(no subject)

If it wasn't apparent, the audition didn't go so well. Apparently I would have had to set the world on fire with my playing because they barely gave me a chance. Also, no one had made it clear that they have to give preference to students (this was at Johns Hopkins), so maybe I wouldn't have put so many eggs into this basket. Now it's down to finding some kind of community orchestra that would take me, and apologizing to my teacher for misleading her.

I'd spent so much time worrying about the audition that I didn't make any other plans for the weekend, either. I had just seen Lúthien Friday night, so I wasn't expecting to hear from her again, but she said she really wanted to spend time with me this weekend. We had a nice time walking down to the harbor Saturday evening and talking about lots of stuff, like when she first came to the U.S. She came over afterwards and borrowed some of my DVD movies, including "Clerks". I have to wonder how many of the jokes she got from that one.

Sunday I didn't do much until mid-afternoon, when J. offered to come over and listen to me practice while she did her homework. It was only marginally useful to me, because she admits she's not very musical. My books were upsetting her, so she left and I went over to Deb & Jared's place, where they were having a small Labor Day party. It was fun; I met some people I'd never met before and just talked about geeky stuff. =)

Yesterday I didn't do much because it just felt like a really drab day. There was this Jewish festival taking place somewhere downtown, but the only person I knew that was going told me it wasn't very interesting. So as usual, I went over to Dad's for a steak dinner. He said it was OK if I wanted to bring my violin over and play for him, which I think may help me get over my nerves.

The Lord taketh and giveth

I don't normally believe in Fate, but today has made me briefly reconsider.

This morning, on a whim, I called back the director of a local community orchestra here in Baltimore. I tried e-mailing and calling before, no response. Today, I get the guy , and he tells me the first rehearsal of the group is tonight, just show up. No audition, no placement, nothing. Well, that should have been a sign right there. Another one might have been that the conductor couldn't remember the name of the concertmaster. I also e-mailed the Columbia Orchestra to see what their substitute policy is.

I just now came back from rehearsal, and that was one of the few times the winds almost outnumbered the strings. There were only 6 violins. Not 6 in each section, six. It was my first time playing in an orchestra in almost 10 years, and boy, was I lost. The only piece I knew well was Schubert's "Great" Symphony in C-major. Fortunately, almost everyone else was sightreading too, so I didn't feel so bad. Then I came home to find that the Columbia Orchestra had e-mailed me back and suggested I attend a few rehearsals to "get a feel for it" before a real audition! I have a feeling that group might be a little too above my level.

My lesson Thursday ought to go real interesting, me confessing that I'm already in an orchestra.