unknown expectations

It’s been a crazy week since I last updated! Last Thursday-Sunday was the school’s Midwinter Festival, so there were 2-4 concerts each day. I played in 2 concerts on Thursday, one was an afternoon chamber recital and the other was the evening concert featuring works by student composers. On Sunday, I was involved in the big production that was a pseudo Broadway review. We played a lot of arrangements and medleys, and although my role wasn’t too involved, it was fun to be apart of it. The whole week lent itself to a lot of bonding, and I feel like I’m finally getting to know a lot of the musicians. A few photos….

Mathias getting ready for the "Composer's" Concert. It's great that sound engineers and stage managers are involved in most performances here...I think that is very unique!

 

Gisli and Truls chatting about the performance (the composed two of the pieces we performed)

Hanging out with the boys after the concert...in my big yellow coat that I get made fun of for on a daily basis :-)

Denis and I before the Sunday "Music-All" concert. Percussionists are wierd!

Ooooo...cool lighting!

The girls rehearsing 'New York, New York'

Of course...we went out afterward...most of the photos from the night are hysterical because everyone was so sleep deprived and drinking. But, this is the only one I will share with the blogging world. Anna, Margret, little Anna, and me!

Since Midwineter is over I'm focusing on a solo concert (they don’t really use the word “recitals” here) that I’m giving next week. I’m calling it unknown expectations because everyone keeps asking me what kind of music I play…which is just a silly question. How do you describe percussion solo and chamber music? There are so many influences! So, I tried to choose repertoire that represents various genres, along with a two new pieces that I wrote (one called ‘unknown expectations’…like how I tie it all together?! Haha) I’m going to perform in the Black Box theatre, which is usually used for the rock/studio musician concerts (bands). It’s a small space, but I wanted to try a more intimate environment, and erase “classical” music clichés.

My friend Rasmus is going to be doing the lighting, and he’s amazing! We chatted about some ideas yesterday and I can’t wait to see his ideas come to life. Also, Sebastian will be recording and taking care of the sound. Since it’s a small ‘box’ and is usually used for amplified music, it’s a dry place. So, he’s going to try and mic the marimba to enhance the sound. We’ll be doing a lot of experimenting Tuesday morning. The posters are by Linus, who is a wonderful photographer and media producer! Check it out…

On another note, I skped with my Aunt Betsy earlier this week to try and plan her visit! I just can’t wait! We are planning the trip for May. We are going to meet in Stockholm, take the overnight cruise to Helsinki, and then spend a few days in Piteå. It will be so fun to show her around!

I can’t believe I haven’t written for a week…what the heck have I been doing?! A ton of rehearsals and practicing, I guess! I do get up at 7am everyday now, which is great. I feel like myself again!

Oh yeah! Yesterday I tutored a 16 year old girl from Poland in English. She is the sister of a friend’s guitar student. We are going to meet on a weekly basis, and she is a really sweet girl. Maybe I should try and find some more English students…it’s good money!

On that note…Swedish classes began again last night. From now on, I’m going to ask people to only speak Swedish to me. I won’t always know what is going on, and will be confused most of the time…but I need to learn faster. I’m not the most diligent student when it comes to my Swedish course, so I need a good kick in the butt :-)

I guess that is all that I can think of right now. Anna, Lou, and I are still doing well with not eating sugary treats. It’s going to feel like such a long time until Easter! Hopefully we can make it! This weekend is Lou’s birthday, but no cake!