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!

Fat Tuesday

Yesterday was "Fat Tuesday" and here in Sweden they celebrate it by eating semla (a yummy, almond cream filled bun). Lou and I went to what the Piteå newspaper claimed was the best bakery, and enjoyed our buns and coffee!

Now, the fearsome threesome (Anna, Lou, and I) has vowed to give up sweet treats for Lent. In a place where "fika" (coffee and pastry between meals) is a part of everyday life...this may be a bit of a challenge. We will be strong...and by Easter, much healthier!

glowing

Tonight the sky was glowing with the Northern Lights, and I am glowing because I am the happiest that I have been in a very long time!

The whole visit to Stockholm was perfect. Anders and I worked everyday in the studio on some new repertoire, one of my new pieces, and some improvisation. After each lesson my head was always spinning, and makes me just want to keep playing every minute of every day!!

We also spent a lot of time planning the new percussion program that he is starting in Piteå. I will dedicate an entry to explaining what is going on...one of these days! When we weren't playing or talking about percussion, I spent time with the rest of the Åstrands (Anne, Emma, and Tove). On Saturday night Tove made a big dinner for Valentine's Day that was so lovely! The entire trip was just perfect...time to sleep and relax, practice, learn!, work, plan, laugh, and chat. :-) Here are a few photos from the trip...

my super cute room at the Vasa Hotel! it even had a small TV...which excites a girl that is TV deprived!

View from my room

Anne and I at a pub having a drink!

Tove's wonderfully made and presented dinner!

Yummy Valentine's Day cake!!

Anne and Anders

My flight left Arlanda at 8:15 this morning, and I arrived in Luleå around 9:45 (they served us breakfast on the flight, which I thought was crazy since it was such a short flight...plus she had to wake me up to serve me! haha, but I am not one to turn down free food!). Anna and Lou arrived shortly after to pick me up and then to roam around Luleå for a bit. Anna had to get her computer looked at, and then, on a whim, I decided to get my hair cut! We found a nice looking salon, and they were able to take me right away. The girl who cut my hair was really sweet, and loved speaking English. She spent a ton of time cutting and styling it, and it was a really fun afternoon!

eating lunch with the messy baby!

chopped up and curly hair!

love these two!

We arrived back in Piteå around three, and I immediately took a long nap (I forgot that an 8:15am flight equals a 6am wake up call!), followed by a long practice session at school. As I was leaving (around 9:30pm), I ran into my organ playing friends Nick and Johanna...they told me that you could see the Northern Lights outside!!!!! I ran to the door, and they were right. The sky was lit up with green streaks. It was incredible.

my camera didn't capture it very well...but this will have to do!

After this amazing weekend, and fun day, and funny Skype session with mom and dad, I feel like I have to pinch myself. I have no idea what I did to deserve such a rewarding, unpredictable, exciting, and full life. For the first time, I feel happy with my musical abilities and confident that one day all of this "searching" will pay off...no matter what path I take next, these memories are incredible.

I got a little emotional when I say the sky tonight. How did I get here? What is next? I realize that I'm not supposed to know the answers to these questions, and am going to try my hardest to just live each day to its absolute fullest...as cliché as it sounds...its 100% true.

Learning and relaxing

I’m sitting in my room, watching “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (with Swedish subtitles, of course) and am feeling great after the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. I arrived in Stockholm yesterday afternoon ready to work with Anders hang in the city. Traveling here is getting way to easy! I’m still amused by the fact that I don’t even get a boarding ticket at the airport, and that they just use my fingerprint when checking in and boarding…it’s the simple things that entertain me!

I arrived at around 4pm and spent a few hours in the studio working with Anders. We worked on a piece of his that I’m playing on my recital in a few weeks, and improvised for a long time. I then requested some drumset instruction, because I’m still working on becoming a groovier person, in general. He gave me a lot of ideas on what to work on, and it was a lot of fun.

After the lesson we went to the apartment for dinner with Anne and Emma. Meatballs and lingonberry jam! Woohoo! It was great to see them again and catch up on the last few months. We also watched an episode of “Let’s Dance” with is like America’s “Dancing with the Stars”.

I decided to head back to my hotel around 10:30pm so I could enjoy the miniature TV that was in my room. The place I’m staying is really cute; it’s a bed&breakfast meets a hostel. Everything is very old-fashioned looking and antique. I have my own room, with shared bathrooms. It’s perfect! I watched the movie “Anchorman” with Swedish subtitles, so learned some very useful words and phrases. Haha. The opening ceremonies of the Olympics were to air at 3am, and I thought about staying up for to see it. But, I dosed off at around 1am and slept until 9:30am. It felt to sleep in and not set an alarm.

Now, I’ll head over to the studio to practice for a bit before meeting with Anders this afternoon.

TGIF (almost)

I’m so glad this frustrating week is over. Along with all the technology disasters, I felt like ‘I was running around like a chicken with his head cut off’ everyday this week. (By the way…that’s a morbid saying) Most of the stress I just put on myself, but it is stress nonetheless!

I’m spending this weekend in Stockholm to work with Anders. I’m trying to finish a solo piece, and am learning a piece he wrote for a recital on March 2. (Note to self…update your website, it’s not correct at all!) We should have a lot to do, and a lot to talk about…as I’m still trying to decide what to do next.

Oh yeah…and Happy early Valentine’s Day! People here don’t celebrate it as enthusiastically as Americans, which is good, because I’m pretty sure most Swedish guys are still afraid of me :-)