Do dreams come true?

The timing of things can be very interesting at times. There is a job that I have dreamed about having since I was in middle school about the time I got serious about playing the violin. Yesterday the local musician’s union newsletter arrived announcing a position at that very symphony.

I’ve been mulling it over in my brain for over 24 hours now. Despite the problems that the group has been having I can’t help but wonder at the timing. My studio is so small, and other frustrations with the school make me feel that it’s time to move on from where I teach now. I’ve been doing a bunch of auditions, so I’m use to doing the necessary work at a high level. I’ve been working on getting more jobs with camber groups to play more in front of people, and work on handling any nerves I get for being responsible for my own music. Of course I don’t know if they would even give me a chance to audition, but as one friend said Sunday morning I’ll never know unless I give it a chance.

So, now I have to figure out if I’m brave enough, and strong enough to give myself a chance. I know I’ve come a long way. I can hear the improvement, and I’m understanding my technique more and more over the past couple of months.

Continue forward

This week has been a good practice week. In between giving wedding quotes to brides, planning some Halloween fun for my studio, and waiting for people to get back to me I’ve gotten a lot of good practicing done. Besides working to lay a musical base for all of the audition excerpts I’ve been making sure that the details like bow strokes, dynamics, where I need to be in the bow, and intonation are in place as well. It’s like making sure my running form is right at a slow speed before moving to speed workouts. Foundation first, and then the speed work comes.

It’s already starting to pay off too! Check out this new recording of my work with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto’s first movement. I have to say I’m quite pleased with the progress.