My sincerest apologies

Oh, I really do apologize for hardly writing at all.  Okay, for really not writing at all.  I'm a horrible person.  Okay, I'm not a horrible person.  I'm just a very, very busy person.

Thank you to all of you who are continuing to attempt to keep in touch with my life via this blog.  You're keeping up with your side of the blogging game.  I, however, and not keeping my end of the deal.  

I hope to change that, from now on out.  I will put time into my schedule to blog at least once a week for you all.  I know that that's substantially less than last year, but I'm going to do it.  Notice that I said, "At least once."  It's the best I can do. 

Okay, okay, enough of my grovelling.  

Now for one of those really boring, really annoying, all-encompassing updates on the life of Raissa.

About a month ago, I was offered and accepted a job as a section leader in a choir at a church here in Boulder.  I attend weekly rehearsals and church services and get paid to sing.  Which is what I want to do with my life, so it's perfect.  Not to mention that the choir is small, but pretty darn talented and that the director has amazing ambition and a great vision for the choir.  It's an adorable church and a really great space to sing in, and I'm glad that I have the opportunity to be working with these people. 

I was cast in the chorus of CU's fall opera production.  Okay, so this year it's not so much an opera as a musical theatre piece, but if we focus on the important thing here, which is that I was actually cast, then we're thinking about the most important thing.  Rogers and Hammerstein's Carousel will be performed in CU's Macky Auditiorium on October 22, 23, and 24.  Visit www.cupresents.org to purchase tickets.  If my parents can make it all the way from ND, you can make it from wherever you are.  I'm singing a very small solo, so cheer loudly!  

I'm still working at the Center of the American West.  Sewing purses.  Don't get me started on that topic, because I might freak out.  But if you must know, I'll send pictures once they're completed.

Kenny and I have officially scheduled our junior recital.  We'll be performing on Tuesday, April 12th, at 7:30 pm in Grusin Music Hall.  Put it on your calendar now.  I don't want you to miss it.  We'll be singing some stuff together, which is very exciting, because he's a bass and I'm a soprano.  Oh, and because we both rock.  

The new apartment is still great as ever.  If I had a camera, I'd send you pictures, but if you'll recall, I put that camera through the washing machine last year in March-ish.  Mom, don't worry, a digital camera will be on my Christmas list.  Along with some other stuff that I'm sure you'll start asking about soon.

Okay, as far as broad overviews go, those are the most important things.  Keep looking for more frequent updates.  And thanks again for continuing to read through my excessively long hiatuses. 

Laid-back: Boulder style

Believe it or not, these weekends without excessive partying are starting to get on my good side.  I've now gone two whole weekends in a row without drinking more than one drink per night.  Crazy, right?

On Friday, the University Choir travelled to Denver for the American Choral Director's Association choir festival on the campus of the University of Denver (DU).  We sang show tunes the whole way there.  It made me miss the JC choir tour...  No one was really excited about the prospect of listening to a bunch of choirs sing all night, and when one of the girls was drinking on the bus, I was jealous that I hadn't thought of the idea.  That is, until we arrived at DU and she couldn't walk straight.  It was a riot, but I can't imagine trying to perform while drunk.  Despite her 0drunkenness, the performance went just fine.  I was still a little jealous.

I felt like going out on the town aftereward, but everyone else was pretty lame, so Kenny, Dennis, and I went to The Sink, one of Boulder's most famous restaurants.  Why is it famous?  True story: When Robert Redford (yes, the Robert Redford) lived in Boulder, he was a custodian there.  Yep.  He cleaned toilets.  We had one drink there, and shared some... interesting... conversation, then headed home.

Saturday felt more like a Monday.  I tutored a psychology student in the morning, went grocery shopping, and had a voice lesson, then had a potluck dinner party to prepare for.  By shortly after 6:00, my apartment was the home of 5 additional people, and we enjoyed a good (albeit random) meal.

We had had plans to go dancing downtown later on, but by 9:00, almost the whole group had petered out. So instead of going downtown, Pasha, Anna, and I hit up a Mexican restaurant.  No, we didn't eat again.  They have salsa dancing there every Saturday night, and Anna is a regular.  Turns out that she's also an amazing dancer.

Neither Pasha nor I had ever salsa-ed before, and because there was an odd number of us, it was awkward at first.  Anna was teaching Pasha, and I was sitting alone until some old man named Rick came and taught me the basics.  I also danced with another old guy named Jordan and a little bit with Pasha. (I'm sure it was a sight to see us first-timers together.)  The older men were very kind about helping me through some steps and were patient when I messed up.  And yes, folks, this does mean that I danced sober.  (The Travesty!!!)

Anna stole the show.  She's a beautiful girl from Hungary, and she can dance.  Every eye on the floor was on her, and I overheard some men comparing her to a Ferrari. No joke. 

Dancing has been the theme this week, I guess.  On Wednesday, for Opera Theatre, I had the opportunity to learn how to waltz from a guy at CU who was on Broadway for like 87 years.  Now that was spectacular.  I could follow that man for hours. 

Men: anyone who ever told you that the key to a woman's heart is anything but dancing lied to you.  Dancing's the key.  Learn how to lead, and she will be smitten.  Or I will, at least.

Here's to low-key weekends.  Maybe I should see how long I last without drinking...

Crazy by Choir

Anyone who was ever in JC's Concert Choir will appreciate this post.

Anyone who was in JC's Concert Choir under my reign as President will especially appreciate this post. 

I finally realized today that I am a choir nazi.  That statement will not surprise most of you, but it kind of surprises me.  I guess I always knew that I was somewhere in the back of my mind, but it really came out this evening. 

I kind of want to apologize for my psycho-ness when it comes to choir, but I can't, because I don't necessarily think that what I've done is worthy of an apology. 

Allow me to explain:

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I sometimes think that I have a slight case of OCD.  A few examples of this OCD-ish behavior:

• My CD's are alphabetized within genres in my CD case.
• My closet is color-coded.  Within each color are subcategories of clothing based on material weight and article of clothing.
• When I eat, I have to eat the same amount on both sides of my mouth so that my teeth get the same exposure.  If it's small items, like SweetTarts, I have to eat an even number of them.
•  I count my steps and stairs as I walk.

You get the picture.  I'm a freak, but I say it's only a slight case of OCD because I never make my bed in the morning, I wash my hands a million times a day, and I'm not afraid of germs.  (Forgive the stereotypes inherent in that statement.)

My OCD apparently extends to choir.

JC's Concert Choir had very strict rules governing uniforms, riser etiquette, and the like.  I expected CU to be worse, with 5 choirs and goodness knows how many singers.

I was wrong.

Apparently, the liberalism of Boulder extends to the choir world.  There are no real uniforms for women and men have to buy their own tuxedos, it's okay to wear jewelry and have your hair in your face, music doesn't have to be memorized because we can use folders, it's okay to move around on the risers, and you don't necessarily have to keep eye contact with the conductor.

Let's suffice it to say that I'm going nuts here, people.  I cannot handle this laid-back-ness.    I'm a rule-follower.  I always have been.  I don't think it's hard to follow the rules, and despise it when people think that they deserve to be above them.  I enjoy rigidness and uniformity,especially in choir.  (Maybe it's the NDakotan in me.)  

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To my CO UChoir friends:  I realize that I've probably been annoying the crap about you with all of my talk about the differences in JC's Choir and CU's choir, but it's driving me psycho.  Seriously.  If I start talking about it, just tell me to shut up. I'll do my best.

So many options...

At Jamestown College, it was quite possible to literally attend every single concert or recital put on by the music department, and still have time to do homework, work, and go to every concert in the community as well.  When it came time for a student recital, everyone involved in the music program attended, along all of their friends and family.  It was a great support system.  When Tab and I gave our recital last year, we almost filled Voorhees Chapel at JC. 

It is physically impossible to attend every music performance at CU.  I'm not kidding you when I say that.  There are undergrad junior recitals, senior recitals, Master of Music recitals, Doctor of Music recitals, faculty recitals, guest recitals, master classes, and ensemble concerts.  And it's not just voice, it's instrumental, too.  There are recitals in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening.  There is an entire bulletin board that's completely covered from top to bottom with upcoming concert programs.  It's unbelieveable.

Lately, I've been attending lots and lots of concerts and recitals.  The main reason that I go is to support my friends.  One extra face in the audience is always helpful.  Plus, I hope that when I have recitals they will come to mine.  But there are lots of reasons to attend recitals.  First of all, watching other people perform can help you to learn about recital practices: bowing, recognizing your pianist, where to stand, etc.  That's easy stuff. 

Another advantage to attending lots of recitals is learning from other people's mistakes.  When people do things during their recital that you hate, you can learn to avoid them.  For example, I learned not to wear a dress with a slit up to my waist, because it would make me look trashy. 

One of the best things for me, having no experience in the classical music area, is learning common repertoire.  It's great to become more familiar with frequently-performed music to learn what I like and don't like, and what I want to sing and don't want to sing. 

I'm going to continue to be active in attending music performances, even though it's time-consuming and sometimes not the most fun thing in the world.  I enjoy being busy, and I enjoy hanging out with people at concerts. 

But my favorite part is listening to amazing performers.  There are so so so many talented people that it puts me into my place.  It makes me remember how hard I'll have to work if I really want to make it in this business.  Scary, but a great eye-opener...

Yay for performers.  We're a different breed.

A Crumb-y Festival

I've been dreading writing this post, but I feel like I have to, because of the fact that George Crumb isn't kind of a big deal. He is a big deal.

Be warned that this may be boring to most.

Before I came to CU, I had never so much as heard the name George Crumb. When I got here, I saw posters and heard advertisements everywhere that had his name all over it. I still had absolutely no clue who he was. This week, I found out more than I wanted to.

George Crumb is one of the most influential American composers in the 20th century. He writes what I would call typical 20th century music. I don't know a lot about typical 20th century music, but what I do know is this: it's not what a person generally thinks of when they hear the word "music." It's just strange stuff. That statement brings about an argument about what the definition of music really is, but I don't want to get into that argument. ...Anywho...

Crumb taught at CU Boulder from 1959-1964, during which time, he composed a few of his most famous early works. In October, he turns 80. One of the staff in the College of Music Office is one of the foremost experts in Crumb compositions. All of these elements culminated in the "George Crumb at 80 Music Festival." It's been a 4-day event featuring master's classes, convocations, pre-concert lectures, concerts, musical premieres, and receptions, and the College of Music has been abuzz about it. Literally, you could not go anywhere without seeing or hearing about the Crumb Festival.

Overall, I'd say that the festival has had a mixed reception. The faculty has especially liked him, and there are some students (I would guess mostly theory and composition students) who were impressed (and maybe obsessed), but many people who I talked to were not, including myself. Why?

The music, in my opinion, is weird. It's very atonal (without a melody), and it's hard to find a beat. The scores are intense (here is an example, and it's relatively normal compared to some, like this one), and include pages upon pages of notes about how Crumb wants the pieces to be played and methods to use to make the 'music' sound the way he wants it. Oftentimes, the music sounds like screeches, or completely random noise.
 
That being said, there are a few good things to be said about Crumb and his music for sure. One is the thing that makes him most famous as a composer: originality. He was incredibly innovative in music-making methods, asking performers to do things that no one had before: whispering into their instruments, playing violins like guitars, playing cymbals with the bow from a violin, playing the strings inside of the piano, etc., etc., etc. And I must say, to see that type of performance in real life was very interesting to me. Also, seeing the concerts live gives the listener the ability to really see those innovations.

The thing that will forever grate me is that in my opinion, most of the music isn't that enjoyable. It definitely takes some getting used to, and I don't want to have to listen to enough of it to get used to it. It's just difficult to listen to an hour and a half of this stuff: