Wedding Frills and Work Thrills

Two days ago, my best friend got married to her boyfriend of five years. Now before I get all sappy, here's some background info. Jenn and I have been friends since our days in the nursery. We grew up together. Even though this was a joyous occasion, since Vincent is a wonderful young man, it was still somewhat sad. We'll be best friends forever, but our college days are gone. This is why I intend to be a part of the college community in the future, as a professor. Anywho, the wedding itself was beautiful. Jenn was glowing the entire time, and I think her dad nearly broken down when the minister (my dad) popped the question, "Who gives this woman?" I have to say Bravo to whoever made the cakes. Groom's cake was traditional chocolate decorated with fleur-de-lis. And the bride's----STRAWBERRY!!!! Jenn and Vincent are now moving to Oxford, where Vincent will continue with his masters and Jenn will teach.

Prague and Vienna was good. Despite the fact that my roommate felt I needed to wait on her hand and foot and react to her every whim (I'm NOT YOUR MAMA!), I had a good time. The next to last day we were in Vienna, I realized the only thing I had purchase was Harry Potter 3 in Deutsch. So I found this delightful hat shop on the Ringstrasse and purchase 2 flatcaps (1 black cotton, 1 navy wool)--a style I particularly like for women and these are the women's style, 1 lambswool scarf, and pair of black leather gloves with gorgeous stitching-wool lined. I had never spent this many Euros on anything. When I looked on my bank statement later, it was well over $200 in goods, but this is stuff that will come in handy next year! when i'm living near the Arctic Circle! :)

While in Prague, I decided not to hang with the group so much. Instead, I mingled with the festival ringers. I got reacquainted with Roxanne, Melissa, the Tippings, the Gramanns, Laura, Karen, Ida, Gay, and met one of the new British ringers-Tamara. You only see these people once a year so it's invaluable time spent. I might have the opportunity to attend UK Bronze in London at the end of October. My professors say it's ok to attend this event. Now, I'm waiting on news of possible scholar/sponsorship. Definitely, I will be attending the 2009 European Handbell Festival to take place in Ireland. Just a ferry ride away from Holyhead.

Dairy Queen is going on. Last night was a bit rough because our manager was not helping us with anything and we were slammed. But if I get on my soapbox now, I will never get off.

Sometime this week, I will send my passport and documents off for my student visa. Pray this goes through without complications.

Mom finally came home from Georgia for she starts school August 1. Apparently, she fell on her porch at the plantation and took a chunk out of her nose, which now looks pretty gross.

Anywho, that's all for now. Til next time, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!!!

After leaving the golden eagle's nest

Wow. It has been almost two months since graduation and time has really flown by. I have a bunch of news updates which I don't feel like spending a paragraph on each, so bullet form will have to do.

* I got an A on my thesis. I remember at the piano party, my eyes were glazed over because I had a final that morning and the thesis was submitted the week before. The paper itself was 67 pages and compiled with all the formalities of title pages, contents, etc. = 76 pages. I remember telling myself at the beginning of this writing process that I wanted the entire paper from front to back cover to be 35 pages. Obviously, I went over that limit. The title of the work is: Recasting the Spirit of Early Music: An Analysis and Discussion of Arvo Part's Te Deum and Magnificat. It's dedicated to Jenn, my late grandmother (concert pianist), Dr. Leventhal, and my parents. It also features a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on the dedication page. "Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

* I now have my senior ring with the correct finish; however, the engraving of "Wimbo" in the inside is still incorrect. For some reason, engravers at Balfour think a cursive lowercase "m" has two humps. It actually has three, and I wrote it out on the paper in cursive to show them what it looked like. Dost thou comprehend? Fat chance.

* Yesterday, I received my official unconditional offer which means that they know I have graduated from USM with a legit degree and therefore, I am clear to pursue my masters studies. There are two tracks I can take at Bangor. The Standard track means I would be evenly trained in Musicology and Historical Performance (40 credits each) and the Special track gives more emphasis to Performance (60 credits) and Musicology only has 20. I'm thinking I may choose the Standard track, but I will want to hear my professors' advice first.

* Summer jobs - Well, I was enjoying teaching music at Blessed Beginnings (enjoyed the kids, not the boss), but Wednesday, I was laid off because the boss is running out of money; however, I am supposed to give her a call when I come back from Europe in late July. I am also working at Dairy Queen. Friends of the family own the restaurant. It was pretty darn hard at first. Customers can be major idiots sometimes, but there are some who are really sweet.

* I am crocheting again. Currently, I am working on a huge afghan for Doc. Now, this originally was a multicolored (single skein) ripple afghan. Advice: never do a ripple with a single skein. You will get bored very easily. So, I told her that I was going to unravel it, which I did, and I bought 9 more skeins (jewel tones, light to dark) in teal, purple, and rose. I am now crocheting her a giant granny square afghan. Also, I am working on two baby afghans - one for my goddaughter and the other for my godson. Trinity's is purple, pink, yellow, and white. Timmy's is blue, multi blue, and white. These are the same style as Doc's.

* I am expecting a niece, Emma, around the time I leave for Bangor!

* Ok, I love the film "Miss Potter." Some of you may know that I used to write a good bit of stories. Well, someday, I will gather the courage and send them off to large publishing houses. JK Rowling got rejected many a time before Harry Potter was published. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

* Ed Hafer has finally heard Carillon! When Mom and I went to Hattiesburg to collect references for a scholarship, she made him put on my headphones and listen to Fantasy on King's Weston. So I am going to make him 2 Carillon cd's (along with M&M cookies).

* Well, I am off to Wales in September, and off to Hattiesburg today. Carillon is rehearsing for 3 days (staying at Doc's place, cat-sitting) and then we fly to Prague and Vienna for the 2008 European Handbell Festival!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Three Weeks From Friday

On May 9, I graduate. I can look back on my college years and say "It's been one hell of a ride," meaning both good and bad.

Freshman year for me began in Fall 2003. Here I was at USM, on a physics scholarship from Siemens, working for my BS in Marine Biology. Woot. I enjoyed my Biology and Chemistry professors, but I really missed something. Second semester of freshman year, I joined the Hattiesburg Choral Union. With going to choir monday nights, I admitted that I had ignored God's calling into music. At the end of my freshman year, I switched from BS to BM: Music History and Literature: Vocal Emphasis. My roommate from freshman year, Sadie, was pretty cool, and still remains a good friend.

Sophomore year was spent at the University of Wales, Swansea. This beautiful campus, located in South Wales, is the closest university (in the world) to the ocean, beating one in California by three meters. Here, I was re-introduced to the classic masters of my childhood: Dvorak, Sibelius, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Chopin, etc. My music professors and choir masters were all amazing, and unearthed my love for early music. My flatmates were also awesome: Claire, Steph, Stef, Michelle, Celine, Lace, and Laura.

I have vague memories of junior year. Back at USM, I enrolled in Class Piano 101, only having had a few lessons with Dr. Morris in Wales, I seemed to skip ahead of the class. I auditioned for Dr. Leventhal's private piano studio and entered in spring 2006. Within a few months, she had a a BEGINNER piano student working on a HAYDN CONCERTO! Roommates sucked first half of the year, but then Heather and I roomed together and that went well. This was also the year of Hurricane Katrina.

First Senior year: I entered the William T. Gower Concerto competition, scared out of my mind, mind you. Musically, this was a good year for me, but not personally. My brother Wes was in Iraq, and roommate issues were stressing me out. I just can't live with OCD people. There are so much more things in life to stress about than the carpet not being perfectly straight. Carillon went to Scotland that summer and I also worked as an apprentice with USM's piano technician.

SUPER SENIOR YEAR! I performed a Shostakovich concerto and working on a Mozart one. Carillon is going to Prague and Vienna. I now live in Scott Hall in my own room (DOUBLE BED!) and so relish the the thought of getting out of college (or at least undergrad status). Working on senior thesis (Arvo Part) and taking LAT 102 and 202 at the same time (crunch).
I have been accepted to the Bangor University School of Music to read for my MA. I am wanting to focus my modules in historical musicology, early music, and performance practice. Another degree option was to do Sacred Music Studies, but then, I was only limited to music of the church. Musicology was a broader option. So I will polish my thesis to Hafer's standards, take my final Latin quizzes, English final, voice final, piano final, graduate, work for the summer (with side trips to Georgia, Prague, and Vienna), and leave for grad school in September. I will be there from September 2008-September 2009. I also must take the GRE before I leave because I will be applying for doctorate programs while over there. Yay.

Anywho, signing off for now. Must go to church bells and FBC.

All the best!

Phinally!

Since my last post, I have switched to BA. I have over 150 credit hours to my name at USM, and I am not going to stay on another full year to take 2 classes. Nope, not happening. I am now BA in Voice and Piano (piano minor actually, but still the same nonetheless) and I WILL GRADUATE IN MAY! YES!!!!

For the last few days, I've been trying to decide what direction I want to go in with my career. I want to teach, yet I still want to remain an active performer. A friend of mine at the NEC said it is impossible to be an academic and a performer; otherwise, i would kill myself doing both. I disagree completely with the first part, but this combination, though unusual, is indeed possible. Look at the musicologist at Rutgers, Julianne Baird. She has a BA, MA, and PhD all in Musicology, and yet she is a world-renowned soprano in early music. Before I found out her credentials, I thought she had performance degrees. She performs all over the world, and still teaches music theory, history, and conducts ensembles at her place of employment. This is what I want to do!! She is a performing academic, and an academic performer! Of course, I would need training from a teacher specialized in early music to do what she does.

Early music is definitely my calling. My parents and professor in Wales, Dr. Katherine Morris, helped to spark that interest. Dad is a big fan of Gregorian Chant, and when I was small, he frequently played it over the house's speakers. Dr. Morris introduced me to liturgical drama, specifically the Danielis Ludus (Play of Daniel) from Beauvais Cathedral. This opened up a new world to me. I felt like I was finally coming home. Participating in choirs over in Wales opened my eyes to sacred polyphony.
I've seen early music to be defined as music from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, and I am leaning towards the Renaissance-though I do have great respect for all three.
Dr. Fuller, Dr. Leventhal, and Flan all think I have the potential to make it in the field of the early music performance, but Dr. Fuller also gave me a sound piece of advice.
"What do you see yourself doing in ten years?" This scratches the DM at Indiana in Early Music. He said to not specialize too far so that you are unemployable. A PhD in Musicology means you are able to teach general music history, advanced music history of different periods, possibly music theory (Depending on training), and in my case: counterpoint, piano, Baroque recorder, and hopefully if i get the training, performance practices for voice. If musicology committees saw a DM Early music, or even a PhD Early Music, in a stack with other PhD Musicology applications, the Early music ones would be immediately discarded. I can see their point, but why would Indiana (they are apparently a smart school) offer a degree that is not employable in the real world? After I get all of my musicology degrees, I would be interested in the MM or the DM in Early music just to get the training. Training in that field is invaluable to me, because it is so rare to find.

Plans for the weekend include the first two performances of Carillon's winter tour at FUMC Clinton and Raymond Road Baptist in Jackson. Woot!