Yay Mom!

Somehow I ended up having only one class today, so after that and 2 hours of practicing, I decided to treat myself to a movie. These days, going to a movie is an extra-special indulgence for me as I'm trying to live within a pretty tight budget and I don't usually have much spare time, but this was the opening weekend of 127 hours, (the new Danny Boyle--Slumdog Millionaire director--film based on the true story of a climber who gets caught beneath a boulder and cuts his arm off in order to survive) and because my mom WORKED HER BUTT OFF for a good bit of the summer keeping the cast and crew of this film alive in the desert (she, along with my cousin Alice were the craft service people) I could not resist checking out the finished product.

This movie is not for the faint of heart. The climactic scene where Aaron Ralston (played by James Franco) intentionally breaks the bone in his arm and cuts his way to freedom through the rest of his nerves and muscle is extremely graphic. There are rumors floating around that audience members have occasionally fainted while watching, and I'll personally admit to a substantial amount of sympathetic wincing--the sound in this scene is particularly jarring and, together with the horrific visuals, affected me like hearing nails on a chalkboard while being sliced by a cold blunt piece of dirty metal. Everyone knows that this scene is coming from the moment the action begins, and as we're swept along into Ralston's reckless and exuberant adventure, we can't help but wish we could somehow warn him to turn back. All grimacing aside, this was a thoroughly satisfying film and I HIGHLY recommend you check it out. While you watch, just remember that my mom was out there in that utterly remote and overwhelmingly dusty location working 16+ hour days and sleeping precious little in a freezing wind-buffetted tent making sure everyone on set was well fed and watered. Without such excellent service, Mr. Franco would never have been able to so convincingly play a character who is starving and almost entirely dehydrated.

During the last little bit of shooting that was done in SLC, I had the pleasure of visiting my mom on set during some down time I had between a matinee and evening show of Pioneer Theater's "42nd Street". There had been a completely lifelike full-scale model of Bluejohn Canyon constructed in an old Granite Furniture warehouse in Sugarhouse, and the day I was there they were filming the flash flood scene. My mom took me around and introduced me to Mr. Boyle (who asked as he shook my hand, "We seem to be missing an arm somewhere...have you seen it?) and the crew, (who ALL said some version of "your mom rocks!") and I puttered around in her food truck for a bit stirring what she told me to stir and chopping veggies when needed. I even cut up some tomatoes to fill a sandwich specifically requested by Mr. Boyle (don't I feel special!). While the filming was paused I was allowed to walk up inside the "canyon" and imagine what it would have been like to be stuck there. The boulder looked so small...and the canyon was so narrow...what a nightmare! I took this shot with my cell phone on my way out relieved I didn't have to be confronted with the remains of a severed arm hanging grotesquely from the canyon wall...as it had been in the movie.

When the movie ended today I hung around to see if my mom got a credit, and indeed, there she is: Craft Service: Jennifer "Iffer" Mitchell (I nearly let out a cheer in the middle of the theater!). And Alice is listed right after as "Assistant Craft Service."

During the filming, one of Danny Boyle's drivers mentioned to my mom that Mr. Boyle had seen her working one day while being driven away from the set and had commented to the driver, "That woman is extraordinary!"

I couldn't agree more. WAY TO GO MOM!!!!!!

This Morning

I just had a nice morning and thought I'd tell ya 'bout it.

By the way, the building you see to the left is Regenstein...our lovely music building...and for me swiftly becoming a home away from home.

My Thursday mornings begin early with an 8:15 trumpet excerpt class. The four other guys in the class complain like crazy about having to play at such an ungodly hour, but it's ideal for an early bird like me. Every week we're assigned a piece to learn and the 5 of us switch parts from week to week in order to get exposure to a lot of rep we otherwise may not get a chance to play before starting a "real" gig.

This week we were tackling Strauss' Alpine Symphony. I had been assigned a week off of playing so I could better prepare to play principal on Mahler 5 next week (yikes!!!), but decided to go to class anyway just so I could hear how the parts work and pick up any helpful tidbits Charlie might have to offer. As it happened though, Kris (one of the other grad students) didn't show so Mr. Geyer promptly called me down to play his part (thankfully he'd been on 4th trumpet so it wasn't too difficult). The Alpine Symphony has some incredible trumpet parts and Ansel Norris (a freshman and already an amazing player--mark my words...you WILL hear about this guy someday!) was playing principal. Though I was sight reading and hadn't even listened to the piece in ages, I was in my ideal position at the bottom of the section and was having a blast!

I love the feeling of beefing up a section's sound when I play in tune, in time, and with a big fat tone. I'd much rather play this roll than that of section leader--not because I don't like playing solos, I really do, but rather because I find the skills and sound I posses make me ideal as a section player. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I'm really good at it--and that is fun!

After excerpt class I took a leisurely walk along the lake on my way to participate in a language research study. It is a BEAUTIFUL day today! The temp must be up around 70 degrees and with only a slight breeze it's just about as ideal as you can imagine (and totally out of character for Chicago this time of year).

The study was interesting. I was given a 15 minute training session on a new imaginary language. I was shown various images of animals and objects and heard the words for them pronounced. Cat="teeg" Cow="geef" etc. Each time, I was shown a regular sized thing, then a small version of that thing. Small cat="keeteeg" Small cow="keegeef" etc. I was then shown multiple numbers of each thing. Many cats="teegeel" Many SMALL cats= "keeteegeel" etc.

After the training session, I was shown a whole batch of new objects and was asked to intuit what the correct words for these things may be. For example, I was shown a fish and told it was called a "bess". I was then shown a small fish--or many fish--or many small fish--and given 2 choices as to which word would correctly describe what I saw. For example, when shown 3 small fish I was given a choice between 1) "besseel" or 2) "keebesseel". I was given no feedback after I answered and have NO idea how I scored on this test, but I got paid $10 for 1/2 hour of work...not bad:)

On my way back to the music building I noticed this kite stuck up in a tree and thought it was tragically beautiful...

Don't we all feel like this little guy every once in a while?

The Heavenly Banquet

This week in my American Art Song class we've been looking at the "Hermit Songs" of Samuel Barber. It is a beautiful and compelling cycle based around texts written by monks and scholars in early Christian Ireland that Barber had translated into English by a few of his poet friends--including W.H. Auden. Within this cycle is a song text attributed to St. Brigid (10th century), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and portrays an incredible scene of heavenly revelry, the likes of which I have never encountered...especially in my sober LDS upbringing! This particular text was so "outstanding" to me, I felt I had to share it with y'all...

The Heavenly Banquet

I would like to have the men of heaven in my own house;

with vats of good cheer laid out for them.

I would like to have the three Marys, their fame is so great.

I would like people from every corner of heaven.

I would like them to be cheerful in their drinking.

I would like to have Jesus sitting here among them.

I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings.

I would like to be watching Heaven's family

Drinking it through all eternity.

WOW! What an interesting way to worship. Talk about inviting the spirit(s) into your home.

Daylight Savings Time

It's felt great to be sleeping late (a happy illusion anyway) these last couple of days...especially after the late-night creative frenzies I've experienced for the past week or so! The only downside that comes with the ending of daylight savings (other than its inevitable return in the spring) is that I'll be missing seeing the sunrise for the next few weeks.

Before this weekend, I'd get to school every day just before the sun would rise above the surface of Lake Michigan. When I arrive at Regenstein, I usually take a couple minutes to go and watch the day begin from my favorite lakeshore viewing spot and bask in frequently spectacular morning panoramas.

It just doesn't get any better than this...

And it's always a thrill to catch the very first moment the sun peeks above the water...

Now I arrive at school when the sun has been up for a while and though I enjoy that too, I'm still partial to arising in the pre dawn. I know that sooner than I care to think about the sun will have migrated far enough to the south that I'll once again be able to catch the sunrise, but by then, the temperatures will likely be in the single digits...not the most desirable conditions for lakeside viewing! I'm hoping the bleak look of the lake frozen over will add enough magic to the scene to make up for miserable conditions.

The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs

Hello Strangers. The video you see below is one BIG reason I haven't been keeping up with my blog lately. For my American Art Song class, our final project is to make a music video using one of the art songs we've studied. The video is not really due till finals week, but when I found this song, I got immediately carried away and have been working every spare moment to finish it.

The piece is by John Cage (Lizzie...this one's for you:) and it is scored for voice (any register) and piano (though not the keys of the piano...as you will see). The performers are Hilde Torgersen and Bjorn Rabben. This is the first video I've ever attempted. I did the filming with my laptop camera (yes, all the characters you see are played by me), and put together the animation in my bathtub. I'll write more about it later.

Till then...enjoy...(and don't laugh at my lip syncing!!!! It was a required aspect of the video).

Storms

According to WBEZ this morning (as well as an email Rod sent to me), Chicago is supposed to experience the strongest storm it's had in 35 - 70 years today. A tornado watch has been issued and power lines are down here and there, but other than that I'm wondering what specifically is going to make this storm so horrible. I walked to the shuttle stop this morning while fighting powerful gusts of wind and a light rain, but I feel that there's been worse weather since I've been here...I think. Maybe it's just not so bad in Evanston at the moment...maybe its intensity will increase as the day wears on.

Right now I'm hanging out in the lounge (what a killer view we have here! A straight shot at a downtown city scape!) waiting for my lesson at 10:00 and watching clouds sailing over the wind-buffeted lake Michigan. I've practiced a ton for this lesson, but still feel that I'm less prepared than I wish I could be. The NUSO concert this past Saturday went fantastically well and I was pretty much at the top of my game. It was good to log a performance I feel satisfied with, but for the rest of the week I'll be battling just to survive on my horn. We're playing Holst "The Planets" in rep class today, I'm playing 1st on Tchaik V on Thursday, and we've got a batch of new orchestra music that (some of it anyway) is quite challenging.

Somebody just walked in the lounge and said the Intercampus Shuttle service is running 2 busses behind...it must be a mess out there somewhere. My guess is there are power outages all over that have knocked out traffic signals...thank goodness I don't have to drive anywhere!

I just walked outside and took some better pictures...check out that sky!

I can't help but be enamored with the colors here...I swear it's all natural too!

This seagull looks a little nervous about having to fly into the hulking mass of clouds looming on the horizon...I don't blame him one bit!

A Good Beginning

I had an annoying night last night. Nothing major, just ate too many peanut butter m&ms...again! (Why do I even allow myself to buy those anymore?...UGH!) So anyway, I decided I'd better try extra hard to have a good day today. I woke up a few minutes early and walked to school just in time to catch a lovely sunrise.

Here is the very first moment a bit of sun peeked above the horizon...

Slowly, more appeared...(check out the cool parallel wave patterns in the water!)

After a minute or so, a lone seagull began circling in front of my camera...over...

...and over...

...and over...as if he were asking "did you get me this time? Was my pose dramatic enough? No? Here...let me swoop around again and see if this is better..."

It was fun! And with my eyes safely behind the display screen of my digital camera, it may have been the only way I could've steadily watched the evolution of sunrise without turning my retinas to dust.

I know I've been a bit delinquent lately in keeping up the regularity of my posts. There is always a ton going on that I could talk about, but I generally find myself either without time to post, or lacking the motivation to rehash everything I've done in a given day.

So, to sum up, when I said back at the beginning of the summer that I expected NU was going to be a "trumpet boot camp", I was right on the money. In every lesson I'm assigned at least 4 etudes (ALL of which are to be transposed into various keys), some excerpts, and given suggestions of daily exercises I should perform to keep on my mission of embouchure-strenghening and high-range-and-flexibility-building. There are weekly performances of etudes in solo class (which are separate and in addition to the etudes required in lessons), weekly rehearsals of major orchestral rep in rep class, section rehearsals for different and additional standard rep in excerpt class, and then of course I have to be prepared on the material for Orchestra and Brass Choir...oh and did I mention I'm supposed to be doing those embouchure strengthening exercises every day too?!

My improved warm-up technique has helped keep my chops balanced (halleluja!!!), but still, whenever I go into my lessons in particular I rarely feel sufficiently prepared despite the fact that I've persistently worked on all the material. It always feels as though if I were just given one or two more days to practice, everything would be great! Instead, I go in, play the stuff as well as I can (rarely satisfied with my performance) and then I leave with a bunch more new assignments and instructions to "keep looking at that old stuff too". I feel out of breath just writing about it!

Last night in my practice room I decided that all this material is assigned to ensure that I am never left with nothing to do. I'm always being challenged to better my playing and the effectiveness of my practicing. It goes without saying that I'm pushed physically, but as the more important part of the game is the pursuit of success through "intelligent practice", this bombardment of material demands that I use my brain to come up with smart ways to fix problems and strategically plan my mode of attack...rather than just put some music up on the stand and slog through it.

Other students I've talked to say they do a lot of mental practice: thinking through pieces away from the horn. This is a great idea, but I sometimes find it difficult to maintain focus during such exercises. Along the same lines, I've now adopted the strategy of playing through my etudes on the piano during my practice breaks. This is a good way to work on transposition without wasting precious chops, as well as just getting the sound of a piece in my head--and if I can hear it...I can play it.

Tomorrow is NUSO's first performance. We're playing the Schumann Cello Concerto and Bruckner 7--though I'm only on the Bruckner. It will be the first time I will have donned my concert black in months and I'm really looking forward to it! After all, every now and then it is good to get out of the practice room and onto a stage.

Som'more copper engraving