Rice Graduation 2014!

Hello everyone!

Almost exactly 2 years ago, I started this blog, having just graduated from University of Nebraska-Lincoln with my Bachelor's degree.  And here I am, 2 years and 2 days later, in the exact same spot at home, having just graduated from Rice University with my Master's degree!! man,, time has really flown by!  2 years of my life...  I can't believe it!  

I feel so blessed to have had the chance to study and meet so many amazing people at Rice these past two years, and though it was only 2 years (and that's really quite a short period of time), I have really come to think of Rice as home..  While I am so excited for the next chapter of my life to begin in Boston (one of my favorite cities), saying good bye to Rice and everyone there was definitely bitter sweet.

But before I get too sappy, let's get on with the festivities!

GRADUATION!!!  YAYYYYY!!!

Such a joyous occasion, isn't it?  

No matter how much you love the school, and no matter how sad it will be to leave it and move on, there's something incredibly exciting about graduating.  The whole school is full of energy, there are friends and family everywhere, and really, just the whole atmosphere is electrifying.  All of the hours toiling away in the practice room or in the library, the blood and the tears... (ok, maybe not blood... mm actually, yes blood. mmhmm)  it was all worth it, and you are finally done!!!

Rice decided to have 2 ceremonies, one for each of the degrees (Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate) and one for everyone, and since my Dad was coming, I decided to attend both! The only downside to attending both of the ceremonies was probably the fact that we had to line up at the crack of dawn... ok, so maybe not really the crack of dawn, but 7:30 A.M is close enough for me haha.  I had doubts about whether or not I could wake up for it, but what do ya know, I managed to get myself out of bed at 6, get ready, and line up in time!  Now, they probably didn't need us to be there so early because we had about an hour to burn as we waited for the ceremony to actually begin, but we made good use of that time and took some photos!

yay for sneaking in my phone to the ceremony   haha

and we also got in a selfie right before we were called to line up to enter   haha

and here we go!

Rice had separate ceremonies for Undergrads, Master's, and Doctorate candidates so that the Commencement wouldn't be so long, and that made our ceremony really short.  all of us got to go up and take our fake diplomas (real ones are coming in the mail in about 6 weeks I guess) and it only took about 45 minutes!

After the ceremony, there was a reception at the music building (wait.. where is that building again..? haha), and lots and lots and llooottss of photo taking, so here are a couple of those  =)

With Daddy!!

and with the boy. We met during my first semester at Rice and started dating soon after, so Rice will always have a special place in our hearts  =)

got the hood (that goes all the way to my butt) for my degree, pink velvet for music (why!! why pink?!  ok, I suppose pink isn't so bad  haha), and blue and silver chevron for Rice!  =D

and the Master's degree graduating class of 2014!!  

wooohooooo~~  We're freeeeee~~

oops, the professors joined us. getting our acts together and posing nicely for one more photo  haha

The next day, we had the Commencement for the whole school with a very inspiring speech by Dr. Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA. That day, we were so incredibly thankful that we didn't have to sit through everyone going up to the stage, shaking hands with the president, getting our fake degrees, and walking back down.  Houston is in full summer mode and the ceremony was outside in the blazing sun, so even though I was wearing a light summer dress under the robe, I was still dying by the time the shortened ceremony was over.  Thankfully, the Graduate Student Association had icy water bottles ready for us when we walked through the archway (symbolic tradition for Rice folks)! We just had to go find the banner, and we were awarded with the life-saving liquid.  If you think that was a dramatic statement, you obviously didn't sit in the blazing Houston summer sun for a few hours in cap and gown...  haha

Rice, it's been incredible.  Thank you so much for all of the opportunities and the awesome people you bring together.  I will miss you and everyone that makes you so freakin amazing  ;)

I'm now back in Seattle, and I'm not sure that it has really sunk in that I won't be returning to Rice next year... but I'm super excited for this summer filled with traveling and performing, and I can't wait to share those adventures with you!  

Thank you for letting me share my life transitioning to and then living the graduate school life at Rice , and I hope to see you around as I do it all over again at Boston University for the next few years!  =)

Have a wonderful week, and thanks for stopping by!

--Janny

Violins on Fire

Hello everyone!

Last night was a pretty momentous occasion for Shepherd School of Music because for the first time ever, all of the violin faculty shared the stage performing Vivaldi concerto for 4 violins!  Wow. All four of the faculty here (Mr. Lin, Ms. Winkler, Mr. Kantor, and Mr. Goldsmith) are all a violin legend in her/his own right, and hearing them all performing at once was definitely an experience.

rehearsal..  I mean, look at this.  so much awesomeness on one stage.

after the performance...

With the whole Vivaldi group!

Other pieces also on the program included Maurer's concerto for 4 violins, Golijov's Last Round, and a couple of Piazzolla pieces.  It was one of Shepherd's 'Sharing the Spotlight' concerts where the students and faculty collaborate together, so all of Mr. Lin's students were in the program (minus a few injured) as well as a student cellist and a violist.

I got to play the Golijov's Last Round for 2 quartets and a bass, and when I heard it, the first thing that came to my mind was 'man, it's like Piazzolla on crack...'  If you don't believe me, here, give it a listen.

And as it so often is in the professional world, the rehearsal period for this concert was incredibly short.  As student groups, we get to spend a whole semester on a piece before we perform.  This concert?  we had 3. Yup.  And at one point at the dress rehearsal, everything disintegrated and we had a train wreck. I mean, just listen to the piece, it's incredibly easy to train wreck that movement.  See, when stuff like that happens in student groups, we would rehearse it at least one more time just to make sure that wouldn't happen again. So the 4 students in the group were expecting to do that after the run-through, and the faculty goes 'ok, I think we're good for tonight!'  and just like that, we were done with the dress rehearsal!

Surprisingly, the concert came around, and the faculty were right... no train wrecks at the performance despite the questionable dress rehearsal, just an incredibly exciting performance of the piece.  I suppose they know a thing or two about performing, huh?  ;)  haha 

The whole concert was an incredibly exciting one with a whole lot of fiery playing from everyone.  and as one piano faculty commented, 'a whole lot of e-strings on the stage!'  haha.  I don't think I have ever been a part of a chamber concert with so many violinists in the concert.  and man, all of them were on fire  =)   One of my friends who came to the concert said he was not expecting that kind of a concert on a Wednesday night!  haha   he was struggling to stay awake during the day (hump day you know) and he said when he got to the concert, he was so overwhelmed with intensity that he felt incredibly disoriented at first: I believe the exact words he used to describe how he felt during the first part of the concert were, 'omg, where am I?'  ;)

It was such an exhilarating concert, and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of it!  getting to play Golijov with so many awesome players was awesome. Thank you Mr. Lin for programming such an awesome concert and asking us to be a part of it! 

Most of Mr. Lin's studio + former student + Mr. Tim Pitts that awesome bass-twirling bass faculty of ours  ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

--Janny