It’s been a busy few days! Thursday was honestly really great, and probably the best I’ve felt in a little while. To start, it was like 70o and sunny out so the day just started off with me in a better mood. I woke up and got ready, randomly decided to shave my eyebrow again and put on an outfit before leaving for class. After class, I had a while until studio and nothing to really do, as I was taking the day off from practicing. So I found myself at Starbucks, sitting outside, listening to music and doing some lesson notes as well as some other assignments.
Then after studio class, I decided to go to the arboretum across from the music building with some flute friends where we walked hiked so a bit, then went out to get some food, once again eating outside and this time enjoying the sunset. My day didn’t even end there though. For Tuberama, I needed parts choreographed and wanted my sibling to choreograph it for me, as they have been dancing for a while. I somehow got them to agree to it and when I got home Thursday, they let me know that they had it ready and we got on a video call for them to teach it to me. I was honestly shocked at how good they are at teaching dance, like I knew they could dance, but they were so good at explaining it.
I think the choreography is going to be a fun addition to the piece as well. We worked on it for like an hour and I was exhausted from the day, but it was a really good day. Thursday was also the day that I had some social media planned to post and it was kind of a relief to have them out. The video didn’t take to long to do, about as much as I expected, but making the blog post here took a very long time. But I’m happy with how it all turned out.
Friday was pretty good as well. I had a normal day, then we had our Wind Symphony concert. I thought the concert went well and I think we did a good job! There was one audience member that caught my eye in the front row at the venue we were at. Usually I feel super far from the audience, but I didn’t feel that way this time, but this audience member made my night probably without realizing it. As soon as our second piece began, when I was actually able to see the audience, I watched their face light up in awe, hands coming up to their face. They did it at different times in different pieces, usually when there was an arrival point. It was so hard for me to not smile as I glanced at them, getting goosebumps from the music and the reaction they gave. The pure joy on their face almost made me want to cry honestly. It just reminded me how powerful music can be and how much it can affect someone. It reminded me that people actually enjoy music and I can impact them. I may just be one flute/piccolo in the entire band, but we were able to touch someone. I hope I never forget that concert and that audience member. I don’t know who they were or anything about them, or even if anyone else saw them, but they really touched me that night probably without realizing it.
After the concert, I went out with some more friends for some boba and food. That was also nice and something that I always hoped I could do in my undergrad, but never did because I wasn’t friends with anyone. So that was also really nice, even though I unfortunately got a parking ticket, which was my fault because I definitely didn’t pay. I was going to blog this morning, but I ended up not, obviously, figuring I’d just add today in here and shove Sunday into Monday’s post. Today all I really did was practice my Tuberama choreography (it was like an hour and it was exhausting), as well as playing through the rest of my pieces I’ll be playing on my recital. I have my hearing Monday and I’m a tad nervous, but I think I’ll be okay. After that, I stayed and listened to one of the flute players here do a mock performance for her competition performance this next weekend at FSW. She did great, as always. After that I just came back home, took a nap, showered, ate, and now blog.
My mental health these few days has definitely been an improvement, or my brain decided to give me a little break. Practice wise, I do think taking Thursday off helped me to be more motivated on Friday and today, though I was reluctant to practice too much Friday since we had a concert. I do think it will help though, so I’ll try it again next week. Tomorrow I’m planning on going to see the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra with some friends, which I think should be cool. I honestly don’t think I’ve been to any orchestra concerts since I was a kid…which is surprising considering I’m a music major. Unless you count playing with the orchestra going lol. Either way, I’m excited to go.
by juniparker
