Summer Begins

Now that the spring semester is finished, I have the luxury of practicing the organ more.  I am learning about how to practice more efficiently and avoid “mindless practice.”

I found this article very helpful. 

http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-practice/

It was shared with me by my friend and mentor, Dr. Carlton Russell.  This article was written by Dr. Noa Kageyama, who is a performance psychologist and Julliard alumnus and faculty member.  He teaches musicians how to play their best under pressure and writes a blog about this.

I have been learning Easter Hymns and playing the organ more at St. Teresa’s Church.  I played half the service on April 27 and May 4.  I learned to play the Glory to God from the Paul Taylor St. Francis Mass, so I was able to play all the hymns and acclamations for the May 25 Mass at St. Teresa’s.  On May 25 Kevin Birch cantored and my nephew, William Walker (who was visiting from Sloansville, New York for the Memorial Day weekend), joined us to sing in the small choir.

I visited my son, Karl, his wife, Janie, and my three grandchildren, in Cardington, Ohio the weekend of May 16-19. 

With my grandchildren in Cardington, Ohio:  Lesley, Heidi, and Keian

Cardington is close to Columbus, Ohio.  Dr. Paul Thornock, the Director of Music for the St. Joseph Cathedral, generously invited me to play the Fritts, Opus 25, pipe organ at St. Joseph Cathedral for a few hours on the afternoon of May 19 before I caught my flight back to Bangor.

Paul Fritts and Company, Opus 25 (2006), St. Joseph Cathedral, Columbus, Ohio

(3 manuals, 66 stops)

This is a magnificent organ that is very responsive with a wide range of voices.  Here is a link to the organ specifications.

http://cathedralmusic.org/fritts.html

This organ is tuned in Kellner unequal temperament. 

On May 22, I attended a concert by the Pitches with Attitude, the a cappella group from Salve Regina College in Rhode Island.  This concert was held in Orono at the Church of the Universal Fellowship.  The twelve ladies who sing in this group had beautiful voices and they performed a wide range of music.

On June 1, at 4 pm, at the Orono United Methodist Church, the Bangor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) will present their member recital.  This year, the recital is focused on Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries.  All the music for this recital was composed by J. S. Bach or someone who was living during the time that Bach lived (1685-1750).  I will be playing Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Minor (“The “Cathedral”), BWV 533, on the historic and restored Emmons Howard pipe organ (1891).

1891 Emmons Howard/1978 Berkshire rebuild

(2 manuals, 29 ranks)

at the Orono United Methodist Church

My husband, John, is very supportive of all my musical interests.  With the more leisurely summer pace, we are enjoying each other and more time together.

Finals are Finished!

I am finished with final exams!  This week I had two written final exams, one performance exam, and two juries.  During juries, multiple teachers listen to me play music that I have practiced during the past semester.  I did well in all of my final exams.  I did OK on my juries; I would have liked to have done better.

Our final Chamber Jazz Ensemble concert at the Student Union on April 23 went very well.  It was the last performance of retiring professor, Dr. Karel Lidral, who founded this ensemble.  Dr. Lidral is fourth from the left in the photo below.  My husband, John, helped me move my electronic keyboard to the Union for the performance.  I am very grateful for John’s support of my pursuits.

The University of Maine Chamber Jazz Ensemble, April 23, 2014

I was awarded the Omar F. and Lenora L. Tarr Memorial Scholarship for the academic year 2014-2015.  This covers a portion of next year’s tuition.  The scholarship application included a description of my background and goals and two recordings of my organ performances.  As this was a merit scholarship, I felt very honored to be selected to receive it.  Here is a link to a description of this scholarship that profiles a previous recipient:

http://www.umainefoundation.org/student_profiles/deborah_smith.html

I am thinking about my schedule for next fall.  I want to balance the course work with time to practice both organ and piano.

What did I learn about being a University student again after more than 30 years?  I list several of my thoughts here.

·      As a commuter student, there’s no privacy on campus.  There were a few times I wanted to have a private phone call while I was on campus, and I had to go to my car in the parking lot to have those phone calls.  I checked at the university library, and all the conference rooms require a group to reserve them.  I could have used one of the practice piano rooms in the music building, but then that room would not be available for someone to practice their piano or singing.  Other times I just made phone calls from the public area of the library.

·      I have many key advantages because of my significant work experience.  I have self-discipline, organization skills, and a strong work ethic.

·      It helps to have a clear goal.  My goal is to be a music minister at church and I want to learn all about music so that I can perform, lead, and inspire others in church music.

·      Just like at work, besides learning the course work, the relationships are important:  both the relationships with the faculty and with my fellow students.  My fellow students will be some of my peers once I become a music minister.

·      All of the professors are very supportive not only of me, but of all the music students.  The professors really want us to learn the material and work with us to suggest ways to improve in areas where we are struggling.

·      Most of my fellow music students are right out of high school.  They all have a love of music and express that in their own way.  I attended as many of their public performances as my schedule allowed.  Part of this was to support them, and part of this was to check out the various university-sponsored music ensemble groups to see which ones I might join for a future course requirement.

·      After the first few classes, people tend to sit in the same spots in the classrooms.  I like to sit up front so that I can hear.  I sat farther back one time and I couldn’t hear everything that the professor said.  My fellow music students are welcoming and supportive of me, even though I’m older than most of their parents.

·      The University of Maine allows their employees to take courses tuition-free and a few of my fellow students work full time at the University and are taking a few courses.  So I was not the only student who was not right out of high school!

·      I enjoy the energy and creativity and opportunity for risk-taking of the students.  One example is the “humans vs. zombies” a couple of times a year.  Many of the students came to class with Nerf guns.  I did not participate.  This is described in a blog of someone who participated:  http://umaine.edu/studentblogs/features/humans-vs-zombies-sweeps-campus/

Music Performances

This post provides updates on the performances I participated in or attended during the past few weeks.  There are only two weeks left of classes before final exams!  In addition to written exams in Music Theory and Music History, I will have a performance exam in Jazz Piano and Arranging.  Students who are enrolled in applied music lessons have jury examinations at the end of each semester to test their progress.  Since I am taking lessons in both organ and piano, I will play for two juries.  During juries, multiple teachers listen to me play music that I have practiced during the past semester.  This is the first time I will be participating in juries.

The March 30 St. John’s Chamber Choir concert was very spiritual and I was honored to sing this beautiful music with my colleagues. 

 St John’s Chamber Choir.  Photo taken at a previous concert on the steps in front of the altar at St. John’s.  For the March 30 concert, we sang from the choir loft up close to the Hook pipe organ.

The April 1 Chamber Jazz Ensemble Concert was full of energy! 

Chamber Jazz Ensemble performance at Minsky Hall.  

You can see my head behind the piano on the right.

With Dr. Karel Lidral at Pat’s Pizza after the April 1 concert

The Chamber Jazz Ensemble performs again on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 11 am at the University of Maine Student Union.  This will be the last performance for Dr. Karel Lidral, who founded the Chamber Jazz Ensemble in 2005.  Dr. Lidral is retiring and I will miss him.  Dr. Lidral is also my professor for Music Theory and for Jazz Piano and Arranging.

In her April 4 organ concert at St. John’s Catholic Church, Hatsumi Muira played music that reflected to her the journey that Jesus Christ made through the 40 days of Lent.  Her concert was very prayerful and uplifting.  It was a privilege for me to meet her and to listen to her inspiring performance.

The April 13 Bangor Symphony performance of Carmina Burana with the University of Maine Oratorio Society and the University Singers was magnificent!  It is such an energetic piece with a large dynamic range that was fun to sing.  This is the first time I have sung with the Bangor Symphony.

Lucas Richmond, Conductor of the Bangor Symphony, leading a rehearsal of Carmina Burana

On March 30 and April 6 I led the choir and played the organ music for Masses at St. Teresa’s Church, one of the churches in St. Paul the Apostle Parish.  These were two Lenten services and the music was chants and meditations.  I am preparing Easter hymns to play during some of the May Masses.  The Catholic Church celebrates Easter through the feast of Pentecost, which is June 8 this year.

For Easter, April 20, I cantored for three of the Masses.  The Easter music is very festive, celebrating Jesus rising from the dead.

April 1 Chamber Jazz Ensemble Concert

April 1 at 7:30 pm, the Chamber Jazz Ensemble presents a concert in Minsky Auditorium at the University of Maine.  I am one of 10 musicians who will be performing jazz standards, under the direction of Dr. Karel Lidral.  Admission is $9 or free with a university student ID.

I just saw the poster today, so I took a photo and include it here.