First year down

School ended in a flurry of paper writing, exam preparation, and a token cell set composition. I can still hardly believe that I'm done with my first year, and I managed to squeeze in all 45 credits so I can start out next fall as a sophomore. Now that spring term is over I find myself musing about the possibilities that fall term holds, I can hardly wait. There are of course several classes that just have to be taken, but I'm sure I'll learn something from them, and then there are all the music classes I get to take, having completed the second two terms of theory successfully I'm able to move on to the second year, I have no clue what that entails but I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Since starting my music studies here I've discovered that theory is the perfect compliment to performance studies because it allows you to understand the music you play more fully. The end result being that as I understand the mechanics of the music I play I get a better sense of how to play the piece to make it musical as opposed to just a lot of notes sounding at the same or different times.

The most difficult aspect of my studies to cope with has been the concert attendance. I like going to concerts, but I find it really draining to attend twelve concerts throughout the term with almost all of them occurring fairly late in the evening. The good news is that I get exposed to a lot of new music along the way. I'm looking forward to see what's on the concert list for fall, hopefully a few senior recitals. It is inspiring to see the musical product of the four plus years of studies that the students complete. It is strange to think that someday it will be me giving the recital, I'm looking forward to it.