Day 5 was another gorgeous day in Lubec. Our group class begin with the masterclass-style performances and critiques again. However, this day was focused on those who had not gone yet. There were some impressive performances, and a few where folks struggled like me. Of course everyone was working on much harder repertoire than I, so their struggles were more understandable.
I had a short 30 minute window for some individual practice after the group lesson and then headed off to my individual lesson. We went over the Musette sectional piece, trying to get my rhythms straight. Rhythm and subdivision counting is starting to come more naturally to me, slowly, but it still amazes me what a difficult time I have counting to four sometimes. On in this case, counting to 2, as the piece was in 2/4.
We also worked on my Minuet piece for the Friday night performance. Again, the focus was on having fun and trying to express the music, not just robotically play the notes. Joachim was accompanying me on piano, and by the end of the lesson, it was going really well. I had a few minor slips, but I was really happy with the quality of my tone and the expressiveness with which I was playing. I was confident I could take that into Friday's performance.
After the individual lesson there was a couple of hours of individual practice time and then we spent 2 hours as an ensemble before getting together with our coach for our actual ensemble session at 5:30. By this time I had done so much practice during the day that my left-hand fingers were very tender and I was having a bit of pain in my back, in the shoulder-blade region. I took some breaks to prevent it from getting worse.
After the ensemble session we ran to get some dinner and then headed to the concert. We had a HUGE group of students and ensembles to perform. In fact, we had so many that 2 intermissions were scheduled. The audience for these sessions is nothing but SummerKeys students and faculty. The mood is casual and as always, VERY supportive.
Our cello sectional was the second performance. I thought I did well on the Chorale we did, except for the fact they said "no repeats" right before beginning and of course I immediately tried to take the first repeat. It didn't take long to realize I was off, and fortunately, it didn't take long either to get back on. So other than that major flub, when I was in the right place, I thought I played it fairly well.
The Musette was tougher. I had just gotten most of the rhythm down earlier that day, but unfortunately, the pace we played at was too fast. While I had gotten much better at the rhythm, it was just too fast for me to keep up, so I had to rest during some of the more tricky sections.
My ensemble was next. While I wasn't perfect, I thought I did a good job of holding us together. We were not as good as in earlier practices, and nearly lost it at one point. However, we did keep it together and finished without a major gaffe. All in all for three beginners, I thought was did OK.
After a few more performers it was time for the first solo of my young cello career. I was completely relaxed ahead of time and determined to apply the lessons I had been taught but forgotten during my masterclass practice session. However, from the first note, I did let the nerves get to me. I played in FAR too much of a hurry. Again, I think I lost the fun and musicality of the piece. On the positive side, other than a couple small gaffes, I did get through it.
Lots of people told me I did great. While I don't completely buy that, John Newell, a super nice guy and extremely talented pianist who was accompanying lots of groups and individuals told me my intonation was outstanding. I don't think he would have complimented me on it had there not been at least a shred of truth to it, so I was happy with that remark.
While I was not happy with not achieving what I thought were realistic goals for the performance, I quickly took it in stride. It was my first solo ever, after all. I see it as a learning experience and I'll only get better the more I do it.
I do think for the next one, I'm going to consciously try to play at a slower tempo and find some way to remind myself to have fun.
There were some great performances by the students. The clarinet ensemble stole the show I thought. I think their group was comprised of more experienced students and they played a really fun piece without any noticeable gaffes. I was also impressed with the flutists and the voice performances, especially as some of the voice students were first-timers. To get up there and sing takes even more guts than playing an instrument.
I did have to leave slightly after the second intermission, as we had an early whale-watching tour to attend the next day. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, as did my family (who had stayed through the first intermission).
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