Thanksgiving Prayer

thank you for summer, thank you for winter..
thank you for stormy day, thank you for sunny day..
thank you for sunshine, thank you for flaky snow..

thank you for tears, thank you for joy..
thank you for heartache, thank you for laughter..
thank you for the mountain, thank you for the valley..

thank you for parents, thank you for siblings..
thank you for teachers, thank you for students..
thank you for friends, thank you for partners..

but above all..
thank you for sustaining me through all of the ups and downs..
thank you for granting me courage, patience, wisdom, faith, hope, and love..
especially in times when i need it most.. You are always there!!

Thank you for all of your blessing O Lord...
I will continue to count them..
and I will continute to name them.. one by one..

To all of you:

have a Happy Thanksgiving 2006

Iron sharpens iron

Seperti yg udah gw kasih tau di postingan sebelumnya, tgl 12 November gw accompany 2 recital: 1 double bass (3.15pm), 1 trombone (8.15pm). Yup... cukup puas, well.. puas banget dengan hasilnya soalnya ini pertama kali gw nyanggupin accompany 2 recital dalam 1 hari. What a stressful day; mentally drained by the end of the day. 1 pelajaran yg bisa gw ambil: you won't know what you can do until you push yourself to the limit. I guess i pushed myself, or was pushed far enough ;-)

Kedua recital berjalan dengan lancar dan sukses; jauh lebih bagus dari dress rehearsal masing2. Beda banget deh maen buat trombone sama maen buat double bass. Buat trombone: piano lid all the way up, and still gurunya suruh maen lebih kenceng lagi -- you know, trombone tuh low brass instrument yg dasarnya emang udah kenceng! Buat double bass: piano lid all the way down, malah masih di bilang kekencengan-- you know, double bass tuh string instrument yg paling rendah registernya, makanya high control and sensitivity towards the balance, sound production, and the accoustic of the hall are of the utmost importance.



Di sebelah kanan-ku berdiri Trevor Jones, the double bassist. Tinggi banget yah.. kalo ngga salah 6'2'' (sekitar 186cm). Sejujurnya, gw seneng banget bisa maen sama dia: double bassist paling ok di kampus, orangnya fun, charming, dan yg paling penting, good musician. Biasanya gw bakal tertantang buat maen dengan lebih baik lagi kalo partner maen gw tuh good musician dan passionate sama apa yg mereka lakukan. Hasil kerja keras kita selama 8 minggu bener2 paid off kemaren sore. Walaupun ngga sempurna tapi the ensemble was great, balance was good, and the chemistry was definitely there.

Yg berdiri di sebelah kanan Trevor tidak salah dan tidak lain adalah gurunya Trevor, Dr. Andrew Kohn... Nah ini dia orang yg pernah gw sebut2 di beberapa postingnya awal semester. Ayah beranak 1 ini adalah guru double bass di kampus, guru favorit gw di kampus, guru yg paling gw kagumi dan hormati, salah satu anggota komiti doctoral degree gw, dan yg paling penting dosen pembimbing dissertation gw.. hehehe.. ;-) Banyak banget deh yg bisa gw ceritain ttg guru yg 1 ini.

Postur tubuh sih boleh kecil.. tapi muatannya itu lhoo bener2 mengagumkan!
Dia tuh excellent bassist; kemampuan dia maen instrument yg ukurannya jauh lebih besar dari badannya bener2 mengagumkan.. selain itu dia seorang guru (theory) yg luar biasa kalo lagi ngajar di kelas: terkesan santai, suara bass-nya yg cukup lembut tapi berwibawa tidak terkesan pushy kalo lagi lecture, open minded dalam menerima pendapat murid, sangat demanding sama murid2 tetapi selalu dalam batas kewajaran yg pantas, rendah hati banget padahal gw bilang sih genius, dan yg paling gw suka, he won't embarras you or make you feel stupid if you don't know the answer to the question he asks! No question dia salah guru yg paling gw suka dan hormati di kampus.. hmm.. ada unsur nge-fans dikittttt... eehheehee :P

Kelas2 theory yg ambil sama dia: 18th century counterpoint, 19th century analysis: An Alternative to Monotonality, and 20th century analysis. Semuanya advance music theory analysis class and highly demanding. Penguasaan bahan dan approach yg dia ambil selalu bikin gw salut sama dia. Saat ini, secara dia dosen pembimbing gw, tiap hari jumat jam 9 pagi gw conference sama dia membahas dan memantau perkembangan bahan2 dissertation gw. Well, kadang2 bisa ngelantur jg sih. Pernah sekali conference yg malah jadinya gw "interview" dia. Waktu gw tanya gimana cara dia mengasah dan mempertajam naluri analisa theorynya, guru keturunan Yahudi yg bersuku Lewi ini menjawab: Are you familiar with book of Proverb [27:17] that says "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another"? -- hahaha... dia mengutip ayat Alkitab!! Maklum dia jg orang Kristen yg taat.. ;-) Well, basically manusia mempertajam manusia, jadi semakin banyak kita membuka pikiran kita terhadap pendapat (analisa) orang laen, semakin "tajam" juga kita jadinya.

Well, bersyukur banget sih punya dosen pembimbing kayak dia walaupun tiap jumat abis ketemuan sama dia gw berasa kayak 'amoeba' dibandingkan sama dia hehehee.. :P Tapi yg pasti dia tuh encouraging dan inspiring banget.. and i need that in the process of writing my dissertation.

Besi menajamkan besi, orang menajamkan sesamanya.

Amsal 27:17

God is near

There is music in the quietness of morning's flaming dawn;

There is melody in the garden even when the flowers are gone;

Everywhere are signs and wonders that should make our hearts rejoice;

Everywhere, ...if we but listen..., is God's still small voice.

"Be still, and know that I am GOD."

(Psalm 46:10)

Weekend lai liau....

Akhirnya weekend tiba jugaaaa......
Minggu yg penuh dengan ketegangan akhirnya berlalu... Kemaren gw masih sempat accompany audition buat 1 flute doctorate candidate. Amit2 dehh... gw cuma sempet practice piecesnya dia 2 hari (rabu-kamis, padahal selasa malam gw baru selesai solo recital, lagunya complete Mozart flute concerto in G, Bach flute sonata in Em). SUSAH BANGET! Akhirnya gw harus mengurung diri di kamar 2x3 alias practice room berjam-jam. I was wondering, ngapainnn yah gw nyanggupin padahal kan udah saatnya relax? But anyway, gw ngga nyesel at all.. she's such a great musician, extremely strong floutist. I'm honored to have had accompanied her..

Walaupun ketegangan udah berlalu, tdk berarti udah bisa lepas bebas.. Up coming important dates are coming. November 12 (hari minggu depan) gw bakal accompany 2 senior recital, 1 trombone, 1 double bass. Pieces mereka lumayan challenging.. i just need to brush things up for now. Hmmm.. mau ngapain lagi yah? oooohhh.. mau grocery dah udah pasti makan2 ntar malam buat ngerayain ultah Imelda.. ehehehe.... 3 hari ini makan terus: selasa malam abis recital makan2, kamis malam nonton WVU vs U of Louisville (walaupun kalah) sambil makan steamboat, kemaren malam farewell dinner buat Wayen Wang temen gereja diajakin makan2 jg sama Elder Mei..

Udah ahhh... gw mau jadi "putri duyung" dulu ah di REC center.. target hari ini 40 laps! hehehe.. (kan mau persiapan buat makan2 nanti malam) hehehehe... ;-)

Mission Accomplished

Phewww... another solo recital down! Yeahhhhhhhhhh....
Everything went really well.. Since today is Halloween, some really dress up.. it's kind fun :-)
Here's a glimpse of the recital:

actionnnnnnnnn.....

my super anthusiastic supporters


my level 0 class-piano students


my church friends


my adorable roommate (khesin) and my make up artist - hair dresser (Imelda)


getting really silly...


the gank...


SOLI DEO GLORIA!