Acceptance

I was extremely fortunate to receive my email of acceptance to CU Boulder before I left Tutu and Papa's house. We were watching Syracuse basketball (they beat UConn, but lost yesterday to Cincinnati) so I waited until the game was over to tell them. I asked Molly when we should hear about financial aid offers, and she said they would let us know by the end of the month. I was really unsure of whether I had made a good enough impression during my audition at Boulder. There's no way it was my best playing, and I'm sure they heard better players than myself (at least Molly, haha), but I did really like my lesson with Lina Bahn, though I'm not sure that really had much bearing on the final decision.

I wanted to tell Tutu and Papa first, but once I let them know I texted a bunch of people the good news. It was the best possible ending of a fantastic trip across the West. I'll break down some of the stories I gathered in other posts, but I can sum up my trip quickly: after a nervous audition it was great hiking with Mary and hanging out in Boulder (I was glad to help her put together her IKEA furniture, and I hope she gets the table anchored to the wall so it doesn't fall out); I spent time with Tutu and Papa in Pomona, listening to their stories; I flew down to Phoenix for my 2nd audition, which I felt good about, and went hiking with Mr. Wilkison; back in Pomona, John drove me to Disney Land where I spent most of the day with Arreanna, and after a trip to Hollywood and Pasadena (the Huntington Gardens) we had one last family gathering where I played Bach and Sibelius.

It's incredibly hard to say no to returning to Vienna, but I could not be happier with the idea of moving to Boulder. And I don't see why I couldn't go, but of course I want to get as much financial aid as possible. I was really happy working with Lina Bahn, and the new full time violin professor sounds like a good match for me in terms of focusing on orchestral playing. Plus, she thought I could ask the 2nd violinist of Takacs for some lessons, where I could hone my musicality. I really like the collaborative atmosphere there.

For a while now I have wondered if I'm truly committed to music as a career, and talking with Arreanna helped bring things into focus. She asked several pointed questions and got me thinking about what it will take to carve out a life in music, and if that's what I really want. I felt lost in my musical life without regular lessons and orchestra rehearsals. I regret not auditioning for more local orchestras, which was my big plan for this year off. But getting into the music school I wanted to was real affirmation that if I'm serious about music, I could find a job that makes me happy, and it would be an orchestral job.