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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Down Time

Hello friends. I'm in C3 right now, but I finished the assignment we've been working on, so I've got some free time. This is going to be a lot of stuff I've already said, but hey, my blog, my rules.

Last night I went to my school's chorus concert, and it was really fun. I saw lots of people from theatre, and some people from band that aren't in theatre. Everybody did a really good job, I really liked listening to the songs. I really liked hearing the solos- people who got to the all state festival, or people who got a Division 1 at solo and ensemble. Those were probably my favorite performances, but I really enjoyed the whole thing.

Rehearsal is really buckling down. Opening night is in about 2 weeks, so I'm going to be at rehearsal at least 5 days a week for at least 3 hours until performances. It's worth it though, I love the people I've met and the memories I've made. That'll definitely be something I'm going to do a post about, you can bet on that.

May 2nd I have my band concert, and I'm looking forward to that. The new piece we got on Friday is really difficult, but I've already made a lot of progress. I can play most of it, now I need to master the rest and then get the entire thing up to tempo. It's going to be a challenge, but it'll be so worth it. I'm also working on The Flight of the Bumblebee, and that's coming along nicely too. I'm nowhere near being able to play it at 144 bpm, but I'm really happy with how far I've come on it. On May 2nd, I'm going to be at rehearsal until around 5:30, and then I have a band concert that I'll need to be at school at around 6 or 6:30 for, depending on when it starts, so I'm really crossing my fingers I don't get much homework.

May 3rd is my interview for the volunteer organization, at 6:45. I had to reschedule to make it work with rehearsal, but it's no big deal. I just had to push it back an hour and 45 minutes. I'm kind of nervous, but I'm going to do some thinking about what I'm going to say for a couple of possible questions, and then go from there.

Like I said, this was a lot of stuff I've already said, but I figured why not. As always, if you have any questions (or general interview tips!) leave them in the comments. Thanks for reading!

-Eliza

Sunday, April 24, 2016

I Kept My Promise

Hey guys, I finally found time to do the post I told you about? I know it's been a while since I said I would do it, but I've been really busy with life in general. But alas, I'm here now.

First on today's agenda is Solo Festival. I got a Division 2, which is the second best. You could get from a 1 to a 5, and there was a range of points for each rating. I was two points away from a one, which would have been AMAZING, but I got some good comments for improvement. I'm looking forward to next year, but I'm actually kind of glad that it's over, because now I have more time for other things. I spent a lot of time practicing, and even though I loved it, I'm glad I have some extra time for homework or whatever I choose to do with it.

The Dallas Brass concert was definitely something I'm glad I signed up for. During the day, they did a clinic with us, where we worked on the piece we were performing. Then, later that night was the actual concert. Two middle school bands performed, as well as the Dallas Brass by themselves. It wasn't a stereotypical concert either;they used lights, had choreography, and played a range of songs from jazz to classical to pop. If they're ever near you, I definitely recommend going.

A Midsummer Night's Dream was also something I really enjoyed. I will admit to almost falling asleep a couple times, but that was because I didn't get enough sleep the night before, it was by no means a boring show. I really liked seeing the interpretation of the play, and the actors dd a really good job conveying the meaning of the play. It was in Shakespearean English, it wasn't a modern version, so it was sometimes hard to comprehend what they were saying, but the body language and blocking of the actors really helped with that. It was a really fun day, I'm glad I went.

I got an interview for the volunteer organization I applied for! It's on May 3rd, but I realized I'm going to need to reschedule to work around rehearsal. That'll be fine though, I'll be able to make it work, because all I need to do is sign up for a time an hour and a half later on the same day. There'll be 8-10 people interviewing me, so I'm kind of nervous about that, but I'm excited. I really hope I get it, and I'll be sure to keep you updated!

Speaking of rehearsal, May 2nd is going to be fun. I have rehearsal until 6, and then a band concert at around 7. I'll have to be there at 6:30, so I probably won't be home from 7:15 am (when I leave for school) until probably around 9 pm. 14 hours of school, and I won't have much, if any, time to do homework. My teachers are pretty cool though; if I get homework, which I probably will because of pre-IB classes, I'll just have to explain why I won't be able to get it done and they'll be understanding about it.

That's all I have for now, I'll do another post when I can!

-Eliza


Monday, April 11, 2016

Small Update

I don't have a ton of news for you all today, but a little bit is better than none, right? Anyways, theatre has been going really well. It's kind of hard because it's a new thing, with new people, so I'm still getting used to that aspect, but it's really fun, I love it.

Solo Festival is this Saturday, which I'm really nervous for, but I think I'll be fine. It seems a lot different than anything I did in middle school, even though we had a solo festival of our own. I'll be sure to do a post on that, but I don't know when for sure. The day after that, Sunday, I'll be selling chocolate bars outside of Walmart with a couple of my friends to raise money for the band trip. The band directors put out a sign up sheet and I figured it would be a nice way to earn some money for it- all money raised will be divided up equally between the three people there. It's supposed to be really nice, so that'll be fun.

Tomorrow, the Dallas Brass, a world-renowned brass quintent, is coming to do a clinic with my high school, and at least one middle school. That's 400 kids! It's going to be so crazy, but I'm really excited. Tomorrow night there'll be a concert with them, but just the high schoolers will be performing, I think. I'll put that in a post, too, but I doubt it'll be Tuesday. Maybe Wednesday or Thursday, but don't hold your breath.

On Thursday, my C3 class is going to go to the local performing arts center to watch (college kids??? I don't actually know) perform A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, which I'm actually really excited about. I borrowed a copy of the script from my teacher, but it has an easier translation with it too, so I should probably finish that before we go. Just to clarify, my next post will include stuff about solo festival, the Dallas Brass thing, and the MND performance, as well as anything else that comes up. Thanks for reading, and as always, comments and questions go down below!

-Eliza