Bonjour mes amis!
It's been a really really long time since I last posted. I apologize. But, I would like to catch you all up on what's been going on since Middle School Band Camp!
So, I finished my summer classes with all A's, which was exciting. Gotta love having a high GPA to keep that Regents scholarship!
Sometime right before finals, I also had work training for my new job at the Harper/Schramm/Smith/Village night desk. I work 3-5 nights a week alternating weeks, but I'm hoping to cut that down to 1-3 when my boss hires more people. The job is great, I mostly work 4-8am and no one comes in, so I get to just sit there and catch up on homework/composing.
As for my classes now, they're going well so far in this first week. I had auditions all week and made it into every ensemble I tried out for which made me very happy!! I'm now an Alto I in Usingers, the lead vocalist for the UNL big band, and voice part undetermined for Jazz Choir as of now. I sang Soprano I last year, but that could change. I don't really care what voice part I sing for anything at this point, which is only helping to continue my vocal identity crisis that I've had since Junior year of high school.
Also, I'm learning how to play the flute. Learning that I'm not very good at it yet, but I guess we've only had 2 classes so that's ok. I found out that I really hate the fingerings from D to C on the flute, because they're the exact opposite of each other so I'm really going to have to practice later today after my work meeting at 7.
I've also figured out that life is a million times busier as a Music Ed major/Tech minor than just a performance major. Holy crap. I start at 9:30 every day and don't get to leave the building until 4-5 most days, and no lunch break. I went to the store this weekend and bought bread, peanut butter, and nutella for my locker so I can squeeze in lunch in the 10 minutes I have between classes. But, I would much rather be busy because I got into everything I wanted to be in than bored because I didn't, so at least I'm in a good place for that stuff.
As for what I'm working on compositionally, I'm arranging a chart to sing with for the UNL Big Band (It's my first jazz chart so I'm excited) at a later date. I also was hired to arrange an entire show for Minden High School's show choir, so this will mark my first show choir experience and first legitimate commission! As for semester projects, I'm writing an original flute and piano piece, and an original piano trio.
So that's the last few weeks in a nutshell. Sorry for taking so long to post!
Song of the day:
Free by Graffiti6. They're a really feel-good band out of the UK, and I love them like crazy. The music video cuts 45 seconds out of the song, but it's still wonderful regardless. Spotify the whole thing if you like it. (: Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FObmcZnoKM
Cheers,
Gilmore
