking lot the other day. I expected it to run away or something.

Instead it stood right in front of me and HISSED as if to say, "Whatcha lookin at me for, fool?"

So I honked at it because I needed to get through and it HISSED again and swiveled its neck from side to side..."Oh no you didn't!" Oh yes I did...MOVE, GOOSE!

So maybe it was a mom defending her nest area? But in a parking lot? Uh-uh. I had a ghetto goose on my hands...

So I crept up really near and waited...FINALLY the goose gave up and walked away reaaaaallllly slowly, as if to personally insult me with her goose ghetto slowness. As I started to roll forward, it glanced back at me and HISSED again...

..."Whatchur problem? I'm goin as faaaaast as I can! Don't rush me...it's just 'cause I'm a goose isn't it?..." Geez...what a goose...

Chemistry...lol

2011-04-19T18:50:00.001-04:00

Hurray I have a chemistry exam tomorrow afternoon! Some kooky kid in our chemistry course posted a bunch of *hysterical* chemistry jokes on our discussion board for fun...I've heard some before, but a bunch are new to me! Enjoy?

1. A neutron walks into a restaurant and orders a couple of drinks As she is about to leave, she asks the waiter how much she owes. The waiter replies, "For you, No Charge!!!"

2. Q: Why do chemists call helium, curium and barium the medical elements?
A: Because if you can't helium or curium, you barium!
(good advice for us biomed kids!)

3. What is the most important thing to learn in chemistry? Never lick the spoon.

4. What did the thermometer say to the graduated cylinder? "You may have graduated but I've got many degrees."

5. Q: What does one do if one can't zwim?
A: Zinc.

6. Q:What do you call a tooth in a glass of water?
A: A one molar solution.

7. Q: What is a cation afraid of?
A: A dogion.

8. Q: What do you call a joke that is based on cobalt, radon, and yttrium?
A: CoRnY.

9. Q: What do chemists use to make guacomole?
A: Avogadros.

10.Have you heard the one about a chemist who was reading a book about helium and just couldn't put it down? :P

The joys of page-turning!

2011-04-18T20:06:00.004-04:00

I won a scholarship to go to a super-amazing chamber music festival a few years ago and during a performance with pianist Peter Allen and violinist Jasper Wood, I was asked to page turn.

Jasper Wood was doing solo performances and then they played one piece together. And that piece was my first upfront-and-personal experience with Ravel's monster of a piece, Tzigane. OMG.

So it was pretty nice because the violin has a LOOOOONG solo introduction.

Then the hell started. So I was supposed to turn, but the piano score was totally nuts!! After a while I started following the violin score over top, which wasn't much better. I just then started counting bars...thank goodness I didn't screw up. Nearly had a heart attack afterwards!

And then at the end of the week my chamber music ensemble performed our Haydn flute trio that we learned and rehearsed all that week for like, 8 hours a day. I had a fellow pianist friend that also turned pages for me...likewise, pretty scary.

I guess people think it's helpful, but having this foreign arm reach across you suddenly when you're not expecting it can pretty much freak you out!

And during the freakishly schizophrenic and fast first movement, there's no room for error! But it went well...our host family was so proud of us and it was so much fun!

We're all good friends now, but I definitely learned my lesson...when playing chamber music, I'll memorize the goddamn part or I'll flip the pages myself, thank you very much!

And if I ever get asked to turn pages...I'll have to ask myself how desperately I want to be near this person...are they famous enough for me??

Re: Children

2011-04-17T20:00:00.004-04:00

I think my ears are still bleeding...

When I was younger, I had this crazy idea that I might want to be a pediatrician. Then I realized how boring it is to sit in a little office all day and have kids cough all over you. Oh, and I eventually realized how EVIL kids can be.

I must admit, I quite like children...on a one-to-one, professional basis, like when I teach or babysit.

But Saturday has confirmed my current state of mind regarding children in general: AHHHHHHHH

My brother ended up having his birthday party yesterday and I have to say...after a movie and gallons of sugar-loaded pop and butter-laden popcorn, being stuck in a tiny 5 m by 5m room with 7 nine-year-old boys for two hours was definitely not one of my better experiences...

And I have a physics exam tomorrow, so having four-five hours of my time wasted was NOT GOOD!

Oh man...oh, but today it snowed. AND YES IT'S APRIL!! C'est le Canada?

On a positive note...no more physics after tomorrow?

Not invited??

2011-04-15T15:58:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow's my brother's b-day! Notice the festive jelly-bean background...reminiscent of balloons, yes? Well, actually Blogger just doesn't have any birthday-themed backgrounds. What dumbheads.

I was almost going to use a wedding cake background...but...my brother's turning 9...kinda not age-appropriate, no?

Anyway...he's very excited to be watching RIO...which came out today, by the way. It's that one with the blue birds, Anne Hathaway, etc.

I was not invited! Actually no, he didn't "officially" invite me, but I have a physics and chemistry exam next week as well as a gazillion of interviews, etc. so I originally planning not to go...but I think it'll be a nice breather from doing thermochem and kinematics problems.

Enjoy the jellybeans!

It started with a dead bird

2011-04-14T12:35:00.000-04:00

One hot day in Texas, I was walking home around the dusty baseball diamond from school with a couple of my friends. We arrived at where our flats where but on the sidewalk something caught our eye.

Red guts and blue feathers! It was a dead, rotting bird! Some flies were swarming around it and we were all sort of grossed out.

So I was what, like 5 at the time? I had never been a morbid kid (seriously!), but I was really fascinated by the dead bird. I had never seen guts and intestines and stuff like that before in my life and I was just so fascinated by it for some weird reason.

And now I'm planning to become a doctor...I guess our present is often shaped - directly or indirectly - by some of our earliest childhood memories and experiences.

I also had such an incredibly amazing time dissecting a fetal pig in Grade 11 as well as sheep eyes in Grade 12.

During a summer camp as a kid, we also examined owl pellets and looked at the little rat teeth and whatever the owls didn't digest.

For some weird reason, I took one home in my pocket...Mom wasn't so impressed! I don't think it's that I have a macabre obsession with body parts and stuff, but I just find anatomy and the body SO fascinating.

Can you tell that I'm excited for human anatomy in third or fourth year? :)

Mmmmmm...disodium guanylate!

2011-04-13T21:24:00.002-04:00

Oh yes...the joys of processed food. What I had for lunch today after my second exam:

Image source:

The Nongshim Site

Ingredients: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), palm oil, potato starch, modified potato starch, salt, hydrolyzed soy protein, cabbage, monosodium glutamate, glucose, red pepper powder, maltodextrin, garlic, sugar, dextrin, green onion, carrot, potassium carbonate, anchovy, yeast extract, black pepper powder, onion, radish, ginger, rice powder, corn flour, beef bone stock, red pepper seed oil, shrimp, caramel colour, citric acid, corn syrup, natural flavours, sodium carbonate, cellulose powder, tapioca starch, sodium phosphates, soybeans, beef tallow, modified corn starch, tocopherols, beef extract, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, malic acid, TBHQ, mushroom

Manufactured in a facility that also processes egg and milk.

I think the ingredients speak for themselves. I was going to look up things like "beef tallow" and "TBHQ" but I decided against it. The noodles are too yummy to stop eating...and I think I definitely would stop eating them if I knew what they were really made of...

Much worse than my "Wheatex discovery", I must say...

Chameleon

2011-04-12T21:51:00.000-04:00

One day, my piano teacher told me I was a chameleon. Awesome I can change colours! I thought. Look this is a picture of me if I was a chameleon:

RAWRRR I'M A CHAMELEON!!!

But no, that was the day that I realized that I was schizophrenic (not literally - I don't do drugs!). But what she meant was that I started with her playing like a wimpy traumatized mouse. Then by the end of my lessons with her I was playing like Liszt on steroids. So I changed, see?

So now I'm trying to achieve a *balance* in my playing because another teacher I had when I was younger said you don't impress by playing the loudest, but by having a big raaaange of dynamics.

I'm trying this (unsuccessfully) with Mozart, where I sound like an elephant going berserk in a field of daisies.

And then I thought about myself in real life. I'm a chameleon in real life too.

One moment I'm like, super happy and crazy and witty and intelligent...and the next I'm this creepy, introverted, super-touchy and grumpy emo kid in the corner who has a death wish for every person in the planet.

Most people know me as one or the other. But somehow, I end up being friends with most people anyway! But I somehow scare most people away eventually. :(

I have no in-between balance point...Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde much? Very much, yes. I have yet to learn to use this to my own devious ends, however, unlike the chameleon, using his mastery of disguise to eat defenseless insects and escape predation! BAM

Beethoven: Number Zero?

2011-04-11T10:38:00.001-04:00

I bought an 85-CD set of Beethoven's complete works a few years ago. I've been listening to the amazing Friedrich Gulda rip apart the 5 piano concertos...then I noticed this weird extra piano concerto. Beethoven wrote another one?

It was just called "Piano Concerto in E-flat major, WoO 4" and I had never heard of it before.

So I did some Googling and trusty old Wikipedia churned out this interesting info:

It's a fragmentary work, with only the piano part surviving.
Beethoven wrote it when he was only 13!
Since it wasn't published during his lifetime but was written before all of his other piano concertos, it's referred to as "Piano Concerto No.0"!

Pretty neat, huh! I've never heard of anything being referred to as a "No.0"...

As I listen to it, I'm reminded deeply of Haydn's piano concertos (since Beethoven deeply admired Haydn), but in the first movement cadenza for example, there's definitely a young Beethoven at work.

It's incredible to hear that at the age of 13, Beethoven was already making his mark in music! Pretty cool.

The wrong appreciation?

2011-04-10T21:13:00.001-04:00

April is National Volunteer Month...yippee! Because I am one! It's just unfortunate that I have a thank-you dinner sandwiched between my final exams...but who cares...who could pass up free food?? Not me. :)

Oh well! We have so much time to study and I've been keeping up with coursework like a mad dog throughout the year so I think (and hope) that I'll be fine!

It'll be nice to leave the house for once...I realized the other day that our tulips blooming! I was like, "Oh yeah...so there still are things outside of home and school..."

I'm such a workaholic that "taking time to smell the roses" would have to be somehow squeezed into my busy university schedule...but hopefully things will change once summer vacation rolls around...in late April! Love our short university year! :)

Genius: Getting Smarter!

2011-04-09T12:59:00.001-04:00

Apple launched their "Genius" feature a while ago, which creepily gathers info about your music library and gives you recommendations based on it. When it first started up, "Genius" was pretty retarded actually. I heard that initially even songs by the Beatles drew up a blank?

Well, I listen to stuff that's shockingly more obscure than the Beatles, so not a single song in my music library came up with anything. Henryk Szeryng? Glenn Gould? Natalie Dessay? Johnny Hollow? As if!

Fast forward a few years later...it's so much smarter now!

I don't use the recommendation feature, which suggests music for you to buy (because I'm cheap like that)...but the Genius Mixes and stuff like that are pretty functional now! I'm impressed.

Genius has automatically made two randomized "mixes" called "Opera Mix" and "Classical Instrumental Mix" for me. Pretty clever!

And when I click on the genius button on my songs, quite a few are able to be built into customized "Genius" playlists. Not bad!

So as a classicalmusicophile, I'm pretty impressed that Genius is able to accommodate my esoteric musical tastes...and hopefully it gets even smarter with time!

Crayons

2011-04-08T16:10:00.000-04:00

Mmmm...I am a child of the sun. It's warming up ever so slightly and I love it! I have a fond memory of sunny Texas, when I was in kindergarten. It was a sunny, sunny day, and it must have been an afternoon is spring.

We had this new box of crayons...and guess what? They were all different colours and each had a unique scent! I was sitting at a table right next to a big window and the sun was streaming in all over the crayons.

The one I remember the most was a pale blue one called "Cornflower". I didn't know what a cornflower was and I still haven't seen one in my life yet. But it was this lovely colour and smelled so nice.

I have self-diagnosed synesthesia, where my senses mix. In particular, when I hear music, I see colours.

But seeing colours and smelling flowers - now that was something totally different, and totally cool! I love crayons.

J'm de la musique

2011-04-06T17:31:00.002-04:00

Now that school is wrapping up, I will finally to time to volunteer as a pianist again. Of course, that means I've got to keep polishing my current repertoire while learning some new tricks.

Revised piano projects:

TODAY
current works to practice and finish learning

~~Chopin: Polonaise-fantasie in A-flat~~
~~Busoni: Transcription on Bach's Chaccone~~
Mozart: Sonatas No. 4, 8, 16
Chopin: Nocturnes (No's. 3, 8, 9, 12, 18)
~~Beethoven: Sonata No.10 in c minor~~
Beethoven: Variations ("Rule Britannica" and "God Save the Queen")
Liszt: Schubert lieder transcriptions: Auf dem wasser zu singen, Ave Maria, Der Erlkönig, Standchen
Schubert: Sonata in a minor, D.845

TOMORROW
things that I will start to tackle...maybe within this coming year or so

Debussy: Estampes (Jardins sous la pluie)
Rachmaninoff: Morceaux de fantasie (Prelude, Polichinelle, Serenade)
Mozart: complete Piano Sonatas
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies: No.2 in c-sharp minor/F-sharp major, No.6 in D-flat/B-flat
Rachmaninoff: Preludes (No. 5, 10)
Chopin: Ballade No.1 in g minor
Haydn: Sonata in E-flat major
Chopin: Scherzo No.2 in b-flat minor
Chopin: Andante spianato and Grande polonaise brillante
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.17 in G major

SOMETIME DURING MY LIFETIME
works that are too time-consuming or just plain impossible

Bach: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in d minor
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in c minor
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in e minor
Bach: French Ouverture in b minor
Schubert: 3 last Sonatas (c minor, A major, B-flat major)
Schubert: Wanderer Fantasie in C major
Liszt: Fantasia quasi sonata: Après une lecture de Dante
Liszt: Sonata in b minor
Beethoven: complete sonatas
Scarlatti: complete sonatas
Chopin: complete études and preludes
Debussy: complete preludes (both books)
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier (both books)
Bach: Goldberg variations

Meet me on the floor

2011-04-05T20:00:00.000-04:00

Ah yes...just hours ago I sent a text to my group saying, "Meet me on the first floor of the library...LITERALLY!" Meeting with your biology group in the afternoon the week before exams is NOT a good idea. No space!

I had literally gone through all four floors of the library and there were no seats! Not even for one person!

I ended up saving places at three different tables so I could later take all the chairs and move them to my table once it was free, but my laptop battery was dying so I had to sit on the ground and work on my stuff near a plug and had people save spots for me...anyway...it was a nightmare.

Luckily I found a spot near a plug later on when my group came so we were able to sit all bunched up together in a makeshift work area. Phew! Thank goodness both my Monday and Wednesday group stuff will be done as of tomorrow morning!

Sometimes I wonder why people don't just do their work on a regular basis in the library or whatever so they don't have to spend their lives 24/7 the week right before exams? Ugh. Not everyone is ahead of the game like me, obviously.

Fail! Or win?

2011-04-04T18:05:00.000-04:00

I still don't know if this was a fail or win...but I was invited to a surprise birthday party for Stephen Harper since he dropped by to visit our city today...but I thought his birthday was late April?

Anyway, it was raining when the "party" was happening and apparently they weren't allowed into the hotel he was going to due to security or something...so I'm not quite sure if it worked out or not? I know they tried, at least!

I don't know...I'm not sure if I'd do anything like that for a politician like Stephen Harper...I mean...he's not that special of a person in my opinion. But obviously there are certainly mobs of rain-soaked university kids that think so! :P

Desert Island Discs

2011-04-03T13:31:00.001-04:00

BBC radio has a fun feature where they invite famous guests and ask them, "If you were stuck on a desert island...what eight recordings would you bring with you?"

I've thought long and hard about what I'd say if I was stranded on a desert island...and this is what I've come up with (in no particular order):

Glenn Gould: Bach Toccatas. Everything Bach wrote was genius...and I could say the same thing about everything Glenn Gould played. But my all-time favourite Glenn Gould recording is that of Bach's keyboard toccatas and fugues...the contrapuntal magic he works in the epic fugues is crazy amazing.
Mitsuko Uchida: Mozart Sonatas. Mozart is not a composer I think is particular deep at all...mostly superficial, one might say. That's before I heard this crazy woman named Mitsuko Uchida. She coaxes out this endless beauty and heart-breakingly elegant and poignant quality in Mozart that is so incredibly complex.
Sarah Chang: Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Sarah Chang's recording of the Shostakovich's violin concerto is just absolutely incredible...it just spoke to me on so many levels. The music itself is very enigmatic and strangely wonderful...but Sarah Chang creates a sonic world that immerses you in this incredibly odd music in a way like no other.
Natalie Dessay: Cleopatra. Operatic arias are perhaps not very soul-searching, but Handel's vocal music never fails to touch me...it's so intimate and heart-rending. Giulio Cesare is one of his finest operas, and Natalie Dessay's portrayal of its Queen Cleopatra is just amazing...sympathetic, suicidal, triumphant, girlish...transcendent. I would consider it her crowning achievement on record to date.
Johnny Hollow. Johnny Hollow is a Canandian indie/goth metal/ambient electronica/classically influenced band that has a special personal connection for me. The music on their first debut CD is so weird...but it is so evocative and incredibly profound...it's beautiful in a twisted, dark, and haunting way. The lyrics are puzzlers...it would take an eternity to figure out what they're getting at...
Yo-Yo Ma: Bach Cello Suites (first recording). Yo-Yo Ma is such a huge name in classical music, but before the hype was this humble offering of Bach's unaccompanied cello suites. Absolutely incredible...intimate, soul-searching, magnificently dance-like...I never thought that a single line of music could say so much - until I heard this recording, that is.
Martha Argerich: Solo Recordings. Martha Argerich is a phenomenon. What a pianist. This woman's technique is just insane. In this collection of Liszt, Chopin, and others, she never fails to wow me. And the repertoire she plays is equally as fiercely passionate and powerful as she is.
Tron Legacy Soundtrack. Surprisingly, my favourite soundtrack EVER. The shifting harmonies remind me of Bach and I love the ominous ostinatos throughout and the brilliant mixing of orchestral and electronic sound colours. It really tickles my soul...Daft Punk is so cool!!

There's so more many things I would take with me though! Why couldn't I just take my iTouch?!

A FOOLish Love Story :)

2011-04-01T09:59:00.003-04:00

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone! Today I'm going to share a story about my twin...we were both born on August 7th in the same year. Factoring in a time zone difference, we're twins down to the same hour! And in Grade 12, we had the exact same semester...

Once she told me a very interesting story about her parents. They met in high school too and decided to go out on a first date together. Guess what day it was? April Fool's!

They were talking on their first date and her dad said that his birthday was on that day.

Her mom was like, "No...you're playing an April Fool's joke on me..."

Then he's like, "No...it actually is..."

And then she was like, "No way...MY birthday is on April Fool's too!"

And of course he thought that she was pulling his leg now...

Anyway, it turns out that both my twin's parents have their birthdays on April 1st. It's just funny that they happened to have their first date on April Fool's!

So yes, coincidences do happen, and sometimes reality is a lot stranger than a practical joke!

Group Dynamics

2011-03-31T10:32:00.001-04:00

I'm currently engaged in two interdisciplinary projects at school looking at sustainable agriculture from various biological standpoints. I've noticed some pretty strange differences between my two groups.

My Monday group is fine...but I find that we start talking for maybe the first five minutes, and then have nothing else to say. We then awkwardly pretend to check our cell phones for the rest of the time...and I also happen to be the only one who's done anything project-related so far.

On the other hand, my Wednesday group is a completely different story...we've pretty much finished the entire project. And I'm literally almost always late for my next class because we seem to have endless things to talk about...high school, courses, and I don't know - it seems like we're already really good friends.

It's really strange...group dynamics are interesting. Sometimes the connection or "chemistry" is there...and sometimes it's not.

It's nice working with a group that you really *click* with...I feel like everyone's more motivated and excited about the project that way.

But why my Monday group doesn't *click* just puzzles me. Weird! Hopefully it works out.

COOKIE Monster

2011-03-30T22:17:00.000-04:00

A girl dropped by my house today...I didn't answer the door at first because I thought it might be the mafia (again). But the persistent kid came back when she saw my mom's car pull up into our driveway. I answered the door and she was like, "I'm selling girl scout cookies..."

"How much?" I asked.

"Four dollars..." she replied timidly.

Heck, I love cookies. Especially them girl guide cookies...done deal!

Am I the only one in the world that actually likes and buys them? They really are good!

And plus, I had seen her get turned down a couple times already by some of my other neighbours...I'm a big softie inside! It's so hard for me to say no to a helpless little girl like some people...how heartless! They're the real monsters :(

A Classical Criminal!

2011-03-29T22:45:00.004-04:00

I joked about my "piano crimes" recently, but I have actually been in very real trouble with classical music 3 times before.

The first time I got in trouble was with the National Ballet of Canada. I noticed one day by chance that their Facebook group was suddenly without an "admin" member...so I thought...how cool would it be to admin that group! I clicked "become an admin" and took control of the National Ballet of Canada's Facebook group!

I don't understand or particularly like ballet, but I got messaged by the ballet's public relations person saying to "relinquish control" of the group or something funny like that. Of course, I had to oblige! But it turned out nicely...I was offered season tickets (which I unfortunately didn't accept since ballet's not my thing)!

Visit the National Ballet of Canada online: http://www.ballet.ca/

Anyone see the Black Swan? I need to be less criminal or evil Natalie Portman will come get me...AHHHH

The next was due to copyright allegations over burnt toast. Not the kind you eat, but the comedic opera "Burnt Toast" by Canadian composer Alexina Louie.

I had illegally uploaded the opera to YouTube, which I recorded from my T.V...and CBC found me out! Scary business...but it's brilliant stuff. It's a bunch of short comedic operas where ordinary people all of sudden burst out into operatic outbursts of love...I guess people like me have a weird sense of humour? :P

Check out "Burnt Toast" here: http://www.burnttoastopera.com/
Watch "Burnt Toast": Burnt Toast: Eight comedic mini-operas

And very recently (yesterday)...I got into trouble with one of my favourite young pianists! I uploaded performances of the very talented Joyce Yang on YouTube...this time her press agent contacted me by e-mail.

He said that she was cringing at some of the performances...obviously, it was when she was only 19 and she made some mistakes, etc. She asked me to remove a couple that she didn't particularly like.

...on the plus side, they were very happy to know that I'm such a big fan of hers...they told me that she's launching a real debut CD soon and that I might get a copy as a token of appreciation! That would be totally awesome! :) We'll see how that develops...

Discover the talented Joyce Yang: http://www.pianistjoyceyang.com/
Her award-winning performances on CD: Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Joyce Yang, Silver Medalist

The Third Parent

2011-03-28T20:50:00.001-04:00

It's a little weird sometimes being ten years older than my only brother...and it just gets weirder as we both grow older. It's hard to know if I'm his brother, or some weird hybrid of a third parent/babysitter/piano teacher sometimes...

I do a lot of "parenting"...turn off the T.V...practice the piano NOW...I drop him to piano lessons...babysit him during the summer, feed him on weekend mornings...

And yet, I'm his brother too. I get to be irreverent with him, I get to joke with him, I get to keep secrets with him, I get to play computer games with him...I get him into trouble (hehe)...

Maybe being a much older brother is the best of both worlds? The only problem is that sometimes he doesn't take me seriously enough when I switch back over to Mr. "Third Parent"...but that's OK. He's a good kid, and he knows I can turn on the "evil older brother" switch just as easily if he doesn't listen ;)

But I have a really nice thing going with my brother...we're very close. Sometimes it's tough being a brother and a third parent, but you know...it has its rewards. I'm so proud of that kid and I love him to bits. xoxo

Classical Class #11: Étude

2011-03-27T16:07:00.002-04:00

Didn't we just all LOVE doing times tables in grade school? Thank goodness études, or musical "study" pieces are often a lot more interesting...a lot of serious composers wrote intensely crazy "study pieces", which are in fact just really an opportunity to show off an inhuman technique.

Piano legend Vladimir Ashkenazy shows us how it's done!

Composer: Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Nationality: French-Polish
Piece: Étude in C major, opus 10, no.1
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)

That's not to say that there are really boring ones for beginners, but the études written by first-rate composers such as Liszt, Chopin, Debussy, and Rachmaninoff were usually written off to show off a developed technique rather than to teach Little Suzy how to play a scale.

Chopin's études for the piano are probably among my favourite since they are SO evil but they sound SO effortless when played well. The one in the video is his first étude in C major, sometimes nicknamed the "Waterfall". It shows off fast arpeggios, obviously!

Of course, études exist for many instruments - vocal ones often come in the form of vocalises, that is - songs without words.

But I love piano études because the piano can do so many crazy things! I have a book of Chopin's études but I only learned one of them a while back...definitely harder than times tables!

It's going to be a looooooooooong time until I do another Chopin étude...

Music to try:

Chopin legend Maurizio Pollini plays Chopin's Etudes
Vladimir Ashkenazy whips through Chopin's Piano Sonatas and Etudes

Some things...

2011-03-26T14:04:00.001-04:00

Very happy that my Urtexts arrived yesterday! I will pick them up on Monday...Mozart sonatas and Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Book II...some nice reading for the summer! :)
Have recently picked up my long-forgotten volume of Emily Dickinson's complete poems...there are so many of them! She's such a genius.
My first year of university is almost done! Should I be happy or sad? Both!
Currently writing an essay about the nature of reality for philosophy...
Successfully secured a somewhat realistic schedule for next year...thank goodness the university opens up new sections everyday or I'd be stressed out of my mind!
Waiting for the March blizzards to clear...
Excited to be able to volunteer in the summer with music therapy and also performing for the senior home...miss being able to be a musician and not a science student...
Practicing Mozart and Haydn...Mozart especially is SO difficult to play. Not technically, but achieving my personal "Mozart touch" is so tricky...either I'm tip-toing on eggshells or sounding like an elephant in a daisy field...doesn't feel "right" yet.
Have been listening to Keith Jarrett play Bach...very fascinating...considering buying his Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues soon...
Very satisfied with Dessay's Lucia! Hoping she stops singing these meaty bel canto roles and returns to something lighter...dare I suggest...Schubert lieder? WHY does she hate doing concert repertoire? :( Read she was considering doing Vivaldi motets back in the day...
Reading de Beauvoir for philosophy...fascinating woman and thoughts...
Final exams are coming!!
Trying not to kill my brother over his bad scale fingering. (Need to remember he's only 8!)
Trying to wrap up 365 Sonnets...?

Why didn't I major in English?

2011-03-24T06:59:00.002-04:00

OMG. Just got up because I need to register next year's courses...I can only start registering them at precisely 7:00 A.M. this morning...all the other crazy science-major kids have already stolen all the good time slots! ARGH.

I got up early because I was like, "Hey I'll beat the rush!" when I realized that I still had a few minutes left...

So last night I was looking at my spots for Stats get filled up by my crazy science majors...Stats is almost all full and my turn to choose hasn't even come yet!

And then I was going to choose an English course and look how empty it is...

Why didn't I major in English?? Oh yeah...I want an actual career...

And... 7:00 is here...time to choose!

White, powdery, cold?

2011-03-23T22:40:00.000-04:00

Snow has NEVER, EVER made ANY sense to me. I was born in Edmonton, Canada and then moved to Indianapolis, but the first place where I remember growing up was Texas. NO SNOW!!

I remember the first time when I moved back to Ontario, Canada, I was about 6 and it was January.

I went to school the first day and everyone was like, let's go tobogganing at recess! (Because there was a giant hill next to our school.)

I was like WTF...what's that... (except with milder language appropriate for six-year-olds)...and what's SNOW...never heard of it or seen it before...it's a LIIIIIIIIE...

So going into denial DID NOT make the snow go away...more than ten years later, I still don't get it! We had a BLIZZARD TODAY. IN MARCH! School buses were freaking cancelled!!

Anyway, the above picture is one I took a few minutes ago when I realized that even my chem lab was coincidentally already colour-coded for spring. I WANT GREEN GRASS NOT WHITE SNOW.

I feel my S.A.D.ness coming on...*Texan tears*...and in my denial, I will refuse to change my blog background from anything but clear blue skies. TAKE THAT, CANADAAAA!!

Think of the chickens :(

2011-03-22T17:04:00.005-04:00

I was going to our campus Subway to eat lunch when a pamphlet was suddenly thrust into my hand. The cover sported pictures of defenseless pigs and chickens trapped behind metal bars. I caught a glimpse of the title: "Even if you like meat"...

Oh perfect...just before I was going to have a scrumptious sub chock full of chicken or beef or ham...

So obviously I didn't have the heart to continue reading it before I ate my lunch. About a week after I had realized that it was still in my backpack...and the gruesome curiosity got a hold of me...so I read it.

To say the least, it was disturbing.

I was very upset and had a very difficult time eating meat after that, but of course, as days passed, eating meat didn't seem such a big deal anymore.

But reading about these poor animals enslaved in factory farms, treated horrendously and inhumanely really breaks my heart. I can't stand things like this.

Of course I know that food animals aren't raised on sunny red farms anymore...but it's alway so terribly shocking to realize the extent of our human greed...and cruelty.

The pamphlet was provided by the association of vegans or something like that. Basically, the moral of the story was...become a vegan! But even just being aware of where your food comes from and reducing your meat intake are less drastic steps that could make a difference.

But in this crazy, modern world of excessive human dominance, where we use technology and science to constantly achieve supreme, unheard-of evils, is there anything we wouldn't do to get what we want?

Combinations, Permutations

2011-03-21T18:35:00.001-04:00

Playing around with different mixes of pieces in my repertoire for my return to the seniors centre...

Mozart: Fantasia in c minor, K.475 (15 minutes)
Haydn: Piano Sonata in E-flat major, Hob.XVI, no.49 (25 minutes)
Chopin: Nocturnes Nos.1 in B-flat major and No. 2 in E-flat major (10 minutes)

A varied mix of Mozart's dramatic c minor fantasia, Haydn's splendid late-period E-flat major sonata, and two of Chopin's most famous nocturnes.

Mozart: Piano Sonata No.12 in F major, K.332 (20 minutes)
Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 in A major "Alla turca", K.331 (25 minutes)
Gershwin: Rialto Ripples Rag (2 minutes)

Two lovely Mozart sonatas meet some jazzy Gerswhin.

Mozart: 12 Variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", K.256 (12 minutes)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.8 in c minor "Pathétique", opus 13 (20 minutes)
Beethoven: 12 Variations on a theme from “Judas Maccabeus” in G major for cello and piano, WoO 45, minus the cello

One of Beethoven's most popular and angsty sonatas sandwiched between two sets of fun variations.

Bach: Partita No. 1 in B-flat major, BWV 825 (15 minutes)
Debussy: Estampes ("Pagodes" and "La soirée dans Granade") (10 minutes)
Chopin: Nocturnes Nos. 14, 17, 19, 7, 5 (35 minutes)

The highly angular world of Bach meets the watery and atmospheric realms of Debussy and Chopin.

Mozart: Fantasia in d minor, K.397 (6 minutes)
Haydn: Piano Sonata in F major, Hob.XVI, no.9 (10 minutes)
Chopin: Nocturnes No. 4 (F major) and No. 15 (f minor) (10 minutes)
Bach: Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971 (25 minutes)

A mix of dramatic Mozart, schizophrenic Haydn, happy and sad Chopin, ending with Bach's exquisite but crazy Italian Concerto.

Scarlatti: Sonatas K.380, K.455, K.466, K.481 (15 minutes)
Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D.935 (35 minutes)

Alternately vivacious and pensive Scarlatti sonatas are paired with Schubert's sonata-like second set of imaginative impromptus.

Bach: French Suite No.2 in c minor, BWV 813 (15 minutes)
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Preludes and Fugues (No. 1 in C major, No.2 in c minor, No.5 in D major, No.16 in g minor, BWV 861) (12 minutes)
Bach: Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo, BWV 992 (15 minutes)
Bach: Sinfonia in g minor, BWV 791 (3 minutes)

Bach, Bach, Bach...who ever knew that Bach was so varied?

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.19 in g minor, opus 49, no.1 (10 minutes)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.20 in G major, opus 49, no.2 (10 minutes)
Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D.935 (35 minutes)

Schubert finally gets to meet his idol, Mr. Beethoven...in an ironic pairing of undramatic Beethoven and theatrically angsty Schubert.

Lucia di Lammermoor: Dessay and Calleja @ the Met!

2011-03-20T22:34:00.001-04:00

I went to see the Met's well-worn Zimmerman production of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" live at my local cinema yesterday! Dessay starred as her last Met Lucia, Calleja as his first Met Edgardo. What a duo!

Must say, in general, Calleja stole the show. Truly a voice from the "Golden Age" of tenors...a little too stale and lacking inflection at times, but seriously an incredible voice - in terms of power, raw vocal materials, and dramatic instincts. There's a genuine passion that really suits the Edgardo temperament.

Natalie Dessay (my fave soprano!) made a great return to this production of Lucia, with which she opened in 2007 as the first in a trio of Met Lucias. The 2007 Lucia was recorded for a DVD bit on her Italian Opera Arias disc. It was insane! That opening-night performance was hyper, crazy, angry...a very highly-charged Lucia...thrilling and dramatic.

Uhh...yesterday...Dessay sang and acted Lucia limpidly, conveying more fragile despondency than I have ever seen her in anything. A very delicate and dignified Lucia...but probably the least dramatic I've ever seen Dessay.

Vocally...she tends to get a dry voice these days and gets some cracked notes...and her trills are GONE!! But she is such an amazing singer...chillingly haunting in "Il dolce suono" and breathtakingly beautiful phrasing in the Act 1 duet. Splendid colouratura and a superb symbiosis of singing with acting. She never ceases to amaze me...even if she tends to have more slips as her voice ages.

So I would say that I'm perhaps a little disappointed with Dessay's slightly more sober Lucia...but if I hadn't seen her truly crazy 2007 Met Lucia, I would say otherwise. The fragility, despair, and complex psychological drama playing out in Lucia's head more pronounced in this 2011 Lucia, and Dessay's new interpretation this time around is more sensitive to the pathos of Lucia and her inward processes...a very different take on this heroine. Good? Bad? Depends on your point of view.

French baritone Ludovic Tézier joins the cast as a sort of indifferent Edgardo. I love his voice and what he does with it, but his on-stage demeanour is just so BORING. I much more liked Mariusz Kwiecień in the role...there's more anger and rage...Enrico, to me, is just as hot-headed as Edgardo. Then again, Ludo has done it so many, many times like Natalie...both in French and Italian!

Tézier showed little emotion throughout, but on the other hand, his indifference and cruel insensitivity to Lucia's plot made it all the more convincing in the big scheme of things. But as an opera, it destroyed any sense of the animalistic rage and spirit of revenge of the opera which propels it forward. The Act II duets were nice, and the final scene was great though! Calleja really tore up the stage, throwing stairs left, right, and centre!

Anyway...another highlight was Raimondo...Korean bass Kwangchul Youn was incredible! A deep, solid bass voice with an attitude of having a sympathetic "voice of reason". I was very impressed. So overall, a pretty amazing cast! Dessay could have been in slightly finer form vocally and I like her hyper-crazy Lucia better, but I love that she was able to find a completely different interpretation of the same character.

Interesting embellishments...during the pre-mad scene interview with the ever-present Renée Fleming, Nat was saying that she likes the play with the chorus and do some improvising...which she certainly did! She went nuts with the ornamentation in her solo cadenza and did a whole bunch of unexpected things! That was a surprise...but still...no hyper-craziness.

And something that really impressed me was that Renée mentioned how Dessay did new ornaments everyday when she did Morgana in Handel's "Alcina"...I did not know that! That's amazing! She really went all out in the final cabaletta "Spargi d'amaro pianto" she did some angry finger-pointing and evil-eye glances...very nice touches. High E-flat was a little short...but what a thrill her high register! Uglier and more edgy, yes...but so damn thrilling and piercing...then again, her low register is PHENOMENAL now...deep, throaty, and dark. Was very effective in "Regnava" and in the mad scene too.

I never liked the ending of Lucia with Edgardo blabbering on and on, but Calleja made it work. Dessay made a return as the ghost and was both girlish and crazy evil! Overall, nice end to her string of Lucias, but the cast of Tézier+Dessay and their interpretations of the roles which they've sung many, many times already lacked the fire of perhaps Calleja, who still is obviously enjoying the process of discovering the nuances of the role. Dessay, I felt, was sort of like..."I've wrung this poor Lucia girl dry...time to give her a little break this time around?"

So can we finally saw goodbye to Zimmerman productions at the Met...for a long while? She hasn't been too popular, with that Sonnambula and all!

Some fun things: Renée Fleming interviewed the Lucia dogs and got lots of love in the process. Juan Diego Flórez had a blast talking about the threesome bed scene in Rossini's "Le Comte d'Omry" with Damrau and Didonato.

But maybe not such a great thing...IT WASN'T IN HD!! Our pokey small-town Canadian theatre had such bad video quality! Disappointing...but a dream cast with some nice new vocal discoveries!

After seeing this opera so many times, I'm sick of it though. Lucia just doesn't work...with the anti-climactic ending death scene and some pokey moments in Act II, but man Dessay's colouratura skillz in the mad scene and beyond and Calleja's impassioned Edgardo did it justice!

And now we say farewell to that half-a-decade-old blood-stained dress...and perhaps Donizetti too? Hope Dessay doesn't keep wringing these bel canto ladies to death! Quite liked her semi-nude Cleopatra for example ;)

Piano...Quartet?

2011-03-18T18:22:00.001-04:00

In regards to the Danse Macabre piece I was asked to do a couple days ago, I realized that it's actually not a quartet for piano and strings (which I automatically assumed), but a PIANO QUARTET!

Unfortunately, I was e-mailed yesterday because the project has been scrapped since yet another member of the group isn't able to make it. Darn. I was planning to make a schematic diagram of my part to help me memorize it...

But actually, have you ever heard of the Five Browns? They're 5 siblings who all play the piano and perform worldwide in combinations of 1, 2, 3, 4, or all 5 at once on Steinway grands.

They were all simultaneously trained at Julliard with piano guru Veda Kaplinsky too...how awesome is that? They do things like Rhapsody in Blue, Holst's the Planets, Rachmaninoff's Paganini Variations and more...Ubercool! Their 5 pianos before a performance below:

Image source:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3279796505_956e22ddaa.jpg

They've actually also done a 5-piano version of the Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns! :P

In other musically related news...I'm seeing Dessay starring in Lucia di Lammermoor tomorrow @ 1:00 P.M. live in my local movie theatre! Super-pumped :) Have heard the mad scene she did in a performance two days ago...a little rough...hoping that she rocks the house tomorrow!!

St. Patty's...and Californium

2011-03-17T19:06:00.001-04:00

Another St. Patty's is here! Is it weird that my mom and I observe it EVERY year? We're always dressed up in green despite the fact that most Irish people I know don't even bother. Nevertheless...lots of people were very festive at university today!

For some weird reason, the College of Physical Sciences (physics+chemistry) was having a St. Patrick's Day sale today and by mid-day the university was inundated with green hats and pins and necklaces and...wow...weird way to make money for science clubs but OK.

My chem prof tried to pull an Irish accent and made terrible drinking jokes while even my biodiversity prof tried to join in the fun...by explaining how glacial advances and retreats in the ancient past have caused a lack of snakes in Ireland. Fail.

Well...I had my LAST chemistry lab today - wohoo! It was on chemical reaction kinetics and it was super easy! We just mixed a bunch of stuff and recorded the times at which they started changing colour...

While we were waiting for the magical colour changes to happen, my lab partner and I played chemistry hangman! The element she chose was "Californium"...pretty tricky!!

My chem TA was wearing green and just I was going to get my results signed, another TA dropped by to visit and he was wearing green too. They were talking about their plans to get drunk and drink lots of booze tonight...just lovely...

So that was my St. Patty's, 2011. Pretty green, pretty science-y!

Professor Daddy

2011-03-16T22:14:00.004-04:00

It's fun having a professor at home...especially one that works at the university that you go to...like my dad :) One of the sort of bad things is that if I complain about a prof, my dad's like..."WHO IS IT? DO I KNOW HIM OR HER? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO??? I WILL TALK TO THE DEAN!!"

Unfortunately, he does know nearly all of my science profs...thankfully he hasn't confronted any of them...yet...

It's also course selection time at my university and my dad's a little stressed.

It's his first undergrad course...he's done mostly research and taught mostly grad students before, but this is his first real big undergrad teaching experience.

Apparently it's uber-popular! People keep requesting to take it from lots of random majors...my dad tells them he has to make sure the people who need to take it get spots first!

Also he needs to get a textbook...unfortunately he doesn't have time to write and publish one within the next few weeks, so...he's got to find one QUICK!

And then he's also making lecture notes (or rather...checking his emails) and doing lots of things...busy, busy...

And I thought professors just lived, ate, and slept at universities! That's what most of my universitymates do, anyway...

Some Scary Saint-Saëns

2011-03-15T10:57:00.000-04:00

Oh man...I haven't done chamber music in a LONG while...this is just something us pianists don't really need to do if we don't need to do.

But last night I get an e-mail from the teacher who was involved with my Kathryn Sinclair scandal asking if I would be able to fill in for an indisposed member of a chamber music group.

They're performing the creepy but awesome quartet version of Saint-Saëns "Danse macabre" in the Kiwanis Music Festival in April...scored for piano, violin, cello, and...something else?

I won't have time to look at the score in depth tonight but it looks pretty cinchy...I have a secondo part, which is just the waltz-like oom-pa-pa accompaniment, with a few spicy chromatic scales thrown in for fun.

It's just all sort of hard to say though since I just have the bare skeleton (no pun intended) for the "Danse macabre"...so it's hard to say how everything will fit together since I don't have any of the other parts.

Oh well...I will decide for sure tonight, but methinks that it's gonna be a yes...chamber music is fun! And in this case...slightly scary....

GUILTY (as uncharged)

2011-03-14T21:09:00.001-04:00

My Piano Crimes:

Speeding tickets
Chopin assault
Unnecessarily slow playing
Reckless rubato
Stylistic neglect
Obscene gyrating
Musiknapping
Careless fingering
Mozartian abuse
Failing to yield right-of-way to a teacher
Bach molestation
Rachmaninoffslaughter
Pianistic battery

Sorry...when it comes to music, I'M A FREE SOUL. I break all of dem rules. :)

Vacation Time!

2011-03-13T10:16:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been feeling "under the weather"...not sick...but just feeling like the Canadian winter's realllly starting to get oppressive. I'm really not a winter person!! Plus we lost an hour due to Daylight Savings...go away, snow...I want to not have to wear jackets and boots and gloves....

I want to go somewhere warm and wonderful, but that's going to be happening anytime soon!

I used to read a lot, but that was when I was like, eight or ten, when I actually had time to read. Now I maybe have to play piano an hour or less a day if I'm lucky...but I've found, the world of music is a really nice way to "escape" too...lately I've been looking at some really "exotic" interesting things I've played....

Debussy's Estampes is really fun. It's basically translated as "Stamps" or "Prints", and it's a musical journey to three parts of the world: Asia, Spain, and France. The first is a very evocative and atmospheric journey to Asia...complete with gamelan, flutes, and all sort of fascinating pianistic effects. The second is a sensual journey to Grenada in Spain. You can hear a haunting Arabic-sounding habanera tune throughout interplaying with guitars and wild dances. The last is a virtuosic showpiece describing a rainstorm in France and hidden within are many French folk songs.
Mozart's "Alla turca" sonata...though not really authentically "Turkish" sounding, there are some really fun percussive effects in this sonata throughout that mimic the Turkish Janissary band percussion and especially in the famous ending "Turkish rondo". Also, I've read that the theme of the first movement variations are based on a Czech song.
Bartok's Romanian Folk Songs. This was my first introduction to Bartok. Ever since then, Bartok has fascinated me so much...the music itself is just so wonderful...Eastern European music is just so colourful. The rhythms are so funky and the use of all sorts of awesome modes. Plus Bartok has a really sensational twentieth-century harmonic colour palate...the extra bit of dissonance he throws in is really cool.
Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. I haven't gotten too far with these yet, but I am working (very slowly) on two right now...not my priority since Liszt isn't my fave composer, but his Hungarian Rhapsodies are just amazing...extremely virtuosic, but with a lot of exotic-sounding Hungarian flavour. Not necessarily authentic, but I can certainly imagine gypsies and dances and all those kinds of things when I hear these pieces.
Brahm's Hungarian Dances. I have the music for some of these. I love them because they're just so fun!
Bach's French and English Suites, Italian Concerto, and French Ouverture...Bach tried to copy these national styles in the...not sure if they're really all that effective, but Baroque dance suites are always so interesting since they always have a selection of a whole bunch of European dances...Allemande (German), Sarabande (Spanish), Minuet, Passepied, Gavotte (French), Gigue, Air, Hornpipe (English), etc. His Italian concerto is one of my big favourites...very robust in an Italian way with a gorgeous slow second movement.
Chopin's Waltzes...these are so charming. I always feel like I'm some rich lady's house or a ballroom or something...lilting in a very Viennese way. His nocturnes or "night pieces" bring me instead to Paris...or Poland, depending on which one you're listening to. I love Chopin!

When I'm 80?

2011-03-12T13:13:00.000-05:00

I admire old age so much...youth is so overrated. Then again, when I'm a sore and saggy octogenarian, I probably won't be the same thing. But one thing I've wondered is...at 80, will I still be using Facebook? Twitter? Blogger?

I've grown up in the advent of the great "Information Age"...life is certainly bound to be different by the time we're all seniors.

I think I would be extremely fortunate to get to 80 or beyond. How cool would that be?! And if I'm still blogging around that time and poking people on Facebook...just imagine! Trippy....

Voglio Tempo certainly would not be "the musings of a teenage sonneteer, pianist, novelist, and future doctor" anymore! ;)

Japan! :(

2011-03-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

A horrible earthquake and tsunami hit Japan hard very recently...I also heard that even parts of California and Alaska encountered some earthquake-related after-effects too. Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is currently engaged in Japan performing! How scary...but music has the power to inspire and encourage...hopefully it proves to be a memorable and enjoyable set of concerts for the Japanese audience. Best of luck to everyone in Japan!!

How I got my first job

2011-03-10T19:39:00.002-05:00

I visited my former boss yesterday, which got me thinking about the rather unusual way I got my first and only job. I know these poor twins who applied to MacDonald's but didn't even get called for an interview! To this day, my mom and I always say that the job sort of just "fell the sky". I'm pretty lucky!

OK...so before my Grade 10 piano exam a number of years ago, my grouchy old piano teacher at the time (the Monster of Monsters, as you remember) told us to buy a grand piano.

So we shopped around...all really expensive...then we came into my boss's store. At the time she was just still "nice stranger lady" at the time.

And we decided to buy it. My mom increased her credit card limit to $30 000 or something and bought it using her Visa! Et voila...it's been in our piano room for three years...

Image source:

http://webvoice.blogspot.com/img/yamaha/gc1.gif

So since I said I was doing Grade 10 but too young to teach, she was like, "Hey you want to be a music mentor?" And I was like...OK...

And basically, that involved being a volunteer music aide during her group lessons...interacting with parents, getting a feel for how her music school works, etc.

And after a year she said I could teach! We had an interview and I brought a cover letter and a resumé and everything, but she was like pshhhh...we already hired you before it began! Hehe.

So yeah, it was an amazing and eventful few years of teaching before I had the quit before my crazy university life started! But yeah, basically my little teaching career started by giving my boss a $30 000 payday!

OK, it sounds easy, but the fact is, I'm crazy skilled at the piano and at music theory, history, harmony, analysis, and counterpoint...so it's not like she just decided to give some random Asian kid a job. It was because I already a decade of experience at that point! But make no mistake...every ounce of that "talent" was gained through sheer determination and discipline...I did not have an easy road through music...

Also, it's funny because my boss started teaching around the same age (14-15) in Toronto at the same branch of music studios too...I guess she always thought of me as a little protégé or something...how nice :)

The funny thing is, the day after we bought the piano, we got a call from the bank asking us if we knew that a $30 000 dollar purchase was made recently...lol! They thought it was fraud! Guess most people don't buy grand pianos using credit cards!

Spastic Kookaburra!

2011-03-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

For twelve long years, our Seiko metronome has done the job...but all things come to an end, right? It started going schizophrenic last week and all I can liken it to is sort of like a spastic kookaburra...guess all those *accidental* smashes on the ground sort of killed it in the end! Oops.

Hey, I never liked metronomes anyway...I'm just glad I have no one to answer to now that I have my A.R.C.T. diploma. Wahahaha! No more metronomes or arpeggios for me! I'm such a pianistic wild child. :)

Well, I went to the music studio where I used to teach and had a nice chat with my lovely former employer. Still as fun and energetic as ever, that lady. I bought a nice Wittner Taktell Piccolo metronome.

Look it's so tiny they called it a Piccolo! Lol...nope...the real one is just *slightly* bit bigger...

Image source:

http://www.wittner-gmbh.de/produkte-bilder/836.jpg

My former boss just flat out told me...just get the black one. The brown is just fugly. Hehe. Obviously not your typical employee/employer relationship. ;)

And I listened! Very cool...it's our first old-school tick-tock metronome and hopefully it lasts a lifetime! Or however long my brother goes without angrily smashing it to the ground!

So glad to hear him playing scales to the sound of even tick-tocks, and not a schizophrenic, dying metronome that skips from being dead to cackling like a crazy Australian bird!!

Feeling like a woman?

2011-03-08T19:42:00.002-05:00

Yes it's that time of year again - International Women's Day! I feel sorta terrible since this is the first year I've heard of it...but if there's a woman in your life - a mother, teacher, sister, daughter, whatever (or whoever, I should say)...give her a great big hug! She definitely deserves it!

I am unfortunately currently unable to hug my mom at the moment since she's otherwise engaged somewhere in Quebec...we called her just a few minutes ago and my dad made me dial the number since everything's all in French! Got to practice my French skills by asking for my mom's room...so proud that the receptionist could actually understand me!

But when she comes back we're definitely celebrating the special woman in our lives...since life has been crazy since she's been gone!

March Madness! AHHHH

2011-03-07T21:13:00.002-05:00

Feeling a little bit mad lately...thank goodness Dessay's back at the Met in a big return to nutso Lucia after that rather *interesting* stint as Cleopatra in Paris...hope she doesn't cancel before the live HD transmission on the 19th! That would really drive me up the wall...

...perhaps enough to do a mad scene?

Wish I could be in New York myself to see it but my life's plenty busy here with family and school! Will have to settle for the brilliant invention of live transmission to cinema! Haha!

The Cretan Widow, etc.

2011-03-05T13:48:00.000-05:00

I have had six piano and music theory teachers in my life: the Cretan Widow, the Anti-Trophy Wife, the Schizophrenic Prodigy, the Monster of Monsters, the Emo Rock Star, and finally, the Normal Lady Who's Not Normal.

I've had a crazy time learning piano these past 12 years. People think I have some freak talent, when really it's just taken more freakish determination and a huge love of music to get to where I am...and dealing with some interesting people along the way.

1. The Cretan Widow. My very first teacher...she was always sort of lethargic and depressed, though pretty nice...I know that she had a son but lost her husband. She was probably depressed around that time. I remember she fell asleep during one of my lessons...and spilled coffee on one of my pieces too. She kept me in Grade 3 piano for aggggeeeesssss...didn't progress at all. My first music scholarship was donated by her, and I actually saw her last year!

2. The Anti-Trophy Wife. How do describe this lady...ummm...middle-aged, quite well-off, married a (younger?) Latin husband who cooks for her constantly...I'm not sure. But she's definitely lucky, that's all I'll say. I'd like to say that I learned something from her, but I really didn't. Spent another few years in Grade 3 piano. Ummm...she had a nice house though?

3. The Schizophrenic Prodigy. Definitely the most interesting teacher I've had. She was the first one how introduced me to classical music made me enjoy it. She is phenomenally gifted...made me fall in love with Rachmaninoff and Chopin...and even introduced me to jazz. To this day, my love of Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald and even Bach and Chopin stem from her. Too bad she had to move away to a forest because the Roumanian maffia were after her...she was nice :(

4. The Monster of Monsters. Name says enough...pretty cooky lady...control freak who absolutely hated me. Sent page-long hate e-mails to my mom and made me play weird Debussy pieces...though admittedly, Debussy strikes as one of the coolest composers ever now. We drove each other up the wall, and I actually got depression and started getting really bad acne during my time with her. Ahh!

5. The Emo Rock Star. Very young, phenomenally gifted pianist (though she had small hands), and actually took lessons with some of my teachers too. She loves cats and is the singer and pianist for an emo-ambient-electronica rock band...indirectly, I've fallen in love with the indie scene because of her and I just LOVE her band. So indescribably twisted and haunting. She taught me history and harmony but had to move away due to demands of her band and because she became an music examiner too actually...but she's the one who really educated me about music theory and history...I really began to explore and love opera during lessons with her and I began to take up a huge fascination with the voice in general.

6. The Normal Lady Who's Not Normal. A fun and interesting person, this lady taught me the rest of theory...counterpoint, analysis, etc. and helped me realize that hearing colours is not normal...both of us are relatively sane (some might beg to differ). But we both have synesthesia, where we see colours when we hear music. Not sure how common this is, but the only other person I know who has it is French pianist Hélène Grimaud. I also finished up my Royal Conservatory of Music diploma with her, graduating with my A.R.C.T. piano performance diploma last year! Wohoo!

Ahh...a trip down memory lane...and the result? I've realized that I'm just as crazy as the most normal of them!

I've taught for around three years at a local music studio and what I wonder what kind of person I seem like to my own students...maybe even more wacko? Hehe...

The Wikipedia Glow?

2011-03-04T14:21:00.002-05:00

University is an interesting place to be...the people here are also so fascinating. Even in a small Canadian university town there are so many amazing people assembled here, all wanting to learn something. Or just to party...who knows what their motivations are...

Well, the professors are obviously quite interesting, many of them plucked from all over the world. I had a chemistry teacher from France for example with quite an amusing accent, and of course, a world-act, record-breaking one-man freakshow for my physics professor last semester too...

I recently discovered that my current philosophy and biodiversity profs have their own Wikipedia pages...which is a pretty cool thing...it was really cool to know that two professors teaching me were important enough to be on Wikipedia!

That got me thinking...is there a certain kind of attitude or like a "Wikipedia Glow" that separates these demigods from us ordinary mortals?

Not really. They're pretty normal. But what is normal? We all have something unique in us, and it just takes some discovering to pull it out of us.

Even the best of us are still everyday, average people who just dared to do something extraordinary...obviously some had more success than others...otherwise we'd all be Wikipedia celebrities!

Finger Food

2011-03-03T21:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a finger food person. It's usually yummy, but it's so messy sometimes. I don't like to get my hands dirty...I have been known to eat chips with a spoon...unfortunately. In public. That's embarrassing at best. Worse than cutting cookies with a knife?

FINGER FOOD (YAY)

sushi (not too messy)
almonds (pretty dry, except those seasoned ones, which are yummy but get my hands icky)
peanuts (they're OK, except when my allergic friend is nearby...wouldn't want to be a murderer)
apples (not messy - yummy!)
other fruits (they're OK too, especially things with skins like bananas)
vegetables too (I like grape tomatoes...grape cherries...actual grapes...I like bite-size things especially)
tortilla chips (these tend not to be too bad, except when dip is involved...usually spilling occurs)
cookies (not too bad, but crumbs?? worse things ever)

FINGER FOOD (NAY)

tempura (ACH so good but why so greasy? oh yeah...deep-friend...duh...)
flavoured chips (they always cover your hands with a powder of artificial colourings and flavourings...)
CUCUMBERS (why are these things so wet?)
tacos (why do they always fall apart? especially hate it when the hard shell ones shatter into bajillions of pieces)
chocolates (they tend to melt when you hold them too long)
brownies (they tend to get your hands all chocolately)
sour keys (the sugar coating thing is pretty irritating not to mention I'm not too fond of sour things)
popcorn (the butter tastes good but gets your hands all slimy)

I don't know...can't think of anymore...but it seems like there are lots of finger foods that I do love! :) Had the last of my mom's Valentine's Day cookies today :(

Darn, I'm an adult now

2011-03-02T09:13:00.000-05:00

My youth is fading away fast...I'm turning twenty next year...I got my first Visa card last week...and I picked up my brother from school...I feel so OLD! AHHH...oh well...it was bound to happen someday anyway.

I remember at that awkward Christmas party a few years back when one of my co-workers were complaining about how she felt so old turning 25. She was consoled by the older ladies present because they told her that when you're 40, you'll appreciate how young you were when you were 25!

Oh well...20 isn't a huge great age, and I'm not all too fond of being young and stupid anyway...bring it on!

Moved to tears

2011-03-01T16:24:00.000-05:00

Happy March! Dropping off my little brother to his lesson for the first time yesterday reminded me of those long-gone days when he was just a baby. I still remember his first encounter with classical music.

He was two, and we had put on this CD called "Baby's First Lullabies". It was Pachelbel's famous Canon in D major - the original authentic string version, not the many mutilated synthesizer-heavy versions we hear all too often nowadays.

He started crying and we asked him what was wrong. He replied, "It's so beautiful"!

Isn't that adorable? It's nice to remember that my rough-and-tumble Beyblade-loving kid brother has a soft side too.

Well...hello!

2011-02-28T18:49:00.005-05:00

I saw my piano teacher for the first time in half a year today when I dropped my brother off for the first time today. What a day!

I was absolutely horrified because I was five minutes late...because...

Well, first off, I should say that I had to go for another romp in the freaky woods for biodiversity class today. At least the weather was much nicer today than on Valentine's Day!

Right after that, I ran back to my car and quickly drove over to pick up my brother from his school for the first time.

I knew where it was, thankfully...I went there for choir a few years ago...

...but I thought wrong...the school I went to was the WRONG ONE. How many schools are there in these new-fangled subdivisions, anyway?

So I went to pick up my brother and we had like, five minutes to get to his teacher's house! Luckily I know where that is.

Luckily she doesn't bite! What an amazingly even-tempered and nice woman! The first thing she said was, "Long time, no see!" It's been half year since I've had a lesson with her, or anyone! Wow.

I was trying to read some articles for class but I couldn't focus at all since I could hear everything my brother was doing/playing...he played a Bach Invention we had only put hands together last week and I majorly freaked out! Especially because I heard him sight-reading some Grade 8 studies too! AHHH

But it worked out well and he had a blast! Awesome! Mission completed...mostly successfully...

Piano Teacher Drama...GASP

2011-02-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

Ever since my little brother started the piano, I've been coaching him and giving him supplemental lessons because I had a really rough twelve years starting with the piano. He's done amazingly well, but after a while, we noticed that his teacher started teaching him less and less, allowing me to do most of the actual teaching while she coasted on her "success".

Obviously we'd have none of that...and she was actually only able to teach up to a certain grade too. So we transferred him to another teacher. But...the new teacher has an enormously busy studio, and she had no space at that moment.

My brother's old teacher had sort of a mental breakdown and nearly cried over the phone and angrily left us phone messages a couple times...she criticized us for destroying her self-confidence, etc...we had no idea she would do that. She had been a great teacher, but it was time to move on.

So I continued to teach him...my brother is actually registered in this year's music festival under my name.

It didn't seem much different than usual, but at first my brother had some troubles dealing with the paradox that I'm his brother and his teacher (possibly permanently). But now it's worked out well.

Last week the new teacher called and said she'd be able to start teaching him on Monday. I'm happy that I'm relieved of the burden to teach him as I once took lessons with this teacher and trust her with all my life...but at the same time I'm sad. I've enjoyed helping out my little bro.

But I guess I'm more happy, because I've had a lot more piano teacher drama in my life. And if he can avoid it as much as he can, that will make me happy enough!

Classical Class #10: Double Stops

2011-02-26T22:14:00.000-05:00

As a kid, I remember hearing violinist Gidon Kremer playing Bach's Partita No.2 and getting really freaked out...violinists can play more than one note at the same time?? It was as impossible to me as a singer singing two notes at the same time! So crazy!

Today's piece: Violin Concerto in d minor, first movement
Composer: Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Nationality: German
Performers: Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Soloist: Sarah Chang (violin)

Now I've come to terms with the fact that all a violinist has to do is to bow multiple strings simultaneously to produce multiple notes at the same time...but it really isn't that simple (I imagine), especially not to do it with ease and without sounding like a saw out of a Halloween horror movie!

So...double stops refers to two notes being played at the same time, and obviously you can figure out that triple and quadruple stops are...but it ends there. Violins only have four strings (on this planet, at least!).

So about today's piece...this is Richard Strauss' exceedingly rarely performed Violin Concerto. Violin virtuosa Sarah Chang recorded it at at age 20...and I love it to bits! It's really awesome.

Strauss is known as an opera composer primarily, who did some symphonic tone poems which are very famous too...but early in his career, he also wrote some very charming instrumental music too! Not very famous though...

The violin is introduced at around 0:58 storming in with crazy double stop scales, accompanied with a bunch of quadruple-stop chords. A little later, we hear octaves in double stops too. A very cool effect! Not to mention...very showy!

So there you have it...the impossibility of double stops! Now tone poems and violin concertos...those are another story! :)

Music to try:

Sarah Chang performs Strauss: Violin Sonata, Violin Concerto.
Strauss' specialty: operatic scenes, lieder (songs), and arias written by Richard Strauss, sung my fave opera singer Natalie Dessay.

Well...hello?

2011-02-25T12:59:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I dropped by my high school on an impromptu visit with some of my fellow grads...it was...a lot more awkward than I thought it would be. The teachers looked tired and depressed, the students bored and restless, and the halls cramped and bland. Ewww. I felt so out of place.

It was nice to see my old graduate friends, I guess...but what was I really expecting from a high school in a small Canadian town?

The only real redeeming grace was a visit with JJ and Thingbe...at least they were still as interesting as usual...other than, I can say that I'm so glad to be done high school!

And that reminds me...I'm back to university on Monday...for another romp in the woods...

Anniversary!

2011-02-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

Today is my parents' anniversary! It's nice that it comes every year around Valentine's Day and Canada's new "Family Day".

But what's not so nice is that the roses my dad buy tend to...wilt...by the time their anniversary rolls around. These two pictures were taken this morning.

The top ones are doing fine, but look at the red roses below! Oh well. It's the thought that counts.

Oh my Goddard nudibranch!

2011-02-23T10:49:00.002-05:00

It's not everyday that something on the MSN Canada "news page" catches my eye...but...I have to admit, this is pretty freaking cool! http://tech.ca.msn.com/photogallery.aspx?cp-documentid=27715257

It's a photo gallery of ten recently discovered new species. Did I mention they look AMAZING? So neat...this one's called a Goddard nudibranch, named after its discoverer. The picture below shows its larvae hatching!

Jeff Goddard/MSI, UCSB photo

And although the nutty biodiversity class that I have to take for some weird reason drives me up the wall - or into the woods, I should say - it really has caused me to have a greater appreciation for animals and the biodiversity all around us. We certainly do live in an amazing world filled with amazing creatures!

What do you think? Cooler than mussels?

I learn, I play, I memorize

2011-02-22T16:33:00.003-05:00

I have made really great progress on the many piano projects I've taken up recently and over the past year, but what I love about the piano that the process is so much more important and fun than the finished product. Every piece I learn is never, ever finished...and the process of molding it and toying with it and dreaming of it completes me. It grounds me, it frustrates me, it moves me.

So to help disentangle my current state of musical dissarray, I'm making this list to help me figure out what I should work on and what I should leave for later. Hopefully I will one day be able to add all these things to my repertoire list. It may take a lifetime but...anything worth doing takes hard work and guts!

TODAY
things I have yet to finish learning and/or need to practice

Chopin: Polonaise-fantasie in A-flat
Busoni: Transcription on Bach's Chaccone
Beethoven: Variations ("Rule Britannica" and "God Save the Queen")
Liszt: Schubert lieder transcriptions: Auf dem wasser zu singen, "Ave Maria", Der Erlkönig, Standchen
Beethoven: Sonatas No.1, No.10, Moonlight Sonata
Schubert: Sonata in a minor, D.845

TOMORROW
things I could handle, but have no time to deal with...yet

Chopin: Nocturnes (No's. 3, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18)
Debussy: Estampes (Jardins sous la pluie)
Rachmaninoff: Morceaux de fantasie (Prelude, Polichinelle, Serenade)
Rachmaninoff: Preludes (No. 5, 10)
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies: No.2 in c-sharp minor/F-sharp major, No.6 in D-flat/B-flat
Chopin: Ballade No.1 in g minor
Haydn: Sonata in E-flat major
Chopin: Scherzo No.2 in b-flat minor
Chopin: Andante spianato and Grande polonaise brillante
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.17 in G major

SOMETIME DURING MY LIFETIME
impossible things that I would like to play, but should definitely wait before tackling

Scarlatti: complete sonatas
Bach: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in d minor
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in c minor
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in e minor
Bach: French Ouverture in b minor
Schubert: 3 last Sonatas (c minor, A major, B-flat major)
Schubert: Wanderer Fantasie in C major
Liszt: Fantasia quasi sonata: Après une lecture de Dante
Liszt: Sonata in b minor
Beethoven: complete sonatas
Chopin: complete études
Chopin: complete preludes
Debussy: complete preludes, Book II
Bach: complete Well-Tempered Clavier

Niagara: see ya next year?

2011-02-21T20:50:00.002-05:00

It seems like we've been going to Niagara Falls every year for the past while...in fact, the lady at the Chinese buffet we always go to even recognized us this time :P My mom just made me shower again to get rid of all the chlorine...they put it waaay too much chlorine at the indoor waterpark this time.

Fun trip as usual...we stayed for three nights and two days at our fave hotel and played games at the arcade and splashed in the pool at the indoor waterpark. My mom tried to pass me off as twelve a few times to get a discount...

...and it worked...surprisingly...the trick is not actually having me there when we buy tickets...hehe..."Ummm...I have another son...who's...twelve..." :) Works like a charm! It's scary to think that I'm turning twenty next year!

Well, our fortune cookies were really awesome at the buffet today...mine was something like "Your skills will allow you to accomplish more than the forces of many people". Cool!

Currently watching the fantastic German bass René Pape ripping up the screen as Boris Gudunov via PBS's awesome Great Performances at the Met program :) Mussorgsky's music is so amazing!

I'm...SAD! :(

2011-02-20T10:04:00.020-05:00

Well, today I'm not, but I seriously think that I have S.A.D. (i.e. Seasonal Affective Disorder). I notice this really funny cycle in my sonnets where they get progressively more and more depressing as the weather gets colder and colder...and then when springtime and summer hit, I get more and more cooky and silly...!

Thank goodness I'll be in good mood as I finish them as spring rolls around!

Oh well...it's common enough for people to name a disorder after it, so I'm not the only one, right? :P

Well, one of my biology profs last semester said that it has some basis in Vitamin D deficiency during winter due to lower sunlight levels, but seriously...I think it's just this crazy Canadian weather, which is just ridulously frightening sometimes...on Friday night, we had winds reaching 35 km/hour! :O

And the reading begins!

2011-02-19T10:19:00.001-05:00

What is this reading week stuff all about?! Reading. I have SO much to do...studying for a cellular bio midterm...writing assignment...philosophy essay, etc. etc. But then again, when do I ever give myself a break? Never. :) Because I'm a freakozoid who doesn't need coffee, that's why! You're jealous.

Back to high school...

2011-02-18T22:01:00.003-05:00

I've done so terribly in university that I've been deported back to high school AHHHH! Now that would be some nightmare...haha! But the plans have basically been finalized and I'm going back!

Two of the clubs I ran in high school asked me to come in to talk about my first year experiences at university. So I'm bringing along some of my university-mates...we're going to help spread terrible rumours and send potential university attendees running off to MacDonald's for life! Wahahaha!

OK, I'm pretty wacko, but I'm not evil (most of the time...). In fact, look at this handy little post I did a while ago: http://vogliotempo.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-tips-for-surviving-university.html :)

Whatever. University is awesome if you like learning. If you don't, you're screwed. :)

Then again, I'm one of those freakozoid people who never need coffee and who thrive off of sadistic hard work...ask someone else if you want a realistic opinion (I'll make sure not to mention that when I go back to talk)!

Holy noodlebowls!!

2011-02-17T17:21:00.001-05:00

I was e-mailing the twins who now run the Nutrition Club that my friend and I began in high school. "What's up?" I asked...I hadn't heard anything about the club for a while. I was in for a big surprise...this past year, my high school banned all fatty and sugary foods and drinks.

So that means no more fries!

Obviously, the cafeteria was losing popularity big time...I had heard rumours but I didn't think the government would actually do something like this! But they did. Even fundraisers have to go through "inspection" to make sure no candies or pop are sold.

This is definitely a good change...but...what to do? What to do?

They formed a cafeteria committee and had this brilliant idea to have a grand "re-opening" of the cafeteria. They had a re-naming and logo-design contest and renamed the cafeteria..."Symposia".

They also created new, healthier menus in accordance to the ministry of health's new guidelines...and everyday there are daily specials, a pita station, and even weekly noodlebowls! Is that cool or what?

I'm very proud of the "legacy" we started, but of course, it's more that we've got people excited about this and that they're doing things to make a difference. Awesome!

We accomplished so much during our two years starting up and running this club, but there was so much else we still wanted to do by the time we graduated!

I'm so glad that what we started has continued to flourish...and it's become something much more far-reaching than what we could have ever imagined.

I want to go back now and have a noodlebowl! :P

Problems from HELL!!

2011-02-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

So I spent TWO HOURS in the Chemistry Learning Centre today working with a TA to figure out the INSANE redox equations that my prof assigned us. There were only eight of them, but MAN WERE THEY FREAKING CRAZY!!!!!!! And I never have troubles with chemistry...

You know something's wrong with the Prof when an Asian whiz kid and a Masters/Ph.D. student in chemistry have that much trouble with the assigned homework questions...but...anyway, I'm not that bloody brilliant, though I do like my chemistry (and I might add that I like physics too now that I'm getting the hang of it - yes, crucify me, Thingbe)!

But we all learned how to do these in high school...how hard could they be??

OK, SO YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME. THEN LOOK AT this DEMON OF A REDOX EQUATION!! BALANCE IT, FOOLISH HUMAN!

?? I thought that these things couldn't exist!! And where is the reduction half-reaction?

AHHHHHHH...but I figured it out...so now I know and you don't! WAHAHAHAHAAAAA...

So after I recovered my sanity (which I never really had in the first place), I did my chemistry homework ONLINE (welcome to the future!). Compared to these PROBLEMS FROM HELLLLLLL, the assigned ones for marks were a piece of cake! BAM! 100%!

So let this be a lesson to you...compounds with vanadium and 17 oxygens DO exist! Oh, and do your homework and eat your vegetables.... :)

"Oh!" for Oops?

2011-02-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

My dad mainly talked about two things during our Valentine's Day lunch date yesterday: his current big research project and his big plans to surprise my mom for Valentine's Day.

My dad really does have the best of intentions...but things don't always happen the way he wants them too. Mainly because my dad's a little bit of a poor planner...

His plan was to buy roses and come home early. He'd then do a little winter-time barbecue so my mom wouldn't have to cook since she cooks ALL the time.

Well, mom got home at 5...and was really mad because my dad had told her that was coming home early...and she was madder that he forgot to take his cell phone because she couldn't call to ask him where he was.

As 5:30 and then 5:45 rolled around, my mom was steaming mad and started to warm up leftovers for us to eat...and then my dad walks in the door...

Mom wasn't pleased. :( And she never liked roses because they're too expensive and they don't last long.

Oh well...sometimes my dad has big dreams and loses sight of a practical reality...Mom on the other hand, is all about goals and deadlines and action...

I guess opposites attract?

Getting raped in the woods?

2011-02-14T16:50:00.001-05:00

Not exactly Valentine's Day material, but do you remember the girl who got "raped"? Today we visited the woods where it happened. We trudged through the snow and stood, freezing and bewildered with a bunch of people we barely knew...not exactly what I expected to doing in my first year of biomedical science...

Next week we're meeting at the same spot to identifying woody plant species using our field guides.

Only problem...it's on a big sloping hill, everything's covered in snow, and some of the trees are 5 to 10 times our height...and there aren't any leaves or anything...what a pain!

I mean, it sure beats doing classwork I guess, but at least physics problems aren't WET and CAN POSSIBLY CAUSE YOU TO FALL TO YOUR UNTIMELY DEATH (unless they make you that suicidal, which they sometimes do). Oh, and this assignment is worth 15 percent of my final mark for the course...yay...

I heard things about university...how your marks are gonna drop and how things are so hard and stuff...but I still had an average in the 90's in my first semester and things are not too bad...

...but this? Definitely more than I bargained for.

Image source:

http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/5DA95DA3-E683-41C2-BC80-15A3C8E4154F/FC001753.jpg

So I guess I had a pretty wet Valentine's Day...at least I didn't get raped or anything...but going to the woods with a bunch of people I barely know and not having a clear escape path was definitely not the most amazing thing I've done this year...

I was comforted to know that my TAs brought a First Aid kit, though. Or did that just affirm that what we did was dangerous? Alas, the things I do for science...

Classical Class #9: Obbligato

2011-02-12T18:29:00.006-05:00

People are surprised when I tell them that I thought of practicing the piano as slavery when I was a kid...but what does this "obbligato" thing mean in classical music? An obligation of some sort? P.S. This is my 400th post! :)

Today's piece: "Ah ritorna, età dell'oro", aria from the concert scene Infelice
Composer: Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)
Genre: operatic concert aria with obbligato
Performers: Orchestra "La Scintilla", Adam Fischer conducting
Soloists: Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano/soprano), Maxim Vengerov (violin obbligato)

So if you look at the video still in the YouTube video above, you'll see the two soloists in the piece, the violinist on the left, the singer on the right. What...a piece with a violin AND a vocal soloist...what is this tomfoolery??

No no no...this is precisely what the most common meaning of "obbligato" is - essentially, an "extra" soloist in a piece - one who isn't the main attraction, but features prominently in the music.

If you listen to this gorgeous aria, you'll hear that it opens with a violin solo, and throughout, the violin provides a beautiful counter-melody to the singer.

So "obbligato" essentially refers to an "obligatory" part, which must be present to complete the music. There are all sorts of obbligato parts throughout classical music. Though it's not a common compositional technique, when it's used it's often a very cool effect. "Obbligato" can also be used to refer to other things, but most of those usages are now out-of-date.

Another aria featuring an interesting obbligato is "Ch'io mi scordi di te?...Non temer, amato bene", K.505 by Mozart. Again we have Cecilia Bartoli singing...but this is the first and possibly only time that I've heard of an aria with a PIANO obbligato!

Now, I'm a pianist who loves opera, so I found this really cool...especially because the pianist is none other than the incredible Mozart specialist, Mitusko Uchida!

Now this is a concert aria too - and actually, it's generally considered to be Mozart's best concert aria. However, I love this specific performance since the singer, pianist, and conductor are all very renowned interpreters of Mozart and also - Bartoli and Uchida make the best faces known to man when they perform! :) Just watch!

Note: Opera singers never (or at least usually don't) use microphones for authenticity...what you're seeing is a microphone to record everything...that's why her breaths are so loud!

So hopefully you learned something interesting today! If you're interested in more about today's music, check out...

Maria: Cecilia Bartoli explores the fascinating music of the 19th century Romantic diva icon, Maria Malibran (Infelice was one piece written for her).
Mozart Arias: Cecilia Bartoli's landmark Mozart recording early in her career (includes a performance of "C'hio mi scordi di te" with pianist András Schiff).
Mozart Sonatas and Mozart Concertos: The incredible Japanese/German/British pianist Mitsuko Uchida's incredible recordings of the complete Mozart sonatas and piano concertos - which firmly established her as a Mozartian mega-specialist.

Enjoy!

Missing my euphonium...

2011-02-11T17:32:00.002-05:00

Why do so many people not know what a euphonium is? Just kidding...it's a pretty obscure instrument...no one grows up saying they played the euphonium as a kid. But I did. Hehe.

What's a euphonium? It's like a tuba, but smaller...it's sort of like a brother to the baritone, which is a similar instrument, but with a curved top part instead.

Image source:

http://www.wrightsmusic.com.au/images/euphonium.jpg

So how did I start playing it, exactly? It's not like I woke up one day in my early teens and decided to go out and learn the euphonium! Do people actually do that, I wonder? :O

Well, I worked steadily away at the piano since the age of six and a half. When I was eight, I started playing the flute in my elementary school's junior band. When it was time for Grade 7 music class, I was going to continue learning the flute since that was the band instrument that I'd be best at.

But...since that would put me at an "unfair advantage" over my musically deprived classmates, my teacher suggested that I start a new one. Since he was a humorous guy, he said, "Hey, why not do the tuba! It's really similar to the flute!" Too bad I still had an advantage since I already knew three instruments at that point...

But seriously, they are quite similar...played with the mouth and both B-flat concert-pitched. Pretty easy transition...

But then this mean Jewish girl in my class (the only one in my entire middle school) wanted to play the tuba since she heard it was really cool...so I got bumped down to the euphonium...but I ended up having the last laugh since I never needed to practice and she did...she ended up being the one having to lug the biggest instrument home everyday to practice! Wahahaha! (...and hopefully she never reads that paragraph because she's really easily offended too...)

I never bought a euphonium since I was never thinking of continuing seriously with it, but yesterday I was thinking about how I haven't touched my flute (which I do own), recorder, drums, or euphonium for a number of years. Yes, I have reached an inhuman level of pianistic ability, but even just playing simple nursery rhymes on a completely foreign instrument is such a cool thing.

Maybe I'll pick up my flute after midterms...but my experiences with my euphonium will always stick with me. That big, metal thing-a-ma-bob will always be close to my heart. In a weird way.

Grandpa's on MSN!

2011-02-10T21:57:00.001-05:00

I rarely log into MSN, but when I do, I appear offline since there's often someone unexpected lurking in the wings ready to pounce. Not that he's one of those people, but someone who sometimes logs in is...grandpa. Isn't that awkward? I find it sort of funny though.

My [paternal] grandpa's a really great guy. I think it's just a little much for me to chat with him on MSN, since well, it's weird because he co-immigrated with my parents from China back before I was born but he's still able to chat in English with me. Slightly disorienting...

But...grandparents always do manage to surprise us, don't they? I remember that once my friend called to plan out some Nutrition Club business during a period when my grandparents were living with us after being temporarily evicted and my grandpa picked up the phone.

Apparently I was out and when I came back my friend called again...and she was like..."@#$%^&^%$#" because she's Chinese too. Apparently they had an entire convo in English?? I knew my grandpa had worked on some English vocab over the years, such as "No speak English" in case of telemarketers, but...wow. Apparently he was speaking in full sentences and everything. Cool! :)

Well, my grandparents' eviction is another story, but unfortunately, I don't think that I'm allowed to tell that one over something as public as the Internet...

But hey...fun fact about Chinese (I speak Mandarin...don't know if it's the same in Cantonese)...we have special, specific words for "paternal grandma/grandpa" and "maternal grandma/grandpa" as well as a host of other specialized familial words such as ~~youngest dad's brother~~ "dad's youngest brother", etc.

So much easier than trying to describe family relationships in English!

Forgot my b-day!

2011-02-08T16:15:00.001-05:00

...well...my half birthday. Hehe. No one celebrates these, but I remember seeing Prunella celebrating hers on Arthur a looooong time ago and I was like, "Damn, why can't I have two birthdays?"

Haha...she had a half cake and half an everything...hilarious! I forgot mine this year, but actually, I had ordered CD's in January and they've been slow to come. Half-birthday present maybe?

I got my Tron soundtrack on the 4th...best soundtrack ever IMHO...and that comes from a classical music freak / amateur concert pianist!

I also pre-ordered Dessay's INCREDIBLE Cleopatra CD to get free shipping on Amazon, which was unfortunately only released outside France on Feburary 1st. It's still waiting for it to be shipped tomorrow or the day after! ARGH...here's a preview of one of the tracks:

P.S. While I'm selfishly thinking of little old me...a big Happy B-day shout-out to Monsieur Jules Verne, who celebrates his REAL b-day today!

It's in the stars!

2011-02-07T21:04:00.003-05:00

THE STARS HAVE CHANGED! I'm not a Leo anymore! While I'm not an astrology addict, I think it's pretty interesting...and sometimes, it's pretty funny! Apparently, the skies changed recently, so our astrological signs have shifted and a 13th sign appeared...but most people forgot to take into account that unless they're one-year-olds, the shift doesn't apply! I'm still a Leo! Yay!

Check here to see if it would have changed if you were a bumbling bozo anyway: http://www.torontosun.com/life/2011/01/13/16878126.html

So I have this friend on Facebook who shall remain unnamed...he found out that he was still an egotistical Leo after the "stars changed"...only to be called a crabby Cancer by a Taurean friend. Failbook-worth screenshot:

Oh well...I like being a Leo too. Even if it may just be pseudo-sciency rubbish, astrology is still fun...and it should always be kept that way. We all need some hocus-pocus magicness in our lives once in a while! :)

Just like new times...

2011-02-06T12:09:00.000-05:00

A trip down memory lane last night resulted in the creation of equally memorable new ones - involving white devils, a hamster, and a drunken dad. What a night!

We travelled to an even smaller Canadian town yesterday to visit some of my dad's old friends from his college days in China. One family even drove all the way from New York!

It was a lot of loud Chinese over-pleasantries before I got a chance to rest from being scrutinized and paraded around before all these old long-lost buddies...but it was nice to have a change of...pace. My university days are far more studious than party-filled anyway.

So a guy from New York and another from China were the only teenagers, so we ate together and tried to practise "each other's" language. The American and I also joked about how "different" le Canada and the States are (i.e. "What's a LOONIE??"). We also realized just how "white-washed" we've become...but practice only makes things better, right?

So after a while my dad wanted to showcase my mom and me (one of his favourite things to do at these kind of house parties) so he wanted me to accompany my mom while she recited her poem.

I quickly printed off the score from the Internet and soon dazzled our little audience. I was quickly transformed from the friend's insignificant kid to demigod (funny how *talent* changes things!). One nice lady gave her husband's seat to me at the "adult" table, apologizing for having me sit with the "young kids". After all, I'm a "grand university scholar" (can't think of a less literal or less ridiculous translation)!

Later I went downstairs to check up on my little bro and his new kid friends. For an old soul, I do love playing with kids (no Michael Jackson references intended).

After a little while, one of the girls brought out a hamster! It seems pretty commonplace, but we grew up sans furry things since my mom hates cleaning up hair...plus she has a fear of animals dying on her. My mom's such a hugely compassionate person...

The two girls were quite evil...tossing the poor guy around and stuffing him in shoes. PETA would have had a fit! I managed to get them to play more humane games...such as "Hot Potato" (the person who he pees on loses) and making a pen with our legs so that he couldn't escape. In retrospect, those things don't really sound more humane at all...but involved less violence I guess?

I think that I just have a hard time acting like a teenager though...either I'm a five-year-old or a five-hundred-year-old. Oh well. Haha!

So the big surprise of the evening came during my bathroom break. I was "having a go" as they say when I heard scratching on the door. I thought it was maybe my brother or one of the kids and when I asked who it was, there was no response. I finished my business and opened the door, then...WSPODFGKJF!

My dad barfed all over the wall and himself! A big flurry of commotion brought over my very upset mother, who cleaned up the mess while apologizing...I went around the corner and BAM! There was already barf elsewhere too...Dad left a little "trail"...

So here was my professor dad, having had a little "too much" fun with old friends - barfing after having having just a tad too much wine and beer and Chinese whiskey!

We obviously had to go...it was an hour's drive back home and it was nearing midnight and plus had probably lost all respect at this point. My much more self-disciplined mom drove us home...to be honest, I was in shock since I had a) never seen my dad that vulnerable and b) I just had a hard time believing he was actually drunk. ?!

So that was my crazy evening...the wildest night of my university life so far...culture shock, hamsters, and an inebriated dad! Nothing compared to what *some* people do, but hey...definitely not to be forgotten either!

Lava Lamp Titration!

2011-02-03T20:42:00.000-05:00

A number of my friends missed this week's chem lab due to yesterday's snow day, but I AM SO GLAD I got to do it today. It's the single coolest thing I've ever done in chemistry! It was the prettiest chem lab ever...I really felt like I was in potions class at Hogwarts or something :P

We had to do 6 redox titrations...first though, we had to prepare a mixture of iodine, potassium iodide, and chloroform...it formed this brownish liquid that, when you held up to the light, was separated into an aqueous (water-soluble) layer and a denser chloroform layer.

We had three trials for the first part, where we titrated the brownish aqueous top layer (mixed with potassium iodide and hydrochloric acid to help the titration along) with the clear sodium thiosulphate titrant. It went from dark brown to light brown then to orange and finally a gold to pale yellow. Around that time, we added in a starch indicator, which formed a blue-black complex with the remaining triiodide ion, turning the golden yellow to dark purplish.

Once we kept titrating to the endpoint, the triiodide dissappeared to form the iodine ion, and the blue-black solution turned to a dark purplish blue, then cornflower blue, then mauve, then after one tiny extra drop, completely clear! Magic! :)

The last three trials for the second part was the lava lamp titration! So neat! We were to take the bottom layer (the brown iodine dissolved in the chloroform) and titrate that with more sodium thiosulphate. First though, we had to add distilled water to the iodine and chloroform mixture...once we did that...BAM! Little maroon globs formed at the bottom! This happened since non-polar, non-basic organic solvents like chloroform don't mix with water - cool!

So we titrated until the little bubbles turned from vivacious red to pretty pink and finally, crystal clear. All the while, we had to shake vigorously to make sure the reaction occurred effectively...and when we did that, the globs exploded into millions of shiny pink balls! So beautiful...unfortunately, I'm not allowed to take pictures during chem labs, so I don't have a picture, but it was so cool!

The only thing close to what it looked like that I can think of was my algae balls from last year's science fair project! For a nice trip down memory lane, take a look at this old, old post from 2010! Look at my balls here (not those ones, silly!): http://vogliotempo.blogspot.com/2010/04/look-at-my-balls-not-those-ones-silly.html

See? Chemistry can be fun! I was so inspired by the "pretty colours" that I wanted to write iodine/sodium thisulphate redox titration sonnets, but that would be a little hard to put within 14 lines without having some explaining to do...hmmm...

Haha! Snow day! :)

2011-02-02T10:04:00.000-05:00

Although I've been dying of the cold weather for most of the winter so far, there's one upside of living in Canada: SNOW DAYS! Wahaha...schools are closed and most neighbouring universities (including mine) are also closed for the day! No classes! Yippee!

Got lots of biology reading to do...I had a fun biodiversity midterm yesterday about Zebra and Unionid mussels. :) Now we're studying woodlot and forest biodiversity. Pretty neat stuff actually, much better than I thought it would be, since I'm not an animal/plant person.

Fun mussel fact: Great Lakes mussels use these amazingly disguised lures...they have mantle tissue that are modified to look like simple waving underwater plants or even complex fishes or crabs. When a curious fish host swims by and tries to eat the "prey", their larvae (called glochidia) are pumped into the unsuspecting fish's mouth and grow as parasites in the fish's gills! Ha!

Pictures:

Image source:

http://www.emporia.edu/ksn/v53n2-december2006/fig-4.gif

Image source:

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg173/kruse04/MusselLure2.jpg

Image source:

http://unionid.missouristate.edu/gallery/Black%20sandshell/recta_lure_1.jpg

Chinese New Year Tea

2011-02-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

My mom did some performing of her own on Saturday, but I had the opportunity to perform my latest programme on Sunday at the seniors centre for their Chinese New Year tea. Funny enough, I really don't have very much Chinese repertoire for the piano at all, so it consisted of Mozart, Chopin, Haydn, and a rag by Gerswhin. (I had some time leftover at the end, so I snuck in a lovely little Asian-inspired work by Debussy though...hehe)

As usual...lots of fantastic comments and people asking me to come back while I was playing...tons of happy folks!

In regards to me being a "diva"...they gave me a choice of three (newly tuned) pianos for me to choose from...so I went and played on each of them - and ended up choosing the one in the chapel. It looked the ugliest, but it was the loudest and the newest of all of them. It made my life so much easier this time! :)

They had it put on wheels and rolled it out to the café so that I could see everyone - a nice change! Usually, I have my back faced to the entire room at a dusty old out-of-tune piano...this time I was able to see everyone's smiling faces, and the piano itself (while not the Yamaha grand I have at home) was a huge improvement!

It was hilarious seeing my actual audience this time...one woman was so happy she literally started dancing during the very famous "Alla turca" rondo from the likewise famous A major sonata by Mozart...and she did the same during the Haydyn sonata! :) That was fun...she laughed with her friends and called it "table dancing".

It was a really adorable tea social...everyone had fortune cookies and green tea, and after every piece, they clapped (between movements too, but oh well!). Since I was able to see everyone, I gave a little bow after each time they applauded. Great fun! I think the next time I'll be back will be to do their tea social for Valentine's Day?

Like Mother, Like Son

2011-01-30T19:21:00.002-05:00

Last night my mom and dad went to a Chinese New Year's party in Toronto. My mom was asked to sing something, but she decided to recite a poem to music instead. It was the first time she's been onstage performing in twenty years - and based on the video my dad made of her performance, Mom ROCKED! She received this gorgeous book of Chinese stamps and paper cuts as a gift for her inspiring performance:

My mom is an accountant now, but before she married my dad and moved to the US/Canada, she had dreams of her own. She was a talented public speaker since a very early age and often did presentations, recited poems, and did speeches at school. She wanted to became a news anchorwoman, or something involved in show bizz, but that sort of fell apart after she moved to a completely new land an ocean apart from her homeland.

Now that's a sacrifice of love! What a nice story...cool since it's true too. My mom chose Chopin's gorgeous Nocturne No.2 in E-flat major to accompany her poem. People kept asking if she was a professional afterwards! Even though Chinese New Year's on Thursday (Feburary the 3rd this year), it was a really nice start to the year.

I actually have another beautiful book of paper cuts which I received from a present from my dad after he went to China for a business trip. It portrays the 12 Chinese zodiac animals in stamp and paper-cut form...simply stunning! Since it will be the year of the rabbit this year, here's the rabbit page from the book:

Chinese paper cuts are really dazzling, but traditionally made ones such as the two pictured in this post are actually made by hand! Some are made by scissors, but can you believe that these ones were made by hand using knives?? Incredible...I made a name banner based on the 12 animal paper cuts in the second book for a Grade 8 art project. It turned out great! Maybe I'll post it sometime :)

I guess poetry and performing runs in our family! Happy [early] Chinese New Year, folks!

Mr. Mozart and Poor Chopin!

2011-01-27T17:46:00.000-05:00

Happy 255th, Mr. Mozart! You've entertained us ever since you were a prodigious little tot! I'm playing Mozart at the senior centre on Sunday...but apparently it's actually a Chinese New Year's themed tea social...oops...I might have to work in some more Asian music somehow...there goes my beautiful programme!

In other musically related news of my life...ARGHHHH! I had set up the PVR on our T.V. to record the FREAKING FABULOUS Garrick Ohlsson play his specialty - Chopin. And the Chopin concertos too!! Then apparently my brother's "Naked Brothers Band" recording cancelled it by priority...and he ended up deleting his recording afterward since it was an episode he already saw. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...I've been waiting to this since EVER...but thankfully it's posted online in its entirety now! :) Big bro wins!

Hélène Grimaud: Toronto Début! (January 23, 2011)

2011-01-25T23:53:00.002-05:00

On a Sunday afternoon in Toronto at 3:05 P.M, French pianist Hélène Grimaud took the stage, just about to thrill an eager Canadian audience for two hours. The phenomenal concert marked her début in Toronto and, especially, a début in a very special hall - the fabulous new Koerner Hall of the Royal Conservatory (rumoured to have the best acoustics in the world - according to my Grade 12 physics teacher).

The date and venue were especially significant for me since I graduated at the Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory exactly a year before the concert - January 23, 2010 - with an A.R.C.T. piano performance diploma. As I sat in the hall a year later though, I was here for a very different reason - to be enlightened, thrilled, moved to tears...and I certainly got more than I bargained for!

Pictured above is a deceptively innocent young lady...Hélène Grimaud on the cover of her latest album "Resonances". However, neither the music nor the performer are innocent or young at all (She's literally old enough to be my mother! Though she's still amazingly good-looking I must say...). Hélène is a profound performer with a fiery technique and a spontaneously musical sensitivity to match.

The music on the disc is a mix of Mozart, Berg, Liszt, and Bartók and though seemingly disparate, it forms a cohesive programme. The composers are all related by the Austro-Hungarian empire, even though they come from completely different style periods and all had highly distinctive personalities. The music also centers around the idea of common human experience through emotion and the musical parallels between the sonatas on the album.

I was absolutely entranced by the pieces she chose and I already knew the programme inside out before I even ordered my ticket...these are staples of the standard piano repertoire...but the combination is something very novel and interesting. The recital as a whole was a concept of deep feelings, transcendental, timeless reflections and echoes. Haunting.

Hélène Grimaud has been touring the past year with this incredible programme in Europe, Asia, North America, and probably beyond. I read that she flew in the day before from Japan to perform for us in Toronto!

Here's the programme from the album that she performed (plus a bonus encore!):

Mozart: Piano Sonata No.8 in a minor, K.310:

I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante cantabile con espressione
III. Presto

Berg: Piano Sonata in b minor, opus 1: Mässig bewegt - Langsames Tempo - Quasi Adagio
Liszt: Piano Sonata in b minor, S.178
Bartók: 6 Roumanian Folk Dances, BB 68, Sz. 56

Stick Dance
Sash Dance
Stamping Dance
Dance of Buchum
Roumanian Polka
Fast Dance

(encore) Gluck: Melodie ("Dance of the Blessed Spirits") from the opera "Orfeo ed Euridice"

So about the performance itself...divine! It's a pity my camera died so all I have are two grainy cellphone pictures of the piano before Hélène came onstage.

She emerged from the bowels of the hall's backstage area in a simple black flower-patterned shirt and pants with a slight reddish-brown tinge to her hair. After bowing to the audience, she commenced the Mozart sonata. At once we hear this laboured, wild breathing - reminding us immediately of her deep connection to this music as well as to the wild - she's a huge fan of wolves and spends an incredible amount of time at a wolf conservatory in New York.

The first movement of the Mozart was probably the most intense I've ever heard it played...Hélène has this amazing, frightening, exhilarating way of grabbing you by the throat and pulling you into her world. She emphasized the first movement's dark turmoil, frequently making the appogiaturas turn nearly into fierce grace notes and really grinding out the fingerwork and making full use of the resonant bass register.

I nearly wanted to cry when she started the second movement...it was nothing I'd ever heard before. Absolutely stunning, rich but simple tone in the opening notes, with impeccable stacatto and the most gorgeously subtle rubato ever - at times she paused just a little extra spontaneously...and you had to wonder...what was she thinking that exact moment? Her conceptualization of repeats are fascinating...everytime she goes back, the passage is transformed completely into something more and more beautiful. I didn't want this movement to end! The stormy middle section of the second movement was incredibly heart-rending...just overall incredibly played. This surprisingly turned out to be the highlight of the concert for me...I was absolutely blown away by her poetic and lyrical sensitivity here.

The final third movement of the Mozart sonata was much darker, almost sinister. The opening phrase was incredibly unique...she played it almost with a watery colour...really hinting at something more introverted and intense, which was fascinating (but rather different than the interpretation on the album).

The Mozart sonata was an incredible start to the programme, but soon after the applause was over, she launched into the much different one-movement Berg sonata, the composer's very first published work.

She used the score for this piece and had a helpful page turner to assist her. I've read that she uses the score only for this piece because when she was 11, her teacher at the time had made all sorts of coloured notes on the sonata. At the time she didn't understand the piece or what her teacher meant, but revisiting the score and the music has proved an amazing experience for (and it inspired this recital programme too). She always performs with the music for this sonata since the music holds such a powerful visual memory for her.

Nostalgic tidbits aside...this was a fascinating performance of the Berg. I've heard Mitsuko Uchida's rendition before, which I found more angular...Hélène's take on the sonata brings it closer to the late Romantic, emphasizing the subtle, shifting harmonies and highlighting a dense, complex counterpoint in the jumbled sections. Certainly a very interesting piece and a spectacular performance. While most 20th century/modern pieces tend to be the "ugly ducklings" of recital programmes, she certainly made it fit right in line with her other choices - it similarly expresses the inexpressible, darker side of the human psyche.

After this was an intermission...I went to the outside lobby to catch my breath. Listening to Hélène play is such a fascinating experience - you really could listen to her your whole life. She speaks something incredibly profound and really captivates you in a way that can never be captured completely on recording.

The piano at Koerner Hall, Toronto just moments before pianist Hélène Grimaud arrived on stage.

When we returned and the piano was re-tuned, Hélène launched into the horrendously difficult, half-an-hour-long, one-movement Liszt piano sonata, also in b minor. She's a child of the Romantic era for sure...Liszt is obviously extremely comfortable territory for sure. Those extended octave passages in both hands, cadenzas, arpeggios, fugal sections, massive chords, etc. etc. etc. were simply no problem at all. She threw them aside and performed with an impeccable technical furore and finesse.

Interestingly enough, I was enrapture with her almost softer, surprisingly gripping but almost introspective take on the work, which emphasized the sonata's transcendental, spiritual, poetic message rather than its virtuosic side. I'm thinking of Martha Argerich's take on the sonata, which is much more exciting, but perhaps in a more steely, percussive way. Hélène's exults the gorgeous, lyrical moments while carrying you away into the torrent of the alternatively stormy and life-affirming virtuosic passages as well. Truly breathaking...afterward we were all exhuasted by the incredible musical journey of the piece, but somehow, it was so well-played that we didn't realize half an hour had passed. I felt like it was only 5 minutes!

An unfortunate thing happened though...I was seated in the parterre I think it's called? Right above (see picture for view) her hands...and I could see her left hand perfectly. On the very, very, very quiet last note of the Liszt sonata, she waited, expecting it to sound - but it didn't. I saw her almost uncertainly replay it once again to sound it. And after she tackled the octaves, etc. etc. with such incredible perfection! She's only human, after all...the rest of the audience couldn't see anything much anyway...we still gave her a standing ovation for that Lisztian feat of nature!

So after that, she came back to play the popular Bartók Roumanian Folk dances, which I remember learning when I was 13 or so. She launched right into them and took almost no pause between dances, leading us head-on into this completely different, jovial set of pieces. The atmosphere was much lighter and celebratory, but we are brought back to the tonal centre of A (a minor ending in A major), reminding us of the Mozart sonata and reminded also of Liszt with the Eastern European character of the music and of the mysterious inexpressible qualities of the recital with the beautifully inward third and fourth dances. Splendid, as usual...the fiery polka and romping finale were splendid. I loved how she repeated the fourth dance in octaves, whereas Bartók repeated the second with octaves when he recorded it himself. Amazing!

So we all stood up to give her a standing ovation, clapping over and over in order to warrant an encore from her. She went back and and emerged two times...and on the third time, we knew that we were successful.

Her choice was a very unexpected, but very beautiful transcription of the ever-popular, famous "Melodie" from Gluck's opera "Orfeo ed Euridice". I've only heard the violin-piano version with Sarah Chang, so this was a surprise for me.

With its touching, lightly tragic d minor melody, she ended the recital quietly - bringing us full circle back to the era of Mozart, but leaving us with an even more profound, poetic message.

We all clapped till our hands were red and sore, absolutely enlightened and exhilarated.

Unfortunately, my family came with me so they quickly whisked me back into the car before I had a chance to get an autograph or photo in order to get home before dark...but the important thing really was the concert itself. It's certainly one that I will never, ever forget.

Pioneers were BANANAS!!

2011-01-20T21:55:00.000-05:00

Why didn't I ever get to do this? My little brother is dressing up as a pioneer for "Pioneer Day" at school. He has a list of items to wear...pioneer-like shirt, shoes, pants, hat, suspenders... He's going to be reading a short speech about "worker bees", a communal system of sharing work to combat pioneer loneliness (this is where our term "spelling bee" comes from!).

My mom had some trouble finding the right clothes for him (most were just too modern or non-homemade-looking), so I helped look through some of my older clothing and found some great stuff.

But my mom received some great advice from a colleague of hers...DON'T BRING BANANAS!

Apparently her coworker got her daughter to bring bananas to school on pioneer day only to be told that "bananas weren't available during the pioneer times". She replied with, "What about the stores?"

"They didn't have supermarkets yet!"

"What about airplanes?? They could still bring bananas!!"

Sometimes mommies need a history lesson too.

Programme Planning: Light

2011-01-16T14:16:00.001-05:00

I'm returning to the seniors home at the end of the month to perform. The concept for the programme I'm unveiling centres around the connotations of the word "light" - in the sense of sunlight, airiness, or a general sense of ease and pleasure.

This mix of works features contrasting selections from mostly the Classical and early Romantic eras - selections which depict light in its many forms as well as providing "light" entertainment.

THE PROGRAMME

Mozart: "Alla Turca" Sonata (25 minutes)
Chopin: 2 Nocturnes

No.15 in f-sharp minor (9 minutes)
No.5 in F-sharp major (4 minutes)

Haydn: Sonata No.49 in E-flat major (25 minutes)
Gershwin: Rialto Ripples Rag (3 minutes)
Chopin: 2 Nocturnes

No.19 in e minor (5 minutes)
No.2 in E-flat major (5 minutes)

Time: Approx. 1.5 hours

1. We venture off first into the light, appealing world of Mozart with one of his most famous piano sonatas. This sonata is light in every sense of the word - charming, innocent, and relaxing. We're first presented with a theme and variations, which sheds a multitude of different shades on the famous opening theme. After a Minuet and Trio, the familiar "Rondo alla turca" ends things off.

2. Next we have two Chopin nocturnes - in parallel minor/major keys. Chopin's nocturnes are interesting because they were written as "night" pieces but also function as pieces suitable to be played in a salon setting - hinting at more than one connotation of the word "light". No.15 is more shines with a more subdued, inward light while the more famous No.5 radiates more a warm, inviting light. Both are relaxed and easy, light compared to other heavier Romantic repertoire.

3. Haydn is a composer who often likes to poke fun at things and his 49th piano sonata is certainly no exception. The outer movements are light and easy - one might even say trivial-sounding. But in the gorgeous middle movement, a meditative, reflective Adagio reminds us of an afternoon walk in the forest walk, perhaps, with hints of sunlight streaming everwhere - interrupted briefly by a stormy interlude at its core.

4. Ragtime is definitely music that puts entertainment first - much lighter fare than the other music on the programme. The Rialto Ripples rag is charming and provides a nice contrast from the bonafide "classical" repertoire.

5. We end with Chopin nocturnes again - this time, with two of the nocturnes Chopin wrote early in his life - No.19 and the ever-popular No.2. No.19 shines with an ambient, almost Spanish flavour while No.2 develops a beautiful theme with subtle variations, ending with twinkling figures in the high register of the keyboard, reminiscent of ethereal starlight.

Purple Carrots

2011-01-14T17:33:00.000-05:00

So my friend and I were brainstorming foods would cause purple barf the other day...beets? Grape skins? Then she suggested PURPLE CARROTS. Do such wondrous things truly exist, I foolishly asked? Of course they do!

Image source:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fivebunch1.jpg

Thanks to Google, I've discovered that apparently carrots were purple since the beginning of time and were bred using yellow and white mutants by Dutch farmers in the 17th century so that they could produce an orange breed of carrots. It was supposedly in tribute to the royal family of the time, who came from the aptly named "House of Orange". Cool, eh?

The orange variety of carrots stuck with us till this day, but actually purple carrots are good for your health since they have loads of yummy nutrients not found in ordinary carrots. If only I could pick some up at the grocery store! I need to investigate...

During my "carrot research", I've also discovered some other really, really cool things! There's a Carrot Museum in Great Britain and there also purple varieties of purple cauliflower and garlic too! Who knew?

Cool carrot links:

The Carrot Museum: http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/
How Carrots Became Orange: http://www.nextnature.net/2009/08/why-are-carrots-orange-it-is-political/
Cool Purple Carrot Facts: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/04/carrots-used-to-be-purple-before-the-17th-century/
"Maroon" Carrots: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Dictionary/M/Maroon-Carrots-6606.aspx
Purple Cauliflower: http://www.veggiebelly.com/2009/12/purple-cauliflower.html

Awkwardnessss...

2011-01-13T15:52:00.001-05:00

I was thinking about my experiences teaching as I was writing yesterday's post and I remembered lots of funny things that happened over the years while I was a teen teaching music.

A lot really awkward moments happened simply because of my age. Here I was, a pianist with a degree in music from the Royal Conservatory...well versed in the arts of invertible counterpoint and chromatic harmony...and on the other hand I'm a teenager, and all my other "coworkers" were twice my age - or older. And most were less qualified to teach than I was.

Plus, most of my students were almost my age and actually, there was this one funny time when I saw one of my students at high school and she ran away...awkward...

So anyway, there was this one time that I remember really clearly...it was the first Christmas employee lunch. I didn't know what to expect, but I was told beforehand to bring a gift to play secret Santa.

I brought cookies. (We'll get to that later.)

So when I arrived, no one was there except my boss. The second person arrived a half an hour later...and most people arrived a full hour later.

When everybody arrived (with their spouses and boyfriends and girlfriends, of course), we started eating and talking.

They started complaining about kids and talking about birth control and other sorts of 18 (25?) plus things. At one point, the next youngest teacher complained about how oldddd she felt at her last birthday.

They were all like, "Honey, when you're forty, 25 will seem SOOO young!" They all started laughing and then looked at the little Asian kid in the corner...awkwaaaarddd...

So secret Santa time came after that and I didn't get anything since most of the other gifts were alcohol and other "adult items".

Then came karoake with alcohol time...I slipped out the back door at that point.

Looking back, I don't think it was just a matter of me being "too young to understand". I'm sort of an old soul who's always been astoundingly mature actually (some friends may beg to differ)...I usully get l along with octogenarians the best. So funny enough, I did experience a generation gap, but instead I felt like the real adult.

But it scared me to think that I might grow up to become like them in ten or twenty years. Then I realized, hmmm....probably not. I'm too intellectual and determined to do that. I have big plans for my life. My idea of fun is very solitary too...travelling the world, writing, performing, learning...

The interesting thing is that I don't remember being invited to a Christmas lunch ever again after that first one I went too...but maybe it was a good thing - for all of us.

Teach then Learn

2011-01-12T19:02:00.002-05:00

I had a funny little surprise today...my TA (teaching assistant) for my molecular and cellular biology tutorial is none other than a fellow co-worker of mine!

We both taught at the music studio...and actually, I was teaching there before her and I'm much more educated in music than her too...but now the tables are turned and she's teaching me! She'll be marking my assignments and all that amazing stuff.

But since we've both taught before and I've done it longer than her...I'd definitely be able to teach my tutorial group too :P Now if only the university would let me grade my own stuff! That would be totally awesome! :)

Violence: not the answer

2011-01-11T10:55:00.002-05:00

An American boy in his early twenties shot a number of people at a political event, where he also injured a congresswoman. My dad read this while I practicing Chopin nocturnes, and the strange juxtaposition of these two realities clashed - strongly.

In one way, we can point fingers at his mental health, lax gun laws in the United States, a troubled childhood, the media, etc. as causes of this destructive behaviour...but I'm nearing twenty myself. It could be anyone - including me - who can be driven to such desperate action. Teens can tend to become very emotional and one-sided sometimes...myself included...and for some this stubborn angst doesn't go away...ever. Also, we're so incredibly impressionable and motivated by the things we experience at this age too - sometimes in the wrong ways.

For myself and for many "young people" I know, though, violence and hate-guided behaviour doesn't work for us. It's because we all have positive outlets for our strong emotions - and it sounds cliché - but it's true.

For anyone, it's SO important to have something you can turn to when you're in need of something - something emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical, or whatever. And for me, somewhat a jack-of-all-trades character, I really think that the world is so jam-packed with interesting stuff and interesting people that there is bound to be something you like and that you're good at.

But it's important to discover what these things are...for me, piano is one BIG thing. I perform at a seniors home, I perform for myself, and I'm always working on something or learning something. And sometimes I get frustrated, but in a good way - my attention's diverted to something constructive. And through classical music, I've discovered fantastic people across the globe in all corners of the world who share my interests online and everywhere I go. It's like a second life...where if things don't work in this one, I can always escape to the other one. And I'm sure it will alway be a big part of my life.

But I mean if political ideas are your thing...they're so many things you can do. You can join a debating team, study political science...heck, I had a classical piano and theory teacher who has an emo-electronica-rock band where she writes and sings politically-themed lyrics...there are SO many amazing, strange, positive things we can do with our lives. We just have to find our special place in this world...and it may be hidden in the depths of religion, art, music, writing, sports...whatever.

I'm not saying I'm the model of behaviour for every teen, but an example of what I mean is what happened later last night for example. After I played the extremely famous and beautiful second Chopin nocturne in E-flat major, my mom and dad were so moved...they were talking about it for an hour afterwards with me and reminiscing about my first days as a little pianist.

I mean...not everyone can have this, but these special, personal moments are what I live for. This is my life...but we all need to find something to do in life that makes each and every one of our own lives that much more meaningful.

Time to READ...

2011-01-10T16:44:00.002-05:00

I've silently bemoaned my lack of literacy these past few years without having the time (or commitment) to actually read...but it looks like I'm going to have to do some "pleasure-ish" reading soon! Philosophy was my first course of the semester this morning and I had finally had a good gander at all the course syllabus...six books to read?

I had bought them before the break, but all this time they've just been collecting dust on my bookshelf...still...they sound cool! Here's the philosophy I have to ponder this semester:

Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvoir
Ethics: Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect by Spinoza
Introduction to Saint Thomas Aquinas by St. Thomas Aquinas
Four Texts on Socrates translated by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West
History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
as well as an anthology put together by the course professor with excerpts from Aristotle, Basri, Fanon, Lecker, Buddha, and the Qur'an

Since I'm not a philosophy nerd (yet?), it's definitely going to be different from what I usually go for...but come to think of it, after listening to the TA talk about philosophy, things I regularly do, like read Emily Dickinson or figuring out a new Bach piece are pretty philosophical in nature.

I think art in itself is also a reflection of philosophical ideals...it's a way to understand ourselves and the world around us...so maybe philosophy really isn't all that far off from what I do these days. I'm pretty astsy.

All this profound thought simply because I want to take the "Philosophy of Medicine" course next year...geez! But I am a profound person, and philosophy is sounding really cool so far! I love reading :)

Dinosaurs visited us...

2011-01-09T21:06:00.001-05:00

We saw dinosaur tracks this morning in our snowy backyard! They were HUGE and were each were spread at least a metre away from each other. What a mystery! My little bro and I went outside to investigate...here's one of the first pics we took...

Definitely not a cat, deer, dog, wolf, or anything we could think of...hmmm...we also saw these "little dinosaur" tracks...probably a squirrel's or something...still cool!

But the mystery tracks were really big...they were the same size as my foot! We were pretty puzzled...weirdest mystery ever...we didn't find how the dinosaur escaped from our yard either...and it couldn't have been very heavy either since its tracks were pretty light...

And we also found these too...these ones are perhaps deer tracks? But how did deer get into our fenced yard? Hmm...

My dad was talking to a neighbour this afternoon...our neighbour said that it was probably not a dinosaur...it was more likely a rabbit. :( The heel and front toes sometimes get mushed together...and the prints get bigger when they're jumping...and they're so far from each other since rabbits hop...mystery solved! But what about those mysterious deer ones in picture #4? Hmmm...

Voglio Tempo!

Return of the ZOMBIE!!

Show and tell

My mom, Tarzan

Thoughts on LRCM

I Dream of...Tribal Art?

Strawberry Social

Before the Tooth Fairy...

Haydn & Mozart

Not a nurse, sorry

English is my second language!

#askthestrings!

Happily Lost

Mother's Day!

Found in translation

I was a third-grade mascara monk

Scarlatti Snapp'd

Pip pip cheerio!

Making do?

A day in the life....

Happy [Home-made] Birthday!

Ghetto Goose

Chemistry...lol

The joys of page-turning!

Re: Children

Not invited??

It started with a dead bird

Mmmmmm...disodium guanylate!

Chameleon

Beethoven: Number Zero?

The wrong appreciation?

Genius: Getting Smarter!

Crayons

J'm de la musique

Meet me on the floor

Fail! Or win?

Desert Island Discs

A FOOLish Love Story :)

Group Dynamics

COOKIE Monster

A Classical Criminal!

The Third Parent

Classical Class #11: Étude

Some things...

Why didn't I major in English?

White, powdery, cold?

Think of the chickens :(

Combinations, Permutations

Lucia di Lammermoor: Dessay and Calleja @ the Met!

Piano...*Quartet*?

St. Patty's...and Californium

Professor Daddy

Some Scary Saint-Saëns

GUILTY (as uncharged)

Vacation Time!

When I'm 80?

Japan! :(

How I got my first job

Spastic Kookaburra!

Feeling like a woman?

March Madness! AHHHH

The Cretan Widow, etc.

The Wikipedia Glow?

Finger Food

Darn, I'm an adult now

Moved to tears

Well...hello!

Piano Teacher Drama...GASP

Classical Class #10: Double Stops

Well...hello?

Anniversary!

Oh my Goddard nudibranch!

I learn, I play, I memorize

Niagara: see ya next year?

I'm...SAD! :(

And the reading begins!

Back to high school...

Holy noodlebowls!!

Problems from HELL!!

"Oh!" for Oops?

Piano...Quartet?