Les Mis, gigs, etc.

I started Les Mis rehearsals last Monday. Last night was the first rehearsal combined with the cast at Moonlight. It was neat! We pretty much ran the show with a few stops to get a feel for how it all works. It's long! Close to 3 hours with intermission and since it's an opera, it's constant music. It's one of the most difficult musicals to play. The notes themselves aren't too bad, but the counting and the constant meter changes combined with stamina and hardly any breaks make it difficult. This morning, we had another orchestra-only rehearsal to brush up on a few things before tech weekend (Sunday-Tuesday). BTW, this is going to be such a great show. Some of the days are already sold out, so get your tickets and come see me play!




After Les Mis rehearsal, I drove to La Jolla to have a quartet rehearsal for a wedding. Then we all carpooled to Point Loma where the wedding was held. This house was AMAZING! The backyard ended at the harbor. The wedding party drove up in a boat and walked up the pier instead of down the aisle. It was one of the neatest weddings I've ever seen. It was very windy, though, and our music kept blowing off the stands. I'm not sure why we forgot clothespins.

Yes, this is their backyard (or rather, backharbor)

I thought this was absolutely adorable. They put a garter around the dog and put it in the wedding party.

Me and Saki (2nd violin)

Me and Sophie (1st violin)

We were bored while waiting for the cellist to bring us the car so we decided to take pictures. :)

And here's all of us

You wasn't there!

My phone has been acting dumb lately. A couple months ago, it stopped taking and receiving calls. There would be no sound. So, I could only text. That was annoying. So, I took it in to the store and they replaced it. Transferred all the pictures, videos and contacts. I lost all texts, but that was all. No big deal. So, about a month later, the NEW phone started doing the same thing! Grrrr! Only this time, it would stop working for a few days and then work for a day. It would repeat this pattern for a couple weeks and then it just plain stopped. I could only text... AGAIN. So, I finally decided to take it back to the store to see if there was a glitch or something. They didn't know what the problem was, but they said they would replace it again. Phew! So, I asked them to transfer all the pictures and videos like last time. They took one look and said I had too many and it would take too long. They tried to sell me a memory card. I didn't want to buy one just to save those pictures. (I normally use pix place so I don't need a memory card any other time.) I told them that if I had known, I would have just sent all the pics to pix place. When I wouldn't back down (I was nice about it), they agreed to transfer everything. So, I sat and waited for an hour and a half while they transferred stuff. Sheesh! At least I got to keep everything (with the exception of texts.) I really hope this doesn't happen a 3rd time.



The Americans FINALLY dominated China in gymnastics and won gold AND silver in the individual all-arounds. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson SO deserved this! I was ecstatic!



So, to celebrate, we went to Denny's at 1:30 in the morning. Douglas ordered off the late night menu, so his was tons cheaper than Jordan's burger... but also a lot smaller! It was funny.



Today is a special day. There is a scene in Oklahoma where Will and Ado Annie are discussing marriage. He has just earned $50 (the terms set by Annie's Pa.)

W: Now that I got the $50, you name the date.
A: August 15!
W: Why August 15?
A: Cuz that's the first day I was kissed.
W: Was it? I don't remember that.
A: You wasn't there!

So, we have a running joke in our family that we always say "You wasn't there!" in a thick southern accent on this day.



Since I didn't finish this post when I started it, I am finishing it after I got up. I didn't get to bed until 4 and was woken up 6 hours later by a telemarketer. *sigh*

International Youth Symphony concert - PLNU

The concert tonight was held at Point Loma Nazarene University in Crill Hall. It took me 50 minutes to get there (including 10 minutes driving around campus trying to find the hall.) On the way back, it only took 45 minutes. Meaning it took 5 minutes to drive from the entrance of the university to the concert hall. Crazy! We started out with a sound check from 6 to 7 and then hung out backstage before the concert started at 8. A bunch of us played cards in between the rehearsal and concert. We played Crazy Rummy and then Christophe taught us a German game (I don't remember what it was called) that was really fun. The concert itself went really well. We played better than last night. This will probably be the concert they use for the cd (we are always recorded during the concerts and have cds made.) The only problem was that Omar (violist who sat behind me) lost the grip on his bow and it hit his instrument during a REALLY quiet part where it is pizzicato (plucking the string.) He got a nice glare from the director. (At least he didn't drop it on the floor.) Since I didn't see it, I asked Omar afterwards what happened and he said, "Excuse me for dropping my bow, but I wasn't the only one." He was referring to Natan. It was funny! During intermission, we all gathered around the piano in the warm-up room while a couple people played some modern pop music and we all sang along. It was fun! After the concert, we said our goodbyes (boy, that was hard.) There are a few more activites going on this week after the concert, but I can't go to any of them because of Les Mis rehearsals. :( So, I had to say goodbye to everyone after the concert. The European and South American ways of saying goodbye differ from ours. We just hug, but they kiss first. Some are just one kiss and some are two. It was interesting getting kissed by 3 Venezuelan guys. All in all, these past 2 weeks were the greatest! I learned so much and gained a lot of friendships. I am gonna miss everyone SOOO much. But, at least I know that next time I visit Europe, I will have a place to stay in Belgium, Poland, Germany, Holland, etc. I seriously think I will travel there someday and visit everyone. I am so glad I got to participate in this summer program. I have many wonderful memories of hard work and good times. Hopefully, they'll invite me back next year. :)

This is the view from Point Loma Nazarene University. Beautiful!

Backstage warming up for the concert

Willie, Daniel, Magda (twirling the bow), Christophe and Lauren

Lauren posing with the quartet. They were so much fun to pose with.

Marjan playing her oboe

Marie-Luise playing her flute

And the three of us together

Gathered around the piano while Kevin and Andy serenaded us (sorry it's blurry)

Marie-Luise played the piano while Michael and Gaeton watched

After the concert, the boys showed off their Venezuela jackets

I know this is terribly blurry, but I love this picture. We asked them to act mad, so they did.

International Youth Symphony concert - CCAE

So, we started out the day with a "dress rehearsal" at the California Center for the Arts Escondido, which isn't really a dress rehearsal; you just wear street clothes and practice onstage. Sorta like a sound check. We pretty much ran through the symphonies and that was it. It started at 2 and was supposed to go until 4 but we ended around 3:15 and gave the rest of the time to the Venezuelan quartet in our group who was also performing. We watched them for a bit from the house and then a bunch of us decided to go eat someplace. I brought my change of clothes with me just in case I didn't want to go home in between, even though it's only 10 minutes away. I'm glad I did. We all walked to Sizzler across the street (there were like 20 of us) and then walked down Grand Ave to Cruisin' Grand. Escondido does this every Friday night April through September where people bring their old classic cars to show off. It's really fascinating. The foreign students hadn't seen anything like it so we had fun. While we were walking, someone drove past on a motorcycle and they had their radio blaring. As they drove past, the music from the radio went down in pitch (just like a Europeon siren) and it sounded funny so I commented about it and everyone laughed and agreed with me. I felt at home with a bunch of musicians who have the same corny sense of humor that I do. When I'm with other friends, they just think I'm a nerd. :) About 6:00, we walked back to the center to change into our concert black and warm-up for the concert. The concert started at 7:30 and it went really well. We were all able to follow the director well and there were few mistakes. The only major mistake was that during one of the symphonies, Natan (2nd violins) dropped his bow on the floor. It was funny, but at the same time it wasn't because it kinda disturbed the mood of the piece. That doesn't happen very often. I've lost the grip on my bow, but luckily, not in a concert; only at home when I'm practicing. The first half of the concert consisted of Mozart's Symphony #35 and Shostakovich's Quartet #8. The second half, we played Beethoven's Symphony #4. After the concert, the Venezuelans started playing quartets backstage in the warm-up room as we were packing up so we suggested they go out to the lobby and play for everyone. So they did. They played 2 quartets and were a hit! Thanks to everyone who came! I love playing for an audience. Afterwards, I came home and watched the rest of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies and found out I missed all the good stuff. Well, at least what I saw was neat.

Inside the concert hall after the rehearsal. I'm in the balcony closest to the camera.

The Venezuelan quartet rehearsing onstage

This was after the rehearsal before dinner. Most people brought a change of clothes and Christophe and Lorenz didn't want to bring two pairs of shoes. So they made a fashion statement.

Magda, Andrea, Lauren and Martin in a 1930 Model A Ford

Dejana, Maria, Daniel and Christophe wanted to cruise, too


Daniel, Giulia, Natan and Martin backstage


Martin and Katie looking cool


Kimberley and her flute


The Venezuelans are goofy. Omar is being flirty


Of course I had to get a picture with them


Me and Katie with our instruments


Me and Dejana


I bugged Andrea as she was warming up


Me with Lauren and Magda


This was as we were getting the announcement that we were going to start the concert soon


I think this is my favorite picture of all time. Roberto, Willie and Omar are brothers from Venezuela and make up 3/4 of the quartet. This is how goofy they always are. And then we have Lauren in the background


Onstage right after the concert. There I am in front.
(Notice how the director looks drained)


Here's a better view of us.


And this was taken from the balcony. Here is our whole orchestra.


The quartet serenading the guests in the lobby after the concert


Here is the front of the program


The program order


This was also in the program. This way you can get a better idea of who I'm referring to in the pictures.


I found out we were in the paper! I'm on the far right.

Have you ever wondered what it sounds like in a warm-up room?



After the concert, the quartet serenaded us backstage (sorry the sound quality isn't the best)

International Youth Symphony rehearsal - Day 8

Yesterday was bittersweet. We did some last-minute detail work and some run-throughs and then it was over. As much as I'm looking forward to sleeping in and giving my back a rest, I have really enjoyed making music with some great people from all over the world. Our conductor tells us that some of the greatest moments in making music come from the rehearsal room and not the concert. That's so true. We all appreciate when a soloist plays something beautifully after struggling with it or hearing a final product after working so hard. I just wish the audience could experience what goes on in the rehearsal room so they would appreciate the concerts all the more. As you can see, we've had a lot of fun:

Christophe (Germany), Lorenz (Austria), Magda (Poland), Marjan (Belgium),
Kimberly (Holland), Marie Luise (Germany) and me


Daniel (Israel), Giulia (Italy), Omar (Venezuela), Magda (Poland), Willie (Venezuela)
and Roberto (Venezuela) in front


Willie (violinist) attempting to play cello. It was actually quite funny


Willie playing Roberto's cello and Roberto posing on top of the trash can


After rehearsal (some continue to play)


Packing up


Getting ready to leave


And this is where it all took place - in a middle school classroom

I'm sure most people won't find this as funny as we did. He's actually playing real cello pieces, but not in tune or smoothly. It sounds as if a beginner is playing, but really advanced stuff. It's a really funny combination. The background noise is people practicing in the rehearsal room.