updates… (fried chicken, moodiness, WAITIKI, gigs in general)
Anyone sick of Popeyes or KFC?  Now is the time to check out the new trendy Korean fried chicken in NYC’s K-town. [NY Times article] The article lists a few restaurants to check out.  I’ve been to the Bon Chon on E 32nd street… it’s pretty good though the music playing on radio was kinda lame.  Expect to pay higher than usual prices for fried chicken, but for the taste experience, it’s worth it.  Oh, and chug a beer while you’re at it.

So RB came to visit me this past weekend for one night.  He needed to stay over since he was helping a bass friend pick up a bass trunk in Queens, so they drove (actually RB drove) all the way from Boston.  Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a stress-out session when he was here.  I tried to hide it but I ended up hating myself for it.  Anyways it was just for one night (Do I sound like I’m talking about a one-night-stand?)  Hehe.  I’m sure RB understands and forgives me.

I also never wrote about my second recording session with WAITIKI.  Their second album is coming out in April so get ready to run to the stores!  I’m playing violinyitar on three tunes, which are all original compositions by RB (yay!).  I was basically up in Boston for three days, rehearsing and rehearsing some more for the recording on Monday.  The engineer is Ducky Carlisle and he works well with all of us.  I also got the chance to meet the producer Brother Cleve, who does have good ideas when it comes to making a recording.  Overall it was a good experience, though being the only girl and a classically trained musician does leave me out of certain situations.  Thanks again WAITIKI!

This past week I’ve been subbing with the Westchester Chamber Orchestra.  It usually has a painful first rehearsal but I do end up enjoying playing music with the Russians (they make up 80% of the orchestra - where do they all come from?)  This time was especially pleasurable because of my standpartner.  We didn’t talk much but I gathered that he lives in the city and studies at Juilliard, and has lived in NY all seven years since he came from Russia.  He’s a good musician and I enjoyed playing next to him.  Too bad he was Russian so I couldn’t make much fun of the CM or conductor (his wife sat right infront of me).  But we shared lots of inside jokes so it was a good time. I guess one could say that we "clicked."  I realize that as I am getting older, meeting more musicians, and collaborating with a wide range of musical technique and personalities can be so overwhelming.  In order to not get lost in the crowd, I believe that we, individually, should treasure those rare moments of true connection and compatibility with another person, whether we are making music or not.  If I ever get a real orchestra job, I hope that my standpartner will be a decent musician and friend.  Is that asking too much?

Speaking of gigs, my studio pianist and I played a stressful"gig" together at the Long Island Museum yesterday.  The funny thing was that a few weeks before the gig, we had assumed that we were to play background music for a memorial of some sort, one that requested "romantic" pieces.   A few days later, we received an email asking for each of our bios.   I sent mine in, but I did feel a red flag go up.  What kind of gig was this?  I should have been smart and just asked the person in charge for details, but I gave M the benefit of the doubt since she gave us the "gig."  Oh boy, I will never trust her again.  A couple days before, my pianist and I even rehearsed for a bit because I thought it was wise to expect the worst ~ a 45 minute recital.  So on the day of the gig, we managed to get there on time and stuff.  Hoping that it wouldn’t be a formal setting, I looked around for the gig site.  *gasp* We were to play on a small stage in a small room that had rows of seats, probably for around 50 people.  I was shocked.  And my pianist was freaking out on me (this is an actual nightmare of hers - sightreading in public).  Knowing that this could also be my nightmare, I figured that I had to be the calm one.  I had my Elgar, Kreisler, Massenet, Faure, Brahms etc. with me, and when the time came, we just played through each one.  But the pieces were going by quicker than we had planned.  We ended up sightreading first two movements of Brahms third violin sonata to waste time.  Ack.  A few couples left after the serious piece.  It was time to lighten things up.  Good thing I ended with Meditation.  To my surprise we were greeted with a standing ovation and it was a pretty full house too, the largest number of guests the program has ever had.   Whew!  We were sooo glad that we weren’t a huge embarassment to SBU’s music dept.  I have to say that this was a very good experience as "professional" musicians.  Sometimes I think playing for strangers gives me the best boost in confidence.