Graduation Gala

I just got home from the semi-annual Graduation Gala hosted by Auckland University. I had to come write about it immediately because I was that excited by/about it. It is the endgame of a competition held every semester for students who are graduating. The students go through a preliminary round in the semester prior to their graduation (so all of these students originally competed in August). Three finalists go on to perform at the concert that I saw tonight. They all win scholarship money, I think $2000, $1000, and $500 based on placement.

The first performer tonight was a pianist. He is currently a masters student and is headed to Eastman for his doctorate in the fall. He played the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. This was the only performance of the evening that I was absolutely enthralled by. It was great, don't get me wrong but I thought he was kind of boring. His technical playing was amazing. I was watching his hands the entire time and it was amazing. I didn't think it was physically possible for fingers to fly that fast. But there was no passion in his playing. I felt like he was one of those people who lives in the practice rooms and doesn't really know very well how to connect to people. He didn't really capture his audience, or at least, he didn't capture me. I guess I cannot necessarily judge because he is clearly very talented. His worst day on piano is still my best day on clarinet, I'm sure. That's just how I felt about his performance.

The second performer was absolutely my favorite. She is a flautist, masters student. She played a concerto by Ibert. It was absolutely out of this world. I cannot even find words to describe it. I got goosebumps at one point. Not only was her technique and musicality top-notch but she actually performed. She had such a distinct presence on stage, which is something that I feel is neglected by many students. It was as if she were a queen in the presence of her people. Her entire performance was elegant and distinguished. It was also kind of cool because at times she would whip her flute away from her face the same way that a string player pulls the bow of the strings at a really dramatic point in the music. But it wasn't overdone. Normally, that kind of stuff drives me crazy but she really made it work. She was by far my favorite performer. Maybe it's just my bias as a woodwind player.

The last performer was fantastic as well. She was very close to the flautist in terms of how much I enjoyed the performance. She is a pianist honors student. Here, you can do an optional honors year. It is a fourth year of study between obtaining your bachelors degree and moving on to studying for a masters. You usually do this at the same school where you got your bachelors. She performed one of the Lizst concertos. I think he has written multiple piano concertos but I can't remember which it was. It didn't really have movements, it had sections that segued into one another. As with the others, she was technically incredible. More than playing the piano, it looked more like she caressed the keys and beautiful music just magically came out. She had a very distinct style. If I could only have one word to describe her as a performer, I would use spunky. Instead of nodding at the conductor when she was ready to begin she kind of gave this little flippant move that clearly said "let's do this." Jordan and Jocelyn are going to freak out that I'm using this analogy, but she is like Ty Lee from Avatar. She appears cute, innocent, and bubbly but then very suddenly and unexpectedly she kicks your butt and you didn't even quite realize it happened. If the flautist was the queen, then she was the princess. Not quite elegant but captivating in her own way.

And the results... I totally called it. First place to the queen, second to the princess, and third to the Beethoven guy. It was a really inspiring contest for me. It really made me want to go practice some more. It has been a long time since I have been to a concert charged with that much raw energy from both the audience and the musicians. I love going to contests for that reason... There is so much excitement in the air. Even getting into the hall was intense. It was kind of like the amazing race, the concert version. There are no tickets, first come first serve. So you have to get there early and then beat people to a seat. I ended up waiting for the balcony. It didn't open until all of the seats in the stalls and on the floor were filled but I was at the front of the line and I didn't want to get out of line and then not get a seat. They were turning people away.

Overall, it has been a very good week for me, despite some stress. I just realized that I have a major essay for management due in under two weeks. So I need to get going. And, I think I've mentioned it before, but I am playing for the former principal of the China Philharmonic tomorrow. So that's slightly stressful. But mostly exciting. I practiced for nearly three hours today. I have found that I am happiest when I am fully immersed in the musical world and I don't really have to do much not relating to music. I'm not sure if that makes me strange or if that just means that I've chosen the right career path. Anyway... My point is that I've been doing a lot of music stuff this week and that has made it a good week.

Also, today while I was practicing, Kevin knocked on my door. Not Kevin, the guy I go on LOTR tours with, Kevin the clarinetist at uni. We only talked for a few minutes but it seemed like a big deal to me because he is a very stay-in-his-practice-room sort of guy. I've never really gotten to have a conversation with him. So I was pleased that he randomly decided to make contact. It turns out that he went to high school in the States. In Oberlin, to be exact. We reminisced about marching band and why it sucks. It was a good connection.

I'm also excited because I got another gig! It's a small one but I'm pretty much happy to do anything. It is a workshop reading of some Bartok arrangements written by students in one of the orchestration classes. I hope that I am not sight-reading on the spot, though. Because sight-reading Bartok?... Eeek. However, I am mostly excited about this because the person who contacted me is not someone I have met before. He got my name from someone else. Can you say successful networking? I was pretty pleased.

On the downside, my trip to Taupo this weekend has been cancelled due to inclement weather. Bummer. It is supposed to be pouring rain for five days straight, encompassing the weekend, which is not good for either sky-diving or hiking a mountain. So we will have to reschedule. On the plus side, this gives me time to get my ducks in a row in terms of my management paper and other various stuff. So... This post has gotten much longer than I originally intended it to, so I am going to sign off. I will report back from my coaching with Elsa Lam tomorrow. Yay!
Peace.