Week 13

Last night I went to the Concerto Competition Concert. I would say it was pretty good. The soloists consisted of a violist and a saxophonist. I felt that they both gave good performances and displayed the works well. The concert started off with the viola concerto that consisted of one movement. It was slow and dramatic showing off the warm tone of the viola well. I was surprised to hear a vocalist who never played the instrument in his life composed it. It is interesting how compositions can intertwine with different genres to be voiced melodically. While playing piano I try audiating different instruments to bring out the melody and character in a piece. Perhaps that is what the composer did. I can definitely hear that piece as an opera as well. The saxophone piece was very atonal so I was not very fond of it. The playing was very well rehearsed and formed well. Instead of the whole orchestra the ensemble consisted of three quintets that were seated separately. I remember the finals night of the competition and the ensemble part sounded more difficult on piano. I really felt bad for that pianist that day. The next performance was a piano concerto played by one of the piano faculty at Illinois State. The professor of composition here wrote it as well. I moved closer to the stage so I could watch her hands. It was very entertaining seeing the numerous trills that glimmered throughout the piece and how relaxed she was. The concert ended with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite that is mostly known through Disney’s movie Fantasia. I thought of the movie cartoon interpretation throughout the whole piece and it is amazing how well it fits in with the music and how well I remembered it after years of not seeing it. That was a great performance as well except for the coughing duet that took place during the quiet movements between an audience member and percussionist on stage. Since it was the last concert of the year, I am looking forward to next year’s concerts!

WC: 346

Free Write!

Well… this is awkward. I just deleted by blog review on accident so now I need to retype the whole thing. My original post was me ranting on about how I dislike people and don’t understand reasoning behind their actions, but now I think that was a sign to stay positive in these posts so I don’t seem like a whiney little school girl. I am happy to say that my performance on Wednesday night went very well! I would post a link but I can’t figure it out for some reason. Maybe I’ll keep trying. That is, only if someone would actually watch it.  I just realized how much college could change people.  An unnamed group of people was afraid to try any sort of illegal substance or alcohol, but now they party most weekends or get drunk on weekdays. College has changed the way I view people and society.  People tend to care about superficial things. This suddenly turned into the original blog. I feel really strange today. At least some classes tomorrow are canceled. I think I will take a nap and work on my project. It is hard to think of new subtopics to prove my point. Maybe I should just elaborate on those that I already have. A good paper is hard to write. Anyone can write a paper but to have knowledge and purpose is difficult. At the moment I cannot imagine writing more than ten pages on a research paper.  The future is somewhat scary in that aspect.  I don’t understand how some people can write like 5 pages in an hour. Even if the material isn’t that good, the concept still makes me jealous. It took me two days and about 12 focused hours to write about 3 and a half. I try to phrase things without being repetitive or under informed. I hope I finish! 

WC:310

Performance Links:

Hungarian Dances

Hungarian Dances2

P.S. I found the blog I thought I deleted.... hahaha

Yay...I get to pick anything. Well for starters this is my first blog for the past 3 weeks. Somehow I kept forgetting that I needed to write one ever since spring break. I am glad that I remembered today. Also, I came to the conclusion that I do not like people very much. It is funny how hard you can try to accomplish something, but it turns out that what matters to society is who you know or how you present yourself and not what you know or who you are. I feel that most of society is shallow and concerned with superficial issues. Many people come to me with problems that seem so simple and elementary-like. I would like to tell them so suck it up and shut it, but I am too nice. I suppose I would let the first-time offenders slide but those who continue to make the same mistakes and do not take my advice the first time should go crawl in a hole. I hate having to repeat myself because people cannot get things into their head. I guess I should give myself some advice and just forget trying to help people like that. They need to take action themselves since my advice ,and others', is not good enough. I want to hash tag this so bad.

On a more positive note, I recently took part in ISU's annual Piano Project concert Wednesday night. I played with my good friend Mo. I am really fortunate to have met her this year because she has taught me so much. She will be leaving soon because she is graduating with her masters and going to school for her doctorates in piano. I wish her the best. Here is a recording of the performance! 

Research Project

My research paper is going to be about how The Help details the Civil Rights Movement and fight for freedom throughout history. I will do this by mapping the growth of black music and culture in a comparative way to the movie. I am very excited to write about this because I am taking a different approach to the history of African Americans in America. Also, as a pianist, it will be good to research the history of music genres such as jazz and the blues. On the site for one of my sources It describes how old slave songs were reworded during the Civil Rights Movement. One of the songs they sample is one that my choir is working on. It is called “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”. The old one seems more chant or church like but the one we are working on was redone in a jazzy style. I am interested in what information I can find to support my ideas.  This will possibly benefit my future in music as well. I will be taking jazz lessons next semester because I have had an interest in jazz for the longest time. One of my professors says it is a good asset to have as a musician. I would also like to find out the difference between jazz and blues. I would also like to see how they are related. My topic was slightly difficult to figure out at first. I think that I am on the right track now that I figured out how to link music with The Help. I try to relate everything to music.  It sounds obsessive but I think that it is fun when I can find relations to everything. It is like how people find a specific song that they love because it relates to their experiences or emotions. The only hard part now is figuring out how to stretch the info into 8 pages. Hmmm. Hooray. 

WC: 326

The Help

The Help is a magnificent story about women in the 1960’s finding their place in society by trying to tackle racism through the publication of a book. In the movie, Skeeter (Emma Stone) writes a book based on the experiences of Aibileen (Viola Davis), Minny (Octavia Spencer), and many other women who serve as nannies for white families.

The film tackles two main issues during the 1960’s including black rights and women’s’ rights. It also confronts more theatrical issues within a family and between mother and daughter. I feel the director’s use of family conflict helps the audience relate more the characters’ struggles since most women do not have to deal with the same issues on a daily basis in present times. The actresses are flawless in performance and are very convincing as outstanding women in society. They are likable and that is always a plus for connecting to the audience and giving a great performance. I felt the sorrow that the characters expressed and the joy they experienced. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Minny was my favorite character because of her addition of comedy into the film.

The setting of the film is also very relaxing. It is mainly shown in suburbs and in the fields. Something about a house out in the pastures is very relaxing to me. It opens the viewer up to inner emotions and releases tension. This feature has the same feeling as The Color Purple which is a film based in the south that centers on Celi (Whoopi Goldberg). She is basically in the same situation as Minny with an abusive husband. It also centers on hard times African American women faced in the past legally and at home. The same colors are also used for the DVD covers creating a visual connection between the movies. Since The Color Purple was a critically acclaimed movie, I am sure the instance was not on accident.

While conducting ethnography research, I closely notated the actions of others while watching The Help. All of those I came in contact with about the movie fully enjoyed it except for one of my roommates. The movie is mostly geared towards women and sensitive men. There are some slow points in the movie which caused the test subjects to flee to Facebook and other electronic devices. This could also just be the effect of society evolving to use technology all the time.

All groups of people should relate to the film because of racial discrimination that they may face still today. It shows how ignorant people are wrong when they act inappropriately according to social bias and fear of strange or different things. Also women should relate to the film because it is indeed about women.

I am quite pleased with the film and praise the cast and directors for their work and dedication to such a great story. Everyone has my full recommendation to see it. I would rate The Help five stars for bringing back the nostalgia of a classic type of movie. You do not see such films anymore and as an avid film viewer, it is great to see recent feel-good movie on the shelves. The Help is sure to be a classic!

WC:538

Customer Review: (Find my post by adamsalas17)

http://www.filmjabber.com/movie-preview/the-help.html

Week 7

Yayyy its Spring Break! Too bad I’m not going anywhere tropical and warm. Instead I will be relaxing and practicing piano. I have a bunch of mew music to work on and am excited to start memorizing it all. Sleeping in, watching late movies, and eating tons of ice cream are just what I need to unwind. I will also try to stay productive over break by reading some books about music and doing some research also about music.  Now that my schedule will be free, I can catch up on my Words With Friends games that I have been ignoring. I now go days at a time without responding to others. I will be seeing the dentist as well. Oh joy. I love the dentist. In addition to clean teeth, I will hopefully be getting a job. I applied at the Park District for work in the spring and must go to an informational meeting during break. I think it is also a type of interview. While thinking of jobs I realize that I do not have a résumé to use for more sophisticated jobs. I should really try and compile a list of my strengths and accomplishments to land a job somewhere nice.  The idea of a résumé creeps me out. I do not want to be judged by one sheet of paper. I think personal interviews are much more informative about a person. My cousin’s first birthday is this weekend and I cannot wait to go. It is nice to see all of my family. I am mostly excited for the cake and desserts though.  I hope that it will be warm over break so I can enjoy outdoor activities such as riding my bike and exploring the river. I really like exploring nature and experiencing the outdoors. I hope my break is as enjoyable as lemonade on a hot summer day in Hawaii. 

WC:317

Week 6

This week we are supposed to go see a movie at The Normal Theatre or rent one from the Movie Fan but I went home this week to attend a wake and funeral. SO, I watched a movie here instead. The movie I watched was Kick Ass. I told myself I would never watch this movie because it looked so dumb but I was talked into it. I came to the conclusion that it was still pretty dumb but somehow I liked it. It is shocking how much you can make a little girl do in movies now. She was swearing like a sailor and cutting drug dealers limbs off, not to mention shooting people in the face. This definitely was not intended for children. Some parts were pretty funny and pretty epic like the whole bazooka shooting the main bad guy out of a tower in New York but most of it was just overbearing. I can only imagine how many angry parents left the theatre with their kids learning some vulgar language and sexual concepts. That should not really be an issue because of all the stuff kids find online and on television anyway. One of the most unsettling concepts was the end when the bad guy is beating up the little super hero girl. He was choking and punching her in the face. It was so graphic. I am only squeamish when it comes to little kids and old people getting abused or killed like in the movie The Stepfather. That was a very unsettling movie. I suppose the directors did their job though since they conveyed some sort of emotion to the audience. Moral of the story, don’t beat up old ladies or little kids and don’t try to be a superhero because you will only get shot or shanked in the stomach. You will end up being blown out of a window by a short range missile or in an ambulance wearing a scuba suit.

WC: 330