Last night BYU Vocal Point and Noteworthy came up and performed! They were incredible! But I may be getting a little ahead of myself; I'll start at the beginning. I made a new friend last night, his name is Emeil (sp?). Since the young man I had asked previously accidentally forgot about tonight, she decided to help me out and help me find a date. However, he didn't want it to be a date . . . so it was just another hang-out. It was enjoyable nonetheless. We had dinner at Cami's: spaghetti, a salad with bananas in it (thanks Mom for teaching me that), and orange juice! Ha ha, quite the combo, right? Emeil is from the country Jordan (it's east of Israel) and it was awesome to hear him talk about it. I asked him what it was like there and he compared it to southern Utah.
This afternoon, as my roommate and I got ready to go to church, we did our normal thing: put on our coats and scarves and then headed out. As soon as we stepped outside we felt a rush of HEAT! Yes folks, I said "heat". It was really warm, we took our coats off to finish the hike up the hill. I just found out that it was 31 degrees . . . in January . . . in Rexburg. Wow! The walk home was almost the same at a nice, warm 28 degrees (however it feels like 22).
Church today was incredible! It was one of those days that I felt like the Lord decided this entire set of meetings was to help me overcome and become better. Sacrament meeting was all about choosing the right, and it was so powerful! It wasn't anything insanely profound that the speakers had said either; it was just that they were speaking with the Spirit. I am so impressed with the spirit that is here at BYU Idaho; it truly is something that I hope I can take with me once I leave this place (but that isn't scheduled to happen for a few semesters, ha). I was reminded today of how much God loves me and that He truly is aware of our wants and needs. However, He knows what we really need in order for us to be the instruments He needs us to be. I might really want to be a piano . . . but maybe the Lord needs me to be a flute right now. So, I'll be the flute that He needs me to be! ;o) This gospel is true and the Lord loves you! Never forget it!! :o)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
From Mirrors to Windows; the beginning
Alright, so I am new at this blogging thing, but I feel it's the best way to share what's going on in my life. I guess I'll make this my weekly letter this week and I'll try to update this on a daily basis from here on out.
On Monday I sang in master class. Wow, first of all I have the greatest Master Class teacher ever!!! My teacher's name is Brother Brower; he's the head of the Music Department (at least he was last time I checked). He was talking about he hated it when people said "um" in his class or really anywhere. He said "Sometimes, if it gets really annoying, I start to count. The word 'um' will not be a word used in this course." A girl then commented on something and the next thing he said was: "Not one 'um' in that sentance." and he seemed genuinely pleased about it. We were all very self concious about using the word 'um' again.
Brother Brower asked us what we want, need, and hope will come from this master class. He asked if anybody wanted to share. I didn't at first, but he kept looking at me, almost like he was expecting me to answer. I finally did, and I told him honestly: "I want to lose my stage fright; I need to gain better control of my voice; and I hope to find my own voice." He looked at me very concerned, but also very confused. "What do you mean 'find your own voice'?" I explained to him that for the past two years I've been trying to sing like everybody else in the practice room. I'd hear people singing and think to myself that I needed to have that big voice. I don't though! He confirmed that that was true and I proceeded to sing my song. I sang "Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven?" by Aaron Copland. Needless to say I was very nervous. People loved it though! Brother Brower helped me with my sound and my character! It was quite a fascinating thing. (By the way, I was the only one who sang on Monday . . . there was supposed to be 2-3 other people. But, they didn't get the e-mail that they were singing that day).
The rest of this week has been pretty normal. I had my first Musicianship IV test Wednesday and Thursday! I did really well! I got a 93% on BOTH of my sight singing (Berkowitz-tonal, and Modus Novas- atonal), and I got anywhere between 84%-95% on the analysis, hymn pass-off, written, etc. It was wonderful!
Yesterday I had a really good talk with several of my friends, including my amazing roommates, just about life in general. I am loving life and BYU-Idaho more and more every day! I feel so incredibly blessed to be here and to be able to study something that I'm so passionate about! Music truly has been such a blessing in my life! It's wonderful and, you can't see it, but I'm getting really giddy just writing about this!!!
Again, I'll try to update this on a daily basis so ya'all know what's going on in my life! I'll write again soon!
On Monday I sang in master class. Wow, first of all I have the greatest Master Class teacher ever!!! My teacher's name is Brother Brower; he's the head of the Music Department (at least he was last time I checked). He was talking about he hated it when people said "um" in his class or really anywhere. He said "Sometimes, if it gets really annoying, I start to count. The word 'um' will not be a word used in this course." A girl then commented on something and the next thing he said was: "Not one 'um' in that sentance." and he seemed genuinely pleased about it. We were all very self concious about using the word 'um' again.
Brother Brower asked us what we want, need, and hope will come from this master class. He asked if anybody wanted to share. I didn't at first, but he kept looking at me, almost like he was expecting me to answer. I finally did, and I told him honestly: "I want to lose my stage fright; I need to gain better control of my voice; and I hope to find my own voice." He looked at me very concerned, but also very confused. "What do you mean 'find your own voice'?" I explained to him that for the past two years I've been trying to sing like everybody else in the practice room. I'd hear people singing and think to myself that I needed to have that big voice. I don't though! He confirmed that that was true and I proceeded to sing my song. I sang "Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven?" by Aaron Copland. Needless to say I was very nervous. People loved it though! Brother Brower helped me with my sound and my character! It was quite a fascinating thing. (By the way, I was the only one who sang on Monday . . . there was supposed to be 2-3 other people. But, they didn't get the e-mail that they were singing that day).
The rest of this week has been pretty normal. I had my first Musicianship IV test Wednesday and Thursday! I did really well! I got a 93% on BOTH of my sight singing (Berkowitz-tonal, and Modus Novas- atonal), and I got anywhere between 84%-95% on the analysis, hymn pass-off, written, etc. It was wonderful!
Yesterday I had a really good talk with several of my friends, including my amazing roommates, just about life in general. I am loving life and BYU-Idaho more and more every day! I feel so incredibly blessed to be here and to be able to study something that I'm so passionate about! Music truly has been such a blessing in my life! It's wonderful and, you can't see it, but I'm getting really giddy just writing about this!!!
Again, I'll try to update this on a daily basis so ya'all know what's going on in my life! I'll write again soon!
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