I'm in the thick of a string of performances that last up to Christmas, pretty much. I performed with the Saratoga Orchestra last weekend on Beethoven's 2nd Symphony, among other. You horn players out there know how challenging the 2nd movement of that is for the 1st horn. I struggled this time around with those high Bs, only getting them about 50% of the time. The rest of the time they simply just aired out, so it wasn't like I was totally biffing them. But still...I'm not really proud of those excerpts. The rest of the symphony (and the concert, for that matter) I played really well. But the hard part...well, I just didn't rise up to it.
And that's not good, especially for one with a Master's in Horn Performance. I should be able to handle anything that comes my way. I know the reason, though. It's because I don't practice enough. Work and family life doesn't really yield much practice time. And I've learned to accept that. I know not to expect as much of myself as I used to because I am not in the best of shape. Because of that, I didn't get emotional when I missed some of the high Bs on the Beethoven. I actually expected it. And even though I hate that I missed them, I'm happy that I wasn't that upset about it in the moment. I mean, expecting to fail is not exactly the means to make oneself elite, but at least it keeps the performance mindset under control. It's healthy.
Now that I look back at it, though, I am upset with how I played. It's a reflection of my lack of hard work on horn, and I'm not happy about that. It's not where I want to be as a player.
Well, I could go on and on about that, but you get the idea.
I also had a very successful studio recital back on November 15th. It was definitely the biggest and best one yet. My students all did so well, with the majority of them sounding better than they ever had. I'm in the process of editing the performance video I took of them and syncing it with the audio recording and splitting the clips. Then I'll share some of them on here.
But anyways, I really need to get on the ball about making a set of Christmas duets for horn. I've been asked by several folks already to do it...I just don't feel like I have the time to do it! I may have to sacrifice some sleep to do this, a prospect I don't look forward to. But I may still do it. So stay tuned! In the meantime, if you haven't checked out my Christmas Carols for the Flexible Brass Quartet on my "Online Store" page, check them out! I'm getting some very good use out of them with my ensembles...I love them!
Take care and value music.