So...the last few days of the convention were pretty spectacular. The concerto night that I talked about was so great! The Rodrigo was absolutely beautiful, the Liebermann was so much cooler than I ever remember, and I heard a rad new concerto by Anthony Ritchie. I hope maybe to play that one for the concerto competition next year, if somebody lets me...
The last concert of the convention was my favorite part of the whole thing. I heard
this guy play with his group called Project. Yes, you SHOULD be jealous that I got to see him live. It was SO COOL! I can't even describe to you how this group performs. All I can say is that I was smiling...even laughing...the entire performance. I would pay a lot of money to see them again.
My lesson with Walfrid Kujala was very good. He knows everything, pretty much, and has a calm, sensible demeanor that makes for very good teaching. Northwestern is on the grad school map, folks!
I have learned a lot from all these lessons, and one conclusion that I came to is that I need to get out of Florida for grad school. I'm sorry, but I am no longer considering FSU for grad school anymore. I think I could still learn a lot from Prof. Amsler, but I need a new perspective. It's hard to explain why I feel this way, but it's something that I feel in my gut that I need to do. So I'm sorry, but it's out-of-state or bust.
This might change, but as of right now, this is my grad school list:
Rice (Buyse)
Northwestern (Kujala)
U of Texas at Austin (Gedigian)
Arizona State (Buck)
Louisiana State (Kemler)
I am very happy because I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do this summer, which is to decide where I am applying and meet all of the teachers. All five of those teachers know my name and face and have a good idea of my playing ability, and that is so important!! Good job, me.