A Sea Chanty of Sorts

Last night was my first trip to the Dragen band Cabin. That´s right folks, the band I play in has it´s own rustic, circa 1928, cabin. No running water, a wood stove, and last but not least an outhouse. But of course it is still right on the ocean and is surrounded by beautiful green space as far as the eye can see! Also I can use the cabin if I should so choose. So if anyone feels like visiting on the cheap you´ve got a place to stay!

We all had a party there last night after a long weekend of rehearsing. Free food too. Unfortunately, for me, it was all meat and bread. So I had the choice to eat some yummy chicken or bread slathered in mayo. I chose the former. Big surprise. And I´m not going to lie it tasted pretty good. I´m still planning to be a vegetarian when I have control over it though!

After the food there were many Norwegian songs sung, and some American
80´s hits played loudly such as "Heaven is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle. A personal favorite of mine. It was funny to watch the Norwegians try to sing the verses, fail miserably and then promptly chime into the chorus. Another fun activity of the night was when we were split into teams and given the task to write new lyrics to an Abba or Beatles tune of our choice, but the lyrics had to have something to do with band. Pretty geeky but it was fun to hear what people came up with. The only downside to the night was paying for the taxi to get out there and back. On the way out it was about 9 dollars and then the way back it was almost 20. And we were splitting the fare among 7-10 people! Crazy!!

I had my first class on Friday! The head of the Masters Program is our lecturer and he seems really really nice! Very open and warm and interested in us learning a lot. It seems important to him that we delve into a topic that fascinates us and will make an impact on our performing. He told us more about what the semester is going to look like, as well as resources to use to help us narrow down a topic of interest. I´m still feeling a bit lost as far as a topic goes but that´s ok at this point. I have a meeting with my advisor tomorrow morning so hopefully that will help point me in the right direction. I also met with my bassoon teacher for the first time since I arrived on Friday. He just got back from America. He was teaching at Aspen Music Festival which is a very prestigious summer music program. We met for a bit to talk about the plan for the semester;what he wants to start with and also to talk about what I want to work on for myself. We have our first lesson on Tuesday at 13:00! I´m nervous but really excited. He gave me a new reed to try, and a bunch of new music to get me going. YAY! I´m totally nerding out!

Things I Will/Want to Accomplish This Year:
Become really great at double tounging
Become a more confident sight reader
Take a professional audition
Play every day!!!!

Nerdy I know but it keeps me honest if I say it to the world.

It´s the start of a new month and I am ready to take on all that they can throw at me!! tally ho!