The Tuxedo Post

This has basically been one of the best days of the year so far for me. Granted... there's only been nineteen days this year, but the first weeks back from school were kind of sucky and left me feeling defeated, plus the whole Zodiac scare didn't do much.

Anyway, the big news of today is that NYU apparently liked my prescreening CD I sent in and have invited me to audition on campus. Should I choose to accept this invitation, I'll go over to Manhattan one weekend and audition, and hopefully see a Broadway show while I'm there... maybe. We'll see. :D

I'm not as excited about NYU as I was earlier (I'm probably most likely going to CSU and then hopefully transferring to Manhattan School of Music), but I definitely want to keep my options open, and NYU is still my dream school, because it's freaking NYU. So if I get some sort of excellent offer, then so help me I'm going there.

But that's not the point of this post. What really put the icing on the cake was tonight's Senior Choir Concert. OH MY GOD. IT WAS SO AWESOME.

Everything went right... there was no "Groove Thing" Debacle like last year (though I'm of course not trying to say that last year's Senior Concert was in any was inferior to this year's... they're far too different to be even remotely comparable).

Last year's concert was a lot more traditional. All the choirs were separated, and there was very little movement among the choir as a whole. Sure, we danced and had fun, but it was different. We also ended on a mellower note, Josh Groban's "Thankful," a beautiful and meaningful piece, but not quite an audience-pleaser.

This year we ended with "Don't Stop Believin'," by Journey, to raucous applause. All the risers were placed in one long arch on the stage. There was no real sense of division between the choirs. And there was a heckuva lot more movement. I'm talking full-out dancing. I don't think I've even been in a show (and I've been in Footloose, the premiere dancing show) with such intricate dance moves that, overall, we're performed well by everyone. I would have never guessed that that would have happened, because such a large group of people would be difficult to do more than just a little bit of swaying, right?

Wrong.

Time and time again I am amazed at what this group of students can do. I first noticed it at the first dress rehearsal of Tale of Two Cities, where everyone was put together for the first time and everything just clicked, as if we'd been rehearsing for years. Then I was amazed on Art Day, when we have to maneuver ourselves around hundreds of students and faculty members AS A GROUP, all in the space of a few minutes. And now we managed to pull this off, against all odds. This group is truly miraculous.

Now, as a senior, I have the option to dress up formally for the concert as to contrast against the underclassmen, who are clad in the traditional white shirt and dark pants. I, being the freak about formal clothes that I am, decided to wear my tuxedo with my new emerald green vest. I figured there'd be a few other boys wearing suits, so the fact that I was being obnoxious wearing a tuxedo would blend in well.

Well, I was the only one wearing a tuxedo. A gentleman after the concert told me (and I choose to believe that he was just teasing playfully) that I had overdressed for the occasion.

I don't think I did.

I only get one Senior Concert. After tomorrow night, there will be no more Senior Concerts. No more miraculous dancing to tunes from Glee. Sure, I'll hopefully still be in choral ensembles in college, but there won't be anything like what I've had to offer from the THS choir.

So, I don't think it's possible to overdress for the occasion. There were plenty of girls wearing gowns worthy of prom... they didn't overdress either.

The truth is, when celebrating something as magnificent as this choir, there is nothing that can be done overboard. This choir deserves my utmost, sincere respect. In that regard, I was underdressed. There is no way to wear an outfit worthy of celebration of this magnificent group of people.

But I'm guessing a tuxedo comes close. And I'll be wearing it again tomorrow night. :)

2011 Update

First off, I LOVE CHRISTA SO MUCH BECAUSE WE ARE BEST FRIENDS WHO NEVER GO ON DATES.

Secondly, I haven't posted in a while because 1) I was on Christmas break and tried to just sleep most of the time and 2) Since break has ended, I haven't had a moment to myself. But for the sake of my readers, I will make a quick post to let you know how life has been going in the life of Eric.

As far as colleges go, I have applied to nine universities (my parents are annoyed) and, of those nine, I have received three acceptances (no, I haven't received six rejections. :P) I have been accepted to Colorado State University, Luther College (IA), and DePauw University (IN), all with fairly significant academic scholarships. I'm supposed to hear from the University of Miami by January 15. Let's all cross our fingers. I've actually been looking into Miami's Vocal Performance program, and I really like it. Also, it's one of two places I have applied where snow virtually doesn't exist, which is also nice. Perhaps now is the time when I'm most motivated to go someplace like Miami. But I've also been very impressed with DePauw's music program-- when I went to the Classical Singer Convention/Competition in NYC last summer, I had a master class with their classical vocal teacher, and she was really awesome.

Anyway, yeah. I've sent recorded auditions to Miami and NYU (actually, New York was a prescreening... if they like me enough to invite me to audition, I might have to talk my parents in letting me go there for a live audition.) I'm auditioning at CSU sometime in February, and I have plans to audition at DU as soon as possible (especially since they removed me from their Early Action application because, apparently, since I signed up to the music school, the audition is part of the actual application, and I won't even get in until I send that in.) I'm auditioning for DePauw on March 6-7 (live-- I'm actually really excited), and I'm probably going to send recorded auditions to Luther and Capital University. I'm not sure about University of the Pacific or St. Olaf yet-- I'll have to see where that leads me.

But school itself has been keeping me busy. I've been working on my G4 Project for science. We're examining the voltage of electrolytes in sports drinks and then assessing their effectiveness on slowing heart-rate while exercising... I know it sounds very exciting. And then I have my Lit Oral Examination (yes, it's a funny name) this Friday, for which I feel reasonably prepared.

In a more positive note, the THS Senior Choir Concert is next week, and I'm singing a solo with my friend Kiani (who, for the record, is awesome) on the final night of the concert, for which I'm very excited. I finally have my entire outfit ready... I'm going all out and wearing a tux with a green vest, then switching into a royal blue vest for my performances with Select and VJ. (It's January 19-20 at 7pm... and it's free. :D) Then we go directly into our choir musical, which is confirmed to be Chess (it's a Cold War musical... I'm very excited), and the same week I audition for that, I will audition for Sound of Music at NYT, which (assuming I get in) will be my last show there, which is endlessly sad for me, because I only have done two other shows there before, because I was lame and only did school stuff until last year.

Did I mention that I was accepted into the Colorado All-State Choir earlier in my blog? Well, if you haven't heard, I did, and I'm very excited. I'm singing Bass 2 (really low) in the Men's Chorus, and I've been working hard on memorizing the songs on top of every-bloody-thing else I have to do.

So it's understandable that I haven't blogged in a while. :)

Thankful

Greetings, faithful readers! (All four of you... lol.)

(Actually, apparently my aunt also follows my blog, so I guess she counts as an unofficial fifth reader. So there you go.)

Anyway... Happy Thanksgiving!

I happen to be celebrating Thanksgiving in a fairly less-than-traditional way-- my parents are out of town, celebrating their anniversary, so my dear, darling aforementioned aunt offered to allow me to stay at her condo for the weekend-- God bless her-- so I have been able to have a nice Thanksgiving.

Not that I'm upset that my parents are out of town-- I'm very happy for them, actually. I'm glad that they are able to still go off on random trips to continue their strong relationship. But I'm glad I was able to have a nice Thanksgiving with some family, at any rate.

That brings us to the universal theme of this post-- thankfulness. In case you haven't followed my everyday life, THS's choir actually sang a version of Josh Groban's "Thankful" at our senior concert last year, which is a very moving song. For your sake, I'll post an excerpt of the lyrics:

Somedays, we forget to look around us
Somedays, we can't see the joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we pray for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

I never quite understood the meaning of this song while I was singing it during my penultimate senior concert. Now that I've become more immersed and started to grasp the fact that I'm a senior and am leaving a major part of my life behind soon (GOOD GOD, HOWARD), it really rings true. There are parts of my life that are really little things that I shouldn't be worrying about, and so many things I take for granted. When the THS Vocal Jazz Ensemble picked this up randomly one day a few weeks ago and brought it back, it truly spoke to me... despite the fact that the song itself was a bit rusty... :)

But anyway, I'm very thankful for everything that I've had the privilege to have. Even if my Thanksgiving is a little unorthodox, I realize that I should be thankful for everything I have in my life-- my family, friends, and life in general. I'm extremely privileged, and I don't think I should only look at that one day a year. I should have daily reflections of the fortune in my life, especially on those days when IB and my stressful schedule are weighting me down.

And on that note, I think I'll have another slice of pumpkin pie. :D

A Night to Remember

A Night to Remember

Or How God Spoke to Eric through High School Musical 3

As far as the International Concert is concerned, I have this to say.

Wow.

But… in the true spirit of a reflection, I must write more. If only to truly elucidate my true sentiments of the concert that we gave last week. Also, if you’re wondering what my subtitle means, I implore you to read on with the reflection. You’re in for quite a treat. J

I’m not sure if I’m biased, or if I’m truly immersed in the choir program after a year, or if it’s simply a statement of fact, but I feel that this concert impacted me much more than last year’s. Granted… last year I was a junior who was freaked out by a bunch of crying people. And I didn’t quite understand the meaning of the community that everyone was making such a big deal about. And I’m a senior this year, so I could be blowing it out of proportions.

But I return to my thesis: Wow.

Believe me; I wouldn’t be blowing off studying for my World War II exam in History tomorrow if I didn’t think this was important. I’m still an IB kid at heart, so it’s kind of painful to put that aside, but I know that I have to get this done while the vague memories of the concert still linger on in my subconscious. But I digress.

Last week’s concert exhibited such a vast variety of cultures—the only thing that could have added more culture would be to have some penguins speak on behalf of Antarctic culture (“Hello. I am a penguin. My favorite memory of Antarctica is… the snow”). The wide variety of culture was amazing—and it really is almost a shame that all of this culture is suppressed outside of the choir environment. For every kid in choir, there are several others outside of choir who live such cultural lives that we all can learn from, but never do. While I understand that they live in an American environment, they shouldn’t feel that they can’t express themselves culturally. Culture is something that I, being a white kid in the suburbs, have never been able to identify myself with. The most culture I get in my life comes from yogurt. (Laugh. That was funny.) Why people who actually live lives immersed in culture but choose to hide it behind the fashions and mannerisms of America is, in some ways, a mystery to me. I’m not saying that people should go around every day wearing robes and other such paraphernalia; I’m saying they shouldn’t be afraid to.

BLUEBERRY.

Anyway, on to the fabulousness that is High School Musical 3. This is actually deep stuff, no matter how frivolous it may seem. I was driving to THS—running late, as usual—with my iPod plugged into my stereo. On shuffle, I will add. Then, as I’m getting onto I-25, the movie’s opening number, “Now or Never” comes on. In case you are not familiar with the High School Musical franchise (the movie itself was not great, but I enjoyed the music), the movie’s protagonist, Troy, is playing his last high school basketball game ever, and as the game comes to a close, he begins to realize that his legacy is at stake, and that what he does now will immortalize him (in his high school’s records, at least) and his history. I was reaching down to skip the song when the true meaning of the song clicked in my head. I was on my way to my last international concert. I was wearing my tux shirt for the last time. True, we still have the senior concert, but I will never again (unless I flunk of course—and my chemistry grade isn’t keeping any promises J) have an international concert. There would be no way to change whatever happened that night. Once I got to the concert, it was Now or Never.

As if I weren’t freaked out enough by this bizarre coincidental pairing of song and scenario, the song ended as I was pulling up to the Thornton Parkway exit. And what song should come up next but another High School Musical 3 song called “A Night To Remember.” Of course, the song is actually about attending a prom, but the title of the song was enough to get me to think that my iPod was sending my messages. Out of nearly 1,000 songs, I got two Disney Channel pop sensations which somehow spoke to me. (If anyone cares, the chain was later broken by 3OH!3’s “My First Kiss,” but I prefer to think of that as unimportant.)

So yes. Two songs from High School Musical 3 spoke to me in the course of a single evening. As ridiculous as it sounds, I think they somehow inspired me to perform to the best of my ability. Sure, I have a lifetime of performances to come (hopefully, at least!), but I know now that there won’t be anything—no matter how professional—quite like the THS choir experience. I am heavily anticipating the senior concert (especially since I’m… you know… a friggin’ senior!) and, of course, the choir musical, whatever it may be. (I have some ideas too—I did my research and found some stuff the choir might like. J) And though I’m very excited to graduate, I also know that leaving the choir will be very sad experience.

I guess I’ll just have to enjoy it while it lasts. I have no doubt I will.

Just Freakin’ Sing!

ALLSTATE

Okay. It didn't go too badly. I don't think. Then again, it's really the judge's call-- if there's anything I've learned from years of competitions both in the field of piano and voice, music competitions are very subjective, and a lot of your score may depend on whether the judge likes you.

Luckily, though, the judge I got seemed very kind and loving (of course... it could have been a facade to lull me into a false sense of security). Of the categories... here's my own personal critique (though I of course may be biased. :P)

1. SOLO (Pieta, Signore by Alessandro Stradella)

I think it went pretty well. My voice was cooperating with me, and the room itself had fairly good acoustics. I went at a comfortable speed. According to G, there were a few (very minor) pronunciation issues, but Pieta is a fairly new song, so I, of course, am going to have a few minor adjustments to make (if I get anything out of Allstate, it will be a helpful critique for this song which I can use when I sing it in further engagements. ;D)

2. TRIADS

They all went well, though I slid slightly on the Diminished (which, ironically enough, was the one I felt most confident in. There's a life lesson for you.) I'm not sure if I got knocked a point off for that or not.

3. INTERVALS

They all went well, with the exception of one of my sung intervals, which was like half a step off. (A minor third descending-- the judge herself said that was a fairly cruel choice. :P)

4. SCALES

Perfect. I'm sorry. They just were. :)

5. SIGHTREADING

Melodic sightreading was, of course, my weakest point in my audition. Having said that, however, I think I did very well on the first one. I would say it was perfect except for the fact that I have no way of knowing. So I gave myself an 8 out of 10. The second one did not go nearly as well-- especially when I realize that it contained an accidental which I probably botched. BUT I do think I ended on the right note, so finding my way back has got to get me something. As far as rhythmic sightreading goes, I think I did well except on one measure, which should give me a score of 8 out of 10.

All in all, I don't think I did too shabby. There are, of course, points to improve on, but I doubt that there are many perfect scores. I hope to get in, of course, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't-- I've got a lot of other things working for me. :)

And the fact that I made it there and back in one piece is reward enough for me. ;)

Art!

So, in honor of the Congress-passed National Art Appreciation Day, all of THS's choir, band, orchestra, and art students were given the day off to perform for the other students. And I've gotta say-- it went really well! :)

Now, as I'm sure everyone and their brother is aware, THS isn't exactly known for its art programs. First off, we're not an art-based school. Second off, THS is in a lower-income area, where people can't always afford the necessary materials for the creation of visual and performing arts. A lot of people will turn their noses up at Thornton High School (its art program as well as the school itself), simply because of the stereotypes that surround it. Students at the school themselves also have probably been turning blind eyes, deaf ears, and other disabled appendages to the miracle that is the Thornton High School art program.

Until today.

I was frankly amazed at the number of students who came in to watch the choir performances. We were sure that we'd get a few people out of genuine interest. But we feared that would be it. We were shocked as the auditorium slowly began filling up. Sure, a lot of them had come because their teachers had their class watch the performance, but a lot of them came out of genuine interest. (Or boredom... ha.) And a good 95% of them-- I exclude a few people who were forced by others to come, or were simply disrespectful-- allowed themselves to enjoy the performance. I think a lot of them were shocked, too. This was the first time that several of these students had ever heard the choir. Given the aforementioned stereotypes surrounding the school, they had simply assumed that the choir program would be bad. That made the performance all the more effective.

The most important thing about art day is that it raised awareness to administration, the principal, and the friggin' SUPERINTENDENT (who was kind enough to make an appearance. :D) about the importance of the arts. We survived the first $24 million budget cut, and we've got another $20 million cut to go. Historically, the arts are the first to go. Hopefully, after today's demonstration, the school board will think twice before taking anything out of the art programs.

I'm super proud of everyone (band, choir, orchestra, and visual art kids alike) who participated in today's activities. Each and every one of you took a part in maintaining what is an amazing art program. I commend each and every one of you.

You humble me. :)