Home on the Range

I have been told that my posts are missed. If you really want to hear about my day-to-day happenings in Bowling Green, Ohio and the surrounding area, I guess I can fulfill your wishes. The other option is you donate so I can go back to England ASAP!

I do realize that I didn't tell you about the final night and my homecoming experience.

The night before my return, I went to the 2nd to last rehearsal of St. Bart's Choir before their concert (which was yesterday). It happened to be Ivor's birthday. There also happened to be a horrific gas leak somewhere in the area outside of the church (which is right on Covent Garden). Instead of evacuating us, the authorities locked us inside. No matter, my post-rehearsal plans of meeting the Exmouth Market gang at the choir's pub-of-choice was not disrupted. In fact, I'd say it was quite a success, although I have to admit that I cried the entire tube ride back to Gloucester Square. I know I've apologized a ton already, but: I'm sorry I was such a wreck, Jonathan!!!

I was luckily given a very sweet German Methodist minister as a seat neighbor for the cross-Atlantic flight. We chatted a bit on the plane (in English- he had to brush up for a conference in Tennessee). When we got to O'Hare, he helped me with my overhead bag. This is no small feat- it was stuffed of all of the programs from the summer concerts (i.e. VERY heavy).

At Immigration, the officer asked me how long I was out of the US. Slightly shocked at such a large number of days, he asked me if I was studying. I informed him that it wasn't- I was observing the LSO thanks to the help of some friends in the orchestra. "For 3 months (uh-oh)?" "I'm studying to be a conductor." "Well, that sounds like the best kind of lesson." FINALLY- someone who understands!

Holger (German friend) and I met again up at baggage claim. My bags were in the very last load off of the plane, but he patiently waited with me the entire time. Next was customs. All the officer did was take our filled-out cards. He didn't even look at them! As both of our connecting flights didn't leave until 4, we passed the time in one of the airport restaurants. Not that there was a load of time- it took us over 2 hours to go through immigration, baggage, customs, re-check baggage, and re-go-through security.

A bit after 3, I walked to the area Jordan where and I had decided to wait for each other. In case I failed to mention this earlier, Jordan and I both arrived in London the same day in May. We met on our first night at the hostel. We happened to be chatting online- when both of us were in Germany- when we discovered that we would both be flying home the same day with a layover at the same time in the same airport!!! Crazy, no? Jordan's final destination was home on the West Coast. I was afraid he wouldn't get there in time, but he had better luck in security/immigration/etc. We talked for about 20 minutes before I had to board the puddle-jumper to Toledo.

I move the rest of my things- and myself- to the apartment in BG Saturday morning. I still need to make a couple of phone calls, one of which will determine whether or not we get internet...I should get on that...

Part of the Exmouth Gang: Matty and Adam

Hostel Buddy, Jordan

And Now, the End is Near....

I said I was going to write a new post yesterday. Sorry I've been slacking these last few weeks. It is with deepest sadness that I announce that this will be the last post of this life-changing trip. My plane leaves Heathrow at 10:25 AM tomorrow morning from Heathrow. I have yet to fit all of my things into my luggage. I wish I'd have listened to everyone before I left and put a smaller suitcase inside of the bigger one. I insisted that I'd have enough room. I now find myself going home with my friend's fold-up suitcase so as to avoid overweight luggage.

I was going to go out and do some last-minute touristy things, but have decided against it. It would have been a visit to Westminster Abbey to do the audio tour just because it's said by Jeremy Irons. Instead, I'm staying in and packing, playing piano, and practicing trumpet. Yesterday was the first time I played piano in a VERY long time...well, more than my short attempt at Michel and Monir's. That doesn't count. Yesterday, I sat down with music I've played before and struggled more than I ever have to get through simple pieces. I'll be playing my trumpet at some point later today, too.

Germany was wonderful- except for the sunburn part. I find it interesting that I got a worse burn in Germany than I did in Spain. The Spanish sunburn was gone by the next morning. The German one's still sticking around. As for the flight- if you ever fly on one of the cheap European airlines, choose in this order: 1) Easyjet 2) Aer Lingus Lastresort) Ryanair. The flight to Munich was one of the smoothest I've yet had. On the way back, the pilot informed us where we were when we were flying over something exciting thanks to the incredibly clear night. He pointed out our flying over the Dutch coast and when we got to the southern coast of Britain. Pretty neat. Sadly, the pictures out the window didn't turn out too well. I wish I'd not have slept the entire ride there, as it was during the day.

The border agent back at Stanstead (i.e. London) gave me probably the 2nd worst time I've had entering the country. I had forgotten to bring my itinerary back to the US with me. Here is a paraphrase of our retarded conversation:

"You've been here enough times you know you need to have it with you. Why were you here for almost 4 months?"

"Um...it was less than 3....I was here to observe the London Symphony Orchestra."

"And you really needed 3 months to do that?"

"Um....yes....*thinks: Yes. If you were cultured, you'd understand.*"

"What address is this?"

"The flat at which I've been staying."

"Whose address is it, then?"

"Well, I guess it's my flatmate's..."

"Why did you need a flat if you were only here 3 months?"

*thinks: Where the hell am I supposed to stay for 3 months? Do YOU want to pay 3 months of hotel fees?* "Um...yes...."

She then asked about my money situation, quizzed me on when my flight leaves Tuesday, interrogated me about my being at university, and informed me that she'd be taking note of my not having my itinerary. Thank God the guy on my first trip here didn't write down the same, even though it happened then, too.

Oh, and I'm not staying in the *entire* day- I'm going to the 2nd to last rehearsal before St. Bart's Hospital Choir concert next Tuesday. Today's Ivor's birthday, so it's either going to be great or horrible....After, I'm meeting up with the Exmouth Market gang at the choir's pub of choice. It's going to be a sad night of festivities....

This summer has been beyond words. If you've been reading up on all of my adventures, you'll understand how overwhelmingly perfect it's gone, for the most part. There are a billion things I couldn't fit into this blog, but I've been keeping a separate and more-detailed journal saved on my computer. Perhaps you can read it in my memoirs at some point down the road...it is about the length of a book.....

See you all on the other side of the pond tomorrow.

Prost!

All of my bookmarked websites have translated themselves into German. This can only mean one thing...well, two...either my computer has some awesome virus, or (more likely) I'm in Germany. The answer is: I'm in Munich! I'm visiting Julia, who was an exchange student my sophomore year of high school.

The 2 Berlioz proms were fantastique. The first night was the Te Deum, a new work, and Beethoven 4. Afterwards, a friend of mine drove me to a Heathrow hotel to visit Dr. Papanikolaou, my Music History 2 professor. She was in London for a whole 20 hours. I'm glad we were able to have a little chat! The second night was Beethoven 3, the overture to Les Francs Juges and Symphonie Funebre et Triumphale. The latter was written for a band, so there were zero strings, 9 bassoons, 14 clarinets, 10 trumpets, 4 cornets, 12 (!) French horns, 8 snareish/field drum things, 3 bass drums, 4 sets of crash cymbals, 8 or so trombones, 2 tubas, and a smattering of whatever else I forgot...oboes...whatever, there were a whole bunch of not strings. I would love band if we played music like that. Sadly, we don't, so I am an orchestra girl. I met Michel and Monir before hand and had a little picnic in Hyde Park.

I woke up at 5 AM yesterday morning, walked to a bus stop, went to Liverpool St. Station, got no the Stanstead Express, had my bag searched at the airport, and eventually boarded the plane which was 40 minutes late. Julia met me at the Munich airport. An S-Bahn took us to Marienplatz. We walked partway back to her place and took another train partway (it's not very far, though- I'm going to walk back down there as soon as I get myself together). I threw my stuff down, then we went for a traditional Bavarian meal. I had Pfannkuchensuppe and Leberkäse, which is kind of like a processed meat thing with a fried egg and potato salad. It was oddly tasty. The menu added another crazy-long word in front of it. Julia made me practice saying it before ordering. I managed! Wonder what I'll eat today.....

Oh, by the way....6 days, and I'm back in Findlay. :/

On the Road, Again

In the last 2 weeks, I've spent about 12 hours on trains. I don't really have much time right now, but thought I should let you know I'm still alive. I'm back in London...until tomorrow morning when I head to Munich to visit Julia. I had a wonderful time in the Lake District...beautiful weather, beautiful sights, and great company! I need to run off and do some packing before meeting Michel and Monir for dinner before the second Berlioz prom.......hope to update from Germany.

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race

hotel @ St. Andrew's golf course
Sorry for the long delay, but I have been having a very eventful last few days that have kept me from being able to sit down and organize my thoughts/events in a comprehensive manner. As it's been forever since my last good post, I give myself permission to make this one extra long.

I left Norwich by train at 8 PM Sunday night, arriving at London Liverpool Street 2 hours later. A 20ish minute tube ride took me to Victoria. A walk of 10-15 more took me to Victoria coach station, where I waited for my bus for about half an hour. It arrived at about 20 past 11 in the form of a gigantic purple double-decker with a trailer behind. Megabus was, indeed, MEGA. I was all excited when it seemed that I would have my own seat until some guy sat down just as we were about to depart. This meant any sleeping to be done would require window-leaning. I awoke at 2 AM to an announcement of our arrival in Birmingham. I immediately fell back asleep. At 7 AM, I opened my eyes, wide awake, and had no clue where we were. A sign reading, "Lanarkshire county" or somesuch did not help. I simply thought someone violently misspelled Lancashire. And so, I had entered Scotland.

At 8 AM, I found myself in Glasgow, where we had about half an hour to stretch our legs. Therefore, I can say that I've legitimately been to Glasgow. Many people alighted here, so I left with my own seat. A while later, we made a stop in Perth, then Dundee a few minutes past schedule at about 10:28. I saw Michel and Monir waiting for me on the platform. For those of you who are unaware, we met through their website- www.hberlioz.com. Look back at my post from 12 or 13 Dec 2007 and you can read about our first encounter.

The three of us waited for a few minutes until a bus came to take us to very near their house. We spent the evening talking about Berlioz at sporadic instances (of course, what else would we do?!), me being shown the house, and me drooling over all things Berlioz-related. At 8, their neighbors, Kaye and Len (real Scots!), joined us for a tasty supper. Monir made rice to Iranian specifications, and Michel made a casserole (US: "stew") to go over top. We all had a nice little chat about many things.

Wednesday was spent touring seaside fishing villages. Michel chauffeured us to Anstruther, Crail, Pittenweem, and Elie before heading back to St. Andrew's. We visited the harbours of the first 3 and a beautiful old (built by 1370) church in the last. At lunch, I consumed the tastiest hot chocolate of my life next door to where we ate dinner tonight. Hold on a moment for that tale! Michel dropped Monir and I off in town upon our return. I happened upon a local bakery called, "Fisher and Donaldson's!" They apparently have delicious cakes, which I believe. I had the best doughnut of my life there. It was fudgey-mapeley frosted with vanillaish pudding inside. Unlike anything I have ever tasted. The late-night supper concluded with a fruity-puddingy concoction that I do believe will be gracing the table at the Givens dinner in the spring.

Today, Monir and I headed to Edinburgh. She had to pick up a paper from her flat there (I just took a brief pause to run upstairs to the loft and take pictures of a beautiful Scottish sunset!), so I tagged along. After some sauntering, we made it to the Tartan Mill where I finally acquired a Clan MacDonald ladies' kilt. The handy cafe above the mill happened to have haggis, so no further sauntering was required except that of making our way to the bus station to head back.

After a short rest and bit of tea back at the wh'oooose (US: noun: "house"), Chauffeur Michel took us back to Pittenweem for this super-hyped fish and chips bar's wares. They were everything I had been hoping and MORE! To explain just how good they were: I am that person who doesn't eat the little crispy chips (US: "fries") because they're too crispy, flavourless, and dry. I also don't tend to eat the breading on my fish for the same reasons. Below, you will find before and afters of my vinegar-and-salt covered newspaper-wrapped fish and chips.

In short, Scotland= 1) the best food, ever: Haggis, fish and chips, doughnuts, desserts, and more! 2) it's awesome to see businesses that include your name, not to mention two in one day, when you're accustomed to never seeing it anywhere 3) it's strange to blend in so well. My hair, skin, eyes, etc. hide me quite well. 4) I don't want to leave- it's won me over. Scottish food is delicious, Scottish clouds are beautiful, Scottish skies are beautiful, Scottish people are lovely, Scottish (highland) cattle are awesome-looking (do a google search), no one's in a rush- I love how laid back it feels here, etc. etc. Come here if you think I'm just waxing poetic. Oh, there's also the point that I've spent my time here being as nerdy as possible by talking about Hector every waking moment and looking at memorabilia, etc. And so, the truth comes out.

a harbour, haggis, before/after fish and chips

Zooooooom

And thus begins my whirlwind tour of Europe. It is day 2 in Norwich. 2 Evensongs have been evensung. I haven't been too horrible about my page-turning, stop-pulling, and button-pushing. I will be doing the same until Sunday. That, and romping around this nice town taking peeks into shops and the like.

I don't know when I will next be on, but I actually have to run back to the cathedral and attend an organ rectial. Sorry this was so short, but I've been running around for the last 2 days! I'm off....

End with a Bang

Oh, Mahler, how draining you are. Before I get into the concert, I'll tell you about the rest of my day.

I woke up a bit late...I knew I'd need the extra energy tonight. Eventually, I packed for Norwich/Scotland/the Lake District. After that, I dawdled, then hopped on the tube to wander around Kensington. My wandering began with a saunter through the Victoria & Albert Museum. Last time I was there, I spent 3 hours in the musical instruments room (I pulled out every single cabinet, none of which I looked at this trip). Dragonetti's bass still impresses me with it's enormity. You could fit a modern bass inside it quite easily.

From there, I headed towards Royal Albert Hall/the Royal College of Music/Hyde Park. While walking past RCM, I noticed a sign announcing a pre-concert talk. Huzzah! Photos were snapped, then I went to Hyde Park for the first time. On my way back to the talk, I happened upon a few people gathered around something that seemed exciting. Then I saw what it was. A man had his 5 tiny puppies romping around! I happily sat down in the grass and played with them. The talk was entertaining and informative. After it finished, I walked downstairs. On the way, I almost started crying...it was very powerful to be in a building for the first time that I have thought about so much for the last 2 years.

Now onto the concert: The Royal Albert Hall was very nearly sold-out (there were a few empty seats and a couple of empty boxes). I got to my seat while the (huge) building was still relatively empty. Eventually an older couple sat on my right. I was highly confused, as I thought I could understand them, then I couldn't. I had an idea of what was going on, so I asked the woman what language they were speaking. Aha! It was Dutch! Thus it's sounding like German and messing with my head. We proceeded to talk for the next 20 minutes until the concert began. Both of them play viola in an amateur orchestra in Amsterdam. She is studying music. They were on holiday to London for a few days after she completed a little course in music at Cambridge. She told me about several historical concerts she'd witnessed with Haitink, Bernstein, and the Concertgebouw. The husband's viola teacher was in the Concertgebouw. Right before the concert began, she gave me her email address saying, "We can help you out if you ever come to Holland! We live only 45 minutes from Amsterdam and go to the Concertgebouw usually once a week." I have been very lucky with my concert-going neighbors this summer...many very interesting people. I will miss it!

I can only imagine how the players must have felt before, during, and after the performance. Carmine said it was very powerful to see the audience members' faces- some crying, some listening intently with closed eyes, all moved. Not long into the 1st movement, I already had tears streaming down my face. They let up for 2 and 3, but came back in 4. The worst, though, was saying a "final" "goodbye" (hopefully for only 3-months) to Carmine at the tube station. It was a very emotional ride home, as I kept thinking of different highlights from my time with them. I couldn't have chosen a better ending note for the summer. I'll see you all in October, if the powers that be approve.

Installation at the V&A, RCM, RAH and Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, puppies, RAH

Off to Norwich tomorrow morning until Sunday, then to Scotland. I don't know if I will be online between now and then...

Dali would be Proud.

...for today felt relatively surreal. It began with Carmine giving me a little gift to remember him. He wanted me to guess what it was, but I had no clue. He said it was perfect for me. The clue was "Christmas." I gave up. He proceeded to pull out a pristine set of LPs of Berlioz' sacred works performed by Sir Colin and the LSO. He bought it at a boot sale the day after we drove up to Coventry, which is when we started to get to know each other. In other words, it IS the perfect gift to remember him by.

Rehearsal began with Haitink saying, "Let's run the first three movements and be done at 5. If we go a few minutes over, don't be mad." They ended up running all 4 movements, which I did not complain about. I was actually hoping they would play it, as it's the most emotional of the 4. The waterworks almost opened up, but I forced them back. Tomorrow, though, they will flow freely.

Many semi-farewell hugs were had. It wasn't quiet as difficult as I thought. I will be seeing them all again for a week in October if everything's on my side. Hopefully I can catch some of them as they leave the hall tomorrow night, as well.

I also caught Maestro Haitink before he escaped. It was a very odd encounter. It was almost as if he couldn't understand me, even though he's entirely fluent at English. He seemed like an entirely different person off the podium.

I met up with a friend from the New London Singers at 8 for drinks/some food. We had a very nice long chat about many things. It turns out he is a friend of John Rutter. I told him to check and see if my drawing of Nick is still there next time he goes to their house. We had some interesting Asian (well, it's Oriental here) cuisine unlike any I had ever had. Tasty!

It is now past 2 AM. I should have been asleep hours ago.

I don't know why the violin drawing is sideways.

Your Answers, Please.

Obviously, many amazing things have happened in the world since, well, ever. If you had the chance to go back and experience something from history, what would it be? Why? Would you want to sit down and have a chat with Ben Franklin, watch the Wright Bros. first flight, witness Lincoln reciting the Gettysburg Address, or do you just like the clothing? I have been thinking about this for the past few days for no reason in particular. It's surely crossed your mind, as well, whether or not you were asked, daydreaming, or consciously thinking about it. By the way, this has nothing to do with my trip.

It's very difficult to limit yourself to just 5. At first, I was going to say 3, but I kept thinking of things. Perhaps that just comes with my extreme interest in history. Here are mine:

1) I'm sure you can all guess: Berlioz, in general. I want to hear him sing, I want to see him conduct, I want to experience his wit first-hand, and I want to see the beak for myself. Oh, and I'd marry him.

2) Give Beethoven a hug.

3) Talk to my great-great-great grandfather Donaldson. He and his brother came over from Ireland (their parents moved there from Scotland...I have decided, therefore, that I'm half Scottish, not Irish) and started an iron foundry. It existed from 1862 until he died in 1937 (at age 93). As a first-generation American, he started that company, became mayor of his town in Michigan, possibly ran into Thomas Edison while TE was a kid working on the railway in said town, and started a bank. Also, I think it's neat that 2 of his other brothers started a merchant shipping line in Chicago in the 1850s. The first British merchant ship that was sunk by a German U-boat was one of theirs. Grandpa, if you are reading this and can remember, did he have an accent? Surely he did...

4) Live in upper-class Victorian England for wee bit. I'd like to be able to take a trip to my rich cousins in the country, go to a fancy ball (corset and all), disguise myself and explore the lowly worlds of Dickens' books, ride in a horse-drawn hack, and experience the atmosphere of the Sherlock Holmes tales- walk down the street at night in the rain as a bobby twirls his bat on the corner, whistling to himself...

5) Live in 1930s Hollywood and, again, upper-class England. My original number 5 was to work in the studio of Constable, JMW Turner, or Ingres, but this one might relate to more people. I would want to get to know the big old-time movie stars. Well, at least the ones I personally see as stars- Basil Rathbone, mostly. I want to go to another ball, only in '30s attire. I'd like to go to some Jeeves and Wooster-ey events, a horse race, etc...

What are yours? Enlighten me. If you're one of the people who usually reads this but says nothing, PLEASE leave at least ONE of your answers. I'm interested to hear.

Friends, or Foe?

The title has a double meaning. 1) Yesterday, I went to see the new Harry Potter film. I loved it, but it could have been more dramatic. It seemed like everything happened too quickly and just barreled forward. I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed. Go see it. Only if you've read the books, though...or at least watched all the other movies and remember what happened in them. If you know the plot, you get the meaning of the title.

2) After the movie (which, by the way, the cinema only had about 5 empty seats), I came back to the flat to get ready to head out yet again. At 7, there was an "LSO Friends and Patrons" event at the Barbican. I was invited via letter to my house in Ohio back in June. Dad sent me an email containing the info in the letter with the subject like, "Ashley: READ THIS NOW." The letter arrived 11 June. I had to respond by the 12th.

When I got to the Conservatory Terrace (see picture- stolen from the internet as I stupidly didn't take my camera- below, but pretend you're looking down upon the scene), I found out that the woman hadn't gotten my email response. No matter, she was happy I showed up! I was worried that I wouldn't really find someone to talk to, but I ended up having a great time. 2 women came over near me and we started chatting. 2 more eventually joined. The first two were both "Friends (people who pay money to get orchestral perks)," the second two both people like myself who'd bought a ton of tickets. I saw that Ginette, one of the 1st violins, was there, so I went and sat with her for the recital portion of the night. Patrick, tuba, and Rinat, bass, serenaded us for an hour.

After the recital, we all headed downstairs to the garden room (with a door leading into the, well, garden, seen in the picture below) for food, drinks, and talk. I talked with some people who work as stewards at LSO St. Luke's. One woman came up to me and asked if I was in the orchestra. She recognized me via my shoes...she complimented me on them at the first event I went to there! Everyone wished me well and said they could tell I will be going far....I can only hope their crystal balls weren't too cloudy. One woman asked my full name so she could look for it in the future. I think that's one of the most powerful things people have said to me.

Tomorrow is the first rehearsal for the last concert. Sigh.

Bastille Day!

Well, I guess it's over now...at least in the UK. Still, it is a fitting title, as it was the title of tonight's choir concert program. Tonight was my second (and final) concert with the New London Singers at St. Martin's. The program consisted of the Durufle Requiem and motets, Poulenc motets, 2 Saint-Saens pieces, a short piece that's entirely hummed, and another piece in French. In other words, it was all composed by Frenchmen but was not, thankfully, all in French- Requiem/Motets=Latin, which is much easier to say/sing.

Sorry it's taken me so long to blog. Honestly, nothing much has happened since the last. The orchestra went to Germany for 2.5 days, so I stayed in and caught up on sleep, mostly. I did manage to go to my second RPO concert. It was interesting. Tchaikovsky 5 and the violin concerto, plus the premier of some relatively wretched Korean composition.

On Sunday, I went to an "Italian Procession." There's apparently a "Little Italy (VERY little)" about a 7 minute walk from here. Their church processes their statue of Mary around every year at the back of a long religious parade. It was interesting to see. They also had a lot of food vendors set up. Tasty!

Today, there was choir rehearsal at St. Martin's at 4, then the concert at 7:30. After, we went to the pub. A select few of us decided to move to another bar after being kicked out of that one...at 11 PM. It's on Whitehall in Westminster, so there's not really a demand to stay open any later. There was rehearsal for St. Bart's choir last night, as well. We also went to the pub after that. I had a great discussion about British cooking with one guy. The highlight of the conversation was when we were discussing Swedes, and how they're called "Rutabaga" in the states. "Isn't that a kind of car?" I was confused then said, "OH! You mean a Studebaker?"

That seems like a lot of stuff for having nothing to do...Tomorrow I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie. They have showings all day from 9 AM at a nearby cinema, so I'll hit up one of them. Then in the evening, I'll be heading to the Barbican for an LSO Friends/Patrons event. Patrick (tuba) and Rinat (bass) are giving a little recital and a light dinner/drinks are being served. I was invited via letter to my house in OHIO because I've bought so many tickets. I think I'll have been to 25 concerts (not just LSO) by time I get home.

Feed the Birds.

Tonight's concert is Bruckner 9 at St. Paul's. It was a little more spine-tingling at the rehearsal hall yesterday, as it was a tiny space for big sound, but I'm sure tonight will be just as powerful when all of the idiotic tourists are gone. I showed up this morning prepared to pay the entrance fee to sit and listen to the rehearsal for 3 hours. The kind woman at the desk let me in for free, as I wasn't going to be going around looking at the stuff you have to pay to see.

After rehearsal, I decided to walk to Millennium Bridge to partake in some roasted nuts smothered in sugar. Tasty! Carmine accompanied me, as he had never been on the bridge. Tut tut! I was worried when I saw no vendor on the north side of the bridge. I decided to take the chance and see if there was one on the other side. I didn't see one, but we could smell it...he was hiding out underneath. I went up to him and said, "My day is complete! £2? He answered in the affirmative. He charged the next guy 3. Mwaha!

I mentioned yesterday's rehearsal. I'll take this chance to explain my trip to the hall. I've been there several times, but yesterday was the most adventurous. I was going to take the tube, but got to the station and realized my Oystercard was in my wallet, which was in the flat...along with my phone and my keys. It fell out of my bag as I shut it, but I didn't notice. Luckily I had my London map and had looked up the shortest route according to Google Maps. It said it'd take 45 minutes. I turned around and sprinted from a slightly farther starting point, and made it in 35. That's even including the chunk of time I spent relatively lost after taking a turn too early. I followed my nose and managed to arrive as Gergiev's car was pulling up! He has the habit of being violently late, though, so I guess that's not a good comparison. I was there 3 minutes before the scheduled downbeat.

I should have just waited until after the concert to post something, but I wanted to let Grandma D know that I took some oatmeal-choc-chip cookies to rehearsal last night. Several players said they were the best they've ever tasted! They went over quite well. I think I need to be hired as the LSO Principal Baker.

Drear.

It has been storming in London the last few days- full on thunder and everything. Yesterday, Victoria station, perhaps the busiest train/underground station in the city, was closed due to flooding. It seems to rain hardest when I'm outside. The first day of this weather, it was just sprinkling...then I stepped outside to run to the tube station and the heavens opened up. I'm sure that's what's going to happen when I run to rehearsal in a few minutes. I'm planning on walking, and it's going to take at least 45 minutes. I'm sure I'll be drenched when I get there, even though it's dry right now.

I just booked a flight to Munich to visit my friend, Julia, who was an exchange student my sophomore year of HS. I promised I'd visit, and finally am living up to it! August 4-8. I also booked my trains to Scotland and the Lake District. Scotland to visit the professors who run hberlioz.com and the Lake District to visit some family friends. I have never been to either region, both of which I'm certain are absolutely beautiful.

Everyone (except one person) in this flat building has been or is going to another country recently. I started out by going to Spain, Adam's in Sweden/Denmark, Matty's in Slovakia, Giulio got back from Paris yesterday, and Jonty's going to Ireland on Friday. Paul visited his parents a couple hours away- does that count?

I should probably leave. Rehearsal is prepared to be delayed (I've already been warned), at least with the actual conductor- Gergiev has the habit of being late. The man WAY overbooks himself and owns 3 cell phones. The cell phones have nothing to do with his being late, just to prove how busy he is. There was a period not long ago where he had 4 concerts in 3 countries in 3 days. Not close countries, either- I know one was Russia and one was England.

I have no pictures of any value to post. Hopefully I'll be able to take some more once the weather improves.

Busy, Busy.

It's been a few days. Much has happened that I should write about. I'll try to keep it short.

On Wednesday, there was an early-morning rehearsal at Henry Wood Hall on the south bank. I felt quite lousy, again, so I spent one of the four hours resting. Evening choir rehearsal was held at St. Vedast church. A Wren church, it was mostly destroyed in WWII, but rebuilt very very well. Breathtaking inside. At one point, Ivor had us sing the same 4 chords about 10 times because of a harmonic/overtone we could hear. Someone said it was angels. Someone else was quite convinced that a soprano was singing the top note. No one was.

Thursday, I did not go to a recording session at Abbey Road. I went to Abbey Road, but then left due to some technical difficulties. Hopefully I'll be at the remaining sessions until I go home. I lounged for a few hours at home, then headed off to St. Luke's for rehearsal and the evening concert. It was my first (and only) concert at St. Luke's. It was a beautifully relaxing evening with lovely music and a great setting. As the sun went down, the light through the trees outside of the windows grew more dramatic, as did the music and the lighting in the building.

Last night, I had my own concert in which I was a participant! The New London Singers had a concert of American music at St. Martin's-in-the-Field. It was my thundersheet debut. We sang some messy stuff decidedly unmessily (spellcheck wants to change that to unmusically, funnily enough). We sang Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah." The people watching our rehearsal clapped after it! We sang it as an encore, too. Fun one.

This evening, I decided to go to “Sweden Day” for the City of London Festival. It was held at Hampstead Heath (it's North). It ended being 15-or-so minutes from the nearest tube station (Kentish Town)- uphill. Ugh. When I got there, the Benny Anderson (from ABBA) Band was playing. As they played, I wandered around Parliament Hill a bit. Beautiful. I understand why Constable spent so much time there. I’d like to go back when it’s not so full of people. It doesn't look/feel/smell like you're in London. Perfect.

I'd write more, but my eyes are closing themselves. Pictures in the coming days.

Granada

Aside from what was possibly the most horrible illness of my life (I spent the entire free day and evening in bed meaning I missed a rehearal and 2nd concert), I had a great time in Spain. My sunburn is no longer visible (it wasn't that bad), despite two days of sitting by the pool. I bought nothing, but took plenty of photos.

The concerts took place outside in an open air auditorium at the Alhambra, which was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. They both began at 10:30 PM. Very long nights.

Thanks to everyone being together pretty much the entire time, I now know about half of the orchestra (c. 50 of 96ish members). I went to dinner with some new acquaintances on the free evening (Sunday). I noted that all of us were from a different country, or at least a different heritage- Tom is English, Moritz- German, Laurant- French, Chi- English, but with a Chinese background, Evgeny- Russian, and me, the token American. We apparently spent so much money that the server had the owner of the restaurant stand with us when I asked him to take our photo. We were also give a free drink and chocolate truffles.

The orchestra has a concert tonight at the Barbican. Yes, they just arrived back to London this morning. The concert is the same as last night's in Granada- Prokofiev PC 3, Firebird, and a couple Ives things. As I'm still recovering from my horrible whatever-it-was, I think I'm going to go back to bed for a while before rehearsal.

No Rain in Spain, Please.

My flight leaves at 6 AM from Gatwick. The last Gatwick Express train leaves at 12:30 AM. I could come home and sit around before taking the 3:30 AM train, but I would have to take a taxi to Victoria, which would be expensive. Therefore, I think I'm going to take the 12:30 one and just sit around at the airport forever.

I will take many pcitures, no worries there. I also will probably get sunburned.

Well...I am off to go to a concert at St. Martin's (Ivor is conducting part of it), then wasting time until the train leaves. Adios, amigos!

MTT

Yesterday began far too early with 9:30 rehearsal at St. Luke’s. Today was Day 1 with Michael Tilson Thomas. I was a bit surprised to find myself right behind him as I got to the church. He was with his man, Josh, and donning blue Phil Glasses. A Spanish woman (currently living in Switzerland) was also sitting up in the balcony. At the break, she asked if I’m a conductor, too. My note-taking must have given me away. Her name is Gloria. We individually introduced ourselves to MTT after rehearsal. He couldn't have cared less about either of us.

I had some delicious Italian food for lunch. Pasta mixed with some eggplant-wrapped mozzarella from a vendor on Whitecross Street. I've walked past his booth many times and thought how delicious it looked. Soooo tasty. I’m going to be heading back down there some day soon with my fingers crossed that the same dish will still be available.

I only stayed for the first hour and ten minutes of rehearsal for the evening concert. I skipped out on the concert, too, so I could go to my first rehearsal with the New London Singers. I took a bus to get there. During the bus ride, I was in the company of two completely idiotic old American men. They had stupid comments for everthing out the windows. I wanted to say something to them like, "Thanks for helping to maintain our national sterotypes."

Part way through rehearsal, Ivor asked for a volunteer to sit at the piano so the woman who previously was could sing for a bit. I idiotically stood up. Another guy did the same at the same time. Ivor wanted me to. He asked me to play downbeats occasionally, told me to play the organ part at one point, and along with one line…I never knew when he wanted me to continue and he never gave me enough time to find my place or think. He had the other woman come back. I felt completely worthless. After rehearsal (which was 3 hours with no break), he apologized for his brashness. He was stressed (concert is next week) and sick and admitted that I wasn't 100%. Completely understandable.

Day 2 at St. Luke’s with MTT didn’t begin until 2:30. It was an open rehearsal today, meaning people had to buy tickets. When I took to my perch upstairs, a girl came up to me saying, “I have to ask for tickets today. Or are you with the orchestra?” We began chatting about conductorly things. She studied in Canada and asked where I study/who with. I said, “Oh, it’s just a small school…BGSU.” “A friend of mine graduated from there a year or two ago. Cathy O’Shaughessy?” It’s a small world! She caught me later and said she’d give me her contact info at rehearsal tomorrow morning. When I got home, she had written on Cathy’s wall, so I just took the initiative and friended her then and there.

At dinner break, the orchestra had a meeting. I went next door to the Central Café for a bite. One wall was completely covered in LSO pictures. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that on the Brahms Discovery Day when I had lunch there.

Some BG-ers are going to be passing through London in the next few days. I’m going to try and swing by Covent Garden Friday night on the way to Gatwick in hopes of finding them. I can’t wait to see Moss’s face.

Mountains und Bergs

I have finally been to my first professional opera! Chris Williams caught me at the perfect time today to talk me into going to the Royal Opera at Covent Garden to see Alban Berg's Lulu. 3:40 of German (with English surtitles and including 2 25-minute intervals). I survived.

This morning was a 3-hour rehearsal with Sir Colin. I went up and spoke to him during the break. He had me come up on stage and sit and talk until the orchestra came back. We had a nice little discussion about score preparation, Berlioz, and Mozart 40 (which the orchestra was rehearsing/is playing tomorrow night). I need to snag a picture tomorrow since I stupidly didn't today.

Last night, I went along to a recording session at Lyndhurst (much prettier than Abbey Road- it's a converted church). I sat in the box with the sound guys and the composer for 6 hours. The session was made exponentially more interesting by being able to actually hear and follow what was going on.

The next 2 weeks are going to be insane. I'm going to Granada with the LSO (!!!) on Friday, back the 30th. There's a concert that night. There's also a concert on the 25th, plus rehearsals, an LSO On Track concert, etc. etc. I will post as I am able.

L: Abbey Rd R: Lyndhurst. Others were taking pictures, so don't shoot me.

Quavers, quavers, quavers.....

Sir Colin Davis is, if he remembers me into the future, forever going to associate me with the quavers in the first violins at "E" in Brahms' Symphony 3, movement 1 all because I asked him about them at rehearsal on Monday. Yesterday during the break, he walked past me and asked if I heard them that time. I honestly wasn't paying attention to the violins at that point, so I just kind of made a face and he kept walking. Today, he walked past me before rehearsal and said that he'd make sure my quavers would be heard today. When he announced break time at the completion of the Brahms, he turned around and asked me how they were- while the entire orchestra was still sitting there. I heard them! I need to get a picture with him at the next rehearsal....until then, here is a picture of me with Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor of the concert last Thursday.

And a picture of me eating the best meal I have ever had, ever. And a picture of LSO St. Luke's- a church the LSO owns about 5 minutes down the road from the Barbican:

Post-rehearsal shopping led me to buy a shirt and a dress (which the lady working the fitting room said looked better on me than anyone she had yet see try it on :). It's a bit too dressy to just up and wear, so I'll have to wait and see when a semi-formal occasion pops up (there are a couple of upcoming possibilities). I also stopped and bought some drawing paper.

While walking back to the flat with my goodies, there was a huge gust of wind. I paid attention to nothing but holding on to the huge sheet of paper. I proceeded to walk into low-hanging branches which beat me repeatedly. What mis-tree-tment, Mother Nature!!

I cooked a quick dinner that I am still unsure about. I just kind of dumped some stuff on a chicken breast, stuck it on the stove, and ate it when it seemed to be done clucking.

I am now contemplating what I should do tomorrow. There's a super long recording session, but I'm not entirely sure I want to sit through the whole thing (7 hours including a 1-hour dinner break). I shouldn't be saying that. I pretty much know I'm going to be there.

There were other things I wanted to mention, but I have since forgotten. Oh, I do know one- I never said that when hostel-friend, Brian, and I were heading somewhere on the tube, he was stopped by a security guard and search by a yellow lab named Buster. He was given Buster's business card for being a good sport when all was over. I think the cop chose him because I smiled at the dog. Sorry, Brian.

What a Day.

I got to rehearsal half an hour early this morning (i.e. 9:30). Nigel asked me if I wanted him to introduce me to Sir Colin. Not being an idiot, I took up on his offer. "This is Ashley. She's studying to become a conductor because of you." He pretty much said, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that" with a smile on his face. Nigel left us to talk. Sir Colin was interested to hear what "studying conducting/class/lessons" implied, as he doesn't give lessons. I was given permission to go up to him after rehearsal to ask "why the hell did you do that there?" or anything.

After rehearsal, I had a 45-minute lesson with Gerry, one of the trumpets. We pretty much played the entire time. I magically didn't get too tired, despite my not being able to play without a practice mute but once in the last month. We played a few duets and worked on some excerpts. He's going to get some music to me, let me look it over, then we'll get together again.

I went along to a recording session at Abbey Road....with my Beatles bag. I felt like a complete moron. I made sure to keep my jacket strategically placed over the the front of the bag so as to not look like an idiotic tourist or whatnot.

At 6, I bolted to Covent Garden for a 6:45 rehearsal with St. Bart's Choir (the one I sang with last week). I went to the pub with some friends from the choir after. Some random psychic from NY came up and started talking to us...it was odd. But she noted that I belong in this city. The fact that things are going as amazingly as they are and my ability to fit in perfectly when coming from such a small town helped her realized this obvious fact.

I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed now so I can wake early for full English breakfast, hopefully.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I spent thirteen consecutive hours in/backstage at the Barbican Hall today. There was a rehearsal at 9:15, 2 children'a concerts, a 2-hours lunch break (I guess I was out of the building for 2 hours- and it was the best lunch I have EVER eaten...no joke), rehearsal at 3, concert at 7:30. I am exhausted, and I didn't have to play!

This morning minutes before the children's concert rehearsal began, I sat down in the second row right near the violins, 3 of whom could see me I consider good friends. Some Barbican employee came over to me and started asking me questions. The 3 of them looked at him and glared. He asked, "Are you a student of one of the members of the orchestra?" I said, "No...I'm observing the orchestra for the summer..." He didn't like that answer, apparently. All 3 of the guys said, "She's with us." That /had/ to be good enough for him. He asked if I was planning on staying for the concerts, or just the rehearsal. I was staying, so he took my name down and had the coordinator of the event give me a seat. I love special treatment. And I love feeling loved.

4 or 5 members have now asked me if I'm going on tour to Grenada with them. I actually emailed the tour coordinator a month or two ago. His response wasn't very convincing, but he said no. 2 of my violin friends have made some realizations and, with their forces combined (as well as some other key players), I might manage to wrangle my way along with them at the end of the month!!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I have to go to sleep, now. I need to get up at 6:45 for a road trip to Coventry.

Great Expectations

I did not leave tonight's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra feeling very satisfied. Before I say anything about their playing, I will say that someone needs to donate some tuxes. Their off-white dinner jackets are absolutely hideous...especially when combined with white tux shirts, black bow ties, and black trousers. Not very attractive.

The concert began with the Barber of Seville Overture. It wasn't all that thrilling of a ride. Next was the Elgar Cello Concerto with none other than Julian Lloyd Webber, Andrew's little brother. He hit his head on a low part of the ceiling on his way onstage, adding to the impressiveness of his playing. The sounds that came out of his 1690 Stradivarius made up for his horrid outfit (he's not really known for his formal concert dress)- black trousers, a baggy mandarin-collared white shirt, and a black sweatband. I forgave him the second he began playing. The final piece was the Mendelssohn Symphony 3 ("Scottish"). The farther on in the piece they went, the better it became. Each time I listen to another orchestra, I realize that my love for the LSO will most likely not be surpassed by another band.

So that was my evening. Let me tell you about the rest of my day. While I'm at it, why don't I just give you an update of everything that's happened since my last post? Why yes, Ashley, why don't you? Ok, I will:

The rest of Saturday:
- Chris Williams, one of my professor/friends back at BG put me in contact with a friend of his here in London. She happens to be a music critic, novelist, biographer, and her husband plays in the London Philharmonic. We will be meeting up at some point in the coming week. The LSO sends out "thank you" emails to people who buy tickets online. The emails include reviews of the concerts. Said friend of Chris was the author of the included review for last Thursday's gypsy band concert!
- I introduced myself to Carmine, (the leader- i.e. concertmaster) telling him hello from the man who was sitting next to me at the gypsy concert. Yesterday, he took me on a little tour around the Barbican. Today, we grabbed a quick lunch after the rehearsal, as it finished a bit early.
- After dinner, I went to a housewarming party for a friend of a hostel friend. It was quite classy and much tasty cheese was to be had. I met many lovely people. I spoke some German with her downstairs Danish neighbor, whose French wife was incredibly sweet. The hostess, Lucia, kept saying that many of the guests sang in a choir with her. When people learned that I want to be a conductor, they all told me to go talk to the conductor of their choir. Apparently he's a big shot of sorts: Ivor Setterfield. I eventually introduced myself, and we spoke for quite a while. It turns out that he studied at RAM with none other than Sir Colin. He invited me to go to a rehearsal for one of the choirs he conducts. At the rehearsal, he would give me some music to prepare and give me 30 minutes or so to rehearse them at the next rehearsal while he observes and gives comments!

Sunday:
- LSO concert with George Fenton, a film/TV composer.
- Monopoly and socializing with flatmate and friends.

Yesterday:
- My alarm failed to go off at 8:30 as set. Luckily, my friend's phone was still set for work the day before. It was half an hour later than I wanted to get up, but at least I made it to rehearsal on time. That is saying quite a lot as I got violently lots backstage on the way. The door I had always used wasn't accessible. The other door led to many more doors, none of which wer marked. An employee walked through and saved me. I was told my many members that they've all been lost backstage at some point. After rehearsal, Carmine took me on a mini-tour of the Barbican.
- After rehearsal, I met Irene (BG friend) for lunch. I FINALLY found a pub that has Toad-in-the-hole! The waitress even commented on how delicious it looked when it was brought to me.
- In the evening, I went to a rehearsal for the choir with the people from the party- St. Bartholomew's Hospital Choir. I spoke to Ivor before it began...He meant for me to go to a different choir rehearsal- The New London Singers, a professional group. He invited me to join for my time here! Their website says they are not looking for new members. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Despite my being at the wrong rehearsal, he said I was welcome to sing that night. It was their second rehearsal for a Shakespeare-themed concert (lots of Vaughan Williams)that will sadly be happening the week after I go back to the states. It felt fantastic to sing, again!
- After the rehearsal, I went to the pub next door with the woman whose music I shared and Lucia and friends I met at her party. I zoomed across town to meet Jerry, a BG friend, at Heathrow. I underestimated the insanely long transit time and thus arrived 20 minutes past his arrival time. I sprinted to the terminal from the tube stop. He was at the top of the steps as I reached them! Perfect timing, or what?

Today:
- My alarm didn't go off, again, but Matt's did, again. Saved two days in a row. This time, though, I did not get lost backstage.
- After rehearsal, which finished early, Carmine and I grabbed a quick lunch at the Waterside Cafe in the Barbican.
- After food, I met up with Jerry. We walked to my favorite tea shop, Tea, behind St. Paul's. I had some time before the RPO concert, so I took him on a lightning tour- walked to Trafalgar Square, ran through the National Gallery, and then to last night's rehearsal venue- St. Giles-in-the-Fields.

Tomorrow consists of 2 rehearsals, one of which is quite far away and not over until late....and there's a tube strike that isn't going to be resolved until Friday morning. This will be interesting.....Between rehearsals, I'll be meeting up with Jerry, again, for some grub and probably more playing tour guide.

Stupid Mistakes, but Great Outcomes!

I had to check out of the hostel by 10 AM this morning, so I set my alarm for 8:53 (I can’t stand waking up at a proper time). Finnish people apparently don’t know how to whisper, so I was rudely awakened at 7:30 by the two girls in the bunks above me. I awoke, ate breakfast, checked out, came to Adam’s flat, and putzed around until I decided to head off to the Barbican (what I thought was) a bit early. This is only the beginning of the story……..

I had a completely idiotic misunderstanding of today's rehearsal time. Matt told me 10 AM for all of them except today’s. For some reason, he decided to say “10 AM, 10 AM, ten to one.” I took this as meaning 12:50, as he only said the starting time for the others. I got to the hall at 12:25 and heard music through the closed doors which started the wheels turning. He still meant 10-1. I caught half an hour of it. Luckily they’re having another rehearsal for the same concert tomorrow.

I didn’t completely waste my day. Patrick, the tuba player with whom I rode to a rehearsal a few days ago, caught me backstage and asked me how I was going to spend my Saturday. I told him I figured I’d just sit around doing whatever after my idiotic mistake wasted away my morning. He informed me that a horn player in the past had once made the same mistake. I still feel like an idiot. Patrick asked if I would be interested in going with him to a conducting class-of-sorts outside of the city (that he would be teaching). Of course I said yes! Rehearsal was out at 1. The class began at 2:10. Plenty of time. We got all of the way to the borough listed on his sheet of paper before he remembered the sheet was wrong. We rerouted ourselves and would have been on time had all of the roads to get to the school not been closed for repairs. Still, we were only about 3 or so minutes late.

On the car ride there, we discussed the personality needed to be a great conductor or soloist, his past experience in orchestras (he has played with the LSO for 21 years and was chairman at one point, plus many other gigs). He tied the personality bit into the class, as all of the 5 young music teachers were incredibly shy and nervous. This was their second meeting with Patrick, who was there to help them become more confident in basic time-beating. Aside from that, they had zero previous conducting experience. I ended up taking as many, if not more, notes on Partick’s workshop as I have at full orchestra rehearsals.

After the almost three-hours class was complete, we headed back towards London. I’m going to return to this borough next Saturday with Patrick and 3 other LSO musicians to see them work with the college’s youth orchestra. I’ve been told to bring my trumpet. I’m going to look at the schedule and see what other education events I would be able sit in on. As a music education major, I figure it’s not going to hurt anything- and it’s fun! I completely understand how draining it could be, though. I now see why Joost is constantly running around.

I was dropped me off at the train station near his house in South London. The train to London Bridge station arrived as I was buying a ticket (no, I didn’t miss it- it was perfect timing!). The ride wasn’t but 15 minutes long…then I hopped onto the tube, got off at the nearest stop to the flat, and walked the rest of the way. I’m finally resting up before I return to the hostel. Not to stay- Amelia offered to cook me dinner. Yay!

So, despite missing the 3-hour rehearsal, 5:45 of my day were still spent at LSO-related events (Patrick’s class was through the LSO).

I am now devouring some cheddar and my new quasi-flat mate’s basil plant. He gave me permission, but I still feel a bit guilty.

I will NOT miss tomorrow’s rehearsal! I have the PROPER time engraved into my brain. There’ll be another rehearsal the next morning. Jerry arrives at Heathrow at 10:40 PM. I’m meeting him at the airport, then taking him to his hostel…I don’t anticipate bed before 2 AM. Then another rehearsal the next morning…and the next morning.

Off to dinner!

Oi Vey!

I told myself- I promised myself- that I wouldn't buy and more internet on this trip. I get free wifi at the Barbican and at the flat to which I will be moving tomorrow afternoon.

But I couldn't wait.

Tonight's LSO concert was unlike any I had yet seen. Two hours and fifty-five minutes of LSO+a gypsy band. It was spectacularly entertaining and energetic. After sitting through 2 and playing one encore after an intially long concert to begin with, I'm sure the orchestra members will all sleep well tonight. Many extended solos were added tonight- amazing. The cembalom player snapped a string in one of the encores. The audience wasn't alone in its reaction to the solos- Joost (bassoon) walked past me in the lobby during the interval. He said nothing, but looked at me and violently scrated away at an air violin. I responded with some mean air cembalom.

I ended up sitting next to a man who happens to be a friend of the leader (i.e. concertmaster). We had a lovely conversation about many music-related topics. He told a story about when Carmine (said leader/concertmaster) played the Tchaik concerto at the last minute for another English orchestra but was not nervous in the least, yet he played solo for fun at a party thrown by my concert-neighbor and was nervous out of his mind. It is funny how nerves work that way. We compared tales of our meetings with Sir Colin, he asked me about what I've done and will be doing on my trip, and, at the end of the concert, wished me well for the future and asked my name so as to look for it in the coming years. It turns out that he was sitting right behind me at the Brahms concert on the 24th. Perhaps I'll run into him again sometime this summer.

Tomorrow will be spent taking a few of my belongings down the street to my new address. I'll move the rest of the things in Saturday morning, most likely...or perhaps I'll just take it all tomorrow and get out of the hostel a day early (yay!). Tomorrow night, I will be going to see the King's Singers at a hall with which I am not familiar. I need to take a peek at a map.

Tasty Pasty

I could feel a sore throat coming on last night. Why has this been happening so much over that last month or so? Not fun. It's feeling a bit better, now, but I think it's just because I slept until noon, drank a pot of tea, and listened to Brahms. I had no intentions of doing anything today- just sleeping off my new illness before it could get any worse. Instead, I did quite a bit of something. The adventure began around 1 when I trekked across town to the only music store I could find online that said they had trumpet practice mutes in stock. I really didn't want to go to Oxford Street AGAIN, but I had no choice.

To reward myself for a successful hunt, I bought my first Cornish pasty. It wasn't too bad. Steak, potatoes, onions, and grease encased in a flaky tastiness. I had to get on the Central Line to go back to King's Cross, so I decided to go a bit out of my way and reward myself a bit more. I headed to Tea, the tea shop I <3 behind St. Paul's (Amici, this is where your mug will be coming from!). Since it's a beautiful day, the shop was empty and all of the customers were sitting outside. I sat inside, pulled out my iPod, and listened to/followed along with the Brahms piano concerto the LSO will be playing in a few weeks. I happily realized that the recording I have is of the soloist I will be hearing with them (thanks, Chris!).

On the journey back to the hostel, many interesting things went through my head. Bear with me as I reveal my stream of conciousness: On tube out today, I noticed a girl wearing an outfit many girls wear that I find to be hideous- leggings and a baggy tshirt. She was sitting in a car with me. After tea-ing and hopping back on the tube to return to the hostel, she got into the same car as me, again! How strange is it, that in a city of so many millions of people, you see the same random person twice in one day? This led me to think about another odd thing: I have the habit of taking pictures of things and accidentally taking an awesome candid shot of a random person who happened to get into the frame as I pressed the button. One of my favorite pictures from my January trip was a result of this incident (below left). I took a picture of a student in Oxford last week only because I thought it cool that he was wearing a robe. It has become one of my favorite shots from my trip, thus far (partially because he resembles Prince Harry-below right). I also think it's interesting that both of them happen to be of "gingers." Is it because I am a ginger, as well?

Immediately upon leaving Tea, I looked up at the sky and realized that today was my favorite sort of London day: the sky gets dark and cloudy, but then the sun comes out and illuminates the North Bank....It's the most beautiful thing. Perhaps that's because it reminds me of my first day in the city back in 2007. No, I think it's just because it's absolutely stunning. See just how stunning in a picture I took on that first day:

I'm going to do some more sleeping, as I'm still not feeling quite up to par. If it's still daylight when I wake up, I'll practice in the park around the corner.

Magical Musical Tour

Last night, hostel friend Will and I went to a concert at St. Martins-in-the-field. I had looked at the wrong day, so I thought we were going to hear the Haydn trumpet concerto and other things. Instead, it was the Creation. It was alright- nothing to rave about, but not a loss of £6. There was a guy playing alto trombone, though, which was pretty cool.

Today was my hostel friend Brian's last day in London. We met for breakfast downstairs, but the line was insanely long. Instead of waiting around for cereal and tea, we wandered down the street and found a full English breakfast for £5. Much tastier. After a little walking around, we both headed to the tube station. He went to Heathrow, and I went to the Barbican. At 2:30, there was an LSO Discovery Family Concert entitled "Global Express." I felt relatively awkward, as I was not with children ages 7-12 or, well, with anyone, for that matter. I just sat and read my Berlioz book until concert time. I ended up sitting next to a woman, her son, daughter-in-law from America, and 4 grandchildren. She told me I wasn't alone- "Look at all the people here with you!"

As the orchestra began to come onto the stage, I saw Matt, the bassist I ran into in Chicago. I caught him afterwards. He had me go backstage, where he found a schedule and told me when the next few rehearsals are. Starting Wednesday, I have 9 straight days of LSO-related events. I am not complaining.

On my way out of the backstage area, I introduced myself to two of the trumpet. I asked if I could possibly get a lesson sometime this summer (they asked which...I'm not picky). "Well, since you're giving us such a long time frame, I think it would be cruel of us to say no." We'll talk sometime later in the week to discuss further details. I told them where I was from. One of them actually had been to Bowling Green to teach some workshops several years ago! He is the only person I have yet spoken to who knows of BG.

The concert itself was quite fun. The orchestra played several pieces written by famous composers about/from different parts of the world. One piece included was the Ode to Joy...with words written specially for the occasion by the presenter. The audience was invited to sing along.

I realize that it is sickeningly lame to say, but hearing the LSO play music from Harry Potter is quite a magical experience.

Cambridge

My friend, Adam, graduated from Robinson College, Cambridge, a few years ago. Since he lived in and loves the town, he offered to take me around. At the last minute, we decided to leave 2 hours earlier than originally planned. This was a very good idea, as many things were closed by 3:30.

We walked nonstop for 3.5 hours. We hit King's College chapel, walked through Clare's beautiful gardens (Nick Rutter goes to Clare), the gardens of his college, Trinity's Wren Library (where we saw a handwritten Winnie the Pooh, Newton's notebook, and other old books that had to do with Trinity) walked past the university library, and wandered through town. In the afternoon, we met up with his friend, Paul (who went to Trinity), and sat by the river for a bit. After the brief rest, we all went punting. We ended up on one of the bigger punts with a bunch of random people. The guys ended up exchanging stories with the punter or telling the versions of his stories they had heard. Let me tell you a couple of the fun ones:

- Trinity College was founded by Henry VIII. A statue of him appears above the main gate. In his left hand, he holds the royal orb. In his right, he holds....a wooden chair leg. Students stole the scepter and replaced it with what is still there today.
<-- Henry
- Some students somehow managed to climb to the top of King's College chapel and placed an orange traffic cone on one of the corner spires. The school brought in a scaffold company. Once the scaffolding had been set up, the students climbed up, again, and moved the cone to the other side of the building.
<-- King's College chapel R, Clare L
- There is a wooden mallard up high in the dining hall of Trinity College. Students attempt to sneak into the room after it's locked up, steal the mallard, take a picture of it with them as far away from Cambridge as possible, and return it without being seen. If successful, they take the picture to the dean and are admitted to the exclusive Mallard Club. They're invited to the Dean's summer garden parties. The mallard was never there when Paul went hunting for it.

- Porters are the first level of discipline. They stand around and wear bowlers. They can only enforce things if they are wearing their hats. Adam once had a porter walk up to him before realizing he wasn't wearing his hat. He walked all the way back to the porter place, fetched his hat, then returned to tell him off.

-Adam heard that this took place at Trinity. I think Paul said he heard that it happened at St. John's: Two students dressed up- one as a porter, one as an American tourist. The only people allowed to walk on the grass at the colleges are Fellows (i.e. profs/researchers, etc). The "American" began walking on the grass. The "porter" ran up to him, pulled a gun out of his belt, and shot a blank at the "American," who then dropped "dead." The "porter turned around, stuck the gun back in his belt, and said, "Damned tourists."
<- nonporter & American tourist
I am quite proud to announce the fact that I managed to stay out of the river when I volunteered to attempt to punt. I almost ran us head on into a bridge and another punt, but we all survived and kept dry.

After our wandering was complete, the 3 of us resumed our places underneath the beautiful weeping willow outside of Trinity and talked for a while. It was a picturesque way to end a perfect day (I don't know how I'm not sunburned) in an beautiful town.

For those of you on Facebook, my computer isn't letting me upload any of the 350 pictures I took during the day. Hopefully it will let me do so soon.

Epic.

That word doesn't begin to describe the concert I attended tonight. I wouldn't say that I was completely floored by the orchestra itself, but several factors strongly came into play with my intense reaction. Please allow me to explain myself.

Tonight, the Philharmonia Orchestra played the Berg Violin Concerto and Mahler 6 at the Royal Festival Hall with Esa-Pekka Solonen. Before hand, there was a pre-concert talk with Julian Johnson, a Mahler scholar. I sat in the front row for said talk. He discussed the 6th Symphony, how it's often incorrectly mistaken as being autobiographical and classical, compared it to R. Strauss and Beethoven, and how the 3rd hammer blow was eventually done away with. At the end, there was time for questions. I didn't get the chance to raise mine before he had to end it. He remained onstage, though, so I asked him. I wondered if, because Mahler's conversion to Christianity, the hammer blows had any sort of religous overtones. The 2 existing blows, for instance, might represent Jesus falling twice while carrying the cross. He emphasized how the 3rd could be felt even when it wasn't played. This, perhaps, could represent the crucifixion, no? He said he had never seen my idea talked about, but that it could surely be drawn.

Note: I despise creating nonexisting stories behind artists' work. I only asked this question to see if it actually was an idea of Mahler's, not to make up some sort of second reason for them.

As for the concert itself... The concerto was the first half. I absolutely hated it. I do believe it is the ugliest piece of music I have ever heard professionally performed. Sorry if you're a Berg fan. 6 was the second half. I don't know why, but they played the movements out of order (I could read the 8th horn part)- 1, 3, 2, 4. I jotted down some things that happened during the performance (jotting occurred after the conclusion, of course). If you're interested, feel free to ask to see my notebook when I you next see me, or something. Oh, and another thing that was going through my head was that Solonen looks and kind of acts exactly like Gary Oldman.

When the 4th movement began, I was immediately overcome with intense feelings of fear. The fact that the cybals (eventually FOUR sets of them) were about 6 feet from my right ear, as was the hammer. The bass drum was directly below me. The EIGHT horns were aimed DIRECTLY at my head. As all of the instruments I just mentioned are incredibly important to the piece (i.e. loud), I was in the best possible seat, I do believe.

By the conclusion of the work, I was shaking ever-s0-slightly and my cheek was slightly dampened with a single trail of tearage. I'm not going to lie- it was quite moving.

The man next to me immediately asked me if I enjoyed it. Apparently the tear trail didn't announce my answer to him. He wondered where I was from and why I was in London. I can hardly imagine what my reaction would be if I could hear the LSO play Mahler 6 live...Until that day comes, I look forward to the other upcoming concerts: a children's concert at 2:30 and chamber concert at 7:30 on Sunday. Another LSO on Thursday, the King's Singers Friday.

Bring it.

Oxford

Yesterday, my new friend, Brian, and I decided to head to Oxford (I say "new" in the normal definition. We met a week ago. In the hostel world, we're old friends).

We awoke to a dreary London day- the first rainy day of my trip. Once in Oxford, things cleared up. Brian and I went our separate ways for a while. I shopped, he got some information on the colleges. We met up at 2, then visited a couple of the colleges together- Christ's Church and New (ironically, New is the oldest of the 35 Oxford colleges). The Great Hall in Harry Potter was filmed at Christ's Church's dining hall.

As it was a beautiful day, I ended up taking 130 pictures. We'll see how that compares to Friday after I spend another beautiful day in Cambridge.

On Tuesday, I went to Regent's Park with Brian and Chris, another hostel friend. We took a stroll through the Queen Mary's Garden where there were many beautiful flowers. We did a bit of shopping, as well. It was a nice leisurely day.

Tomorrow will be spent doing laundry and lounging until the evening. I'm going to see the Philharmonia do Mahler 6 with Icky Picky Salami....I mean Esa Pekka Solonen.

Bed

The Reason I'm Here.

Today was Day 1 with the LSO. It consisted of "Brahms Discovery Day" and a concert at 7:30. I woke up at 8, got to the Barbican at 9:45ish AM. The concert finished around 9:45 PM.

The Discovery Day schedule began at 10 AM with an LSO open rehearsal. I'm quite glad it worked out this way, as I am yet to hear from my contact about getting into rehearsals. I arrived a few minutes early, so Gareth Davies, the principal flute, and I talked for a bit. It was nice to see him again after a quick meeting in Chicago. The rehearsal was supposed to be finished at 1:30, but got out an hour early. Right after it finished up, I went up to David Alberman, the principal 2nd violin. I never thanked him for escorting me backstage to meet Sir Colin in '07 when the Keeper of the Curtain wouldn't listen to me. We talked for a few minutes. He asked me some questions, etc. etc.

With nothing else to do until the next event at 2:30, I walked the 8 minutes to the LSO St. Luke's, a church that has been transformed into a concert hall. I sat on a bench in the park for a couple of minutes before I realized that I was absolutely starving. To fix this, I walked out the gate and to the nearest cafe. As I sat there chowing down on my panini and sipping away at my Earl Grey, I saw someone walk in with two instrument cases on his back. It was Chi, one of the LSO clarinets. He was going to be playing at the Discovery event. I introduced myself and we chatted as he waited for his take-away (that's take out for you all back home).

The Discovery event began at 2:30 with a talk about Brahms the Progressive. I don't have the program beside me, so I can't give the official title. The professor who gave the lecture said he was suffering from the "piglet flu," but he gave a good talk. At 3:40, there was a little break. Things continued at 4 with a BBC Radio 3 personality discussing Brahms' Clarinet Trio (+piano and cello). After they played, there was another question and answer. When everything was finished, I asked the cellist (the only of the 3 playing in the evening's concert) if she could possibly get Joost, the 2nd bassoonist I met in Chicago, to wait at a stage door for me. He ran off quickly after the rehearsal. She said she would.

When I returned to the Barbican Centre, I had another hour and a half to kill. For half an hour, I sat at a Costa in the Centre and ate some fruit and drank another cup of tea. After the rehearsal, Gareth warned me not to fall asleep during the concert. This second cup of tea helped me to not do that. Tea finished, a little over another hour to go. I decided to go upstairs and switch my seat from the balcony to the lower level. That didn't take long. Still had an hour. I then went up to a walkie-talkie-wearer and asked what I had to do to speak to a player (Joost) after the concert. He told me to ask to be put on the backstage list at the advace tickets counter.

About 5 steps after turning to walk to the counter, who should be walking towards me, but Joost! I waved, and he smiled, stopped to talk, and shook my hand. He said, "Hello, Ashley!" and introduced me to his mother, who happened to be with him. He told her that we met in Chicago. His mother asked me how long I am going to be here. He admitted that he had been running around quite a bit. He asked, "So will you be playing trumpet, or only conducting?" I was very surprised that he remembered what instrument I play- I had only mentioned it in passing in March. "You are so talented...you play trumpet, conduct, and do art..." At that, I pulled out a small gift I had thrown together the night before I left for the UK- a tiny painting of part of a bassoon (Gareth got part of a flute, as well!). We then departed and I sat until the concert began.

I didn't realize that the seat for which I exchanged my old ticket happened to be in the FIRST row on the end nearest one of the stage doors. I'll tell you that my neck was not happy with me for watching Sir Colin most of the time. Almost 90 degrees to the right for an hour and a half. While waiting for the concert to begin, I was shocked to hear someone shout my name from the next level up. It was Brian, my hostel friend! I was happy to see someone actually came after I told them about it. While we were standing around during the interval (that's intermission for those of you back home), Sharon, the piccolo player went running past- but not without saying, "hello! Sorry, I'm in a hurry...we'll catch up later!"

I am pleased to say that the energy of the evening's performance, several chance meetings, and the added help of the tea kept me on the edge of my seat (not literally...that would have hurt my neck even more). The Brahms Violin Concerto soloist and the orchestra definitely deserved the applause they received.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday. This means either everything will be closed or everything will be packed. Perhaps I will go to the concert at St. Martin's....

I believe this post is long enough. Questions? Ask!