More out of the ordinary

This week will see the first Chamber coaching with Steve Mead. We worked for 1 hour on a piece last night before deciding it wasn't prepared enough for today, so we found some easier material for the next hour. I also just had my first rehearsal for the Janacek. They use 2 or 3 conducting students over the 5 movements. The brass ensemble that makes up the first movement (9 trumpets, 2 bass trumpets, and 2 euphoniums) played for 5 minutes, were execused for 50, then came back and played the last five minutes. Of course, the time is broken up to keep us from useful work, such as research or practicing; I just sat in the school cafe and talked with Pat, the other euphoniumist (we did the usual gossip).

Continuing through the week, I'll have a sectional for the Janacek (which I hope is shorter and more productive), as well as the typical lesson/lecture that has become the common fare for school. The weekend trip to London may be postponed until November - a more gratifying and personally more enjoyable brass band competition will take place then (this weekend all 18 or so bands will be playing the same 20-minute piece, as opposed to a short mini-concert of diverse material).

Sounds of Reform has been finished, with the first seven chapters describing music in Chicago from 1873-1935, and the last chapter detailing everything since then. Now it's Music and It's Social Meanings (Christopher Ballantine), a bit old but still relevant in some respects. After that it will probably be Randy Williams's Culture and Materialism which was a little thick when I first looked at it a month ago. I think Ballantine will help the transition. All of the books I wish to check out from the library aren't in :( (Including Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami and anything by Orhan Pamuk) - and I should begin working on materials for my Performance Studies Project (an analysis about the performance method of non-brass Baroque music on euphonium) and the lecture recital (an analysis on the transitioning repetoire of euphonium recitals in America, 1960;s-present). Exciting, isn't it?

It's about lunch time, meaning breakfast for most of my audience. I'm in my sandwich craze, but have yet to find French's mustard, and Coleman's is a bit strong.

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