Meow

Because I totally have time for this.

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Pictured above (creds to Steven) are some of the audience members at my 21st Birthday/Senior recital last Saturday. My theory prof is in the top left-hand corner, my amazing voice teacher is sitting with my chamber choir friends below, my lovely housemates, some great friends, and my best friend for life (with flowers!) are chillin’ in the middle, my wonderful boyfriend’s mane is making an appearance on the bottom right, and the head on the bottom left belongs to the husband of my undergraduate advisor (he doesn’t normally come to recitals, but they both were so incredible - and brought a beautiful and delicious cake to the reception). Not pictured are countless other friends, colleagues, and UCSD Music Department faculty members, whose presence truly made my day. First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for coming out in the San Diego downpour to support my entirely self-supported (meaning no tech, programming, or publicity help) recital; words cannot quite describe how much pleasure it gave me to share my work (and special day) with you all. For those who weren’t able to make it, I performed a wide range of repertoire, the first half consisting of music by Ned Rorem, Elinor Armer, and Frank S. Li, and the second of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Vincenzo Bellini, Jacques Offenbach, and a Yiddish folk song. Interestingly enough, this was not meant to be my Senior recital. The original plan was to just put on a great show for my friends and the music community, while taking advantage of my birthday being on a Saturday instead of in the middle of finals week. After all, my very favorite activity is singing at people… However, I had recently come to the realization that I’m literally almost finished with both my major and my general education requirements, having, for no good reason other than the good old Lowell High overachiever mentality, taken upwards of 20 units every quarter since Freshman year (this quarter, it’s 26 - don’t even ask). I found myself realizing that, even if the University were to somehow, miraculously, not force me to graduate, I would end up having absolutely nothing to do in Southern California, other than complete an unnecessary minor, splurge on an extra year of tuition, and work on my tan. So, after much discussion with my nearest and dearest, I made my decision: I have submitted my DDA and will be graduating at the end of this year and taking a year off for private study with teachers and coaches in San Francisco, before beginning graduate school at the same time as the rest of my classmates. I somehow did not see this decision coming, but, now that I’ve made it, I am confident that it is the right choice. I will miss my friends, colleagues, and professors dearly, and plan to visit often, though I know that it will never be the same. As for now, I have one more quarter left at this strange institution, and I intend do my very best to make the most of it. Sorry for the crazy-long post, friends, but for some reason a tumblr post is as formal an announcement as I could think to make.

Pictured above (creds to Steven) are some of the audience members at my 21st Birthday/Senior recital last Saturday. My theory prof is in the top left-hand corner, my amazing voice teacher is sitting with my chamber choir friends below, my lovely housemates, some great friends, and my best friend for life (with flowers!) are chillin’ in the middle, my wonderful boyfriend’s mane is making an appearance on the bottom right, and the head on the bottom left belongs to the husband of my undergraduate advisor (he doesn’t normally come to recitals, but they both were so incredible - and brought a beautiful and delicious cake to the reception). Not pictured are countless other friends, colleagues, and UCSD Music Department faculty members, whose presence truly made my day. First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for coming out in the San Diego downpour to support my entirely self-supported (meaning no tech, programming, or publicity help) recital; words cannot quite describe how much pleasure it gave me to share my work (and special day) with you all. For those who weren’t able to make it, I performed a wide range of repertoire, the first half consisting of music by Ned Rorem, Elinor Armer, and Frank S. Li, and the second of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Vincenzo Bellini, Jacques Offenbach, and a Yiddish folk song.

Interestingly enough, this was not meant to be my Senior recital. The original plan was to just put on a great show for my friends and the music community, while taking advantage of my birthday being on a Saturday instead of in the middle of finals week. After all, my very favorite activity is singing at people… However, I had recently come to the realization that I’m literally almost finished with both my major and my general education requirements, having, for no good reason other than the good old Lowell High overachiever mentality, taken upwards of 20 units every quarter since Freshman year (this quarter, it’s 26 - don’t even ask). I found myself realizing that, even if the University were to somehow, miraculously, not force me to graduate, I would end up having absolutely nothing to do in Southern California, other than complete an unnecessary minor, splurge on an extra year of tuition, and work on my tan. So, after much discussion with my nearest and dearest, I made my decision: I have submitted my DDA and will be graduating at the end of this year and taking a year off for private study with teachers and coaches in San Francisco, before beginning graduate school at the same time as the rest of my classmates. I somehow did not see this decision coming, but, now that I’ve made it, I am confident that it is the right choice. I will miss my friends, colleagues, and professors dearly, and plan to visit often, though I know that it will never be the same. As for now, I have one more quarter left at this strange institution, and I intend do my very best to make the most of it.

Sorry for the crazy-long post, friends, but for some reason a tumblr post is as formal an announcement as I could think to make.

Filed under Recital Opera New Music UCSD 21st Birthday Overachieving Graduation