Cooper Wright Reeds | blog - 3rd time is a charm

3rd time is a charm

Saturday May 09 2009

So my new website has one major problem.

I’ve tried to write a blog entry twice and it’s automatically logged me out before I could finish my blog entry, and then when I hit the back button, it erased my entire blog entry. Twice. So here I go, Third time’s a charm.

I know I’ve been a bad little blogger here, but I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things. This past quarter (starting end of March/beginning of April) was extremely stressful, intense, and dramatic, but it looks like things are coming to a close.

At the end of March, I had my recital jury. This is a jury where I have to play most of my recital to prove whether I’m prepared or not. I did just fine, however there was a miscommunication with my pianist so she didn’t come for the Poulenc. It was a “he said she said” situation, which never really got sorted out, but the bottom line was that she didn’t show up, and the committee held me responsible. I played fine, but because of this detail they were ready to flunk my jury, call off my recital for the quarter, and force me to stick around until the Fall to finish my degree. Which didn’t sound enjoyable. Finally, after a week and a half of deliberation, they decided to pass me, and I was cleared to play my April 27th recital.

The April 27th recital was not without a bit of drama as well. Somehow, my intermission got left off, and my teacher told me I needed to just suck it up, go out there and play the recital. So I played the Poulenc Sonata, Tomasi Evocations, Marcello Concerto (in c minor) and Mozart Quartet without an intermission. And I made it somehow without falling off the reed. It was indeed a long recital for me, but I’m proud of the accomplishment, and it certainly was a test of my mental and physical stamina.

Yesterday was my final step; the oral examination. This was again with the same three committee members (my oboe professor, Prof. Wayne Bennett who is the clarinet prof and conductor of the orchestra, and Prof. Bob Ponto who is the conductor of the Wind Ensemble) and they drilled me with difficult questions. The first question was Dr. Kolb put a very modern piece for solo oboe in front of me, and told me I had 24 hours to learn. How would I go about learning it? I listed off a bunch of steps and things, but apparently what she was looking for was for me to put the metronome the kitchen table and set it to 60bpm, and sing through it five times. And honestly, I just don’t sing through my parts often enough, so of course I didn’t get that.

The next question was, “What is the role of the 1st oboe in the symphony orchestra?” This question is so open ended, and while I listed off a million answers that were right, and I did indeed say the 1st oboe needs to lead the wind section, they were looking for me to specify exactly how the leading happens. The first oboe lead the wind section because they’re always audible, and should set the standard in pitch, style (and articulation), rhythm, and be visually leading as well.

The third question was to list 10 common excerpts found on an audition list and their movements, and what was hard about them. I listed Le Tombeau, La Scala, Brahms Violin Concerto, Mendelssohn 3, Beethoven 3, Don Juan, Bach BWV… 82, Brahms 1, Tchaik 4, and Bartok Concerto for orchestra.

My final question was the story behind why the Marcello Concerto in C minor is usually attributed to Benedetto Marcello rather than Alessandro. Actually, my professor seemed to have another story other than the one I had researched, but I managed to get my way through it, and passed the test!

So I guess I will be a Master of Music now!