So I'm basically done with my apps. Except for cajoling recommendation letters out of people who told me they would write them. I sent in a transcript request, I paid all my fees, I did all my pre-screening recording. Oh wait, I still have Stony Brook, but I have another month to do that one. I'm sure it'll get done last second just like these first 4 were. Either way, nothing to do now but start practicing some more audition rep that I haven't looked at yet and prepare for my road trip. Yeah. And drink hard cider. It is so good.

Damn these school apps take a long time. Just spent two hours on the Juilliard app, since they required a specific original essay. Ah well, 2 down, 3 to go, or rather 2 to go, since I'll be doing one when I come back from my trip.
Tomorrow I "go into the recording studio" (ie my downstairs living room) to take care of my solo stuff, Bach and the Popper. I hate recording, but this shouldn't take too long.
Tuesday, I've set up 90 minutes with a pianist. (0 minutes to rehearse and record 2 movements of Elgar. It'll be a bit of a rush job, but I think I'm prepared enough, so it should be ok. Guess I'll find out.

I love my teacher. I told him I have to make pre-screening tapes in the next few days, and he told me to just play each movement two or three times, take the best one, and be done with it. I mean, it's what I was going to do anyways, but I always appreciate it when a teacher tries to make potentially high-pressure situations easier (and recording certainly counts). Tomorrow I'm doung a gig in Milwaukee, subbing for my friend in his string quartet. I'll be sight-reading everything, and I hear they do some rather complex tempo changes in a few of their numbers (they transcribed a few pop songs, like Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen) so I hope I don't screw them up. Speaking of sight-reading, tonight I played the first two movements of the Brahms Sonata in F for my very first time with my nextdoor neighbor. I'd literally never seen the music before, but my family was over at his place for desert after thanksgiving dinner and he requested to play it. He's really a heckuva pianist when it comes to just reading through music. One of the few pianists I've met who never gets bogged down in notes when reading, always keeps his pulse and the harmonies intact, and that's really good enough. I think it's funny that it's taken me so long to even play Brahms F, let alone work on it, but it was a lot of fun, and I even hit most of the notes, which is good, because there were at least 10 people sitting there listening.
Got a LOT to do this coming week. Looking forward to it being over, cause then it's New York and BOSTON. I love Boston.

Tonight was interesting. For most of it, I was in a near panic about my upcoming audition tapes; they're due in 12 days and I had yet to find a pianist. I'd written an e-mail to a prominent local pianist who does a lot of accompanying, and I had a few others in mind, but really, the piano situation in Madison is very bad this year. Admittedly, I only need a pianist for movements 2 and 4 of the elgar concerto, but still, the pre-screening requirements for at least three schools all mention "with accompaniment".
So then at around 10:30 tonight, my friend James gives me a call, inviting me to come along with him to a party downtown. He stressed I should really go to this one, since the guys hosting it have a fully stocked bar. That was no understatement. They had 3 or 4 kinds of gin, 4 scotches, half a dozen whiskeys, and quite a few bottles of various vodkas, rums, and flavored alcoholic things. I don't know how they did it; apparently one of them makes a lot of money and just buys it to stock for parties. First party I've ever been to where I had glasses of Maker's Mark. But anyways, while I was there, I bumped into someone I'd seen play piano before, and he seemed sympathetic to my plight, and moreover apparently just finished working on Elgar a few weeks ago. So it's a HUGE load off my back. Because my rep is ready, for sure. TOmorrow I hope to make it moreso.

Woohoo! Finally some oversight.

Ugh. I have to make pre-screening tapes this month. I can't think of anything I'd rather do less. But i suppose we all have to go through them if we want to go to graduate school. I wouldn't mind so much, except I can't seem to figure out the bow stroke in the second movement of the Elgar. I can do it for most of the movement, but there are still places that are very inconsistent. Even Mr. Vardi seemed frustrated about it at the last lesson, and I had yet to see him frustrated. At least I then played some ligeti to make him even more frustrated, heh. Apparently I was doing NONE of the tempo instructions (adagio rubato cantabile). And I have a lesson tomorrow, where I'm sure the frustration will continue, since I've accomplished postively jack diddly this week. Ah well, nothing for it but to go to the lesson and deal.
I managed to pick up a gig, which is good, and I agreed to play the cello part to the Beethoven septet on someone's DMA recital, so my schedule is getting a little busier, at least. He still hasn't gotten back to me about the septet, but I hope he still needs me, since I'm itching to do some chamber music. So far the closest I've gotten to that is coaching. My string quartet group is going pretty well, I'd say. The group is responsive, and they seem to get what I'm saying pretty quickly. The cello quartet, however, is driving me crazy. It's taken us 4 coachings just to get through half of a short movement, since one of them just yaks away, and the one with a somewhat complex part hasn't practiced it; I know because when we got to section with some accidentals he had to stop and figure them out. I keep telling these people to look at their parts, but sometimes I think it's hopeless. Honestly, I don't feel qualified to coach this group, but I guess I'm stuck with it now. Nothing to do but press on and try to learn something. I'm just praying we can learn this piece by the concert.
Plans for travleing are finally starting to coalesce. I'll be in New York sometime around December 8th, and hopefully boston by that friday night, although we'll see about that. Will hit Rochester either on the way out or the way back. Speaking of which, that reminds me I need to go write E-Mails to some teachers.