Day 32 - Concert Preparation

I have had confirmation that the Wreck-cital, organised by Anne will take place in just under two weeks on Tuesday 15^th February at 7pm at the Methodist Church, Oakington. If you are around come along. Likewise if you are a grade-1-a-be and would like a chance to play one or two of your pieces there is currently room for another performer or two so let Anne or myself know. I think I will play The Ball and Azaleas in Houston as there is less risk of these going wrong. Rondo is still not quite cutting the mustard (whatever that means) and Sound The Trumpets now sounds a bit too easy. Of the others who will be there the one who I am both looking forward to playing in front of, and and at the same time fearing playing in front of is Rohan. Rohan is the harpist on my side of Cambridge and I am hoping she will take me on as a student when the grade-1-a-thon is over. In fact I went to see her before Christmas to get some advice on what sort of harp to choose. We arranged a time and I knew I had the right house as there was a harp in the estate car parked outside. As I went in there was a harp by the front door, then into the front room, a small harp on a table, a small harp on legs just in front of it and four or more large, ornate harps in the space where the dining room should be. If it wasn't for the magazines, remote control and breakfast bowl on the table I might have thought I'd wandered into a harp museum. As I put my bag down there was a sharp twang and Rohan muttered “Oh do behave!” I thought she was talking to me and was about to protest I hadn't touched a thing, when she had pulled a device out, turned to one of the big harps and adjusted a string. “Sometimes they do that” Rohan continued. “Usually a good kick will sort them out.” After discussing the merits of the various sizes and makes and models I decided to hire a lever harp and went down to Pilgrims in Surrey to collect it. That was a few months ago and while I relish the opportunity to perform my pieces in front of such an esteemed harpist I am also worried that she will spot all the bad habits we were warned about at the lesson back in January and she will take me to one side and quietly say “maybe you'd be best sticking to the clarinet”. She may also be offended that I've gone against the suggestion of Sound the Trumpets and have chosen The Ball as well. Of course I may be going over the top with my worries and this will have an effect on my nerves on the day so I will try and keep relaxed about it.

The practise today was good and I did 40 minutes after getting in from school. I did a little more on the chord exercises that I was doing yesterday and did some practise on pieces and scales with the metronome. I then went through my entire recital repertoire (4 pieces at about a minute each) then played The Ball and Azaleas again both from memory. Another 10 minutes playing for fun after tea, then I finished the blog just in time for orchestra.