The End (of the Beginning)

The class performed last night in Killian Hall, a straight two hours without intermission. Fortunately, our audience endured.

The concert was a surprising success, considering that we started rehearsing the bulk of it two weeks ago. For many pieces it was even less than that.

For me, it was a vastly enjoyable concert. I tapped my feet and bobbed my head while in the audience. I tapped my feet and bobbed my head while on stage. I was really having fun, whereas normally I'm nervous on stage. Perhaps the greatest personal success for me was that I didn't feel nervous at all on stage. Okay, so a bit of adrenaline - but nothing close to what I've encountered in the past, especially with solos. Maybe it helped that it was a group setting, not a solo recital. But if you had asked me a few months ago, I could not have imagined being on stage, improvising, and not being nervous.

Incidentally, I played my solo violin piece (Brahms violin sonata no. 3 with Sarah on piano) in my violin teacher's studio recital tonight, and I wasn't nervous at all either - about the same as I was at the jazz concert. This has never happened. I've never had such a relaxed formal solo performance. Ever. In eleven, twelve years. I wonder if I've finally broken a performance barrier?

This class has given me a lifelong benefit - appreciation for blues. That's one of the primary reasons I signed up for the class.

I've gained a lot of non-musical things as well. For one, confidence that I can pick up new concepts. Confidence performing in front of an audience. Openness to new art.

I've made great friends through this class too. It's normal that I get to know some people in my HASS classes, but usually it's not everyone in the class and on this personal a level. Without this class, I probably wouldn't have met some of these musicians; I wouldn't have had anything to do with Dylan, Dennis, and Chih-yu, who are involved in jazz ensembles, or Dorian, who is involved in drumming (Rambax). And without meeting Dennis, I wouldn't have started learning guitar. Domino effect.

I say "End (of the Beginning)" because I think this class isn't quite over yet... after the concert, a bunch of us wanted to get together over IAP to jam.

I look at music differently now. I value live performance a lot more, and I get my head out of the page more. I now think it's totally cool to be able to just listen to a piece and play it, and then expand on it. Improvisation is a skill that I'm going to keep nursing on my own, as a complement to my classical training. I'm excited now that a new avenue has been opened in my mind.