Work! Concerts! Practice!

I thought that things had gotten started already at NEC. That was before I got two jobs, received my orchestral assignment, and began filling my calendar with exciting concerts to attend! I’ve also written my first college essays, gotten my first A, and reduced my necessary sleep to a flat 6 hours. I may have become emotionally/psychologically connected to cold-brew coffee, and I’m considering buying multivitamins to balance all the pancakes and chicken sandwiches I’ve been eating at the dining hall (I’ve made a mission to regularly get real food, with actual nutrition, from the nearby Panera Bread). I am also now a proud holder of the ExtraCare Card from CVS, though it makes me feel old, as it helps me save precious dollars on grocery items! The music is still going great as well— I’ve been to four amazing concerts, had two excellent lessons, and two informative studio classes.

One of those interesting new parts of my life at NEC is my on-campus employment. I’m now student manager of the String Repertory Orchestra at NEC’s Preparatory School. I’m using excellent experience I gained at El Sistema Oklahoma to help run logistics for an orchestra of about 85 elementary and middle-school aged kids on Saturdays. Our first rehearsal was last Saturday, and I found myself somewhat frantically trying to distribute well over 1000 loose-leaf pages of violin, viola, and cello sheet music to our students while they arrived for rehearsal. I was proud, however, to keep things under control despite the difficulties, so the rehearsal still went smoothly. I also have a job at the computer lab as a monitor and first-responder for classroom technical difficulties, using my interest in computers and all things tech to help out my less technically inclined classmates and teachers.

OK, what else…*unsticks shirt from back while sweating in sans-air-conditioning dorm*

Concerts! When people say that Boston is a very musical community, they mean it. There are amazing concerts going on all the time. I’ve attended a concert by Boston’s amazing chamber orchestra, A Far Cry, with my teacher Ayano Ninomiya as soloist, and an incredible marathon Bach concert by the world-famous Miriam Fried. I already have tickets to see Hilary Hahn perform a recital in April and Troye Sivan sing in a pop concert in November (yes, I listen to other music besides classical), and I’m hoping to see Stefan Jackiw and Anne-Sophie Mutter perform iconic violin works as well.

As always, it is time to go practice! I’m looking forward to orchestra, where I’ll be sitting in the first violin section for our October concert. Rehearsals start in a week! It’s safe to say, I have lots of work to do!