I'm Back! And Jimmy Lin!

After a long absence, I have returned to the land of music posts! I will try to keep them current but life with a new baby (she is 4 months old now!) is rather hectic. Being a new mommy and a musician is wonderful, and I feel so blessed to have both in my life, even if it means playing a graduate recital when you're 8 months pregnant or a masterclass when you have had no sleep!

Speaking of masterclasses, I played the first movement of the Beethoven Violin Concerto this week for Cho-Liang Lin. He was very kind, but very adamant about playing the violin well! Although I could sense his slight frustration with my "lazy right arm," he gave me some great advice on sound production and freedom in playing. Despite the fact that I was asked to play for the class at the last minute and had to scramble to find a babysitter, I was grateful for the opportunity!


Check out the sidebar for some upcoming concerts!

Christmas on the River

That was the title of this weekend's concert in Kansas City. Interesting...Anyhoo, another concert down, a few more to go until my artist's diploma. Yay! This was an interesting weekend in KC. I have now been hammered again for the millionth time on "when am I going to switch to viola?" The answer is...I don't know. I'm hoping to be hit over the head with an answer very soon, at least before I turn 30!

Last year, when I was playing viola, the KC Star did an article on the music program at Park U. Paul Horsely did a nice article that was on the front page of the arts section (with a picture of the back of my head). Here is a link to the article and the clips of us playing:

http://sb1.thefifthnetwork.com/VCMS/Player.aspx?id=67051ef1-8609-4194-a38a-732f97a5e041&PlayerTemplateId=95a123a6-2be0-4450-97bf-07abbf425f4d&videoGUID=9A45FFAB-787D-4ABF-A302-C3155569A82E&channelId=ID0EFF

Success

I just returned from Kansas City yesterday after a long weekend of practicing, rehearsals, lessons, and concerts. A friend of mine sent me a link to the concert review in the Kansas City Star. It's a pretty good review; feel free to follow this link to read it!

http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/347428.html

It was a great experience to play the Brahms Double Concerto with Martin and Kanako. I felt honored to be a part of it and I'm so glad to have them as friends and teachers. It was so good to see all of my friends from ICM. I'll see y'all again in a month!

I am trying to upload a video of me playing but unfortunately, I am way too stupid to do that myself so I will have to get my brother to help me. Hopefully you will be able to hear and see me play soon.

Demons out!

It's funny that I can stand up in front of a hundred strangers and play in a concert or recital and keep my cool, but when I am asked to play in church on Sunday I get a knot in my stomach. Of course, anyone who performs knows that it is much more difficult to stand up in a room full of your friends than one full of complete strangers. Today I performed in church for the first time in our ward in SL. It went well and now the demons are out.

Lately I have been listening to a lot of piano music: Chopin, Debussy, Schumann to name a few. I never fully appreciated the piano as a solo instrument until I started my graduate work at Park U International Center for Music and met some of the most amazing pianests on the planet! It is such an incredible instrument. I wish I could play it.

I will be returning to KC, MO this week to play in a concert. On the program: Brahams Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (amazing!) and Elgar Enigma Variations (also amazing!). Did I mention it will be amazing?

Recording of the week: Brahams Violin Concerto and Double Concerto
Anne-Sophie Mutter and Antonio Meneses with
the Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan

What's up with the symphony?

I played with the Utah Symphony this past weekend after a 5-year hiatus. It was good to be back. A string quartet is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Since I am a musician, many of my friends and family often ask me for a list of recordings I would recommend so I am going to start a column on my blog of my favorites. This spring I will be playing Dvorak's Romance in F minor, op. 11 in a concert in Kansas City so I have been listening to various recordings of that piece. My favorite is a performance by Gil Shaham with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has the most gorgeous, rich sound and the orchestra is fantastic. You won't be disappointed!