Honor's Band Weekend

This weekend, students are here at SU to attend the honor's band. They are high school kids from around the area that attend this event, but SU music students have to house the students. It is always nerve-racking to find out what the students are going to be like, and since I room with my sister who is also in band, that means we get 2 students.

So last night (Friday), we met up with our students and brought them back to our room to settle in and get a good sleep for their busy day today. The two girls are both very polite, and it helped that they were close from high school. So luckily, we aren't stuck with messy, mean, and socially awkward people!

Today, the honor's band students have a full day of rehearsing and later tonight have a pizza party and dance party. Sunday is the concert where the SU band is also playing. It starts at 3 p.m. in Weber Chapel (so come along, it'll be a good show!) The SU band is playing first and if I am not mistaken, I think the jazz band also plays. Then, the honor's band plays too. The music should be fun (and of course played very well... this is honor's band after all..)

I'll post pictures from the concert tomorrow! Hopefully some of you can make it out!

Practice makes perfect....

So today I'm getting back to practicing since I've been sick this week (Yuck!). But here is a picture of my clarinet! I remember up until sixth grade I used a rented clarinet through a music company but in sixth grade my mom finally bought me my own clarinet. Since I was taking lessons and soon 'graduating' to junior high school she bought me this clarinet.

Of course in this picture it is taken apart and in its case. But also in my case I carry reeds, a tuner, a cleaner, and cork grease. I assume you all know.. but a reed is the piece of wood that is places on the mouthpiece that vibrates to create sound when it is blown into. A tuner is important for every musician to carry because playing in tune is what makes a musician sound their best. Cork grease keeps the cork pieces moisturized so they do not crack and break when putting the clarinet together and taking it apart.

This clarinet is pretty old... but it has been very good to me throughout the years :)

Pictures at an Exhibition

So I was listening to Pandora radio and one of my favorite pieces came on... Pictures at an Exhibition. Pictures at an Exhibition was composed by Modest Mussorsky based off of his friend's picture show, so it is pretty interesting how he composed the music by giving a tour of the exhibition. Originally this piece was written for piano, but over the years there have been other arrangements and orchestrations for bands or orchestras. I have played parts of Pictures at an Exhibition in both my band and orchestra from high school. The symphony band played it and for orchestra, I played alongside 5 other musicians.

On this Wikipedia page, there are recordings of the movements in this piece.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictures_at_an_Exhibition

Auditions tomorrow....

So tomorrow (Thursday) I have an audition for symphonic band. Each semester, the musicians have to re-audition for seating. The clarinets have to play Galantai Tancok (Dances of Galanta) by composer Kodaly. I found a recording (although I'm not playing in it) but you'll get the idea. The section that I have to play for my audition is from about 1:25 to 3:36. Take a listen! I think this is a pretty good recording of it.

I tend to get nervous for auditions, even though it isn't really too intimidating. Our band director here, Dr. Eric Hinton is really talented and helpful and definitely loves music.

High School Band Trip

This is a photograph of my high school Symphony Band when we went to Chicago.

We attended a Medieval Times event where our band received awards. In competition with other high school bands, we received superior status on each of our awards.

But I guess in my first post, I didn't tell you much about myself...
I am a sophomore at Susquehanna University. I am a Communication Major, but I do participate in the Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble here. Since I have been playing clarinet for so long, I did not want to stop playing when I came to college.

To start...

To tell you a little about myself, I have been playing clarinet 11 years. I have participated in band throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school, and have been section leader since my first year of band. As a sophomore at Susquehanna University, I still plan on continuing band throughout my experience. Participating in both band and orchestra has given me great opportunities to play in pretty cool places. In high school, the Symphony Band went to a convention in Chicago. The orchestra also took a trip to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Cape May, where we played in the capital building.

This photograph is my high school's (North Hills Senior High School) orchestra when we played at the capital building.