Whirlwind

Hello, friends!

From what I've been told, spring is tornado season around here. My schedule last weekend seems to have reflected that quite accurately. :)


I played in a concerto competition in Illinois on the 14th. The funny thing is, I got myself into it all on my own...I was learning the 1st movement of the Stamitz viola concerto, and I mentioned that I was thinking about it once in a lesson, and Joanna said, "Great! Consider yourself signed up!" Hahaha....whoops.... ;) My friend Graham also played in it, so we rode together. Unfortunately, his audition time was 11 AM and mine was 1:30 PM, so I had lots of time to sit and try to keep myself from getting nervous. Unfortunately, that could have gone better. Se la vie. The concerto had to be memorized, and I remembered all the parts that I had forgotten in rehearsal, but then I forgot some of the parts that I'd never forgotten before, which was too bad. In any case I learned, among other things,:

1. When possible, try to only be 1.5 hours early, MAX.
2. Practice in such a way that the whole piece is solid. (you'd think that would be obvious...but sometimes you have to learn the hard way. :) )Assume you'll have trouble with the parts you think you have down.
3. Basically, be more prepared. Poignant, I know. :)


I also had my job orientation at the Touhill Performing Arts Center last Friday. My manager, Jason, walked me around the building through the maze of back-passages, and he showed me the catwalks, soundboards, light systems...and a bunch of things that I don't know what they were or what they did....something about "trusses" and "flys" and "booms". I've been reassured that I will catch on quickly, though, and everyone is nice about teaching you. :) I'm working my first show next Sunday, which should be exciting.


I sang in my first choir concert for a Baptist church service, too! We're singing some really cool stuff...but I think my favorite piece is called "Lux Arumque." It's so beautiful....One of the things I like best about choral music is the fact that you're singing lyrics, and in many, many cases, the message is as meaningful as the music itself. This particular piece paints a beautiful picture:


Light/warm and heavy as pure gold/and the angels sing softly/to the newborn baby. Here's a recording of it from youtube. If you have time, you should check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi2kZtHk8mM


I'm still learning how to manipulate my mouth/resonant space/basically everything that has to do with singing, and I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing half the time, but I'm really enjoying it.


We had our SLSYO concert last weekend, as well, and it went much, much better than I expected it to. We'd only had a few rehearsals on the Beethoven 8, but it actually came off pretty well. I was pleased. :)

I was really not doing well a couple weeks ago...I was having a really hard time praying, my emotions were not headed to a very good place, and I didn't know what was wrong. One night, I just couldn't sleep, and I kind of crashed and burned then and there. One of my dear friends started to talk me through what was going on. Aside from just being busy, a lot of lies had begun to creep into my thinking, some of them without me even noticing. This friend reminded me that we live in a spiritual battlefield, and had me go through all the muck of my thoughts and emotions and identify the lies being whispered to me. They were things such as "I'm useless doing what I'm doing now," "I don't matter," "It is my job to carry everyone's burdens," and "worrying helps." My friend gently reminded me to go back to Scripture and see what God had to say about each of these things. (Rom. 8:28-39, Eph. 2:19-22, Matt. 11:28-30, Matt. 6:25-34, among quite a few others) It is amazing just how much power God's Word hasI feel very spiritually naiive, sometimes. I've always been at home in my little bubble, and I've never felt such attack like this before. It was amazing to me when my friend pointed out these things to me how unaware I was of them. I'm doing much better now...I feel like this instance was kind of a wake up call for me. God is reminding me that we are in a battle, and He is slowly teaching me how to fight. He's also teaching me just how much power His word holds, and how precious it is.

Anyway, this post is actually kind of old...I just never quite was able to publish it until now. I got back from my spring break yesterday, which I spent at an inner city mission called City Lights. I'll try to write you about it soon, because I learned a ton.

I love you all! Have a blessed week, and remember to keep running back to His word.

Maren