100 days of practice - week 13
What I learned from a week on an island, learning three quartets in one week with a new quartet. I’m feeling pretty happy and lucky and grateful so this might be a little cheesy :)
Monday - Day 83
Big day of travel to get to the Isle of Mull. After dinner we read through all three quartets - laughing a lot and making a lot of mistakes. It was really good fun and reminded me of all the great times I’ve had with friends playing quartets in the years gone by.
Tuesday - day 84
Today had all my favourite things - waking up to the sound of birds, did my morning pages looking out the window to a beautiful view of undisturbed hills and even some blue sky, then went for a run down by the water. Made French toast out of the breakfast supplies we were given, practiced for an hour then we started rehearsal at 10. A big day of rehearsal taking breaks for tea, lunch, and then a drive to the beach where I got to get in the ocean!! The water was freezing and it felt amazing! The rehearsals were tough going - so much focus needed and putting together 3 quartets in a few days is daunting, but I noted how much my focus, energy levels, and general music skills have improved. It felt good to notice this improvement and see how far I’ve come.
Wednesday -day 85
Another swim in the ocean, no run in the morning though. A full day of rehearsal, cram,ing in preparation for our first concert on Thursday. In a moment alone I did some scrapbooking, just to give my brain a little break. In rehearsals I feel like I learnt so much from the people in my group. I really think getting to play in string quartets makes me the luckiest person ever - getting to be so close and intimate with other musicians and connect so much just by playing music is honestly so magical. Outside of rehearsal we had a great time too - my friend/violinist Annabel cut my hair and Shakira, the cellist, blow dried and brushed it. We had lots of laughs and it reminded me how much friendships have kept me going through music.
Thursday - day 86
Went for another run in the morning, despite it being pretty wet. I told myself I would and knew I’d be disappointed if I didn’t follow through.
Our first concert! It was in the loveliest little church by the sea, such a gorgeous venue (I’ll have to post some photos in here!). The weather was pretty bad, and there was no toilet, so between sound check and concert someone had to drive me back to the accomodation. The concert itself went pretty well, all things considered. We got a bit out at times (I miss-counted in the fugue), but we all caught each other.
Friday - day 87
Got up and left pretty much straight away to drive to Tobermory, a very cute little village with colourful buildings by the beach. Another gorgeous church up on the hill overlooking the town. Had a coffee and shared a sausage roll with Annabel, and bought a cute sticker from the shop for my viola case. Generally having a really lovely, wholesome time. We soundchecked in the freezing cold church, then played our concert. I would say this was maybe one of our worst - we were so cold and shaky, and fell apart quite a lot. Looking back we didn’t have the confidence and familiarity at this point. But it was still pretty good, especially when you consider we had only known the pieces for 4 days at this point.
We drove an hour to our next venue, next to the ferry terminal where we met Clarke and Helen, who had gotten the train and ferry over from Glasgow for the weekend. We played another concert in the community hall. This concert was definitely MY worst. I was so tired, and got totally lost in the Mendelssohn. By the time we got to the Shostakovich I had no energy left to fix any mistakes. BUT the good moments felt amazing. I start one of the movements with a solo and iI just let go of all of the mistakes I’d just been making. I remember having solos like that in the past and totally freaking out, but I felt so calm and confident.
Saturday - day 88
Got up to get the ferry to Iona, which ended up being cancelled due to bad weather. Though disappointed, we were also SO relieved to get an afternoon off. We went home, bundled up, and I did some practice because I found out the day before that I was having my RSNO mentorship scheme session with the principal violist at 10am on Monday, so that was my only chance to learn a Shostakovich symphony and another piece by Anna Clyne. I was pretty upset about having to practice, tbh, and got quite sulky. We went for a walk on the beach and I breathed the fresh air and remembered that actually ‘having’ to learn orchestra music and ‘having to play 3 quartets on a concert that evening’ are actually not problems at all. I was on a beautiful island getting to do my dream job. Learning orchestra music is a massive privilege. That calmed me down a lot.
In the evening we had our last concert on Mull, in the town near our accomodation. This one felt really good for me. I kept my cool in all the fugues, didn’t get lost, played confidently. The whole week I was focussing on projecting and cutting through, a common issue for violas, and I feel I came a long way in that regard. We had a chill but fun night hanging out in our cottage. The others drank wine but I knew it would make me feel awful.
Sunday - day 89
Up early (and daylight savings so -1 hour sleep). Cleaned up, packed, got in the car. Got to the ferry and waited in a cafe, with coffee and breakfast rolls. Shakira did my eyebrows in the cafe booth. Long day of travel to get to Biggar, a town 40 miles south of Glasgow, where we played at the music club. We all got quite intimidated reading through the guest book of people who had performed there. We ate a few bites of a pub dinner but all felt a bit queasy. This performance was probably our best, unsurprisingly. I think I enjoyed the one the night before more, but chamber music is about the group, and as a group we really clicked this night. It was bittersweet, finishing the week. I so loved playing with those three. We got driven home and got to bed by 11:30.
Monday - day 90
Up at 8 am to prepare for my lesson/rehearsal thing at 10. Did my morning routine, practiced some last moments, headed to the RSNO centre. Basically I am doing a mentorship scheme with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, RSNO, and part of that is having a one-on-one session on the music with a member of the section. Mine was with the principal violist, who is a really really great player and teacher. I was pretty nervous because I’d barely looked at all the music (since it was a rather busy weekend). I did explain this, although I so hate making excuses. But the way he talked about the way we play orchestral music was seriously inspiring. I don’t really LOVE orchestra the way I love chamber music, but he talked so much about colour, and depth, and getting different effects and sounds. He led the session with “what if we did this” and exploring techniques and ideas. It was very curious and creative, which I really love. For my scheme I was supposed to only come in on Wednesday, and was expecting to sit somewhere in the middle or back of the section, but he invited me to come along for the rehearsal on Tuesday and sit next to him in the front desk. Even though I was so looking forward to a day off you just don’t say no to things like that. That meant I had to spend a decent amount of my Monday practicing.
In the evening some friends came round for what was supposed to be a house concert where my quartet played our Beethoven, but ended up being a danish string quartet sight reading party while others did arts and crafts. It was super super lovely <3 I’m lucky to have such beautiful friends.
Tuesday - day 91
Up at 8 again to squeeze in practice before rehearsal. Felt rather nervous about the whole thing, thinking about not having most of a section to follow and having so many eyes on me. But I got in for rehearsal, people were SO lovely, and I got to sit next to Pei-Jee, a cellist who had played in NZSO for a while, so a familiar face. The moment we started playing (even though I almost missed the first entry) I felt fine. I had forgotten that sitting up the front is actually really easy - being in that front circle of people, who are all such incredible players. I didn’t have a section to follow but I could look straight to the concert master, or principal second violin, and have a wall of cello sound right next to me. Not to mention the support of the section behind me. Tom, the principal violist, inspired me so much to explore the sounds and colours and ways of playing even the simplest parts. I’ve never felt so engaged, inspired, and creative in orchestra, it was really fun.
After the morning rehearsal Tom asked me if I was free for the concerts, they were a violist down. The paperwork was all sorted out and I’m playing with them for the rest of the week, and doing the concerts in Edinburgh, Dundee, and Glasgow.
I’m feeling great. I’m inspired, confident, excited about the things I’m getting to do. I found it this morning I didn’t get through to the finals for concerto comp which is a HUGE relief, I actually don’t know what I would have done if I had gotten through, and I’ve rebooked my trip to London for next week. I’m pretty desperate for a break, which keeps getting delayed, but I’m doing so many amazing things, with amazing people. As I used to chant on repeat when I was a little 4-year old “I’m a lucky girl”.
