Bach Bach Bach

Around this time last year I was contacted by the Taranaki Symphony Orchestra and asked if I would be interested in performing with them as a soloist. I was thrilled with the offer as it is a big step up in my performance experience to be offered such an opportunity.

The piece they had in mind was Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Now those of you who know me well will be aware that Bach is not my first choice of music to play. The man was brilliant and his music offers a widely varied choice of repertoire, but Baroque music has not ever been my favorite. However, after listening to the piece and reviewing the score I decided it was something I was willing to tackle. Despite some struggles and frustrations along the way, I am definitely glad I made that choice.

The concert was Thanksgiving weekend, although it was not a holiday weekend here. It was the night of the Christmas parade though, so there was lots of traffic in town and we had a good sized enthusiastic crowd. All played well and I feel the night was a success. For those of you who could not attend, below is a link to the recording. But first, a few notes about the piece.

This concerto is for flute, violin, and harpsichord soloists supported by a small string orchestra. The orchestra’s conductor was the violin soloist, and the flute solo was played by the orchestras first chair flutist. I jokingly told my family that the soloist line-up sounded like a bad joke since we all have different nationalities. However, I think we worked well together and it was an excellent learning experience for myself.

It is thought this particular concerto was the first piece written to really highlight the harpsichord as a solo instrument, rather than just a continuo (accompaniment) part. The piece has three movements, with the first movement featuring the harpsichord in a flashy, technical cadenza.

Learning the piece mainly on piano and then transferring to a harpsichord was a challenge and yet it made so much more sense on the harpsichord. Once I was comfortable with the new instrument, it was so evident the piece was composed for harpsichord over any other keyboard instrument. The primary challenge in adjusting to the harpsichord was the difference in the keyboard. The keys are shorter and narrower, so while it was easier to master the highly technical sections, it was also challenging to spatially adjust. What I loved though is the lightness of the keys on a harpsichord. The cadenza in particular had a number of extremely fast technical passages, so it felt like my fingers could literally fly over the keys and not worry about missing notes due to weighty keys. 

It was a lot of hours spent practicing, and there were frustrations along the way in regards to practice availability with the harpsichord, concern over the instrument holding tune, disagreements on balance between the soloists and the orchestra, and creativity on how to lay out my music to minimize page turns and maximize my ability to see. But it all came together in the end and I enjoyed the honor of performing as an orchestra soloist for the first time in my musical career.

See below for a video of the performance and the concert review from the paper.

Bach Brandenburg No. 5

TSO Concert Review

Still had to turn pages but not nearly as many.... :)

Hollywood!

My dear blog readers,

I'm sure you think that I have completely forgotten about you. In reality life has just been busy. I wrote this over a week ago but have only just gotten pictures sorted out. I'll do much better from now on I'm sure haha :) So now, to give you some stories:

When I decided to take a 3 week trip home this year, I thought it was time to be a bit of a tourist in my own country. Since I was flying in and out of Los Angeles, and had seen nothing of the city except for the airport (which I have grown to really dislike), it seemed like a good opportunity to plan a stopover and check the place out.

Given everything I wanted to do in the 3 weeks, I decided to only spend 2 nights, but it was enough by the end of that particular adventure. I did not see everything on my list, or anywhere close to everything possible, but I got a good look around and can now check that particular place in the world off of my list J

Planner that I am, I chose well ahead of time to book a rental car, with a GPS. Great plan, right? I’d have flexible transportation and a handy dandy gadget to direct me around the huge traffic filled confusing-to-navigate city (probably not so confusing if you really know your way around, like any place, but still). This was all an excellent plan until I got to the rental agency. The bonus to all this was that I managed to sleep on the flight. So I was tired but not exhausted. However, I found I was a bit short on patience when I had to wait 45 minutes for the free shuttle from the arrivals lounge to the rental agency. Yes it was free so I should not complain and yes it was my fault I missed it the first time since I did not flag down the driver, but that form of rational thinking did not equate in my tired brain.

So next hurdle: waiting in line to get my car. The line was long and the number of staff was short. But never mind. I had the pleasurable experience of observing those around me, including a family who “had such a long day because they’d just flown alllllll the way from Cleveland!” It was that moment I had to remind myself that long days are very relative ideas, as I felt that working all day before catching a 14-hour international flight was slightly more exhausting, but in their defense they were traveling with children.

Finally my turn and, guess what?? Free upgrade for yours truly. Now, often this is a bargain right? Well, I was only halfway thrilled with this because I went from a small car to a mid-size SUV (because they were out of cars) so all I’m thinking is “I have to parallel park THAT in downtown LA?” But never mind, extra space for my luggage, yay. But then, it happened. That feared moment for modern travellers: no GPS! They did have one for me, it just happened to be the last one, and it did not work. “No problem!” the guy said, they just wouldn’t charge me for it….and I could use my smartphone instead! I pointed out that would mean absurdly expensive data charges since I was an international traveler (the guy just kind of looked at me weird when I said that haha). Never fear, they had the solution: MapQuest! Being the out of country traveller with no other options I gratefully let them print direction to where I was headed for the night and decided I would figure the rest out along the way.

By this point it was getting into rush hour. But I only had to go 18 miles, not bad I thought. Well….an hour and a half later I was wondering what I had gotten myself into J First time driving in the US in some time, in a new vehicle in a new city with no GPS. But I made it! I only got lost 3 times! And even saw a couple of funny thing alongs the way. A smart car merged in front of me and had a vanity plate that said NOTDUMB. I laughed J

I spent the next couple of days exploring Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. I spent more time in museums learning about the life of immigrant Americans or exploring Little Mexico (yum locally made food!!!) than doing the uber touristey things like tours to the Hollywood sign (although I did see it from a distance) or Universal Studios (does walking past it count?) but I enjoyed the time just the same. I was careful to look up directions before going anywhere and kept an eye out for places with free WiFi, just in case.

I think one of my favorite stops was the Griffith Observatory. The night was clear and the view really was spectacular. The city is positively huge, and the Observatory was a great way to appreciate the size. I also enjoyed spotting a couple of film crews as I was out and about. One had a group of guys in tweed jackets and old fashioned hats, with a lady looking straight out of the 50’s prepping to shoot something. I also found a lovely statue of Marilyn Monroe, and nearly got run over by Spiderman as he dashed off to save someone. Santa Monica Pier before heading back to the airport was a nice way to enjoy the sunshine and do some people watching.

See photos below. L.A. won’t be top of my list of places to visit again soon, but I am glad to have gone and enjoyed the time I had (when I stopped getting lost haha).

Museum of Broken Relationships. Unfortunately
it was closed....

Walk of Fame!

LA City Hall

Piano converted into something by a thingmaker

Forrest Gump's bench :)

I like this guy!

Pukeiti Garden

Hello my dear readers.

I have been a bit slack lately, with finding things to write about. Some of it is due to busyness, some if it is due to a lack of anything terribly exciting happening in my life. And in all honesty this post might be my last for awhile, because I head home soon for 3 weeks so will likely not find much time for writing.

But anyway.
Last weekend was lovely and warm and sunny. So I thought I should get out of the house (because that sounded far more interesting than the housework or gardening that was on my to-do list).
So I decided to head to Pukeiti Garden, one of the New Plymouth area attractions I had not yet explored.
It is a rhododendron garden about 20 minutes out of town. Not everything was in bloom since it is still early spring, but it was a lovely adventure just the same.

The garden was created in 1951 and is supposed by the Taranaki Rhododendron Trust. It is located at the base of Mt. Taranaki and includes an impressive rainforest surrounding the garden. There are countless tracks through both the garden and the rainforest. One seems to always lead to another and after 2 hours of up and down and around I found I was completely worn out. And yet there is still much of the garden to see, so I am sure I will be back soon :)

Photos below. Have a great week!

The Giants walk is lovely!

This tree had pink and yellow flowers.  

View of the ranges

One of several tree houses

He kept me company while having a quick break

Fast Food

I am not McDonalds' biggest fan, but I do always find it interesting to visit places that like in other countries. I find it interesting to note who has broken through the international barriers. I have now been to McDonald's in the US, NZ, Japan, and Austria. Same sign, some of the same menu, slightly different twist at each one.

In Japan the McChickens come with wasabi and on the dollar menu you can get something called shaka-shaka chicken. In Austria you can find nice pastries on the menu (and the fanciest fast food joint I've ever seen, which was in a ballroom). In New Zealand you find a coffee shop with barista made coffee. And the current menu special is a "build your own burger" option. I have hard that in Hong Kong you can now get married at McDonald's, and the KFC sells edible fried chicken flavored nail-polish (taking "Finger lickin' good" too far?).

Other fast food options in New Plymouth are KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Starbucks, and Subway. Subway's special this month is a lamb sub. Pure NZ raised lamb they say. Pizza Hut here sells a shrimp and mayonnaise pizza. Burger King is possibly the only place in town that does free refills on drinks.
Big news in the world of fast food is that you can now find Wendy's in major cities like Wellington and Auckland. So when New Plymouthians venture out, they report back if they have sampled the new fare. Supposedly we are going to get an "In and Out Burger" in Auckland but I think right now it is in speculation only.

While the options mentioned above might be a "taste of home" in some fashion, my favorite here is actually a kiwi option. Burger Fuel offers beef and chicken burgers, with creative new options every couple of months. In true kiwi fashion they have an option with beets on it, but it also has mango so I think that is just weird. I have not tried that one, but I am a fan of the chicken and bacon/avocado burger  :) The fact that they can do vegetarian, gluten free, and halal rank them higher than the average fast food place in my opinion.

Have a  great weekend, hope I didn't make you too hungry :)

Happy Weekend

I think there reaches a point anytime you have moved to a new place where some of the charm starts to wear off. I have definitely reached that here, where there are certain things that I just do not understand, or occasionally find irritating about New Zealand.
But one thing I never tire of is the beautiful scenery. Everywhere I have been in this country has stunning things to see, with a wide variety of landscapes. But I am completely biased in thinking New Plymouth might be one of the prettiest places to settle down.

The mountain picture here was taken from my music room last week.
The others are from sunset Thursday night as I was driving into town.

A couple of weeks ago we went away for the weekend to visit some friends in Tauranga. We stopped in Cambridge for lunch and this was outside the cafe. And yes, I did have to stop and play it. 

Pineapple lumps are a kiwi favorite. Below is the link for a recent commercial for this unique sweet treat. Definitely worth the 30-second watch :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpj2oVJhYjM

Have a great weekend!

Harpsichord

My musical adventures this week have included practicing on a harpsichord. I have the honor of performing with the Taranaki Symphony Orchestra in November. I will be one third of a trio playing J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto in D Major, accompanied by the orchestra. For the sake of authenticity, my portion will be played on a harpsichord.

Playing on a harpsichord has an entirely different feel from a piano. Each piano has its own feel, but harpsichords are in a class all of their own. The biggest difficulty at the moment is adjusting to the different sized key. Because the harpsichord keys are shorter and narrower, I find that I am over-shooting quite a bit. Volume control is also a challenge, as this is generally managed by the number of notes you are playing as opposed to how you play them. Then of course there is the fact that harpsichord strings are plucked instead of struck by a hammer.

So what is a harpsichord?
Harpsichords are member of the string family, most in use from the 16-18th century in European music. It was replaced by the piano in the 19th century. The strings are set in vibration by being plucked, with a soundboard underneath. Harpsichords can have one or two keyboards, depending on the range. The shape is similar to that of a grand piano but is narrower.

The harpsichord I will play for the November concert is owned by a local musician. It came in a self-assembly kit and he built the instrument on his own. He maintains and tunes it when needed and said he is happy that it will be used for a major upcoming concert. The last time I played a harpsichord was in college, to accompany a Baroque opera production. Quite a step-up to now be preparing for a performance such as a concerto :)

Grocery Shopping

I have always enjoyed exploring grocery stores in foreign countries. Actually, even in different US States, you never know what you will find. Japanese grocery stores tend to have a rather strong fish smell. The bonus to this is you know it is because that mornings’ catch is in the meat aisle waiting, just in case you want to make your own sushi for dinner. Austrian grocery stores were often rather cramped, and it took me awhile to find my way around, due to my lack of German language skills. My first venture to a grocery store resulted in an almost failed attempt to buy laundry soap. My new roommate and I, who had just moved into our lovely apartment, and were both lamenting not doing more language study before coming, spent quite some time wandering around lost. One of the ladies working there took pity on us and asked if we needed help. Unfortunately, she did not speak English. So the three of us are there trying to use sign language to communicate. Probably looked absurd, but in the end we communicated that we thought we smelled and wanted to change that!

New Zealand supermarkets thankfully have readable labels J But there are also some interesting things that would not be found in America. I learned the other day you can buy a two liter jug of lime flavored milk. It was mint colored, so did not really look appealing to me. But I have been told it is delicious.

The international section of the store is also amusing to me. The “American” shelf has marshmallow fluff, Reese’s peanut butter cups, and on a good day, Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. I have not yet broken down and paid the astronomical price, hopefully I will be able to put off cravings until I make trips home!

One thing I appreciate about shopping here is the butcher shops. Before moving here it was not anything I gave thought to, but I have my favorite places, depending on who has the better sale, and it has proven to be well worth it for the quality of meat. I miss the bakeries found in Europe, but the produce shops here almost make up for it. Everything is very fresh if you know where to go, and it is much easier to find locally grown things (possibly because New Zealand is a small enough country almost anywhere can feel ‘local’).

For non-produce or butcher shop items, there are generally three options. New World is the “posh” supermarket. You can collect air points there, and have a wider selection of specialty items and dietary things. Countdown is the mid-range store, with the aforementioned American food selection, as well as some Japanese items. Pak’n Save is my preferred option, simply because it has the cheapest prices on most things. It resembles a warehouse so apparently it’s the not-classy store, but my budget doesn’t mind J

Well now I have made myself hungry, should have known better than to write this just before lunch!

Hope a great day!