Carnegie Hall/ East Coast Trip Spring 2010

I know this topic expired so I'll make it brief.

After I oriented myself with the Big Apple, my first impression was "Dang. $20 mac and cheese??" My advice for nomming in NYC: take advantage of $5 foot-longs.

^Tall tall buildings everywheree

The first night in the hotel sharing a suite with three girls was much like the following nights: I'd jam plugs into my ears and attempt to sleep in vain while my roomies (one soph, one jr, one sr) loved nothing better to do than talk about boys and random topics until 2, 3am- thus the drenching of coffee in the morning for me. Jet lag didn't help either.
-I loved their company though; we bonded like sisters and they were totally hilarious.

Nothing fancy until you step inside
The first full day consisted of Juilliard visits. My goodness, Julliard was gorgeous- in a very modern sense. The main entrance doesn't look flattering, but the interior is very elegantly and interestingly designed.

My first impression of Juilliard was their automatic swivelling entrance-bar thingys. It was very cool.
I had a masterclass with one of their flute teachers (Wincenc), and she was WIN. I also attended one of my violin teacher's former student's workshops which was pretty interesting, as I got to watch 2 Juilliard violinists perform. I can't say I was impressed by their level of playing, however.

Practice and rehearsals took place in the hotel rooms, and in the Rehearsal Studios for pianists. The Rehearsal Studios were just a cluster of rooms with pianos in the rear of this sketchy building a block away from Carnegie Hall. We rented the rooms a few hours each day to rehearse with our groups, and had additional rehearsals in Steinway Hall and Carnegie Hall too.

Saw this in Times Sqr... lolrandom

As for leisure, my trio and I took strolls in Times Sqr, had a picnic in Central Park and watched the Broadway musical Ave. Q. Avenue Q is basically an adult version of Sesame Street, with lots of witty jokes and dirty themes (One of the songs is called "The Internet is for Porn"). Compared to the only other musical I've seen (Les Mis), I can't really say that it deserved a Tony Award, but I'm not one to judge.

The epitome of trip was, needless to say, a blast. The hours I spent practicing and rehearsing my piece totally paid off, because when I went on stage in Weill Recital Hall, I felt very much at ease and simply let go. It seems that the audience only has fun when the performer does.

Hxc.

I felt that all I wanted to do was sleep after New York, and that's actually all I did the following week in Philly at my sister's place (unwisely though- I had a recital the day after I came back and was quite unprepared). When I didn't sleep, I had some excellent burgers, looked at flowers, and saw some top notch classical performers.

^Pretty much sums up my Philly experience

If you ever visit Philly, make Bobby's Burger Palace your priority. I am dead serious. They make burgers and fries like nobody's business.

I attended a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra, with Emanuel Ax (piano equivalent of Itzhak). My goodness, their sound was gorgeous. Everything was crisply articulated and sooo beautiful. And Ax. omg. Best symphonic concert I've ever attended.

Tulip explosion adfasd

Longwood Gardens was pretty, but it wasn't a shocker if you've been to Huntington Gardens, or the Arboretum. The only highlight for me was the Meadow- the type you'd read about in fairy tales but never see in densely populated LA. It was just a wide open grassy area surrounded by a regiment of trees on all sides, but pretty breath-taking if you've never seen one in person..

A FREAKING FROLIC-ABLE MEADOW!!!

The Curtis Institute of Music happened to be my sister's neighbor. Although not as renowned as Juilliard (probably due to its petite size and lack of marketing), Curtis is more prestigious and exclusive than Juilliard. What is really exceptional about this conservatory, is that all Curtis students are covered by a full scholarship, and receive loads of attention from the staff. The average Curtis professor has 2-3 students. Perlman (who teaches at Juilliard), has 15 students.

The only downside? They only admit around 5 incoming violinists a year from the international community.