Category: percussion

life, percussion

Concerto is done!

christinahopgood
Well last Friday I finally performed my concerto.  Thank goodness it’s over!  It was video recorded (unfortunately the video was small and cut out my lovely accompanist!) and I uploaded it to youtube.
It went well!  I did fluff some bits and I did make some bits easier for myself (by taking it at a slightly slower tempo etc.).  But the most important thing is the music, and communicating that to the audience.
More than being just a performance, it was actually an exam worth about 25% of my final Honours mark.  I had three panel members!  I was nervous!
It was really wonderful that so many friends came to see me play.  Even though I feel lonely and sad a lot of the time without Charles, it’s a reminder that people do care for me.  I appreciate every member of the audience!  Particularly my old piano teacher, who actually has WHOOPING COUGH and sat right at the back and waved to me from afar so I wouldn’t catch it.  Isn’t that crazy!
So here’s the recording!  I particularly like the second movement, but a lot of people said that they liked the third.  All up it goes for about 24 minutes!
Movement 1 – Water Running in High Mountain:
Movement 2 – Reflections and Dreams:
Movement 3 – Walking on Clouds:

life, percussion, travel

Time to spill the beans…

christinahopgood
I am going to America!
(Just for a couple of weeks).
I have been accepted to the Bob Becker Ragtime Xylophone Institute which will be held in Delaware this August!  Ragtime xylophone music is something I’ve always had a lot of fun playing, and I’ve even decided to do a themed Ragtime recital this year.  Ragtime is old-timey jazz.  So, it’s fitting that I’d want to go to this workshop this year.  Bob Becker is The Guy for ragtime xylophone.  He’s a famous percussion dude!  I’m going to learn a lot from him.
Conveniently, there’s a simultaneous workshop on Jazz Vibraphone which Charles has been accepted to!  It’s being held at the same university and we can share a room!  This will be living the dream – we’ll both be going to do awesome separate things in a cool place with famous people!  Learning lots and playing music all day!  Then coming home and being together in the evening!
While I’m in America, I’m thinking of going to New York for a few days to see all the things!  I’d love to see Central Park where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers roller skated.  I’d love to catch a They Might Be Giants show – but I don’t know how to do that.  And I’d love to go to Tokyo Rebel, since I’ll be there a lot sooner than I’ll be in Tokyo.  Fun times approach!
Here’s a video of a great percussionist Morris Palter and his group playing a rag called Jovial Jasper.

Here’s the video of my last Recital (third year).  I played a rag at the end BY BOB BECKER, so skip to 35:40
percussion, piteå, travel

Last night in Piteå

christinahopgood
So the other night we had our friends over for my farewell party.  It was a dessert party, so I made a lemon merengue pie and biscuits, and everyone else brought cakes and stuff.  It was amazingly filling and nice.  We have some really nice friends here!

Today the four of us percussionists recorded a piece by Maria.  She played the solo marimba part, and Charles, Jake and I were batterie.  It was great!  We used nice cameras to get good angles, and used the University media students to record the sound and do the lighting.  We ended up having a very professional setup.  It only took three takes to get a really good recording.  Then we had to bump out and move heaps of percussion and other gear.  But after that it was like 6pm and it was home time!  It was sad saying goodbye to Jake and Maria – we’ve become really good friends.  Maria gave me a signed copy of her piece – parts and all – so when she’s rich and famous I can say “I knew her!”.  The recording will be up on the internet in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Charles and I came home super tired from standing up and playing and moving gear all day.  Had dinner and then our OTHER friends Margrét and Gisli came round to collect their cups (we borrowed them for our party – Charles only has 4 cups) and had a coffee.  I’m going to miss them heaps!  They are special people.

So now it’s almost bedtime and tomorrow we’re off to Stockholm!  We’ll be there for two nights and then I’m off home to Australia.  I really do love Australia, so I am looking forward to being home.  But it just will hurt to leave Charles here.  I know he misses home more than I do!

brisbane, dresses, percussion, valentino

Brisbane!

christinahopgood

On the weekend, Charles and I flew to Brisbane to go to the Australian Percussion Gathering at the Queensland Conservatorium! We had a great time!

We arrived on Friday afternoon and went straight to a lecture by Sylvio Gualda. Famous guy! He was talking about Iannis Xenakis, who was apparently his personal friend.
We went to about 5 concerts in three days! My favourite performer was Kuniko Kato, who is rad and nice.
On Friday after all the concerts, Charles and myself and most of the Canberra percussion people went out to a tapas restaurant for dessert and drinks. It was super fun! There’s a picture of us there on Charles’ Blog. After that, Charles and I took a taxi to his grandmother’s house, where we stayed for the two nights. She was super lovely to accomodate us!
Saturday was a bit more relaxed! We stayed at home for the morning and had morning tea in the backyard with Charles’ grandmother and auntie. Then his auntie took us in to the city and we had a lovely walk along the river! It’s so nice!
Saturday night was not so awesome. There was a great concert which was rad, but we had not eaten dinner, and it finished at 10pm. LAME. We were super hungry, and our teacher had promised to take us all out for dinner. He took us to the first place he saw, which was this really really noisy gross nightclub. What. We didn’t even order anything, our menus were taken away. Charles and I went down the road to a cafe and had a lovely QUIET dinner together. We went back to the nightclub to try to be sociable, but it was srsly gross.
On Sunday we did the best thing ever – went to see the Valentino Retrospective at the Brisbane Gallery! There were 2 big halls full of beautiful Valentino dresses. I loved it so much!!
Then there was a big gong concert outside near the con. It was ok, a little bit arty and lame. We had to go to the airport halfway through. And then we flew home!
What a nice weekend! I’d like to go to Brisbane more often.