NYC-The Woodlands-Round Top

So when I heard Round Top was a small town, I thought, ok, there's a few little shops in the center. Wrong, there is no center, there is not much of a town at all. I don't really know what else to call Round Top except for "land". However, the Round Top Festival is on a special piece of land, decorated by a wide variety of buildings, each of which is elaborately furnished with antiques and consists of many ornate, hand-carved wooden structures. Nevertheless, I'm still in the middle of nowhere.

Rewind a bit.

In the past month, I have experienced a wide variety of company and scenery. The first two weeks of May were crazy- juries, final exams (meanwhile the weather in New York was gorgeous!) Then the third week, which I had kinda free, it rained almost every day. But there were plenty of highlights to end the year. This semester particularly I have had the blessing of being surrounded by this loving and supportive group of friends and I enjoyed spending time with them as we all prepared our goodbyes--running with Avigail, walking with Santi, biking with Fernando, shopping with Isabel, dutying with Adarsh, hugging Justyna in her Snuggie and wandering with dinosaurs with Lena. (and of course any other time we spent together!)

I was sad to leave New York on May 21st. I was in denial for a few days when I came home, missing my friends and the city which has taught me so much. Nevertheless, it only took one obnoxious text from my friend Trey to remind me what I should be doing instead of moping at home for two weeks- planning a friend get-together!

Morning runs with Tara were re-initiated by the end of the first week I managed to bribe my friends to come over! It was a fun night of crazy fajita cooking (a wonderful group effort I might add...) and ended with cookies. I got to see a few more friends over the weekend, my former teacher, Joan, and her family as well as Daniel, who I see on too rare of an occasion. Unfortunately me + Daniel + fish for dinner did not go so well and Memorial Day was celebrated with me and the toilet. (Oh, and Trey came over to veg with me on the couch while I watched more TV in one day that I ever have in my life). And actually, that day started a new addiction for Trey and I- it's called Firefly. Fortunately, it only had one season, otherwise we could've been watching those episodes nightly for two months!

I got most things done on my to-do list for my two weeks at home. Got a bow rehair, bought new running shoes, planned out (most) of my trip to Italy in August and found a good 18-week marathon training schedule. Oh, and PRACTICING. That kinda took up my day hours. Which is good :)

So, now I'm back to where I started. Round Top. I've only been here a couple hours now, so I'm sure I will have much more to say later, but here are my first observations:

-It's hot, there's a lot of dirt and not enough trees

-There are lots of bugs. Ew.

-Air conditioning is abundant. Good.

-Food...seems good.

-Roommates...pretty chill :)

-Practice rooms too resonant

-Night-life. HA!

-Nearest Starbucks- 30min.

-Coffee in dining hall...ehhhhh

-People: too many Americans ;)

If only the Blue Bell factory in Brenham was open on Sunday...

Orchestra auditions tomorrow morning and rehearsal on Bartok Concerto for Orchestra tomorrow night! Wooo!

Love,

Violamad

Words for Thought

Needless to say I've been extremely busy this spring semester. So many things have been going on that I don't even know where to start. So I won't. For now.

I do, however, want to share something that I've been reading recently, an excerpt from the book "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse. Please enjoy :)

"The river flowed toward the goal; Siddhartha saw it hastening--the river consisting of him and his near and dear and all the people he had ever seen; all the waves and the waters hastened, suffering, toward goals, many goals; the waterfall, the lake, the rapids, the sea, and all goals were attained; and each goal was followed by another, and the water became vapor and rose to the sky, became rain and plunged down from the sky, became a source, became a brook, became a river, strove anew, flowed anew. But the ardent voice had changed. It still resounded, sorrowful, seeking, but other voices joined in, voices of joy and sorrow, good and evil voices, laughing and grieving, a hundred voices, a thousand voices."

"Siddhartha listened. He was now all ears, utterly engrossed in listening, utterly empty, utterly absorbing. He felt he had now learned all there was to know about listening. He had often heard all these things, these many voices in the river, but today it all sounded new. He could no longer distinguish the many voices, the cheerful from the weeping, the children's from the men's; they all belonged together. The lament of the knower's yearning and laughing, the screaming of the angry, the moaning of the dying--everything was one, everything was entwined and entwisted, was interwoven a thousandfold. And all of it together, all voices, all goals, all yearnings, all sufferings, all pleasures, all good and evil--the world was everything together. Everything together was the river of events, the music of life."

Teachers

While procrastinating a reading I must complete for my liberal arts class, I thought I could take a moment to sit and write a blog that I've been meaning to write for some time...

Recently, I noticed quite a few students who were talking about their plans for the break mentioned how they were excited to see their former teacher when they returned home. I realized that when I'm home, I too am always trying to set up lessons with my former teacher, Joan or visit some of my school orchestra teachers.

And it's not just because I REALLY need/want a lesson.

I want to see my teachers because they were, and are, and will continue to be a major influence in my life!

Joan not only taught me *how* to play viola. She taught me how to be a good musician, she inspired me to always want it better and she was/is the perfect role model of a great orchestral musician and mother. She showed it was possible and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in music!

Other teachers who I like to visit are Ms. Ellis and Dr. Kempter. Ms. Ellis was my orchestra teacher in the 6th grade. Of course when she was teaching me, I had NO idea then that I wanted to study music to be my career, but if she had not inspired me and made me LIKE orchestra, I may not have continued through the next few years. Dr. Kempter was my high school orchestra director. In addition to being an excellent musician and person, honestly, if he had not cut me so much slack about skipping rehearsal to go practice, I may not have made it through my senior year auditions!

Basically, what I'm trying to say is this: we ALL have teachers. Maybe there is one, maybe there are a few that have greatly influenced or changed your life!

So why not take the time to tell them these two special words that can mean a lot if you say it like you mean it:

THANK YOU!

I would not be anywhere without them :)

Love,

Violamad

The ACHT Viola Studio

I would just like to take a moment to brag about the wonderful ACHT viola studio here at The Juilliard School. Heidi Castleman, who primarily is in charge of this massive viola universe, is one of the wisest and organized persons I know. (*Note: I don't mean to imply that other studios aren't great as well :)

Let me begin by describing how everything works:

-ACHT stands for the last names of all the teachers who comprise the studio (in alphabetical order): Misha Amory, Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Steve Tenenbom. Most of the violists in our studio study with two teachers, often a combination of Ms. Castleman and another teacher, since the other three teachers are active performers and travel frequently. For example, I study with Mr. Amory and Ms. Castleman. Since Misha is often traveling with the Brentano Quartet, I will have lessons with him when he's in town and lessons with Heidi when he's gone. For me, this combination works out great because I am always able to have technique lessons with Heidi whenever I feel like I need it and can usually start new pieces with her and then take more polished works to Misha. They are both FANTASTIC, inspiring teachers who have already taught me so much!

Because there are approximately 25-30 violists in our studio, organization is key. Ms. Castleman is a big Google fan (me too!) so our studio uses it's resources extensively. How do we use it?

• Scheduling: All of the teachers have a special Google calendar where they invite all their students to use it, and post lesson schedules there. That way, all the students have access to view when their lessons will be and know who to ask if they need to switch lessons. There's also a "combined student calendar" which lists all the students who are busy at a certain time (based on their school schedule), so you know who you can't ask to switch.
• Studio class: The ACHT viola studio class spans up to three hours, however each students is require to only attend the first two or the last two hours, with the middle hour overlapping. This gives us one hour every week to all be together and usually this hour is not just used for more student performances, but rather is used for different kinds of presentations (Technique class demonstrations, listening to famous recordings and analyzing them, having a guest speaker on a wide range of topics like how to build a website or how to be a better public speaker)
• If you wish to play in studio class, there is a sign up sheet that you fill out and submit online. First you must play in "play-through" class, which is a small group comprised of the other violists playing that week in class. This gives everyone a chance to practice performing in a more intimate space, a smaller audience, and gives the option of choosing not to play in studio class if it doesn't go so well.
• Recordings: Another great resource has recently been added by one of our own students, AJ. Our new recording engineer records all studio classes and studio recitals then posts the recordings on a webpage so that the players and the teachers can listen afterwards (and download the recording) of the performance!
• On that performance note, I have to mention that Ms. Castleman has a knack for getting everybody to perform a lot. She arranges studio recitals every two months for people to have the chance to perform for public short works or parts of works, and makes sure that everybody gives at least one half or full recital every year. (and if you never sign up for a studio recital, she might just sign you up anyways ;)
• ACHT Viola site: Our viola studio also has it's own webpage! Here you can find a wide range of incredibly valuable resources. There are pages with notes on collaborative playing, public speaking, lists of summer festivals, instrument shops and contacts for the studio, jury requirements, forms for recommendation requests and a schedule of upcoming performances by the teachers.

Have I bragged enough? Well, mostly I just want to say how much I love my studio and everyone in it. Maybe this set up is a little overwhelming for some people, but I think it's great and encourage you to spread these ideas and use any resources available to you in the world!

Amar

I love Juilliard. I love New York City. I love the people in my life. I am so happy that I am here.

Thank you, God.

That is all (for now).

:)

Love,

Violamad

Juilliard Round 2

Well, after a long wonderful summer, I am finally back in the big city!

Actually, I've already been here two weeks! As a Resident Assistant for the dorm this year, I had to arrive on August 20th for training, and then this past week we have hosted orientation for the new Juilliard students. And now the returning students are returning tomorrow! But let's go back a little...

So I arrived to NY much more easily than I left, since my suitcase was 20 pounds lighter and I used a backpack instead of my side-sling computer bag. Yes, I looked ridiculous carrying my viola on my back and my backpack over my belly, but come on...it's NYC! That day was just full of unpacking and a quick dinner with my new family. Then the next morning we left at 7:30 for our Reslife staff retreat to "grandma's house"! It was a weekend full of fun and emotion as we had the chance to get to know each other better and start bonding as a team. Once we got back, the next week consisted of lots of meetings, learning protocol, rules, role play and designing/creating decorations for each person's floor and the whole dorm; twas a long but fulfilling week. And of course, we took time in between all this stuff to have FUN (scavenger hunt around the city, games in the park, Thai food...)

Then last Sunday, new students came! Move-in day went pretty well since we had so many wonderful people helping. However, it was slightly stressful when TWO of the three elevators broke at a very high traffic time during the day. And this is a dorm where you aren't allowed to use the stairs to get to the main floor...But lets just say that some people didn't mind setting off the fire alarm after waiting 30 min for the elevator. :)

Then the rest of the week, our "Orientation Leaders" did most of the work instead of the Reslife staff and so I was able to enjoy some time to get back to my viola and spent some time with my lovely man when he came for two days to get his cello fixed. I really like that the owner of the cello he is using is in NY- he will have lots of excuses to come!

So, how has life changed? I'm loving my new single room. (I actually have space to practice in it!) I'm training for a half marathon in October, which doesn't change much except for one long run per week. (Completed 11 miles this morning in 84 min. My goal for the half-mar is 100 min). I feel a new connection to all of the people in the residence hall and I genuinely want them to enjoy their lives here!

Next week, school starts and I'll probably fall behind on posts again...but I'll try to keep updating :)

Thanks for your support,

Violamad

Helpless

It's a very interesting feeling. Not a feeling you want to have. Not a feeling I can honestly say I have felt very often. It's a feeling that makes you say "I don't know what to do" and really really mean it.

I recently experienced this feeling two weeks ago when I arrived to the airport with my lovely Russian companion and we were told that he would not be able to check his cello as baggage. The oh-so-stubborn supervisor informed us that it is in US Airways policy that cellos cannot be checked and must be carried on to the plane with a purchased seat for the cello.

"Why?"- "It's our policy"- "But this cello has been checked with no problems many times before on airlines such as Delta, United, Continental."- "It's a liability issue. I cannot check your cello."- "Can I sign something to say that I'm not going to hold the company liable?"- "No. I can't do that. It also has to do with tariffs...but you wouldn't understand that."- "Sure..."- "You could buy a seat for it"- "Even if I had money to do that, this flight case is huge. It's designed to be checked not carried on. It wouldn't fit in the seat, for sure."- "You can check other airlines..."

After about an hour we had made no progress whatsoever. (Thank goodness for getting to the airport early) We did check with other airlines but there were no more flights by the other airlines out of that airport for the rest of the day. The only flight possible was a KLM flight out of Boston, a 1.5 drive away, and cost $2300, one way. Dmitry had to be in Moscow by the next day because he had his interview to get his student visa on Monday morning. He had a concert a week later in Amsterdam. What do you do?

Fast forward a week, I can't give all details, but the cello is in The Netherlands with Dmitry at the festival, but now he faces the same problems, and more, coming back. As you can expect, the average student who goes to school on full scholarship based on a large financial need, doesn't have the kind of money to just be able to pay through these fees in unfortunate emergencies. Really, at these times, one is helpless, incapable to do anything, crippled by rules and regulations.

In times like this, I think people need an hero. Maybe hero is an interesting word choice, but I am so grateful to say that he found one. Dmitry has been so blessed to have this benefactor in his life. He gives without asking, he gives when asking too much. His help was so crucial in working out this situation, and I don't know what would've happened without him.

So take the time tonight to think of that one person who has pulled you out of the hole when circumstances threw you in one. Thank that guy or girl who gave you the lift when you needed it, who helped you when you were helpless. And remember that person next time you have the opportunity to become an hero yourself.