A New Day is Bourne

Whenever you wake up from a dream in which you are Jason Bourne fleeing dozens of FBI agents, you know it's going to be a good day. However, if you wake from a dream in which you are Jason Bourne being caught by FBI agents because you stopped in a house to play an electric piano....well, I don't know what that means yet. We'll just have to wait and see.

This morning already I performed my last audition at Illinois Wesleyan. I now await the jury's decision as to whether or not I'm guilty or innocent to perform in the Wesleyan Orchestra. There are only 4 violas auditioning this year, so I think I have a good chance. Because I student-teach next semester, this is my last semester to be in the Orchestra, and although that's kind of sad, I'm super pumped for this fall concert season. We're doing another Halloween Pops Concert in which we are hoping to perform an arrangement of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, as well as the theme music from Harry Potter, and other scary classical music. It would be well worth your time to come out for this concert.

I only have one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it should be a pretty chill day. I'm heading back to my house now to lounge around until my 10:50 class. Living off-campus is stellar; I love it! My housemates (Jake, Steve, Noah, and Nathan) are stellar, and we all bring a unique flavor to the house. I'll try to post some pictures soon if I get a chance. We call our house the "Fellowcopter Pad" for several reasons: 1) it's located on "Fell St." 2) We're a bunch of "fellows" living in it. 3) It's a place where we crash-land all the time. It's just perfect.

Ok, so I lied....

After my post last night stating that I had no free time, here I am in the library with nothing to do until my next class until 10:50. I'm up so early because this morning, at 6:30, I had to get up and walk to Bloomington Jr. High to observe their jazz band. Nothing beats a nice mile stroll on a crisp, clear December morning. Thank goodness there wasn't snow, else I'd still be in bed.

So, this week, as discussed last night, is Pre-Finals week. However, to the scatter-brained music ed. major, the week is also know as The-Week-When-Everything-That-Should-Have-Been-Done-Months-Ago-Now-Must-Get-Done-By-Friday. However, I feel that I now have everything under control and I should have all my requirements met when they're due on Friday at 4:00.

On Tuesday night I had to perform my viola jury. For those of you who are picturing me playing my viola while donned in a black robe and a powdered wig, let me repaint your mental picture. The term "jury" is basically a "hearing" (another court word) and "assessment" of your playing before a panel (not a jury) of music faculty. In other words, it's a graded performance. For my jury, I played Rebbecca Clark's Viola Sonata for the Viola. The piece was written with the intent of the violist playing in tune the whole time. Oops. Missed that memo. However, my 4-bar melody passage in the middle of the piece in which I played exactly a half-step off of the piano would undoubtedly have won me acclaims had the piece been a 21st century improvisation. Overall, though, I thought I played the piece pretty well, and now I have a fun piece to pull out for future auditions.

This Friday, the Illinois Wesleyan Orchestra is presenting a fantastic concert at the Bloomington Performing Arts Center. We're playing "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky, "Siegfried Idyll" by Wagner, and "Russian Christmas Music" by Alfred Reed. All 3 pieces are classics in the orchestral repertoire and would definitely be worth you're time coming out to see. The big piece of the show is "Russian Christmas Music" which features a narrator reading "A Christmas Bell for Anya," a very touching Russian Christmas folktale. No more spoilers. You'll have to come see for yourself this Friday at 7:30 at the BCPA.

The Verdi Requiem; The Drama, The Hero, and The Wardrobe

Tonight was the big night; the performance of Verdi's "Requiem."  I played the viola as a member of the Wesleyan Orchestra.  Directly behind the orchestra on the BCPA stage was a 220-member chorus featuring singers from IWU, Illinois State, and the Bloomington-Normal area in general.  I have never played in an ensemble that has produced more sound!  In front of the orchestra sat four of the finest soloists I have ever heard.  There was a soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and I'm fairly certain that they had been practicing their parts since they were five years old, that's how good they were.  Under the direction of Mr. Steve Eggelston (orchestra director at IWU), we performed Verdi's masterpiece to a packed house at the BCPA.  

The performance went magnificently.  The only thing that the French judge could have possibly taken points off for was one extremely minor hitch at the beginning....our soprano soloist fainted two minutes into the piece.  If you thought things looked bleak for the Mudville Nine that day, you should have seen the looks on everybody's faces while she was helped up to her seat and a brief intermission ensued.  However, there was no need to worry, because in the audience sat a man who knew exactly what to do in that kind of situation.  With the speed of a scorpion on a sugar rush, this silent hero leaped from his seat and immediately applied his amazing intellect to the situation.  Within minutes, the soloist returned and the rest of the concert went perfectly thanks to the courage and bravery of that one man....the Lone Ranger!  Actually, that's not his real name.  For the sake of the anonymity of this humble public citizen, I will simply call him "Mark Getz."

So, now, I'm in the Science building winding down from my busy week so that I can start my busy weekend.  I only have 2 more days of classes before finals start, but there's a lot I need to accomplish in those 2 days.  I need to catch up on sleep too, so that's what I think I'll do after I'm done I'm blogging, which, coincidentally, I am.  Thus, good night.

Dave Has Lost His Sanity, and He Can't Remember Where He Put It

As the esteemed Albert Einstein once said, "Sanity is only 2/5 of the entire ratio that allows 57% of humans to come up with the concept of percentages and fractions, 30% of which don't even know what they're talking about...the people, not the ratios. Ratios can't talk. That would be silly." Hmmmm, now that I think of it, maybe Einstein didn't say it. But I bet he thought it.

Anyway, that's how I feel. With only 6 more days of school left (that's right...I said 6!), my professors have decided to test the limits of the human brain by assigning a hogshead worth of homework (I looked it up...it's about 63 gallons). Tonight, I am in the library preparing for my enormous Brass Tech quiz tomorrow in anticipation of the Final which is a week from today. I also have two more papers to write for that class by Tuesday, and I have to memorize a Greek hymn (in English...thank goodness) by next Friday. Thankfully, my Music Ed. teacher moved our paper that was due Friday back a week so that frees up my load this week a bit.

On top of all that, the Wesleyan Orchestra is performing Verdi's "Requiem" this Friday. It's one of the coolest orchestral pieces ever written. You can look at the whole thing on YouTube, but I would suggest coming to the live performance this Friday @ 7:30 at the BCPA (Bloomington Center for the Performing Anteaters).

Okay, I'm done ranting. Time to get back for work.

Oh, and if anybody finds my sanity, could you let me know, cause I could really use it this week.