News and a Concert!

I'm super excited to say that I'm going to be featured in an upcoming post on the CCM Spoleto official blog! I will definitely post a link once it is up! I also fixed the settings on my Blogger account so that now anyone can comment on posts (not just registered Blogger users). So leave me lots of comments. 

Our first orchestra concert is tomorrow night at the Teatro Nuovo. Although today's dress rehearsal could have been a bit more inspired, I am pretty confidant that when we get down to crunch time, the orchestra is going to rock!

Last night I walked down the hill to the new part of the town of Spoleto to get gelato. It was quite a bit trendier down there, and I will be sure to take pictures next time I go! On the way back to our neck of the woods, we met an English speaking couple who must have overheard our conversation about Mahler or something and asked us about the program for tomorrow night. I felt kind of like a celebrity. It was a little bit awesome. While I know that a lot of vocalists will be going out of town for the weekend, there seems to be enough buzz around town so that I am not worried about filling the hall. Besides, Mahler's granddaughter will be there, and who'd want to miss that? 

Jazz Face

Last night I had probably the most fun I've had the whole time I've been in Spoleto! Nearly everyone in the program gathered at a small piazza just off one of the main roads for the second chamber music concert of the festival. Not only was it fun to hear my fellow orchestra members perform, but we also got the special treat of hearing one of our conductor, Maestro Mark Gibson along with Gabe and Jon Pegis (of Cincinnati and Chicago Symphony Orchestra fame, respectively) play a trio by Mendelssohn. Who happens to be one of my favorite composers. Wow! What a way to wrap up the concert. It almost made us forget about the cell phone incidents that occurred throughout the concert...

For some reason I had it in my mind that Europeans would be classier about their cell phone usage than us 'stupid Americans'. Apparently I was wrong. There were at least two separate incidents, most notably involving the woman sitting directly in front of me. During the Beethoven string quartet her phone went off. Ok, that's annoying but almost understandable. So she could have dealt with it in a normal way, right? Wrong. It took almost the whole ringer for her to figure out that it was hers, at which point she took it out and stared at it for a good three seconds before turning it off. Not ten seconds later it went off again. She ANSWERED it, and left in the middle of the concert, talking audibly the whole time.

After the concert, the masses headed down the street to an outdoor concert by the CCM Spoleto Jazz combo. It was a perfect night, the music was awesome, and it was almost as much fun people watching as it was to watch the band! I had almost forgotten how much fun live jazz can be, and from what began as a joke to 'express my appreciation' for the music emerged the 'jazz face' which is something akin to a frown with a scrunched nose, intense eyes, and a head bob. I didn't just make this up, either! Seriously, go to a performance by any good combo and watch the faces in the audience. Jazz faces up the wazoo.

After the concert, all CCM Spoleto participants were invited to a jam session at a nearby club with free drinks. It was so incredible to see so many classical musicians getting down to the funky grooves and even joining in! We had bassoon solos, violin, singing...it was just one of those moments where I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to live in a world of music, where everyone can appreciate and understand each other in such a simple activity regardless of their age, background, or social boundaries. I love my life!

Unfortunately, all this fun kept me out way past my bedtime, so a nap is in order right about now...

Why Every Music Student Should Experience Pausa

My first reaction to "pausa" (quiet time from about noon-3:00 every afternoon where pretty much all the shops close down and we aren't allowed to practice) was not a very positive one. I like having a schedule, stuff to do, and as few restrictions as possible on when I can accomplish them. But after just a week of this schedule, I feel like I could really get used to it. My daily schedule has been waking up at 7:00, breakfast from 7:45-8:30, then I walk over to the theatre for orchestra rehearsal that runs until about noon.

Then what do I do? The possibilities are endless. Naps are always a good option, as well as just checking the ol' facebook. I think, however, that I have discovered the perfect pausa-time activity; listening. It's really nice to know that I have a time of the day where nothing can be scheduled, and there are no expectations of me. And since I'm often so tired from rehearsal that I probably wouldn't practice even if I could, this gives me an opportunity to continue to work on my listening (and even musical interpretation) without a flute in my hand.

So thank you, outdated Italian custom, for giving me the opportunity to do something I otherwise rarely find time for. Nerd-out session for the day: complete.

Stuff That Happened to Me

It has been a while since I last posted and I have seen/heard/experienced a lot of silly things in Italy. I had a lovely weekend of practicing, eating, sleeping, and just enjoying Spoleto. The last group of CCM Spoleto participants arrived this weekend (the jazz program is only two weeks) and it was good to spend some time with people who I hadn't seen since school got out.

Here are some crazy things that I have realized:

1. Our first orchestra concert is on Saturday.
2. The next concert is a week after that.
3. Mahler's granddaughter is coming to our concert this weekend.
4. She is apparently so rich, she has her own piazza.
5. That is according to friends who are staying next door to her here.
6. In Italy, cats run wild. Last night at dinner a particularly adorable feline just walked right on up to the table and stared at us.
7. I am running out of things to talk about. If you have any questions or things you'd like me to talk about, shoot me a facebook message or comment below. Thanks!

All Sorts of Things

I am so humbled by how kind all of the people of Spoleto have been to us! Wow! If some confused girl walked up to me working at a restaurant and didn't know any English besides 'yes', 'no', 'one', and 'thank you' I would be thoroughly annoyed. A few days ago, two boys in a car actually stopped, got out, and asked me and a friend if we'd like to go get pizza with them. Our response was somewhere along the lines of 'durrrrrr ha?' I think that translates to 'no thanks'...

Last night there were hoards of people at our first chamber music concert. And the programs were in Italian, which is kind of exotic and fun. While most of the audience was comprised of other CCM Spoleto Orchestra and Opera members, it was really nice to see some of the people of Spoleto out to hear us! My group performed Richard Strauss' Serenade for winds Op.7 which is really quite beautiful. While playing second flute isn't necessarily the most engaging or flashy part, it was still nice to be performing again. Since jr. high I've known that sitting onstage is where I belong, and any opportunity I get to do so is both welcomed and eagerly awaited. People seemed very happy with our performance, and now I am even more excited for the first orchestra concert! 

After the concert I went to get 'real Italian pizza' with friends. It was delicious. As was the wine with deceptively high alcohol content...I mean we split a liter between five people and we were all pretty giggly by the time we finished eating. I've been saying for a while that Zeppelin pizza, the fast food chain tastes just like Punch Pizza. Then I tried pizza from a real pizzeria which tastes even more like Punch Pizza. Then I realized that I like Punch Pizza even better. Not that any of this is bad by any stretch, I just think Punch is doing something very right. Moral of the story: next time you are in search of authentic Italian food, look no further than your local Twin Cities pizza chain. 

After pizza, we hung out in 'Piazza del Mercato' (market plaza) with what seemed like the entire program out to celebrate our first weekend. A fun time was had by all. Anthony McGill even taught a friend of mine how to do the Beyonce booty bounce! Highlight of the night. I headed back to my hotel around 1:00 not because I was particularly tired, but because the lack of public bathrooms in Spoleto can pose a bit of a problem for people who drink a lot of liquids throughout the day. 

While there are some people in the program who decided to take weekend trips to Rome, Florence, even Venice, I'm so tired from the week (and probably still a bit jet-lagged) that I couldn't imagine doing anything today besides sleeping in, practicing a bit, and finding something delicious to eat later on. Perhaps next weekend. Ciao for now! 

Anthony McGill and Clothes

I'm going to post twice today since I haven't really said much lately. Yesterday was 'Anthony McGill day'. For those of you who aren't sure who he is, this might refresh your memory. Yeah, we hung out all day. He led our woodwind sectional, then taught a masterclass, and was sweet enough to attend our chamber music concert and hang out afterwards. Impressions: 1. Wow! What a small man! 2. Wow! What an incredible musician! 3. Wow! What a sweet person! I have a new idol.

I was lucky (or perhaps bold) enough to play in his masterclass yesterday afternoon. It was very refreshing and inspiring to have someone finally articulate some concepts that I have been somewhat aware, but unsure of for years. In the class, we talked about mainly two things; being 'turned on' and intonation. While the former may sound like some sort of sexual escapade, trust me it's not. 'turning it on' is the ability to play a piece of music with all of the dynamics and articulations, but to go above and beyond them so that every person in the room is engaged and wants to listen to music being made (rather than somebody just playing the sonata, excerpt, etc.). Another thing I have been thinking about lately is what audition committees listen to when hearing auditions. Lately I've been frustrated with the obsession people seem to have with preparing excerpts. Yes, I know they are important and I know that they are the basis for winning any job, but I can't imagine that the audition committee would want to hear two hundred people show up and play 'Daphnis and Chloe' exactly like Jeanne Baxtresser. My friend Stephanie and I determined that if you play in tune, at an appropriate tempo, with all the right notes, a good sound, and some level of musicality (in the appropriate style), shouldn't you do well? Yesterday Anthony McGill confirmed my suspicions in talking about intonation and 'turning it on'. He said that often times audition committees would be more likely to pick someone who played perfectly in tune yet chipped a note than someone who didn't miss a beat but was a bit questionably out of tune. So I know what I'll be practicing for the rest of my life...

Back to the Salt Mines

Rehearsals and Italian classes have started up, so I now have somewhat of a predictable schedule. Of course it doesn't actually feel like I'm back at school, but I seem to have forgotten how stressful ensemble playing is! It has been a crazy few days, but I'm really glad to be around people making music again!

Yesterday we began rehearsals for my chamber ensemble, playing the R. Strauss Serenade, Op. 7. As a Strauss lover (actually, I'm rather fond of ALL the Strausses. Yes, even the Johanns) this is a really exciting piece to work on. I don't have the most exciting part, but sometimes making awesome music is even better than getting a baller part. Our concert is tomorrow night and I'm super excited! Hopefully some sort of recording/video will be available. I also learned yesterday that I'll be playing the original 13 instrument version of Copland's Appalachian Spring at the final chamber music concert of the festival! How funny, considering my recent OBSESSION with American music, this piece in particular (just ask dad, I've made him listen to it probably four times in the car over the last month).

In Italian, we've started to learn some semi-useful phrases. I've even been able to communicate (however minimally) with store clerks, etc. This morning, I was able to understand and respond to questions regarding purchasing my lunch this morning. I said that yes, I would like my bread to be warmed up, that I would also like water, and that bottled water would be fine. Go me! Well now I am off to find some fabulous Italian food. Ciao!

Oh the People You'll Meet...

After my first full day of being in Italy I have realized that while my initial confidence in Spanish carrying over to Italian was not entirely unfounded, my confidence in my own abilities to speak any amount of the language absolutely was. All things considered though, I think I'm doing pretty well! I've had pizza twice (Zeppelin pizza at 1.50 euro/slice can't really be beaten) and yesterday for lunch I was able to order a sandwich with pesto, eggplant, and mozzarella cheese entirely in Italian! So that's kind of exciting. Also exciting about my eating habits here; I've been able to spend under 10 euro per meal! Usually under 5! So apparently I can keep my spending under control when I want to...

I don't have a ton of time (13 minutes, actually) before breakfast, which I will have to inhale so that I have time to find the theatre and pick up my music before our first orchestra rehearsal of the program! Of course, it's only a winds-brass-percussion sectional, but either way I will under no circumstances pass up an opportunity to play Mahler.

I'm really stoked about how minimal the CCM representation is here! While I've still found myself hanging out with friends from school 95% of the time, it's kind of refreshing to see new faces pretty much everywhere! Hopefully once rehearsals start people will actually start to get to know each other. So far I think that's my biggest gripe about the program; with everyone scattered at hotels and apartments all over the city, it's nearly impossible to meet people outside of your hotel.

I don't have the time/energy to upload all my pictures to both Facebook and this blog, but for those of you who are on Facebook, check back at least everyday (I've been updating my album about twice a day) and for those of you who aren't, maybe I'll work on uploading some more pictures to the blog later this afternoon. Anyway, I'm off to play the flute (hey, isn't that why I'm here in the first place?)!
Ciao!!!

I Made It!

Yes, it took 26 hours, but I finally made it to Spoleto, Italy. There are some ridiculous things to see at the airport. For example, a little girl (she couldn't have been more than three years old) riding her mom's rolling suitcase through the airport like a horse. I mean she was straddling the handlebar...call me a worry wart but it looked like a disaster waiting to happen! I wish I had grabbed a picture, but they were booking it.

Besides being the ideal spot for people watching, airports are one of the only places I can come up with where it is socially acceptable to strike up a deep, inspiring conversation with a complete stranger. So, I made a new friend on the nine hour flight from Chicago to Rome (and trust me, this guy was a major upgrade from the farting old couple headed to Shanghai with whom I shared my row from Minneapolis to Chicago). While I never caught the Antonio Banderas look-alike's name, we held a great convo about everything from my involvement in the CCM Spoleto festival to $28,000 (yeah, that's three zeros) bottles of wine, to the drive it takes to make you successful in any competitive profession. I mean this guy was even more passionate about living life than I am...and if I do say so myself, I'm a pretty darn passionate gal.   

So enough about my travels. After arriving in Rome after an hour delay, we sat at the baggage claim for another hour and then sat on busses for two more hours before finally getting to our destination. Spoleto is kind of surreal. I mean there aren't supposed to be towns like this anymore! It's so quaint and full of character...I'm going to cut myself off before I annoy myself. I will, however, share with you a few pictures from my hotel room. While it is not exactly the lap of luxury, I am thrilled to a) have my very own hotel room, b) get free internet and breakfast, c) enjoy my private balcony, and d) explore the mysticism that lies in the existence of a bidet and floor drain in my bathroom...crazy Europeans! 

Music exhibit in the window of a tiny museum we passed.

All the restaurants have outdoor seating areas like this. I took a picture of this one for mom.

Kitty.

My balcony. 

The view from my balcony.

The view from my balcony in the other direction...so my hotel room.

Bidet. 

The shower. I mean bathroom. The shower is just a spigot in the wall that drains to the middle of my bathroom floor. 

Heading Out

Over the last few weeks I've had lots of friends and family members ask to see pictures and hear stories from my trip to Spoleto, Italy to play in the CCM Spoleto summer music festival. I thought what better way to share my experiences and adventures with everyone back home than to blog about it? Not only that, but blogging means that it'll be forever on the internet for posterity...or something like that. While I don't have any fabulous meals to recount or photos of famous landmarks yet, I do have a story that I think is worth sharing as part the prep work for my trip. 

Yesterday I set out to find some euros to take with me for the first leg of my journey. That sounds simple enough, right? According to my [minimal, internet-based] research, the only places in the twin cities to find euros are Wells Fargo banks and the airport. Since airports have really inflated exchange rates and seem to be a bit of a last-minute resort, mom and I went to the Wells Fargo on Grand Ave. We get to the counter only to be informed that you need to have a Wells Fargo account to get their foreign currency. Fast forward to two hours, ten tootsie rolls, and three [really quite adorable] tellers hitting on the pair of us later, I had 100 euros safely in my possession. Moral of the story: mom was right. Everything is 100 times more complicated and time consuming than it should be. 

Anyway, I am off to finish packing, hopefully get in some last-minute practice time, and eat my last home cooked American meal for the next five weeks, as I am not particularly looking forward to tomorrow's fast food frenzy at the airports...

Y Hannah