DMA recital round 2

My next recital approaches. The past 9 months have been rather turbulent, leading up to a change in piano teachers. The summer has been a time of transition and putting away things in the past. The first step was adding a Bach piece to the recital. Even the start of this semester was a challenge to move forward to new ground, as I often felt I was still in a cage.

The selection of repertoire is again more challenging that I intended it to be. Firstly, this recital requires way more stamina physically and mentally from me. There is also a juxtaposition of the tragicomic in Bach's Capriccio with the tragic/heroic of Schubert's last sonata, both sharing the same key. My strong point at the piano is color but somehow Debussy wasn't quite working out. Since Estampes was not fully a choice of mine, it has been difficult overcoming a mental/emotional block. I discovered the extent of this "block" when I couldn't write program notes because I knew almost nothing of this set. Those of you that know me, will recognize this is rather strange. I usually thoroughly research all my recital pieces. The other twist is that the first two pieces in this set deal with exoticism and eroticism. Need I say more about how difficult this is? I'm glad I found this out 3 weeks before the recital.


It has been good to be able to look back on my past two years and what it has taught me. Being regimented at the piano for two years was rather unpleasant but perhaps now the voice in me will finally want to be heard. I listened to the recording of my first DMA recital. Sadly, I do not recognize that pianist although I know her well.


It certainly forced me to look for other outlets to be creative: dance & Chinese history. As I said to Ken Robinson after his lecture, "Hi, I'm a music student here. Welcome to my prison." I am much less self-conscious now, although I am generally not a shy person. There will hopefully be pleasant surprises for everyone, me included. I can't wait to get on stage!

Upcoming Performances

Oct 2, 4:00pm Graduate Recital, Capstone Village
Oct 7, 8:00pm Graduate Recital, Moody Recital Hall, University of Alabama
Oct 23, 7:30pm Graduate Recital, Messenger Recital Hall, Southwestern College Winfield KS

Other events:
Oct 27, Wichita Asian Festival. I will be accompanying "America, the Beautiful" and performing something Malaysian with friends. This is going to be fun!!

People Watching at Airports (Pt 2)

Since I blogged about people watching at O'Hare on my way home to Malaysia, I want to continue with the same coming back to the USA. This round it was more of parent watching.

My journey back to the USA was very smooth considering other experiences I have had. I, along with other fellow passengers, was plagued with screaming children on almost every flight segment. I also was landed with the great honor of sitting next to a screaming toddler on my last flight segment. I actually didn't mind it too much since I wisely always have earplugs & an eye mask with me.

What appalled me was the lack of parental sense! The flight from Singapore to Japan is about 7 hrs. I felt sorry for the toddler who didn't have his toys, his snacks and his blankie.. and whatever it is that could occupy him. I thought that after takeoff the parents would take something out, but sadly nothing. The child was allowed to screech everytime he wanted something.

We almost had a lost child scenario.. screaming child running on the concourse in O'Hare. Security personnel even tried to get a hold of him. I pitied the mom who could obviously not handle him. She had a baby on her back and just couldn't handle chasing this toddler.

I noticed the same with the parent who sat next to me. There were no toys, nothing. The toddler's routine is already disrupted and what more could torture you more.. Then there was another toddler and they decided screaming was the best form of communication. It was rather comical! I was the one with the earplugs *grin* and slept through the whole fiasco. The other poor passengers...

I didn't have perfect parents but I remember every long trip we had to make was filled with some planning. My brother and I each had our own bag. Dad would take us to the candy store and we'd choose our favorite stuff. We chose what snacks, books, games and toys we were bringing along. Usually these trips involved my dad being in a meeting and we had to keep ourselves occupied.

Buy your child an interesting new toy secretly. Only bring it out after takeoff. :) I once read this and will take this advice pretty seriously. Only I will have to buy a few new toys since there are quite a few flight segments from the USA to Malaysia. Sometime in the future my days of perfect parenting will end!

Firsts...

It's been a while since my last rant, and that was definitely a rant. The summer went by so quickly. There were some things that I did for the first time..
1. Changed my hairstyle for the third time this year. It is straightened and dyed! I have never changed it that many times a year.
2. Danced solo in public - This was a great experience for me. It did help that there weren't too many people that knew how to dance to assymetric meters.
3. Had a full body deep tissue massage - OUCH OUCH OUCH but it was great
4. Learned a few self-defense techniques
5. Learned how to tie a scarf umpteen ways

Some things I will do for the first time soon (and hopefully do these successfully):
1. Play a set of Debussy pieces
2. Attempt to play a 40-min Schubert sonata
3. Play at the Wichita Asian Festival.
4. Spend a semester abroad in China which leads to no. 5
5. Beg for money! Lots of it.