Career?

A thought came to me recently about what I ultimately want to do with my life. For a long time orchestral work has been my goal. But it's sort of been 'the norm.' I absolutely love playing in orchestra, so I think I could be very happy if I find a good job in a place that I like. But I have never really been super passionate and focused about growing up and becoming an orchestral violinist. My heart is really in quartet music. If I could have any dream job it would be as a 2nd violinist in a tight knit group. Unfortunately, you can't make a living as a quartet unless you are the very best. Only a handful of successful quartets tour around the country and record and do well for themselves. And the likelihood of finding 3 other musicians that I love to work with who would want to stay together as a professional group is small.

A new thought I had was opera work. I really love playing in orchestra pits and I love listening to opera. I'm not sure if opera orchestras are full time but I imagine that they are. Maybe I could get by with gigs on the side. I'm definitely going to look into it. I only know a handful of operas right now but I should be able to look up others and read through violin parts. I wonder who I could talk to to find out more about that particular career option.

Today I put in about 3 hours practicing. I feel much more confidant but I know I have a lot of work to do to make everything consistently solid without hesitation. I want to play through my excerpts and Sibelius for people tomorrow but I'm not sure if anyone is available.

Scales and Sevcik have worked wonders for my intonation. There is so much to work on, but I think I have made good progress the past few days. I started adding arpeggios and minor scales to my 'warm up' hour. I need to rotate in 3rds, 6ths, and octaves. I've done some scales on one string (particularly useful on the G and E strings) and I have really good shifting exercises that I need to keep working on.

Teal reminded me of some very good bow exercises that Mrs. Heard had taught me forever ago. I hardly ever work on my bow arm technique and it's limiting my musicality. I need to finish taping up my copy of Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching, by Galamian, which was beat up in the attic (by a circular saw. long story). I am a very left brained, technique focused player, and my philosophy has always been to focus on the technique and master your instrument so that you can fully serve whatever musical ideas you have or are asked of you. My Sibelius first movement is going well again so that I should now find my inspiration for playing that piece again. The musical ideas and phrases I come up with will partially dictate how I plan my bow and fingers in order to effectively convey my creative thoughts through the music.

I am really nervous for this audition down in Huntsville, but am very pleased with my practice already. I hope to continue to practice more everyday. I have lots of other plans and designs for my year off, but music has to be my top priority. I am still struggling with wasting a lot of time but I think I am beginning to turn my life around at last. The surge in creative activity this week has been very encouraging, and I hope to finish 3 more poems soon. Once I complete at least 1 graduate school application I will probably return to Facebook. I didn't think about it at all for several weeks but lately I have felt like I'm in self-imposed exile. But until I get my life in order it will only be a distraction.