German class

I want to keep up with my German studies, so I signed up for an accelerated beginning German class at UW. Little did I know that I should have studied my German all summer if I was going to be prepared. I don't feel too bad about my conjugations or word endings at this point. As the semester goes on I'm wondering if the amount of time I study will exponentially increase.
The biggest surprise with the class is the amount of online work that is required. We have daily homework assignments that take at least half an hour and then we have online assignments for every class that last over an hour. Some multi-tasking will be in order.

Very quickly, I'm so excited to see Mahler 5 tomorrow! Here is a review from a fellow contributor on the Gathering Note about the concert:
"Thursday night’s Seattle Symphony concert at Benaroya Hall was a study in contrasts: a refined performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and an expansive performance of Mahler’s immense Fifth Symphony. Both were successful, but the truly memorable part was the playing of German violinist Isabelle Faust with her 1704 “Sleeping Beauty” Stradivarius.
The immediate thought when hearing her first notes was how relaxed she was, and how beautiful the pure, gentle sound emanating from her violin. Her bow was so light on the strings it’s as though the sound floated out in an exquisite, silvery stream. Lest this sound sugary sweet, it wasn’t. There was depth and phrasing, shape and contrast here, but always without ostentation. Fast runs seemed easy with plenty of time for each note to be perfect by itself and in its place. There was expressive dynamic range in her playing, but she achieved some extraordinary pianissimos which were nevertheless audible over the orchestra. Faust’s style seemed exactly right for the Mendelssohn. And never have I heard a performance where less was so much more. A slightly reduced orchestra under music director Gerard Schwarz gave her good support and sensitive accompaniment. Schwarz does an excellent job with the orchestra in performance with soloists—careful not to overwhelm them and appropriate as a partner. He doesn’t then go into the frenzy we’ve been seeing more of lately in purely orchestral works he’s conducting, apparently trying to whip the players up into ever louder, more intense climaxes.
Mahler’s fifth asks for some of these, but it seemed a bit soon to hear the first climax of that caliber shortly after the work’s beginning, leaving one wondering, Where can this go from here?
However, despite a good many wince-making episodes of extreme volume (particularly the cymbals clashes and screaming violins) from the large orchestra Mahler demands, Schwarz also pulled back in between for some fine expressive music making in Mahler’s large, colorful work. The music is lush enough in itself that it needs a little restraint rather than exaggeration to show it at its best, and Schwarz achieved this in many places. It seemed unnecessary to bring principal hornist John Cerminaro to the front like a soloist in the fourth movement, no matter how prominent his role and how smooth his playing. It was distracting to watch him frequently empty out the drips from his instrument.
Kudos though to the whole brass section, notably principal trumpet David Gordon, for its performance." - Philippa Kiraly

Seattle Opera and Seattle Symphony

I called the Seattle Opera Administration Office today and found out that I have training on the 12th! I am very excited to be stepping into the business side of the music world and I am very grateful for the free dress rehearsal tickets that will be made available to me because of it. :)
I know I've already mentioned the Opera's 2009 season so I won't go on about it. I'm just really excited and wanted to share the good news.

This Sunday is the Mahler 5 concert that my husband and I have been looking forward to since we bought tickets in August. We can't wait to hear UW faculty perform and are geared up for our first symphony performance of the season. It should prove to be a good one, especially since the symphony will have played the program 4 times by then.

The Seattle Symphony has been performing since December 29, 1903 - over a century! In 1998 the symphony moved into Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. The current director, Gerard Schwarz, has been with the symphony since 1983 and I believe this is his second to last season with Seattle. I feel very fortunate to see a symphony when a conductor is approaching the end of their tenure. After years of developing relationships with the orchestra members and staff, the group must be in some sort of flow as a result of that ( I believe Gerard Schwarz's relationship with Seattle is good). Gerard Schwarz even has his own day in Seattle: Septemeber 24th. Here is a link to the post announcing it: http://blog.seattlesymphony.org/?p=919

That's all for now. Have a great weekend everyone. Go Huskies!

The 2009/2010 School Year

This year is going to be quite the journey. My husband and I have anything but a typical schedule and we are finding that adjusting to life in Seattle is becoming easier. However, adjusting to the dynamic at the School of Music has not been so easy. It's been a little difficult to make friends in our department b/c everyone just kind of does their own thing. There is no brass "studio" to speak of, just a large group of people that play brass instruments - some of which are music majors, but a good portion of them that aren't. It's also different for me to not have to play in 3 different ensembles plus chamber groups on top of school work and working. I have time to practice - which I did today and it was fun to try the new things my teacher suggested - and I have time to spend with my husband. We'll see just how much time we have in a couple of weeks once we're rehearsing in our chamber group and working 2 jobs each, but hopefully we'll still be able to keep our Friday night date night. :)

When I was growing up I was a big comic book reader, especially Calvin and Hobbes. I forgot a certain strip existed. I came across it online and wanted to share with everyone. Enjoy :)









Wife: "Either he's playing classical music at 78 RPM or I'm still dreaming."
Husband: "First thing in the morning I'm calling the orphanage."

Events of the Last Few Days

A lot has happened since Monday. I've basically nailed down my schedule, but there is a little bit more work to do. As far as trumpet playing goes, I get to study with one of the most internationally acclaimed trumpet players around: Allen Vizzutti (pictured on the left). He is so nice and my first lesson with him today went about as well it could have possibly gone. I didn't by any means impress him with my playing, in fact, he found things in my playing that will be easy to fix and make me sound way better. I am so excited to have no large ensemble commitments this quarter. I will be in a chamber group (hopefully with my husband), but other than that I get to work on my trumpet playing all quarter. I've never had this opportunity and I am going to take advantage of it. I am going to commit to God's plan for me and do what He seems to be directing me towards: Trumpet Performance. If this is where He wants me, then I am certainly going to persevere and give it my all (and I can't say I've always had that attitude about playing the trumpet).

Hopefully the next few weeks will prove to be productive and wonderful. I have high expectations of what God is going to do in my life and my husband's because of the doors He has shut recently. We know that He is guiding us and it's just a matter of following His guidance.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Also, my last post was published on the Gathering Note blog! It's wonderful to be a part of something like this, go check it out!
http://www.gatheringnote.org/?p=5655

Seattle Symphony Concerts this Weekend

For those of you interested in seeing the Seattle Symphony this season, this weekend would be a great time to see them. The program for this Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (October 1-4) is Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, with guest soloist Isabelle Faust, and Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor. I have a special affinity for Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It was the symphonic work that inspired me to pursue an orchestral music career.

Mahler's Fifth Symphony was a revolutionary work and represents a new compositional period in his music. After composing three symphonies with vocalists and words (Symphonies 2, 3 and 4), Mahler writes a purely instrumental symphony. Richard Strauss, a fellow composer and contemporary of Mahler's, wrote, "[Mahler's] emancipation from the literary clearly awakened in him higher demands on orchestration in the service of expression and clarity."(Herta Blaukopf, ed., Gustav Mahler Richard Strauss Correspondence 1888-1911, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 142.)

The Fifth Symphony does not follow standard practices of symphonic composition within the Romantic period. In this symphony there is a superlative use of polyphony that Mahler once tried to describe as the sounds of a country fair. (Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies (New Jersey: Amadeus Press, 2003), 154-55.) Indeed, as one listens to the overlapping voices of the orchestra at the height of the first movement one can imagine a disheveled scene similar to a 19th century country fair.

The structure of the symphony is in 3 parts, with five movements. The first two movements, 1. Trauermarsch: Wie ein Kondukt ("Death March: Like a Funeral Procession") and 2. Stuermisch* betwegt. Mit groesster* Vehemenz ("Turbulently Rough. With Great Vehemence") make up Part One of the Symphony. Part Two is the third movement alone, 3. Scherzo, and Part Three is made of up the last two movements, 4. Adagietto and 5. Rondo-Finale. Many compare this symphony to Beethoven's Eroica symphony for it's heroic character and the programmatic triumph of good over evil. Certainly one can hear the jubilant chords at the end as representative of a victory.

For first time listeners of Mahler's Fifth Symphony listen for repetition, changes in the timbre, and variation of any thematic material. All of these techniques are clues to what Mahler was trying to make more prominent at certain points in the music. Other than that, let your emotions ride along with the music. Without words to tell the audience what is going on in the music, or what the music is about, the music can mean many things to many people. Mahler's Fifth Symphony, and most music in general, is best enjoyed when we open our minds and our ears to the possibility of music taking us on a journey. Journey out to the Seattle Symphony this weekend and you will definitely not be disappointed.

*Umlauts, etc. were replaced by English spellings.

Dogs are Awesome

My husband and I are planning on getting a dog as soon as we can. The apartment we are leasing right now does not allow pets. So, when we move into an apartment next year we are hoping to move into a pet-friendly complex. Here are some possible dog breeds that we'd love to rescue:

Norwich Terrier















Boston Terrier












West Highland White Terrier






















French Bulldog



















Dachshund











I put these dog breeds up now thinking that's what we want, but who knows which little guy or gal we'll meet that we'll end up taking home? I am not opposed to saving a dog from the city pound. We just stumbled upon this site one day, http://www.spdrdogs.org/, and discovered there is a whole community dedicated to saving abandoned purebred animals. I think we'd really like to save an animal and give it a great home - we both are dog crazy!

Here's a musical cartoon from a blog called "Soho the Dog," enjoy: