Tetris

This weekend (including tomorrow) is filled with Tetris-like thinking, figuring out how all the belongings I have will best fit into the small storage space in this apartment. Do-it-yourself furniture (racks, cabinets, shelves) has helped, but I'm still hoping to find the best way to squirrel things away so that I have a relatively organized living space (at least on the surface).

One of the really important aspects of singing is finding a way to center yourself, to find some inner tranquility. I'm so used to runningrunningrunning that it will be nice to stop for a bit, to ease the merry-go-round of life. An apartment where everything has its place will be a wonderful complement, I think.

Now where to stuff the rest of these clothes...

Yesterday

Before:

After:

Happy :)

~Hope

PS

Just got the listening exam results, and, happily, I passed! This is the one that's required to graduate, so that's a very delightful result!

Off to celebrate with the Good Ole' American Pastime!

~Hope

A Different Focus

There are so many ways in which my focus has shifted, my lens of the world bending to take on new twists. There's the obvious financial loop-d-loop and the adjustment to the "student's life" again, with all the extra time and meeting people that it brings. (No complaints here!) But there are also less intuitive paradigm shifts that are only gradually emerging for me.

The biggest one that's cropped up recently has been the performance vs. academic mindset. In the past, performing and practicing were the fun things, the extracurriculars that I squeezed in around the "real" classes/casework. Now, that is my bread and butter. I've been registering for classes, and it's taking a lot of willpower to remind myself that, despite my thirst to Take Everything, I really need to avoid overloading credits. If possible, I should take fewer academic classes because all that is secondary to the Reason I'm Here: to become a better singer, artist, and performer.

It would be very easy (and oh so tempting) to think in the consulting world mindset of add-add-add to the plate based on how many hours there are in the day and how efficient I project I can be. The creative process, though, takes time. Even if the opera workshop doesn't have much work outside of class, for instance, I may want an extra hour to process all the new techniques I'm learning. I need time in the practice rooms, a chance to explore the scores in the library, flexibility to observe and let my characters percolate.

A more mundane shift is my living situation. For the first time in 2 years, I'm unpacking the suitcase. Completely. I don't have to store my toothbrush permanently in a Ziploc bag. I'm not eating out - I actually cook for myself (haven't keeled over yet, so I consider that success.) And I can sleep in the same bed every night (although I have to say that my Aerobed is nice, but the Sofitel/Westin bedding is distinctly nicer... ;) ) It feels mighty fine not to be squeezing my life into carry-on luggage for a while.

Tonight, it's off to a baseball game to meet some of the other students. Last night was clubbing. Oodles of fun but a bit loud. I brought my earplugs as I always do, and chuckled at how many envious compliments I received on them. (Usually it's a combination of taunts and "yeah, I should probably do that"s depending on the person's age.) When the DJ cut out in the chorus of YMCA, it was the most tuneful rendering I've ever heard from a crowd. There was even a high soprano singing the octave up (no, it wasn't I.)

Other news? Miraculously, I passed the music history exam. Theory, as expected, was a complete disaster, but given my lack of background, I'm actually looking forward to the remedial theory classes. Also need to take remedial Italian since I've only had French, Spanish, and German. (The German definitely needs some brushing up; I only had a semester and would love to be at least proficient by the time I graduate. But that will be self-study.) Listening exam results are still TBD, but that's okay. It's all finished, which is a relief!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

~Hope

Play that Funky Music

Just finished this morning's music theory and listening exams. The listening one was a pleasant surprise: 25 one-minute excerpts played once. I had to write down the composer, piece, and in certain cases, the movement. Happily, they pretty much chose the recognizable segments. They were a teensy bit evil in one respect; there were 5 "mystery pieces" liberally sprinkled throughout. For these, we needed to write the period (Classical, Baroque, Romantic, etc.) Trouble is, they didn't identify which ones would be the mystery pieces in advance. This meant that if you had skipped studying a piece such as Frescobaldi's "Toccata Prima" under the assumption that there would be only one solo harpsichord piece and you really needed the time to study the differences between Tchaikovsky and Berlioz--guess what?! The lovely appearance of another harpsichord piece could throw you off your game. Fortunately, I had heard the Frescobaldi enough to know that the one excerpt sounded familiar while the other one didn't. Thank heavens I hadn't heard the other in a previous life.

So all in all, I think the listening exam went okay. 17 out of 25 correct is a pass, and they do give partial credit, so hopefully my foibles won't torpedo my chances. I've had musical snippets running around my mind like squirrels in a forest for the past several weeks, which for me means that my brain was absorbing things along the way. Fingers crossed on this one!

The theory exam, on the other hand...I'd thought that the aural component would be my most challenging bit since I haven't done much with ear training. In this section, there were three questions. First, they played a horn excerpt of 8 measures, to be notated in concert pitch. We had to divine the starting note based on the key signature - i.e., they didn't say "This starts on Ab." And then we needed to transcribe the 8 measures. To be nice, they play the excerpt 5 times with some space in between, giving you a total of 15 minutes to figure it out. I have a bit of an audiographic memory, which helps me compare intervals and play various bits back in my mind. It's not fully audiographic, though, which means I definitely had some gaps.

Second question? Take the orchestral excerpt and notate the downbeat of each measure, which is played in the cello. Do a Roman numeral analysis underneath. Thank heavens it was tonal! There were still a few weird little chords which I couldn't entirely figure out Roman-numeral-wise, but I think I got the cello part notated correctly at least.

The third question was the most difficult. Also played 5 times, it was a two voice (2 instruments - one in the top staff, one in the bottom) melody over 8 measures. We were supposed to notate both voices, again discerning the starting pitch solely by the key signature. I tend to get a little lost in these since you need to listen not only for the notes/intervals and rhythms of each voice but also for the interplay. Hearing when one is resting while the other is moving along at its nice clip is the only way to get this sucker down on paper in the 15 minute time frame. Not exactly my strong suit.

The verdict on that part? Better than I thought, which is not to say much. The written part - figured bass realization, counterpoint completion, and harmonic analysis of a score excerpt...well, based on the marked contrast between my view - "This is crazy hard!" - and the proctor's view - "I looked at these questions, and they're very straightforward and easy!" - I think it may be a smart idea for me to end up in remedial theory anyway. This is one of the only tests - perhaps the only test - I've ever left early. 5 minutes before the close point, I figured my time would be better served reviewing my notes for the listening exam since I clearly wasn't making much more progress on this one.

I should know the final results tomorrow. In the meantime, it's off to grad student advising while trying to rid my brain of all the little StravinskyMozartBeethovenBachDebussyHaydn snippets.

Cue Theme Song

"Well, hello and welcome to another exciting episode of "Stump the Chump"! Special thanks to Click and Clack the Tappett Brothers for letting us parody their bit. I'm your host, Phil Harmonik, and on today's show, we have Hope, an economics major who thinks that she can make the switch to music."

"Hi, Phil. I'm really glad to be here!"

"Well, Hope, for $1575 since that's the amount you'll pay for a remedial music history class, which of the following Austro-German musicians stayed in Germany throughout World War II? Was it:

• a) Richard Strauss
• b) Kurt Weill
• c) Paul Hindemith
• or d) Arthur Schoenberg?"

"Well, Phil, Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera was so poorly received by the Nazis that he left for New York with his wife, Lotte Lenya, in order to launch a second career as a musical theatre composer. Schoenberg was writing atonal music in 1908, and at some point in his life, he taught at the University of California, so I would guess that he had to be in the US by that point or he'd be really old by the time he taught in Cali. That leaves Hindemith and Strauss. Hmm...."

"The clock's a ticking! What's your answer?"

"Well, Hindemith taught at Yale as well as in Berlin, so maybe he was already in the US at that point. I don't remember reading anything about Strauss being the US at all....I'm going with Strauss, Phil!"

"Ooo, I'm sorry, but the answer is c) Paul Hindemith. You forgot that he wrote Mathis der Maler, Matthias the Painter, about an artist struggling under persecution. He was expressing his own frustrations with being persecuted by the Nazis, which means it was he who stayed in Germany. I guess you'll be forking over that $1575 after all! Sorry, Hope. Better luck tomorrow on the music theory and listening exams!"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Yes, I just finished the exam. The essay was fortunately on a choice of composer pairs which you could contrast. I picked Verdi and Wagner, and I think it went okay. The multiple choice, on the other hand....well, it's a bit of a toss up right now. No clue how it went. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better, especially that listening exam. Off to study more!!

The Sunny Side of the Street

Check out that sky. Blue and beautiful. The weather here is Gorgeous today - slightly cool and breezy with nary a cloud in sight. I'll be holding on to this memory when I'm spelunking through a snowdrift in a few months...

I spent several hours this morning creating decision trees for the 170 songs I'm supposed to know by Thursday. Instrumentation? Orchestral. Okay, is it weird? Yes. Then it's Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra.

The only trouble with this scheme is that my sense of what's "weird" has started to degrade. I've listened to so much atonal stuff that it's starting to make sense to me.

Other items on today's agenda? A library tour where I learned that we can access the digitized versions of rare/early printing scores on the library's website...and Print them! So I could have one of the early copies of Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnerade (a German art song) for my very own. Pretty nifty.

Also stopped by a health and wellness session where they discussed musculoskeletal problems faced by musicians as well as the health resources available. I'm going from $2-$5 prescriptions with Aetna to full priced prescriptions. The university health plan has no prescription coverage. Since I had the resources to pay for my scrips while working and now am an impoverished student, this seems a tad backwards to me....Guess I really am through the looking glass now. :)

The rest of the day? Studying, studying, studying! Tomorrow is the 3 hour music history exam. Wish me luck!

~Hope

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

A second post for today since the last one was really a make-up for the weekend.

Today was the first day of orientation, and I am THRILLED beyond belief! I'm in the pinch-myself flavor of delight and joy! I'm here!! Music school at long last!! When people ask what I do, my answer is "I'm a Master's in Voice student." It feels very surreal and wonderful and ooey gooey all at once - like seeing a server bring a chocolate sundae with all the fixin's towards you and realizing that It's For You!

9:30 this morning was the Meet the Deans breakfast, which was really a meet-and-greet for students. I found some really nice people, including a Japanese clarinetist who by chance knows a family friend from Pennsylvania. She gave me a big hug when she recognized my name. Very sweet. The other folks included a composer from Korea, a flautist/pianist music ed major from the town next door, a trumpeter from Turkey, and a pianist from Russia, all of whom are in the master's program. Despite its small size, it's quite an international school. I have yet to meet any of the voice majors, but I'm just as glad because I figure I'll get to know all of them very well once we start coursework and rehearsals.

This afternoon, they created the student IDs (picture is awful per the requirements of all Student ID photos) and held an information fair with area vendors and student organizations. I feel very much like I'm back in college. And sitting in my room in the late afternoon writing a blog entry also feels like Quite the Academic Life. A very warm and fuzzy feeling. I'm still half-convinced that I'll wake up tomorrow from this beautiful dream.

The Movers and the Shakers

I think I might play with using song titles for my blog entry titles. This one is from Herbert's album Scale. The lyrics have nothing to do with the post. Just popped to mind as I was pondering what would be an appropriate title for today.

As you can see from the picture, I was buried in boxes this weekend. We drove up Saturday morning super-early and moved in, purchased cabinets and bookcases, and unpacked late into the evening both Saturday and Sunday. Turns out it's back-to-school weekend for all colleges in town and the public school system, so Wal*Mart and Target were PACKED! I still have a good bit of organizational fiddling to do this coming weekend, but at least all the boxes are out of my apartment and on their way to recycling. Most of the shelves are put together, but I still have a few puzzle pieces to fit together. Gotta love those "easy to assemble" metal shelves.

It feels really odd to be back to school. I'm in sort of a hybrid apartment, which kind of reflects my life. It's a building with both young professionals and students. My furniture is an amalgamation of college dorm plastic drawers, cheapy do-it-yourself bookcases, and nice odds and ends. Not knowing exactly how much space I'd have and not wanting to pay a huge sum for movers, I opted to leave most of my furniture "in storage" - i.e., at the home of my Wonderful parents. (Yes, capital and double capital W on that Wonderful.)

It all is starting to feel like home, though, perhaps faster than it otherwise would given my nomadic nature over the last few years.

Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'!

This is the view from my study spot today. Pretty spiffy, right?

Happy Friday!

~Hope

Balance Beam

I was talking with a friend today about how seeing a performance that isn't marvelous is actually an incredible learning experience. For me, it makes me ponder why the show isn't working, what the pitfalls are, and how I can avoid them in my own work.

Last week, e. took me to see a rock concert. The performer has a terrific voice but wasn't great with stagecraft. She was a bit diva-ish, complaining to the lighting guy while she was onstage and struggling to get comfortable. I understand a little of this - finding your home onstage is really important to being able to perform well - but it did feel a little like some of these things should have been worked out in the sound/lighting check. It's vital to know what you need as a singer in order to prepare that space for yourself. Some people arrive at a theatre early in order to spend some time onstage, picturing the performance, and making sure everything "feels right". The reason doing it as part of a show can be troubling is because it places a halt in the action, breaks the flow, and pulls the audience out of the enchantment that is part of a great musical experience.

The other and bigger realization for me was that it is critical to maintain some of the invisible curtain between you and the audience. I always found it charming when an artist would cross the divide, reaching out to the audience and building a rapport. What I didn't know was that it's actually possible to eliminate too much of the divide. The artist we saw did exactly that. She conversed with the audience as if she was talking to friends and would stop the show to field comments from the audience. She maintained some control - "No, I'm not bringing the little girl up onstage," but because she responded to every call from the audience, the divide came down a little too much. Also accelerating its demise was the fact that she left the stage at one point with her digital camera to go take pictures of herself with the audience members. Finally, the very diva-ish behavior that made her seem so uncomfortable onstage gave her a bit of an "I don't really belong here" sense. None of these things individually would have obliterated the curtain, but all of them together created a pretty destructive confluence.

So why does it matter if the curtain crashes down? First, it does eliminate some of the magic. People like to be drawn in to a performance, and there's a certain hum, a certain energy that's lost when you don't have the ability to sit back and watch the artist in his or her own space. Second, it gives the audience license to take control of the performance. That's what happened here. By the end of the show, people felt emboldened to have their own individual conversations with the performer. This meant that she couldn't start her encore for at least 15 minutes. That made some of the audience members frustrated with the experience. And that's the last feeling you want people to have when they walk out the door.

Always a balancing act, I guess. How do you strike the sweet spot between accessibility and over-stepping?

~Hope

And Strrrretch!

In the midst of all the studying and packing, I've been trying to do some vocal warm up exercises - sighs and swoops and sirens. (Yes, they sound like sirens.) I was ill for about 2 weeks with a sore throat, so I couldn't sing at all during that period. And with work the prior few months, I wasn't singing every day. That means my voice is a bit stiff.

If you run or do some sort of exercise, then you'll know what I mean. When you miss a day or a week, it's harder to get back to the level where you were before. Your muscles aren't as flexible, your body not as limber. Same thing with the vocal musculature.

I can still sing the pieces I did for my audition, but my stamina is distinctly less than when I was on leave auditioning and singing ~2 hours a day. This is the danger zone now because it's tempting to try to go as before, to "force" it, but that is the same as trying to run a marathon when you've only been doing light jogging for a while.

So it's back to easy technique, to gently stretching the cords and the muscles, and to trying to rebuild the stamina and flexibility that was there before. The birds outside are probably very confused at this new, super-weird twitterer that they hear in the house. Swoooop!

~Hope

StudyingPackingStudying

Technically, this is the stack of books I'm supposed to have learned by the time orientation starts next Monday. These are the materials recommended for prep work for the three placement exams. Given that I have no undergrad degree in music, it's been a bit of a sprint. Thanks to my consulting background, I've learned to focus on the most important. For me, that's the top two books on this tower.

What are the placement exams? The most important is a listening exam: 25 pieces picked out of a possible 170. The 170 vary in length from 2 minutes to 30 minutes, but they'll pick a 1 minute excerpt from anywhere in the piece, "dropping the needle" as it were. I'm supposed to write down the name of the composer, the piece, and, in several cases, the movement. Needless to say, my iPod has been on loop on these playlists as I scurry about packing all my belongings. They will also play excerpts from 5 previously unidentified pieces, asking that we categorize them by style (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc.)

There's also a music theory exam and a music history exam. For music theory, they'll give me an aural component first - listening to a single line of notes and then a double line on the piano and writing down the score. The written component involves:

• Figured bass realization (a Baroque technique that used simple notation indicating the chordal structure that was suggested. Harpsichordists used to play using just the notation and would embellish according to conventions of the time.)
• Composition using standard voice-leading rules (Yep, they have very specific guidelines about what notes can go where, what chords lead to what, and what intervals can't go together.)
• Score analysis (They give me a piece of music, and I figure out what the chords, cadences, key structure, and other fun little characteristics are.)

Music history involves 100 multiple choice questions that span Gregorian chant to the present. They're quite detailed. ("Stamitz was a composer in which European city." "Which of the following composer/poet pairs never worked together?") There is also an essay component ("Compare Verdi to Puccini").

So since I have no academic music background, the past few weeks have been filled with my learning a 220 page outline (Bless the folks at Norton for taking their Anthology of Western Music and actually creating the notes for us!), cramming music theory, and, of course, trying really hard to figure out how to distinguish the 30 minutes of the last movement of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde from the first.

On the upside, I get to learn all kinds of interesting tidbits. Case in point: Mozart so admired Haydn that he actually composed six string quartets and dedicated them to him. And one of Hadyn's symphonies ends atypically, with the orchestra dying down to 2 violins at the end. Some scholars think this was a hint to his patron that the musicians were a bit disgruntled with their situation.

Time to go learn more of those tidbits! Today, it's more Mozart and all about Beethoven. Also listening to some Schoeberg and Wagner and learning about the modal mixture theory techniques.

~Hope

Welcome!

Welcome! This little virtual place is where I'll post glimpses of life in conservatory. I hope that you'll find it entertaining and interesting, at least some of the time. And if you find yourself talking back to the computer screen, please leave comments! I'd love to hear from you.

~Hope