Christmas Greetings!

Making it to the President's List (ie., having a 3.75 or higher GPA for the semester) may have something to do with my silence on my blog in the last several weeks. Reflecting on the four plus weeks that we have come through are somewhat of a blur. It must be either my caffeine is wearing off, or my body is still sleep deprived, or both. :)

But I do remember that the string quartet I was in this last semester had the great honor of playing Christmas carols in the university's widely acclaimed Museum & Gallery when it was open to the public early on in the month. Discarding the traditional black for the evening, we chose to wear festive colors.

Growing in friendships and musically with these girls this semester was great fun! For our chamber recital we played

Glazunov's AllaSpagnola and All’ Ungherese from his 5 Novelettes. Check out the links for an idea of what we were playing, played by real pro's...)

The rest of the semester was a whirlwind of completing classes, passing my senior recital note check, and taking eight finals. One of the weekends a couple friends and I went to watch the Nutcracker live, played by  the city's symphony. I think I would enjoy it more if I were to experience it again, since that night I was so, so tired. What I do remember was that I enjoyed it. :)

Prior to driving home for Christmas Break I went up to a surprise birthday party that was being put together for my Grandma's 85th birthday. It was the weekend right after finals, so it worked out perfectly to make the drive up north. She was completely surprised, and it was such a joy to spend a weekend with her. Michigan had lots of snow, too, which was a delight.

And now I've been at home for just under two weeks. What have I been doing? Mostly sticking very close to home and resting alot. Being a college student is exhausting (but oh so rewarding!!) and this semester was no exception. There have been a few occasions where I've gone out with my sisters, or up to the mountains for a morning in a coffee shop, or spent some time making Christmas treats in the kitchen, so I haven't been a complete lazy bum. ::winks::

With less than a week now before I head back for my last semester of undergrad, it is doubtful that I'll get anything added to my etsy shop (so sorry!). My priorities lie in some more rest and keeping up my senior recital repertoire. I'll spare you those juicy details, since most of you have had your fill of musical dialogue for one post! But I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas season and will have a joyous new year!

(If you love the delights of this season as much as I do, check out this wonderful new blog that will keep you occupied with lovely writings and pictures! I still have many more posts to catch up on, which I'm off to now after I fix myself another cup of TWG's vanilla caramel tea.)

Midnight Winter Apron

At long last, there is a new apron in this shop this afternoon. See for yourself!

It reminds me of the carol "In The Bleak Midwinter." I found a lovely youtube video of the 
Choir of Kings College in Cambridge singing this.

Weekend Favorites

I caved in. I'm listening to Christmas now, thanks to my music theory teacher. This week he introduced us to the new Christmas CD he and his wife just came out with, and if we bought one he would give us a discount. College students like discounts. :)

So for this edition of favorite things, I thought I'd share two new Christmas CDs that have been released this year. Beginning with the one I just mentioned, this is a very festive collection of carols written for harp, saxophone, and strings. Now to be honest, when I heard that combination my immediate thought was, "interesting" but after hearing it, I can say that it is beautifully and tastefully done. It can be ordered here or if you'd like to immediately download it, they have that option on their personal website here.

The other CD is one that my sister has done with strictly harp music and on all five of her harps. She's made multiple CDs of hymn arrangements, but after many requests, she finally came out with a Christmas one. :) Her arrangements vary from soothing to majestic and worshipful. You just might be like some of her customers and just leave it in the CD tray during the whole Christmas season. ;) Her CD can be ordered from her website.

Weekend Favorites

Well, I am back in the south, but now in a state that is north of my former one. Any readers from the Carolina's? I need to know of some good thrift stores!! :)

The theme for this post is rather obvious. Due partly because I auditioned today and partly because I just love music. All pictures are courtesy of Pinterest.

[ No. 1] This quote.

[No. 2] This music from BBC's "North & South" is so pretty. Wish it were longer.

[No. 3] Such good reminders for me, especially with transferring to a school that is known throughout the country for it's music school.

[No. 4] No picture for this one, but I've realized lately how blessed I am to have learned from some of the greatest of violinists & violin teachers, and been under some of the best teachers and professors from my former college. I'm anticipating learning and growing even more here over the next couple of years.

The Return of the Christmas Quartet

Several weeks ago I was asked to play in a Christmas Quartet like I did several years ago with some friends of mine. The husband and wife were going to dress up in Dicken's fashion as before, but my costume has been long gone since then, (well, except for the petticoat) so I figured I'd wear standard concert attire or either be a mad woman and whip up something fast.

 

 

Unfortunately it had to be canceled since the other violinist they had in mind had other commitments each weekend this month. At any rate, it was fun to look back and see this picture that was taken after we performed an oratorio together several years ago at our local library.



Caving In & Other Rambles

Every year around this time, we keep telling ourselves, "No, wait until after Thanksgiving," to listen to our Christmas music CDs or watch our favorite Christmas movies (White Christmas, anyone??).

This year we sort of "cheated" that rule since my older sister was feverishly practicing carols for her new Christmas CD that she just finished recording. She is a wonderful harpist, for those who didn't know, and has produced four albums. Yours truly played the violin on one of them, though now I cringe at hearing myself since I've attempted to be more proficient on my instrument by way of studying violin performance at college (two more years to go!)

The other day I was browsing one of my favorite thrift stores and I bought a John Rutter Christmas CD for $2 in like-new condition. And yes, I caved in and have already been playing it in my car. :)

Snow will be here tonight, Lord willing, and as much as I wish to bring out the Christmas decorations, I must content myself with hot chocolate, thick sweaters, and sewing.

Here are a few sneak peeks at what I have on my table:



The ingredients for a perfect Christmas apron to sell in the shop. I'm thinking a simple Tasha Tudor style, but if you must have this fabric in another style, leave a comment or send me a note through etsy, and I'll try to accommodate you!



I've decided that I'm going to make myself a Christmas dress out of this pretty deep teal cotton/poly/rayon (???) blend. It's not red or green, but then I can sometimes be somewhat "original" in nature. ;P I briefly mentioned it in this post of historical patterns and will be doing it in the 1933 Vintage Vogue pattern. Right now I can't decide which button to use. Any ideas?

Greetings from the Tower

Yes, I like to practice in the tower. It is an actual upper room in the music building and hence the name. Usually no interruptions (like on the 2nd floor with a banging pianist or a tooting horn in the practice room next to you, or even friends walking in just to say "hey") and alot of stuff gets done.

 

I laughed when I read this quote, because it is SO true:

Caution: Use of this instrument can lead to excessive anxiety, heightened levels of self-criticism, acute concern about the opinions of other people, over-awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of others, and a tendency to spend prolonged periods of time alone in very small rooms (often staring into a mirror.)

 

I'm off to go practice and then head to work for the remaining part of the day. Have a lovely weekend!

Life

As you all might have guessed (and you would have assumed correctly), "Cheri is busy." This is my attempt of coming out of my hole/practice room/busy schedule/(insert any other word here) to give you a brief update.

 

We had snow a few weekends ago. Being born and raised in the mid-west, and live in a snowy part of the world when I'm not in school, getting an inch or two of snow doesn't phase me. It changes everything down here. Schools and businesses close while people frantically run to the grocery store for bread and milk. (Don't they realize that it will be gone in a couple of hours? Especially when it's in the south?) 

 

 

The majority of people are literally scared to come out of their front door if there is snow on the road, while I leisurely took a walk early Sunday morning before church (and yes, the snow was gone by the time I got there) to grab a few pictures before the sun began melting it all away.

 

With classes, practice, and work I rarely have time for socializing (unless you count a quick walk with a friend or two to Starbucks in between classes as being social) and even on Sunday I don't often visit with people from church. If it wasn't 1 1/2 hours away, that would most likely be different. However, last week I was blessed with a several hour visit from a MN friend who was in the area for a friend's wedding. Amy and I enjoyed visiting over Olive Garden, window shopping, and Starbucks. 

School is going well, work is going well, and so is music. Each day I count myself so blessed to be able to learn from some of the best professors and teachers I know of. God is so gracious.

 

And as a testimonial of my joy in learning music, here I am with my just-arrived unaccompanied Bach sheet music. I had a cheapy edition, and my teacher was practically begging me to get a better one. I am working on the Loure and Gavotte for those of you who may be familiar with unaccompanied Bach. It sounds so simple, clean, and pure, but it takes more effort and practice than you can imagine to endeavor to get it sounding that way. :)

Well, I'm off to go make a grilled cheese for supper. Have a lovely February, and may it be graced with clusters of blooming daffodils like we're seeing in yards and hillsides down here (though my northern and western friends may have to settle with a bunch of blooms on their kitchen table!).

Lots of "New"

Family time, Christmas, and New Years came and went. Way to quickly. School started on Monday, so the first week is offically over and my weekend started with working at Starbucks. I started training as a barista before the break, and now I'm a regular part timer there making everyone their favorite lattes and frappachinos. It's great fun, but what is even more fun is making the more complicated "custom" drinks for the regulars and them saying you did it perfectly. Yay! :)

Trying to juggle work with being a full time student and practicing violin and piano is a wee-bit more difficult than I had anticipated, but I think it should go fairly well if I can somehow prioritize and schedule my time. More often than not I'm one of those that takes life as it comes, but then get in a jam when there are "must-do" things to squeeze in that I run out of time for. Any tips from those who live by lists and schedules? :)

Yesterday I was super thrilled to have bought an ear training book for a music class. The campus bookstore was selling it for an outrageous price, so I looked it up on Amazon and found it there for close to $20 less. Yay! :) I got free two-day shipping, too, since I'm a student/Prime member. In fact, there is a special going on of getting a free 6-month trial period if you have an .edu e-mail address. Check it out!

All but one class is music this semester. Our orchestra is doing Mozarts 40th symphony and another work or two that is yet to be determined. For violin I'm working on the usual stuff (scales, arpeggios, double stops scales, ie, 3rds, 6ths, and octaves ::ahem:: must get those down before I start on 10ths ::ahem::, a couple etudes) finish up the first movement and start on the 2nd of the Bruch concerto, and then in preparation for my junior recital next semester, I'll be starting some unaccompanied Bach on Monday. After attempting a partita and completely ruining it a couple years ago, I've stayed away from even listening to it since, but I think I'm ready for it now. I love the clean simplicity of Bach. Of course Hilary Hahn's CD is always a favorite and a great inspiration to model after in the practice room.

Speaking of which, I'm behind on practicing and will be under the knife if I'm not prepared Monday morning, so I'll sign out for now. I've got a post in the works for next week, so watch out for that.

Mid-Week Inspiration

This is the next piece I'm learning, but I'm not allowing myself to learn a note of it until this weekend since I'm performing Bartok's Roumanian Dances (all six of them) on Friday and don't want to become distracted. :)

The Gift of Music

This spring and summer I've had the delight to teach two girls, and today they gave their first mini recital (even if it was for their families). Teaching, as I told their mothers today, is stretching but also very rewarding. It is my prayer as a teacher who is still learning violin (and the skill of teaching it to others!) that I'd be able to perceive their weaknesses and praise their strengths.

A couple of weeks ago, on of my students mother's gave me a book that was found in her parents possessions. Little did she know that I love antiques almost as much as violin. What could be a better gift than a combination of both? :)

Sorry that the following picture is sideways (it refuses to turn around!) but if you crank your necksideways, you'll see the copyright date of 1885.

Being strict in posture and technique, I must say that I was quite appalled at their illustrations just inside the front cover! Everything shown (other than the feet) is quite atrocious! Sometimes its good to learn from our forefathers, but this is not one of those things! ;) If a violinist is looking for some help in the right direction, it won't be this but my teacher's DVDs over at Violin Virtuosity. Her scale book is the only one a violinist (or violist!) will ever need, just in case anyone out there is looking for one!

The book starts out with beginner exercises...

...and closes with some more advanced etudes.

While I probably will only use this book on display and not in my teaching studio, I'm grateful for the generosity and the gift of music, the gift of violin, the gift of students, and the gift of God's grace!