Starting Today: Pool Auditions

December 5, 2011

Pool Auditions

Here at NU we have quarterly pool auditions in order to determine placement in excerpt class and--just in general--to practice getting the hang of the audition process. This time they took our excerpts from the audition list for the Chicago Civic Orchestra and threw in a piccolo aria from Bach's Christmas Oratorio for good measure (you know how much I love that...high Fs...yay...) Anyway, I played about an hour ago and feel I did as well as I could've hoped. I had my usual second wave of nervous shakes set in right around the end of the Ballerina Dance from Stravinsky's Petrouchka and stupidly botched some fingerings, but in general I'm thrilled with how the other 91% of the audition went.

What a relief!

I'm sure I'll get a bunch of critical comments from the professors--there's always room to improve after all--but for now I'm just thrilled to be done with it.

So now begins all the holiday madness I guess. I'll be heading out to Ithaca tomorrow and will probably spend my first few days there trying to snag some seasonal work. I'm nervous as all get out about attempting to reenter the job market, but hope that I can find something basic where my honesty and strong work ethic will be valued.

Wish me luck.

1 comment:

Iffer MitchellDecember 5, 2011 at 4:57 PM
OH YEAH! Luck to you and have a truly blessed christmas. Cherish each other and the time you have together! Find ways to find joy and good in all that you encounter. I know that Saturday I was in the opposite mind set but I know deep down in my soul that THIS advice is good advice.
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If you are looking for an "astronomical" read, Tyler Nordgren's "Stars Above, Earth Below" Is a great place to start. Nordgren explores a wide array of astronomical subjects by relating them to the processes, landscapes, history, culture, and dark skies that are so beautifully on display in our National Parks: solar system volcanism alongside Yellowstone National Park; Cosmology, Deep Time, and Deep Space alongside the Grand Canyon; Climate Change and the "Goldilocks Zone" alongside Glacier National Park; the life cycles of stars, and archeoastronomy alongside Chaco Canyon...and many more. The book is loaded with beautiful images and illustrations, and Nordgren's conversational storytelling makes complex ideas both accessible and memorable. The ideas in this book have enriched my own experience of observing, and I recommend it to others with two big thumbs up!

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Starting Today

December 5, 2011

Pool Auditions

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