Our First Little Recital!

Hello everyone!

Last weekend, I had such a proud mama moment!  My Boston students had their first recital, and my goodness! cue all the emotions.

I never imagined that I would love teaching so much, but during the past six years or so, teaching has grown into one of my biggest passions.  I love everything about it; getting to know the students and the parents, figuring out different ways to approach different subjects for each student, working out how to solve road blocks in their learning process, and seeing them grow both artistically and personally.  It's truly one of the most rewarding experiences.

I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful students (and their parents!) here in Boston, and together with MaeLynn's studio, we had an exciting recital day full of fun music and wonderful companionship!

We were also lucky to have such a sensitive pianist, Daniel, who was there to play with our students! It's not easy following the students' interpretations sometimes (which can be rather surprising at times), but he did amazingly!  =)

All of our students played so beautifully! We had a variety of range in levels, and they all did their best, and we were so proud!!

We were also joined by a wonderful singer, who is one of my students' sister, and it was so fun to have variety during the recital!

We ended the recital with a little Bach Double action!

With all of the students and teachers!

haha this photo really captures the experience -- sweet, funny, a little distracted..  and never a boring moment!

Everyone brought refreshments to share afterwards, and we had a wonderful time chatting and getting to know all of the friends and family!

I feel so blessed to have such talented and wonderful students. Every single one of them has such good hearts that even when they don't practice sometimes (ahem..), I look forward to every lesson with them  =)

I'm so excited that for the first time in my  life, I am planning on being in one place for more than a few years!  I'm excited to hopefully work with all of these students long term and to see all of them grow!

Thanks for stopping by!

--Janny

Photo Cred: my wonderful fiancee -David  =)

RECITAL IS FINISHED!!!

Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

My recital is finished!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't even put into words how relieved I am to be able to say that because I injured my left wrist a week before the recital, and the whole week we weren't sure if I could play the recital at all.  If we had to move the recital, that would have been an awful nightmare because everything gets booked up here at Shepherd School of Music like a whole year in advance, not to mention juggling 10 different people's schedules who were involved...

but yes, I am glad it is over, and now I can get back to doing other things.  like living.  and blogging.  and practicing other repertoire...  haha

Anyway, here are some photos from the recital!
I forgot to take pictures of the reception table, but there were many different kinds of cookies, cream puffs (which we're going to do a recipe here soon), and the Trader Joe's Spinach Kale Dip.

The recital itself was an interesting venture with a coughing fit from the performer in the middle of a piece, as well as a wardrobe malfunction--if you wear an infinity dress, make sure you tie and knot the ribbons...  I just tucked the ends in, and... let's just say that is not a good idea if you're going to be on stage and you're going to be using your hands to do something else.  No worries, I caught it in time and there was no Janet Jackson episode, but man...  the most interesting recital experience ever.

Anyway I can't thank Mr. Lin enough for teaching me for the past year and a half, and always pushing me to my maximum.  I really feel like I'm going to look back on my graduate years as the years where I practiced like a crazy woman  haha  =)  but he is such an inspiration, and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher for where I am as a violinist!

and of course Neal, our studio pianist  =)  I don't know how he learns and plays so many different pieces that we play!  It's been so wonderful getting to work with him these past year and a half!

Oh!  and funny story: Betsy and I met when we were like...11?  we were in Tri-City Junior Youth Orchestra together, and we lost contact for like 8 years or something and then we realized we both were in Houston!!  Thank you Facebook.  So she came to my recital and it was SO much fun getting to catch up  =D

And of course, some ballrooming love  =)  we met through ballroom last year, and it's been so awesome to get to know and hang out with this girl  ;)  

and of course, the three people the recital could not have happened without these three people in my life!
my roomy for being so accommodating during my freak out week leading up to the recital where I was incredibly messy around the house because I guess my level of stress directly correlates to my messiness... she also baked cookies and got me flowers!  best roomy  =)
and my boy, of course, for dealing with the grumpy Janny during my injury episode, because when I can't play the violin and I want to practice, (because let's just admit it, sometimes we just don't feel like practicing!) I am rather grumpy.  Oh, and just being so supportive and helping me bake  =)
and Satoko!  We played Strauss together for the recital, and she has been such a trooper learning that sonata because man, that piano part is like a piano concerto!  and just being overall so accommodating throughout the whole process  =)

Thank you everyone for coming, and I am so thankful for everything and everyone in my life.  Feeling just so incredibly blessed  =)
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!
--Janny

the final stretch!

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the absence,,, I just finished my recital preview this morning, and let's just say that I've had, and will have, no life until my recital is over.  Actually, no,,, until everything else is over... but let's not think about that right now...

Though the preview was a bit rough around the edges, I passed!  In case you don't know what a recital preview entails, you basically run through your recital program for the panel (in my case Mr. Lin, and Mr. Kantor), and they decide if you are ready to give the recital or not.  Scary and really stressful because that means you have to have your recital ready to go at an earlier date, but in the end, a very useful and helpful practice!  Now, I have a week and a half until November 2nd to really polish the pieces I'm playing!  oh, and breathe... and chill...  haha both Mr. Lin and Mr. Kantor told me that I need to relax after the preview today. =p

So this is the final stretch until the recital on November 2nd at 3 pm!  If you are in the Houston area, you are all invited!  Would love to see you there.  It will be an intense recital of Bach g minor Sonata, Struass Sonata, and Ravel Tzigane!  =)

Then, later that evening, at 8 pm, the Shepherd Symphony is giving a concert of Dvorak 7th Symphony and Hindemith Mathis der Maler, and yes, I am playing in this one too.

Then, the next day we start rehearing Golijov's Last Round for Mr. Lin's recital which is happening that Wednesday!  And I'm so sooo excited to be performing with Mr. Lin!   =D =D =D!!  what! so stoked for this concert!

Then, we have the chamber marathon in which I'm playing the Beethoven Trio Op. 70 No. 2.

 *excuse me while I go hyperventilate a little bit about the sheer amount of music I need to learn*

BUT THEN!!! I GET TO GO TO CLEVELAND!!!  to see my MEADOWLARKS!!!

It's going to be such a hurricane of performances and activities and then BAM. chill time. at least for a weekend.  I can't wait! =)

In the meantime, I've been having cravings for anything munchy or greasy. For example, last weekend, I just really really wanted a burger!  yup, I do believe it's the stress-eating syndrome kicking in.  I'm the worst about chowing down my stress..  haha

but hey, this burger was pretty darn tasty, and sometimes, you just really crave a good, juicy burger, ya know?  no harm done, I'll probably feel the intense desire to detox and go all vegetarian as soon as I can breathe again, but until then, bring on the munchies!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!

--Janny

Recital Completed!

Hello everyone!

My recital is now over, and I am now completely at a loss as to what to do with myself!

The week leading up to it was absolutely hectic;

Overall, I consumed A LOT of ice cream during the week,

I had my recital run through,

I performed in the studio recital,

Mommy came to visit,

so did my cousins Narae and Chang,

and so did Abers to audition,

then I was up until almost 2 the night before the recital writing program notes

(why do I ALWAYS think these things will take less time than they actually do?),

and then it was the RECITAL!!!

and now it's over. and I feel like the school year should be over...

but alas, it's only the beginning of the semester.

So. Odd.

Anyway, here are some photos from the week to remember  =)

As I am sure you are all expecting by now,

there was a lot of eating involved.

I mean, most of my family was here + Abers, 

so food was definitely going to be a big part of our week here together  haha

As soon as I picked up Mommy, Narae, and Chang from the airport,

we headed to a restaurant!

Yay Chuy's!

It was quite delicious, and we ate until we couldn't breathe.

Though we had to wait 30 torturous minutes to be seated,
 we all agreed that it was worth it  =)

Then, the next night, we stayed in as a big family,

and turned Gom Gook mentioned in this post, into a Dduck Gook!

It makes Amulet a little uncomfortable that the Gom Gook has been boiling for a whole week  haha

But I swear the stew gets better with each passing day!

And by the time it was turned into a Dduck Gook!!! 

Ahh.. heaven.

and yay for getting to taste Mommy's cooking again!

one giant, happy, goofy family  =)

And we also had lunch at La Madeleine.

We loved the atmosphere in this restaurant so much!

Such a chill, Frenchy-rustic environment  =)

And of course, we had a lot of ice cream.

and visited the Chocolate Bar again.

Their Snowberry ice cream = AMAZING.

omg.

chocolate covered strawberries made into ice cream form.

can't go wrong there!

Then, there was the recital!!

It was such a great experience because now I know that I can put together a recital in what I thought to be an incredibly short amount of time,

and also able to give a recital with only 1 lesson on more than a third of the program.

Usually, I have multiple lessons to get ready for a recital,

so I was quite terrified about not being ready enough with 1 lesson,

but now I know that I can do it!

yay!

But I have to say, BOY am I glad it's over!

whew!

but it was definitely an incredible experience, and actually a lot of fun!  =)

And I felt so much support from everyone who came to watch the recital!

Thanks so much guys! 

I feel so loved and blessed to know all of you!

After the recital with my roomy, Mommy, and Narae!

And I can't say how incredibly blessed I am to have Abers and David in my life.

Like I said, I ended up working on the recital program notes until 2 am,

and these two stayed up and made all of the baked goods for the reception for me!

I don't even know what I would have done without these two.

You guys are the absolute best, and I love you guys!!!   =D

hehe  such goofs  =)

To celebrate, we (of course) went to eat.  

Tofu village!

We came here last when Abers was here,

and that time, we ended up eating so much that all of us were seriously in pain...

This time, we ate quite a bit as well, but I think we were better about restraining ourselves  haha

It was so good though!

And it was that much better because Yvonne joined us!

She played the Beethoven and the Poulenc with me on the recital, 

and she played so wonderfully  =)

I'm so glad we got to work together this past semester!

such a lovely group  =)

Thanks again everyone who came out for all of your support!

and also for these lovely flowers!

They brighten up our apartment so much, and makes me smile every time I walk by them  =)

So beautiful...

Hope you all have a wonderfully happy week!  =)

Thanks for stopping by!

--Janny