I have a new blog!!

Don't worry, Eric's Blog of Awesome isn't going anywhere. Wipe the sweat from your brow and take an Aspirin.

However, being the Vocal Performance major that I am, I have dedicated an entire blog to my musical career, which, of course, doesn't really exist yet. But for my own amusement (and perhaps your own), I have decided to keep a public electronic diary of all that happens to me musically throughout college, grad school, and an eventual career. God willing.

So please check out A Return to Bass-ics if you like. Or don't, but tell me you did so I feel like a better person. :D

Meanwhile, the Blog of Awesome will keep track of my day-to-day life, as well as reflections. If I feel a post belongs on both blogs, I can even publish it twice. How convenient am I?

The One Month Mark

I actually have passed the one-month mark. As of September 17, I had called Florida my home for a month, and as of September 24, I had been in classes for over a month. So, really, it's been a month and some days, but The One Month And Some Days Mark just didn't have the same ring to it, so the name of this blog entry, simply for the purpose of poetic license, will stay as written.

Thank you.

So, you should know that I'm writing what will soon be a beautiful blog entry from the comfort of my dorm room, serenaded by the beautiful tones of Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA (which, for the record, is coming from my next-door neighbors, not my dorm.) I am lying somewhat seductively on my futon under my bed in a dimmed setting, next to two empty Coke Zero cans and a bowl that has already held plentiful amounts of Beef-Flavoured Ramen and Easy-Mac. I am also sitting next to a huge bottle of hand sanitizer, which has, so far, helped me through the epidemic of bubonic plague that has been spreading like wildfire through this campus.

In fact, I think I'm going to use a little right now. Give me a second.

...

Ok. I'm back.

For those of you who are new to my blogosphere and/or do not know me and are simply stalking me because my profile picture is unbelievably sexy (it happens to the best of us), I am a Classical Vocal Performance major. This means that I sing a lot of classical music, including a lot of opera. As such my classes (which you will get a full report on in due time) are mostly music-oriented (surprise!) Some are more enjoyable than others. All of them are, in themselves, intriguing to their own respective extents. That's a good thing, too, because if I dip under a 3.0 GPA, I'll lose my academic scholarship and either have to take out loans or say goodbye to my beloved palm trees. Which is something I don't want to do. Because palm trees are beautiful and tropical. Like me.

Anyway.

All of my friends who are Engineering or Pre-Med or Microneurobiochemistry majors (if that's a thing) may look at me and scoff when I say that being a music major is not easy. I am currently enrolled in no less than 11 classes, not counting my extracurriculars. I have 8am (6am MST, mind you) classes EVERY BLOODY DAY and minimal naptime, and it looks like that's not going to change much over the next four years.

My first class is Music Theory, which meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8-8:50 am. And, just FYI, there's a lot more to theory than one might think. After a quick review of key signatures (which, due to my background in piano, I took to pretty easily) and different chords, we jumped straight into Bach Chorales. As in, creating chords with different voice types. At first, I found this extremely challenging, but I've reached a point where it is not nearly as difficult to avoid creating Parallel Fifths and Octaves (which are bad), leaving leading tones unresolved, and other fun things. It's definitely a structure that is kept very much inside the box, but we must learn the rules of music before we can break them. And, for the laymen reading this... there are a LOT of rules of music. And I know that we've barely scratched the surface.

My other 8am class (8-9:15 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays) is Skills Ensemble, or Aural Skills. Yes, we've already made a fair amount of "Oral Skills" jokes. Most of us are still fresh from high school, remember. This class involves ear-training- that is, recognition of certain steps of a scale, certain chords, improvisation, sight-reading, and pretty much everything else. And let me tell you. For everything that I don't know in Music Theory, there are ten things I don't know in Skills Ensemble. You could say I am aurally challenged. (Admit it. You laughed.) So, yeah, definitely a difficult class, especially at 8am, when my brain still isn't quite functioning.

After music theory on Mondays and Wednesdays I have Keyboard Skills. Luckily, due to nearly thirteen years of piano from the most awesome piano teacher in the world, I have a pretty good grasp of piano skills, so I placed a year ahead in piano. I would have placed out, but I didn't have a lot of basic technique (contrary and parallel motion two-octave scales and other such tomfooleries) that kept me in the sophomore program. The unfortunate thing is that I was recently displaced from my last keyboard class into one that is about a week ahead, so it's been a little weird catching up and adjusting to an entirely different class setting five weeks into classes. But such is life.

Immediately preceding Keyboard on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:10-11:00 am is one of the highlights of my day, Symphonic Choir. This is the largest audition-required ensemble at my school, and is actually a lot of fun to be in. Right now, we're going in the opposite direction of any college choir that I could ever imagine and are singing excerpts from the Baseball Cantata (yes, there exists such a thing) called Casey at the Bat, based on the famous poem. Yes, they wrote, in essence, an entire opera out of a poem. Talent. And, for our first concert, we will be wearing t-shirts and jeans and be singing on bleachers instead of risers. #reasonswhymyschoolisprobablybetterthanyours. I'm assuming we'll be returning to my traditional choral music after the Casey concert, but I'm glad to see that the choral studies program here is so open-minded.

After choir on Mondays and Wednesdays I have a short break, after which I have my fourth class, English Diction. This is the class that I was placed in five weeks into classes, so it's been interesting catching up to the rest of the class. The main focus of the class is on learning IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), which is, naturally, actually very useful for singers, but kind of a slow topic to learn. I do enjoy making sounds, though, so I'm making the most out of the class.

The final class on Mondays and Wednesdays is Opera Theater. In this class, we basically work on presentation from a singer's perspective. Essentially, acting while maintaining singing posture. Definitely a fun class. Mondays we are at the school wellness center for Movement with a dance professor (including a lot of yoga as well as some beginning dancing) and on Wednesdays we are in the classroom, learning about staging and other such trivialities necessary for an opera singer.

Also. Fridays. I have Voice Forum. This is "Listen to Pretty Music and Occasionally Hear Important Announcements From the Voice Faculty" Class, so it's fairly enjoyable. I'm planning on singing a La Bohéme aria as my first forum performance next Friday. We we we so excited. :D

Back to Tuesdays and Thursdays. After Skills Ensemble, I have Experiencing Music. I will leave it at the name. It definitely had a slow start at the beginning of the semester, but since then we have learned a lot of different cultural music, which is at least interesting to me. It's definitely a class I would take if it weren't required for my major, but since it is, it feels more monotonous to me. But we're starting some more classical studying, which pertains more to me as a classical singer, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

And then... I have two non-music classes, both meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Solely for my own amusement, I'm taking an Intro to Psychology class, which I'm enjoying very much. It's the one class in a lecture hall setting, so I actually feel like I'm in college when I'm in that class. And thanks for IB Psych, I'm finding a lot of this to be review, so I'm enjoying myself quite heartily. I then have my Intro to Acting Class, which also serves as my honors credit for the semester. It's definitely a lot more challenging that I would think, and the instructor definitely requires professionalism from us, so there's not a lot of fun improv moments in the class, but overall it's a good skill for me, as a performance career hopeful, to have.

And then, I have my private voice lessons... easily the highlight of my week. My voice instructor is absolutely amazing. My first voice lesson he already had me singing high G's and A's like no one's business. I'm already working on several different songs in multiple languages, way more than is required of a Freshman, and I'm enjoying every second of it. Every time I come out of a voice lesson, I'm on a high for the rest of the day. Which is good, because my lessons are on Tuesdays, which, being only a step above Mondays, are not great days for me as a person who enjoys his sleep.

In addition to this maddening schedule, I'm also in the chorus for the opera and in the university co-ed a cappella group, which still does not have a set name. I'll let you all know when it does. And it will be glorious. It's definitely interesting balancing the classical nature of the opera with the contemporary nature of the a cappella group. But versatility is beautiful. And so am I.

So there's my update on college. I'll try and blog more so that way not all of my blogs have to be so long. If you actually read to this point, I commend you. And let's play a trick on those who didn't. If you did read this all the way to the end, then write your favorite fruit as a comment on the LINK to this blog on my Facebook Page and see if some confusion ensues. Tomatoes count, but assorted squashes do not. Besides, whose favorite fruit is a squash? Gross.

(Also, if you are reading this and you understand what I mean when I say "plump squash," then you're cool. If you're from UM, you shouldn't understand that. So don't feel bad.)

So, to conclude. College is awesome. Much too awesome. I am eternally grateful to be given the opportunity to study here and am hoping to milk the university for everything it's worth.

♫ ♪ ♫!!

(In case your computer is dumb and is showing BOX BOX BOX, those were intended to be music notes. Sucks to be you. Thank you. Bye.)

THEORY PLACEMENT

Ok.

So.

Music theory.

Haha.

No.

True story. I took my music theory placement tests today, which included both written and aural theory. Both of which were somewhat sucky. Now, I'm not saying that I'm some grand master of music theory, but I legitimately thought that I could work my way through a theory test and get maybe half of the questions right and then figure out the rest for myself.

But no. Because college music theory is much different from the rest of music theory that I've ever actually used. For instance, there are these things called modes, which are scales with different steps. I sort of learned them this summer but immediately forgot them upon returning to school. Basically, there is a mode for every note in the C-major (or A-minor!) scale, played on just white keys. For instance, a D scale played ONLY ON WHITE KEYS is a Dorian mode.

But here's what I want to know... WHY?!?!?!?!

I really doubt that there is a single song written with the Dorian mode in mind. Last time I checked, songs are written in major or minor keys. Nothing else.

Perhaps it's the frustration of failure talking, but I obviously failed both tests. Luckily, however, I automatically will default into Theory 101... there is no remedial class that I have to take... thanks to the good lord Jesus. So even if I failed every question (which I didn't... I did well on scales and basic chords... and maybe intervals), I won't have to pay. The instructor did say, however, that "basic theory" will be quickly reviewed in the first two days of the semester. Depending on what he defines as "basic," those two days may be stressful.

I'm beginning to think that being a music major is definitely not going to be quite as easy as I had anticipated.

Les Mizzzzz! :D

Now, I don't usually blog critiques, but tonight I saw the 25th Anniversary Concert of the ever famous musical Les Misérables, which I've always known to be an excellent musical-- it is, in fact, indirectly, the musical that convinced me to join the Thornton High School choir department. This production was so phenomenal, it was pretty much ridiculous.

The singers were, of course, excellent. Lea Salonga (formerly Eponine-- she played Fantine in this performance) was probably my favorite. Her portrayal of Fantine was true to every virtue of the character, and was highly reminiscent of Salonga's role of Kim in Miss Saigon (interestingly enough, another show with music written by Claud-Michel Schönberg). Both characters are virtuous and pure, and yet have degraded themselves in order to survive in a cruel world. Of course, my first thought was "Look she's Asian," but I digress.

The gentleman who played Jean Valjean-- Alfie Boe-- of whom I've never heard, was pretty good. Actually, he was excellent, but he broke character at the end of "Bring Him Home," and actually acknowledged the audience's applause. Yes, I know that it was a concert, but I think his breaking of character severely weakened his performance in that song, which is, of course, a very important song not to break character in. The performance didn't seem to be quite all there, and it was nothing compared to the original Jean Valjean, but it was still highly impressive and moving.

Now, of course, I must move onto the show's weakest link-- Marius, played by none other than the Disney Channel pop sensation himself: Nick Jonas. "WHAT, Eric? Nick Jonas in Les Mis?" Why yes, good person. Jonas actually did fairly well for himself, but I'm not sure if I would choose him as the Marius for the 25th Anniversary Concert (I mean... isn't the point of the concert to create a dream team Les Mis cast?) He can carry a tune, of course, but I felt that he was too often switching into his pop voice-- especially during "A Heart Full of Love" and "One Day More." However, his rendition of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" was, with the possible exception of his low notes, pretty good.

The Thernardiers were good... they weren't quite as over-the-top during "Master of the House" as the originals, but they played the part well. They were especially good in their final song.

Norm Lewis was Javert-- the role that I would most love to play. I actually got really excited when I realized that he played King Triton in Little Mermaid-- so I actually had seen him perform live, which was pretty cool. He captured the essence of the character, and his rendition of "Stars" was absolutely gorgeous.

The guy who played Enjolras-- Ramin Karimloo (apparently, he also originated the Phantom in Love Never Dies)-- was a highlight of the show. His performance was energetic and moving, and the girl I was sitting next to wants to marry him, but who wouldn't?

I've always been kind of annoyed by Cosette, and this was no exception. The girl who played Cosette played the role quite well-- it's just a role that grates on my nerves. Eponine-- who was played the wonderful Samantha Barks-- was wonderful, and could take Cosette any day.

That's really all I have to say. The performance was EXTREMELY moving and wonderful. I have never been to a performance that has left me physically exhausted and panting for air at the end, and please bear in mind that this was a recording of the concert. If I had seen it in person, I probably would have just died of heavenly shock.

Also... they're making Les Mis into a movie!! :D :D Though rumors had, of course, been moving around, this was pretty much the first time that Cameron Mackintosh had confirmed the movie, so my friends and I were very excited. I will most certainly be going to that midnight premiere.

Good night, blog friends. Until another day.

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!

Compact-Disc

I don't know how Lady Gaga does it. I just sang five songs to put onto a college audition CD, and I'm exhausted. If anyone's interested, here's a list of the songs on said CD:

1. Il mio bel foco (Marcello)

2. Pieta, Signore (Stradella)

3. Der Doppelganger (Schubert)

4. Beau Soir (Debussy)

5. The Vagabond (Vaughan Williams)

A fairly varied list of songs-- that's what I was aiming for. This way, any combination of these five songs will be enough for any college's requirements. The Manhattan School of Music, for example, requires three songs: an Italian song (1 or 2), an English song (5), and a song in either German or French (3 or 4).

This list was based on what a specific scholarship I'm looking at requires: An Italian aria (1), an English (5), two contrasting art songs (3 and 4), and a final song of my choice (2). I think I picked well. Il mio bel foco and Der Doppelganger show off my low notes, while Pieta, Signore shows off my high notes. Beau Soir is a slower song, which contrasts the rapid Vagabond. And these five songs should fit nicely into any college's requirements.

I'm so glad that I have this under my belt. This is arguably one of the biggest pains in the process college application of music majors. Now I can start sending them in and finishing my apps. (Though I still have to write essays-- including one for MsM that asks what fictional character I identify with. I kinda want to say Harry Potter. :D) Things are starting to fall in place. I'm pretty happy about it.

Additionally, my parents got me barbecue for dinner.

It was delicious.

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. :)