Day 370: "P" Pays Off

I was feeling humorous for today's title. This blog is how over the past couple of weeks I have learned that persistence and patience pays off. Those are two P words that I'm trying to balance. My persistence makes it impossible to be patient. However, I've learned with the technology and bank issues that persistence gets the ball rolling and acts like a catalyst of problem solving. Then you have to trust with patience that the people you instigated to help will give you good results in a reasonable amount of time. My technology and bank issues are finally over and the new tech system I have works great. So now, I can have television and Netflix entertainment as I prepare with excitement for the first day of SSMT.

Day 369: Scenery

Just to clarify before reading this, the blog post below will not be about theater scenery.

My voice teacher, Mrs. Doyle, asked me to play for a voice recital she was having at her house showcasing her private voice students. It was an incredibly simple gig and just gave me another opportunity to work on my accompanying skills, and not just accompanying but accompanying young people (around middle school age). She lives about an hour away in Bristol, Virginia. I think it is truly in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley because it seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. However, the more rural an area it is. Of course, the scenery was just stunning with the mountains, valleys, farms, trees, and huge meadows of the greenest grass you've ever seen. The drive was boring and being an hour I was glad that I could drive on such a scenic route.

Day 367 and 368: Bored

There is the saying, the idle hands are the devil's workshop. While I didn't necessarily get into any trouble over these two days, the devil's workshop was boredom. I had said that during my two week break between the end of school and the beginning of SSMT, I would go into hibernation. I love sleep as much as the next person but all the sleep I had during the day threw my schedule off and I was just eventually going stir crazy. That's why last Saturday to avoid complete insanity from nothing to do, I saw a quadruple feature at the Alamo. That's the movie theater I've written about before. However, since I can't just go to the movies everyday I will press through the boredom until Friday which is the first day of SSMT.

Day 365 and 366: One Year

A year ago today, I left Conyers to begin my journey to SU. I started by moving into my summer housing and had my first job here for SSMT 2014. A year later, I've finished one year of education here and am about to start round number two. It will begin on Friday with SSMT 2015 and I'll have a second year of schooling here in August. I can't say how much fun I've had this year. I'm so blessed for all of the opportunities that I have been given and am so thankful for the people that make this possible. To recap some of my greatest adventures, go through the archives. Also, let me know which blog so far has been your favorite and I'll do more like those in the second year. I love it here!!!!!!

Day 364: My Favorite Comedy

If you know me at all, you know that I love The Golden Girls. It is my favorite comedy TV show, if not my favorite TV show overall of all time. I hate to match the gay stereotype but it's programmed into our DNA that we have to like the Golden Girls. It's just a common interest among gay people. Anyway, I love the show's candid response to serious topics, the quick wit humor, and the chemistry of four incredible actress comedians. My favorite golden girl is Sophia, the feisty, oldest, and sassiest lady. I always am watching videos of her scenes on YouTube because they are so hilarious and just make me smile. I have the entire series on DVD. I can quote practically the entire pilot episode, name several of the episodes in order based on season and topic. In essence, I'm a huge golden girls fan. Since the end of school, I have been watching all of the episodes again, and it's amazing how much new stuff you notice when you watch something again. It's also what I've been watching for hours as I stay up all night and cross stitch. Also, during one of my staying awake nights this week, I broke my record of most episodes at one time in a marathon: 19 is my new record. To end this blog I have to quote the show to all my friends and family, "Thank you for being a friend."

Day 363: Awake, Asleep

Over the course of the two weeks between school and SSMT, I have nothing to do so I always said that I was just going to eat and hibernate. That's exactly what I've been doing. The trouble is though that it's made me sleep during the day and be awake all night. You could probably tell that by seeing some of previous blog post times. Basically, my schedule has been sleep, eat, sleep, eat, practice the piano, mini-sleep, shower, late night snack, up all night, breakfast, and sleep. I know what you're thinking: that's an absolutely ridiculous sleep schedule especially for a seizure patient but that routine lasted for about 4 days. I will explain what I do when I'm up all night and how I switched the schedule back to normal in a later blog.

Day 362: Dean's List

I'm not going to write too much in this blog because the title says it all. Yesterday, I received the sixth email ever about making the Dean's List. Psychiatrists have always told me that titles like that or titles like valedictorian which are based on grades don't matter because the only people that care are admissions people of grad schools and even then they don't care much. For that reason, I don't dwell on the fact that I made the Dean's list for the sixth semester in a row. Note: that includes my days at Georgia Perimeter. I got all As this semester as you know which includes the 2 A-s. However, even though it's not a big deal to me, I just wanted to post about it because I know my family is very proud of me because of that news.

Day 361: Puzzled Space

If you know anything about me, you know that I have a special place in my heart for jigsaw puzzles. I have been putting them together since I was two. I would hate it when mom came to pick me up from pre-k because I would just be starting a puzzle. Anyway, there was a big gap on my dorm room wall that was driving me crazy. It was too big for a poster but I went online and I found the perfect puzzle for the space. It's a puzzle of a collage of photos and posters of musicals. I've done a similar one of the same brand but it was of Hollywood stars. Also, I did one of classic TV. This one though captures me the best and features every musical you could think of (except sound of music and hello dolly, which surprises me). After I finished it in two nights, I hung it on the wall and it was even more perfect for the space than I could have ever imagined. Here's a photo of the space with and without the puzzle.

Day 360: Waiting

For anybody who knows me, I'm a very impatient person. I'm working on that, but most of the time, my persistence keeps me from being able to wait. Recently I had a bank situation and I have to wait for it to resolve itself, I applied for a credit card and am waiting to see if it was approved, I'm dealing with a school technology issue and I'm having to wait for the Institutional computing department. See a pattern. I think God is creating situations to help me learn patience. It's tough but I seem to be making do, but like I said to Dr. Albert, maybe I'll developed a full character trait of patience by the time I get my Masters here at SU.

Day 358 and 359: Random

There's a lot of little random things I want to mention in this weekend blog.

I met a really random person at Cracker Barrel who saw me going through Beethoven and started chatting with me. She was saying a lot of odd but comforting things about my positive persistent energy she sensed from me and how she saw great things for me and an abundance of success. I don't believe in psychics, but it was a neat encounter.

I can finally rest. I have a break for two weeks. I think I will go into hibernation.

The weather is stunning here now and the landscaping is more gorgeous than ever. Some photos below are from when mom was about to leave and taking pictures around campus.

Day 357: New Room

Well, this particular blogpost won't have much writing. I am finally settled in my room and mom is on her way home. This is the third room I've had since I've started my college adventures and as the old saying goes, the third times a charm, or in this case the third rooms a charm. It's the largest and most homely room. It's also the most convenient in terms of laundry and parking. Best of all there are no stairs! Here are pictures of my new room. Thanks to mom for helping me set it up.

Day 354-356: Another Move

I don't know how people do it, because moving sucks. I mean there is no nice way of putting it; it's a nightmare. It's worse than a horror film (even though I've never a horror film) but I digress (anybody? Nobody). The point is moving is awful and exhausting, but the one way I made I through it was my mother helping me. She made the nightmare seem bearable. I'm going to stop writing now because it reminds me too much of the horrid three days.

Day 353: Mother's Day

I love several people in the world and I have tons of friends and family, but there is one person that means more to me than anyone else in the universe. As you can tell from the subject of this post, I'm talking about my mother. She gave birth to me, she got me through my medical problems, helped me get through school, helps me move, gives me advice, teaches me several lessons in life and domestics, and loves me unconditionally. She has also always supported me in my musical ambitions. She's coming up to visit and help me move on the day that she should be relaxing and treated. Although I sent her some flowers for Mother's Day for when she got back home. I love her so much and I definitely am not ashamed to admit that I'm a mamas boy. I'm so thrilled that I have such a great relationship with such an amazing woman. Here's photos of our happy pairing:

Day 351 and 352: Another Apollo

I recently accepted a job to play for another show at the Apollo Civic Theater in Martinsburg, WV. This show was the classic Golden Age musical, Once Upon a Mattress. If you aren't familiar with the show, it's a musical adaptation of The Princess and the Pea. It was also written by Mary Rodgers, the daughter of the famous Richard Rodgers. Although, her musical couldn't be half of any of her father''s shows it was a decent show. I wasn't crazy about the music or the book. Also, given the fact that it was a community theater, it wasn't the greatest production but like Mary Rodgers, a good try. The production also proved that some sort of magic just happens on opening night and everything just falls into place. Well, if you see the time, I should go to sleep. Hopefully, a queen didn't put a pea under a mattress to keep me awake.

Day 350: The Results

Drum roll please, the results are in, the results for the juries that is. I received my piano jury results and I got three As and a B-. A B- isn't terrible, and I've heard it's impossible to get an A from that particular juror. Also, there were two things that made up for it. One was the fact that the chair of the piano department gave me high praise and incredible compliments, and his opinion was very important because he's a world-renowned Beethoven connoisseur. Also, the Dean of Graduate studies, Dr. Walker, who gave me a B last semester, complimented me greater than last semester and was really impressed by my musical story telling. 

As for my voice jury, I got all As. I think that says it all especially since I'm only a minor. People gave nothing but compliments except my voice teacher who knows I'll keep learning more voice technique as I continue. Someone said what a great voice I had and how my personality shone through in my performance. Another juror was delighted to see a vocal performance side of me and seeing I could sing a little too. 

I'm thrilled about these results and now my final grades have been posted and I got 6 As and 2 A-s. 

Day 349: Accompanying

During jury week, 24 was a special number. It's not that I was turning 24 years old during that week. Instead, I played for 24 voice juries. It sounds like a lot but I love it and it's a good way of some extra income. Accompanying is my entire degree as I'm sure you know, so it just gives me practice and experience collaborating with performers. The best part about playing for so many people is that when they are scheduling the can put several back to back. For example, Monday of Jury week I played for six back to back and I wasn't having to go to the chapel to just play for one. I love accompanying and I love this school!

Day 348: Theory Final

Today, I had my final final of my first year at Shenandoah. It was for my Theory 102 course aka Diatonic Harmonies and Simple Forms. The test, just like we had been warned, was all about the simple forms such as binary and ternary forms. It also had questions about periods. At the end of the exam, there were some easy extra credit questions. Unlike History of Western Music II, Theory 102 was a much easier course and so I went into the final with confidence, and I left it with confidence because I knew I had done well. It wasn't even about doing excellent on the exam. I have learned over the years that perfection isn't possible. All that matters is that you do your best which I did, but this time my best did get me an A on the final and in the course. It's all thanks to my awesome teacher Dr. Romine. He is the greatest theory teacher in history. Only a school this great could have a professor as awesome as he is. I love it here.

Day 347: Voice Jury

A few days ago, I posted about my piano jury. Today, I had my final exam for my voice lessons. Similar to my piano jury, I had to sing the repertoire that I had learned for a panel of judges. I had been sick, and my voice wasn't at 100% nor do I have the technique of a standard vocal performance major. However, I did the best I good. I think my casual charm really sold my performance but that was all because of my song selection. I sang the Irving Berlin song, "I Love a Piano," and of course given the fact that I do love a piano the judges, who are used to seeing me behind the piano were smiling and enjoying themselves. Now, I just have to wait to see how I did on the jury and I'll make sure to post the results here on the blog. I also could have had to sing my second song, but they didn't need to hear it; they said one was enough because I'm only a minor. My second song was "Che Fiero Costume," so even though I didn't have to sing it, if you ever need to hear me sing an Italian Art Song, I know one. None of this voice stuff would be possible if it weren't for my teacher Ms. Doyle (see last week's blog post). I LOVE IT HERE!!!

Day 346: Hell Exam

When I came to this school, I knew there was going to be at least one class that was going to be difficult. I have written in previous blogs about my difficult History of Western Music 2 course and entering the final I had an 88 which was only a B+. That's fine but for a music course I always think I should get an A. I studied and studied and studied. I went to the study session. I read, I listened, and I looked at old notes and power points. Most importantly, I prayed. I was stressed going into the exam, but it was 50 times easier than I ever thought possible. It's as if God put on there just what He knew I knew and exactly what I had studied. I felt confident when I left the exam and was hopeful that my B+ had at least raised to an A-. Sure enough, I got a 97 on the exam. Hallelujah!!! Also, my final group project got a grade of a 92, and my make-up test which was 2 stressful essays on topics I weren't too sure of, I got a 90. While the course was still a pain in my college behind, I'm thankful for how determined the class made me to be successful.

Day 344 and 345: Apple Blossom

There are several party festivals that are commonly talked about such as Mardi Gras, cherry blossom festival, or cinco de mayo, but the party that makes this city famous is Apple Blossom. It's a time of festivals, parades, fireworks, and lots of parties filled with an abundance of college behavior. This isn't a party school but when it's time for apple blossom, school shuts down (literally closed for a day) and kids just go crazy for a weekend which oddly usually falls right before finals. In my opinion, they should wait till after finals and people can celebrate, but people by then are focused on going home. While I'm not a partygoer I'm not a party pooper so I'm not going to pass judgment on the people that did really stupid things during apple blossom but my apple blossom was fun too even without the parties. I watched different versions of the wizard of oz such as the original, the muppets version, and the wiz which is Motown version. I did laundry, enjoyed a double feature at the Alamo, took several naps, and watched Netflix. That was my idea of the perfect apple blossom and I had a blast. You can spend your time however you want as long as you're safe and smart. How will you spend your apple blossom?

Day 343: The Jury

Two days ago I wrote about my technique jury but today was the true test of my repertoire skills. The jury, if you don't know, is the final exam for applied courses or lessons. You go in and present your best piece and then from a list of your prepared repertoire that semester a panel selects what they want to hear or more so what they want to test your ability on. I presented selections by Bach, Haydn, Liszt, and Copland. I presented the Bach and they selected the Liszt. You never know the results until several days later but I felt good after this one because one of the tougher critics before I left said that I told some great stories through my pieces and I overheard someone say what a talented young man. It's a stressful time of judgment but if you go in prepared and do your best everything turns out fine. Now just to wait on the results.

Day 342: Ear Training

Today was my ear training final on the final day of classes. The course was the most pointless class that I've ever taken. Most people really learned in the class or even struggled in the course. However, when a person is born with perfect pitch then ear training is not very useful. We had to do exercises such as melodic dictation and while most people had to solfege it and listen for intervals I just heard the notes, put the note names, and wrote them on the staff. There were other exercises such as harmonic dictation, tonic prolongation, and interval identification which were even more pointless. However the class wasn't completely useless. As you should know from previous blog posts, I hate solfege, but I understand it more now and appreciate its use. There is always some good in everything and every experience, even an easy A, is an opportunity to learn.

Day 341: Technique

Today I had to undergo the 5 most stressful minutes of the pianist experience: the collegiate piano technique jury. It goes like this, you walk into an office, you greet two ladies that control your fate, you play scales and arpeggios that they pick, you play them while they stare at you in judgment, you sight read, you thank them, and you leave. It sounds simple but it's the most stressful 5 minutes ever. However, even though there is a small time of stress, I never thought I would have been able to say that I could play all of my scales and arpeggios with such confidence in the fingerings, evenness, and tone. Granted, they are nowhere near perfect but as time goes by and I practice my technique will become even better and those 5 minutes will become even easier and technique won't be so terrifying. I love it here!!!

Day 340: Mrs. Doyle

One thing that always frightened me about classes here is the fact that I had to take voice lessons but now I have one year of them under my belt and am excited about another year of it. While voice will never be my primary instrument, I understand it more and not afraid of it. This newfound vocal confidence is completely thanks to Mrs. Doyle, my fantastic voice teacher. She is a doctoral student who is a vocal teaching assistant but is as excellent as any of the primary faculty. On day one I sent her a terrified email about my fear of voice lessons and at the end of the school year I'm singing in front of the studio class with sheer casual confidence. I am so grateful for everything I learned from Mrs. Doyle and while she won't be my teacher next year she has made me prepared for another year of voice lessons. I love it here!!!

Day 339: Last Week

It's hard to believe that this is the last complete week of classes of my first year of SU. There is still a week after this for finals and juries but classes end this week. I look back at all and think of all the things I've learned in the classes this semester and last. I couldn't even begin to talk about it all. The educational value of being here is extraordinary. I love it here!!!

Day 337 and 338: Hairspray

This weekend I had the opportunity to play one of the most energetic shows I know of: Hairspray. My good friend Matthew J. Pool music directed and made a keyboard book for me just for the production. It was quite genius how much color he created with 4 people. It was at a local high school and brought back so many memories of playing for high school musicals in high school and even going back to help while going to community college. It also reminded me that high school productions aren't the best. However, they are still a lot of fun, friends are made, and that is the most important.

Day 336: The Birthday

The day that this blog applies to, April 24, is a very important day in the musical world. For those of you who know anything about me or have read my blog posts, you should know that my favorite singer is Barbra Streisand, aka Babs. Today is her birthday. Happy birthday Babs. That is all.

Day 335: Sondheim

Today we started our final composer discussion in AMT. Our final three classes will be spent talking about Stephen Sondheim. Even if you've never heard his name, I'm sure you've heard of some of his shows: Company, Into the Woods, and Sweeney Todd. He is the favorite composer of Dr. A and I'm slowly growing to appreciate Sondheim because of our class discussions. His music is a bit atonal and not hummable enough for my preference but based on things I'm learning about him and his shows he definitely is a genius and musical theater legend.

Day 334: Ms. Temple

After the funeral, I received an email from my piano teacher who was having a difficult pregnancy was in the hospital and had to be on permanent bed rest supervised until delivery. Therefore, our teacher couldn't finish the semester with us, but our teacher found us the best substitute to fill in for the final three lessons. Her name is Ms. Temple and she is kind of like the temple of the piano department. She has so much wisdom and so many ways of teaching so she gets her point across no matter how you learn it. She's so incredible because she has a lot of experience. She has been here for over forty years, the longest of any faculty. She even taught my current teacher Dr. Chen when she was a student at SU. Of course, she has finally decided to retire and this past month was her last working at the school. I'm so grateful that I got to work with her before she left and that I could learn so much even in three short lessons.

Day 333: Recital

Finally, I can catch up on these. Today I played for my first vocal recital at SU. Kevin Michael Jones, an incredibly talented tenor and graduate vocal pedagogy major took me on at the beginning of the school year and has let me go on a musical journey with him. All year long we worked on his recital which consisted of one theatrical song cycle called Songs from an Unmade Bed. It's basically one guy singing several contemporary musical theater (known here as CCM) that are tied together by a common theme. It's just a pastiche of the early song styles of the romantic era. Because of the title and the topics of the song it was not for children and was very relaxed. It was more like a performance slumber party. The cycle revolved around a gay man's unsuccessful love life because of his failed relationships that were based around sex or one night stands rather than romance. However, he makes it to the end and realizes he wants a romance and is ready for it. The recital was a definitely raw, emotional but I'm so glad I got to be a part of it and can't wait to play for a variety of recitals here at SU.