Sometimes you just have to eat CAKE!

Me again.

For those of you who are facebook friends of mine, or perhaps follow me on twitter (@sassyflute, if you like), you will already know that between last Monday and this coming Friday, I will have 6 lessons (6 in 14.. that must be a record) as well as having had 16 hours of rehearsal, a concert, and an orchestral repertoire class.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I am feeling the pressure of having THAT much playing to do in one week. Mostly it comes from the condensed schedule of lessons.

I’ve gotten used to having a rather spacious, intermittent lesson schedule. Unlike the average university program I’ve been in previous to RCM, a top notch conservatory of this calibre does not maintain the same level of expectations for lesson preparation. I basically bring something new (a movement, a complete work, a set of excerpts etc.) to every lesson, and for the most part, it has to be fully prepared: no “practice tempo” or “work in progress” options, at least for a majority of teachers.

My teachers are really awesome – they all recognize that I’m preparing three different sets of material for three different people, and that for the most part, the things I’m working on are pretty difficult tasks, so sometimes I dont have it all perfect. But the last week to ten days, I’ve really been feeling the pressure of trying to prepare equally well for everyone.

In some ways, I havent been able to keep up! It’s become very much of a live-day-by-day kind of routine, dealing with it all one step at a time, in the order that they appear.

So far I’ve managed, but I think the stress of coping with it finally caught up to me, because I got to my piccolo lesson today with the lovely Kathleen Stevenson, played about 30 minutes worth of Shostakovich 10 (that piece is a B*@$h!) and then burst into tears when Kathleen actually paid me a compliment.

Oh my.

As it turns out, we ended up having a really lovely, therapeutic chat about making sure to take care of yourself, turning OFF the musician switch and giving yourself a break.

If we focus on our job 100% of the time it wont be long before we are run into the ground. And as Kathleen says, it takes YEARS to get to the level of professional players, and so few get there at a young age. So! Her advice to me?

Have a coffee, sit down, take a breather …. and get yourself a piece of really yummy cake!

Cake!

So. With an incredible weight lifted from my shoulders, I resolved to take the rest of the day off, and start making room for a bit of me time in every day – I recently (as in, two days ago) joined a local gym (more about that later) and am very excited about getting back into running, working out and general fitness!

I am also terribly excited to go home in 22 days, but more about that another time as well.

On the slim chance that my wonderful teacher Kathleen Stevenson should ever happen to read this blog… Thank you, thank you, thank you. A cry, pep talk and hug was just what I needed today. ❤ x

Rite of Spring

Just wanted to post a quick entry about Stravinsky’s ballet suite “Rite of Spring”.

I was a lucky piccoloist when I was put in that project with the RCM Symphony Orchestra (Martin Andre conducting) earlier this semester. We arrived back at school on Monday January 7th, had rehearsal that afternoon, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, dressed it on Thursday morning and performed it on Thursday night.

I have never played any Stravinsky for real before (only as excerpts or in orch rep classes!) so it was an absolutely thrilling experience. Rite of Spring is an incredible piece and the history behind it is even more exciting.

Just last weekend, I also had the opportunity to hear my teacher, Stewart MacIlwham, play the Rite of Spring with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Four of us went…myself and the boys, as usual! My friend G.Z. – who played principal flute with me in the RCMSO’s version – and I both agreed that [i]playing[/i] the Rite is so much different from [i]hearing[/i] it performed.

We heard so many other sounds and lines that we had never heard during our rehearsals/performance, and some of the things we loved from the experience of playing it, weren’t nearly as audible from the perspective of the audience (like all of my favorite bass clarinet lines! hah!). Either way, the LPO were UNBELIEVABLE as usual. Stewart rocks that little twig!

Now. Just a minute ago, I mentioned that the history behind Rite of Spring was really interesting and exciting. If you’re not up on your Stravinsky-history, here is the abridged version:

When the Rite of Spring was premiered in May 1913, the audience was so apalled they began to riot, in the middle of the 30 minute-long show! The music itself was quite unusual for its time: the meter changes every few bars (in most parts of the piece), the accents fall in strange places, unusual instruments are featured (like the alto flute!), the tonality is not comfortable to the ear and there are many other dissonances throughout.

Not only was the music unsettling, but the choreopgraphy by Najiinsky was like nothing else that had ever been done before. Najiinsky required his dancers to turn their feet inwards (instead of the classical ballet “turned out” position), they held their hands either down by their sides (like soldiers) or in a scrunched up “claw” shape. Much of the dancing was done in a circle, which seems to exclude the audience from what is happening. Normally in dance, the dancers are dancing TO the audience, bringing them in and involving them in the action on the stage. Not so with Najiinsky.

Lucky for the RCMSO players, the College brought in a specialist on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Millicent Hodson of the Joffrey Ballet has spent many many years researching Najiinsky’s original choreography and she came in to share her knowledge with us … we even learned a few of the steps!

The Joffrey Ballet is doing centenary performance of the Rite Of Spring ballet this May, in Austin Texas, but for your viewing pleasure, I will share the youtube links to a video of that company’s recreation of the original choreography, costumes and sets.

The whole ballet is only thirty minutes long…. I hope you have time to watch on this lovely Sunday evening!

Cheers
xo

Rach On!

Last night my friend JS (Not of the Bach variety) and I headed over to Royal Festival Hall to hear the London Philharmonic Orchestra play some Rachmaninoff – the Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2!

I admittedly dont know a whole lot Rachmaninoff… being a flutist, there just isnt a WHOLE lot in the repertoire for me to do! No huge solos in the symphonies, no concerti or concert pieces from him. So, it was my first Rach-in-concert experience. What a night!

Originally, the whole reason I wanted to go was to see Yannick Nezet-Seguin, a fellow Canadian, conduct, but then he got sick and had to withdraw, so LPO got Mikhail Agrest on short notice. He’s a great Russian conductor who did most of his studies in the US at Indianna. He did a great job but he’s an awfully tiny guy, haha!

The pianist was Simon Trpčeski, an unbelievably talented player from Macedonia. HOLY CRAP.

Yup. I’ve never heard anything like it, and when he came up off that piano bench on the final notes of the piece, there was no holding back. The audience was shouting “bravo” and many people even got to their feet.

FYI: A standing ovation is an incredibly rare salute in the European concert halls… I think I’ve only seen one since I’ve been here, and to be honest I cant really remember what it was for.

Anyway, here’s a video of Simon Trpčeski playing the SECOND Rach Piano Concerto at the BBC Proms 2011 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Its about 36 minutes long but super divine and absolutely worth listening to while you respond to emails or creep on facebook.

Tonight myself and the boys are headed off to Royal Festival Hall again to hear the LPO do Ravel’s Mother Goose ballet suite, and one of my favorites, the Rite of Spring. Mikhail Agrest will be conducting again 🙂

Happy Saturday! xox

God bless E-Bay!

Thanks to boredom, procrastination and the internet, I found myself parousing UK ebay the other day, and discovered a lady who makes custom flute, piccolo and combination cases in the amazing Cath Kidston / Gilly Hicks type fabrics.

To say it was love at first sight would be an understatement.

I himmed and hawed for a few weeks, trying to decide if it was worth investing the 20 quid. Ended up deciding it WAS worth it to have such a stylish case, and contacted the seller to see if she could do a case design to suit my needs.

Sure enough, she was able, and my brand new, total custom, piccolo case was born into the world.

It is going to be put in the post tomorrow, so I should have it by Thursday or Friday of next week, latest. I’m really hoping it gets here ASAP though, as I’m super eager to start showing it off in real life! For now I’ll just share a photo:

Custom Piccolo Case <333333

Must head to bed now: My audition for the London Sinfonietta Academy (contemporary music summer program) is tomorrow at 10:30. I've got a practice room at school booked for 9am so it means being up bright and early. Wish me luck!!!

Sweet dreams ❤

First venture to the Royal Academy of Music

Tonight my friends and I braved the wind and rain to head over to the Marble Arch/Oxford area of London, where we attended a recital at the Royal Academy of Music. Put off by the British Flute Society, this recital featured Gareth Davies (flute, obviously) and Richard Shaw on piano.

 

The program was:

Debussy – Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (for flute & piano)

Dutilleux – Sonatine

Fujikura – Glacier for Solo Bass Flute

Reinecke – Sonata “Undine”

 

 

Man oh man oh man. I have never felt so inspired to play ppp to p only. I’m pretty sure Gareth only reached forte once or maybe twice, but all the rest of the delicate, beautiful playing was absolutely divine.

 

Here’s the Fujikura piece on youtube – not Gareth playing (another super awesome flutist, Claire Chase), but at least you can hear what it sounds like. Such an interesting and well written piece. I will definitely be looking up more of his music!

At the end of the recital, Gareth did a bit of a Q&A… it was really interesting to hear him talk about life in the LSO (he is FLAT OUT all the time. Legitimately hasnt had a day off in 3 weeks. Longest stretch without a day off? 42 days. Yuck.) and about being a musician rather than a flutist.

And for those wondering: he plays on an Altus AL with a standard Altus headjoint. Nothing fancy about him.

Cheers
x

Liiiiiiiiight Buulb!

Alright. If you dont understand the heading then I absolutely demand that you go watch Despicable Me. No, its not “just for kids”, people of all ages will find it hilarious, I promise you.

In all seriousness though, I just came up from the dungeon (aka. the practice room suite in my “Halls of Residence”) where I had a major breakthrough with an articulation technique I have been having a lot of trouble. Its been the one thing my teacher, Stewart, has been after me to master since I arrived in London in September… and conveniently it is also the one thing I havent been able to get a handle on yet. UGH!

But, this morning I sorted it out, FINALLY! Thank god for a bit of luck and a stroke of genius.

The technique I’m talking about is pizzicato tonguing on piccolo. Instead of just standard “tongue hitting the back of the teeth” and creating an articulation by interrupting the flow of air, or at the very least controlling its release, pizzicato tonguing is an attack that happens by way of the tongue being pulled away from the front of the mouth. For those versed in flute extended techniques, its almost the reverse of a tongue ram.

So right. Here I was thinking all along that what I’m supposed to be doing is putting my tongue right in between my lips, in the aperture, and pulling away. YES, in theory that works but only for one particular kind of pizz articulation: High and loud. It is a fairly aggressive articulation, often accompanied by a bit of a popping sound. (You wont hear that sound if you’re not the one playing the instrument – an audience member or whatever – but it still is different from the OTHER kind of pizz tonguing).

Today when I was playing, I realized that if I put my tongue against my embouchure and pulled back, as if I was pulling a suction cup off a wall, I all of a sudden had more control and less pop: I could play staccatissimo without having to play double forte.

Thank you Baby Jesus, I have finally figured out how to do pianissimo pizzicato tonguing.

Can’t wait to show Stewart in my lesson on Tuesday. He is going to be really pleased, and I will be one step closer to my end goal for this year. Yippee!

Not being afraid of who you are

For some of you who read this blog, it may be new information that over the last 6 months to a year, I have begun to specialize in two things. The first is fairly obvious. I’m a full time piccolo player.

Being a piccolo major makes me somewhat of a rare bird. Most schools (world wide) dont even offer degrees majoring in piccolo. Technically, the Royal College of Music doesnt either. If you havent heard the story, it goes a little like this: when I found out there were at least 2 incredible piccolo players on faculty, I emailed the head of woodwinds (Simon Channing) and asked if they would consider letting me major in that, instead of flute.

Simon “hemmed and hawed” for a while, but agreed that yes it could be done, based on a successful audition. I promised that I would prove I could be a real piccolo player. So far, I think I’ve lived up to that promise. I plan to meet and exceed everyone’s expectations of both myself, and my little twig of an instrument.

The other path I have chosen to travel is that of a contemporary flutist. I am really interested and intrigued by extended techniques of all sorts, and modern music that may or may not use those techniques. I also enjoy novelty music (cue: Wake Up! For Piccolo and Alarm Clock – http://youtu.be/eJ0nMC_nlpY – etc.) and anything related to pop music, like the music of beatboxing flutist Greg Patillo.

Having come to the RCM, I have encountered several older, well known, flutists from what I would call the “old French school”. They went through RCM and the Paris Conservatoire in the ~1950s-60s, play Bach – the 1970s and that is about it. The 1970s might be a stretch even.

Every time I have played for these flutists, I have had my chosen path (contemporary music and/or piccolo player) criticized and looked down upon.

In the last few weeks, I have felt a change in my own personality or spirit, if you will. After the most recent masterclass with a well respected flutist – who, when I told him I would play Stockhausen for him, made comments about “that crap music” and Jews/Nazis – I realized that I dont care WHO I’m playing for, I dont need their approval to tell me that the music I play is good quality, or worth playing. (It is.)

I am really comfortable with the fact that I like “weird” music. I like to see what kinds of strange noises and colors I can create with my flute; I like when people have fun with my performances and can really get into and understand the music I’m playing.

I like showing people that the umbrella of classical music is a lot more wide and varied than the average person might think.

At this point, I’d like to share with you a super cool piece I’m learning.

This is Cassandra’s Dream Song: http://youtu.be/QgSPq2L9dvM. The video follows along with the score, but starts with the performance instructions that the flutist would have to read and understand before even beginning to learn the music.

This ain’t no walk in the park, folks.

Granted, this is a pretty extreme example of what I like to do. But its COOL. And its hard. It takes just as much, probably more, work to learn a piece like this as it does to be able Faure or Mozart or Jolivet.

I used to feel insecure about being a contemporary flutist, because the music I played didnnt seem to be as impressive or flashy against more standard repertoire… but then I saw a flutist (younger than me, and far more capable in other areas of flute playing) struggle with a very simple piece by Robert Dick that included a few multiphonic fingerings.

Just because I play contemporary music and you dont (and maybe dont like it) doesnt give you any right to make me feel like less of a musician.

I dont care if you’re the most famous flutist on earth.

PS: If anyone can tell me how to post the videos right into the blog post, I would really appreciate it 🙂 Cheers!