Grad School!!!

What better thing to do when you’re sick than to update your blog!!!

The rest of the summer went by so fast after returning from Texas! I had a procedure done on my neck which put me out for most of July. But, I spent a lot of July working on developing the skills I learned in Houston so I could hit the ground running when I started school in August.

During the beginning of August, I went to visit a dear friend of mine in Montana. I worked as one of the counselors at Bozeman Summer String Jam. Here I worked as a chamber ensemble coach for four groups and assisted the teachers in the orchestra classes by directing sectionals and playing alongside the students. It truly was an amazing experience.

Almost immediately after returning to Utah, I started my Master’s degree! I owe a great deal to my musicology and music theory professors because I passed my entrance exams with flying colors! It is such a great feeling to know that my studying and hard work is paying off.

I am now on week 5 of grad school and I am loving every second! To be formal, my degree is MM in Violin Performance and Pedagogy. The pedagogy part is important because not only will I be studying performance and developing my craft, I will be studying the work, research, and teaching of many pedagogues such as Suzuki, Roland, Flesch, Applebaum, Fischbach, etc. I am very excited to be doing a great deal of research on various pedagogy related topics. I hope to publish a book in the future about the craft of a performer and elements related to performance.

In other news, I auditioned and was placed in the O. C. Tanner Honors Quartet. This quartet is amazing! My fellow musicians are amazing, kind, and so fun to play with! We are hoping to compete together and perform together a lot during this school year.

I am playing with the UoU Philharmonia and it is an amazing ensemble. Under the direction of Dr. Baldwin, we have been creating amazing music together and our first concert is this coming Thursday 9/19! There will be a live stream link on music.utah.edu for anyone who would like to watch.

I have also decided to join a community orchestra! I guess I can’t get enough music! I am very excited to be the concertmaster of the Utah Philharmonic. It has been a great experience to work with so many amazing musicians in my own community.

Looking forward, I am currently working on the Brahms violin concerto and Bach Partita 2 for my DMA auditions next fall semester. I am working on my research studies of the Suzuki method as well as other pedagogical topics. I will also be performing with the UoU jazz band on Monday 9/23 and the O. C. Tanner Dance Company in January! It is very exciting to be expanding my horizons in classical music!

I am looking forward to a wonderful semester! Stay tuned for more updates on my research and performance work!

And don’t forget to check my Instagram @the.redviolin for videos!

Cheers!