The days leading up to the senior recital

I have been rehearsing with Helen our duet pieces and they have been coming along well :)

My own solo pieces might need a little bit more work, specifically the portions of Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin that I have been playing.

I will probably want to meet with my advisor once before the recital, just to make sure that she thinks so too, but overall, things are coming together well!

My mother and I made an invitation, which I have attached below:

The focus shifts to the senior recital

Now that NYSSMA is over, my next performance will be my senior recital (REMINDER: May 13th), and I am going full-speed ahead to prepare for that.
My focus is now on making a few pieces (Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue) concert-ready, splicing the sections of a few others (Schubert's Impromptu and Gershwin) to make them short enough that no one's attention will wander, and working with my recital partner, Helen, to get our duet pieces in-sync.
This recital is gonna be HUUUUUUUGE.

NYSSMA Results

Unfortunately, I did not meet my goal this year, and as this was the last year that I a eligible to participate in NYSSMA, this means I never will (cue the violins).

This year, like two years ago, I scored a 99/100. For my actual piece, I got full points, and my judge really liked it. However, as always, the sight-reading killed me, and I lost that one darned point there. 

In my defense, this was the same piano and judge from last year, and in both instances, the judge has been harsh and the piano sub-par...but I'm not making excuses, I promise.

All in all though, I am happy with the way I performed my piece, and that's what matters in the long run, as I will be performing this piece at my senior recital and at my piano teacher's annual recital.

The days leading up to NYSSMA

NYSSMA is approaching fast, and I'm mostly ready...

I have my piece mostly mastered. I was hoping to have it memorized, but there are convenient places at the end of each page where I can lift up a hand to turn the page, so I should be able to play fluidly while looking at the music.

Now I just need to focus on keeping an even tempo throughout the piece, and remembering proper dynamics, and I should be fine!

My next blog post will likely be after NYSSMA, so I will report back then!

NYSSMA

My most pressing obligation right now is NYSSMA, the New York State School Music Association's annual judging festival. I will have to play three scales at random of their choosing, perform my piece, then do some sight reading. The whole thing is graded out of 100.

For the scales, I practice them every day as a warm up.
I will be playing Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata part 3 :)
For sight reading, I have been going through my family's old hymnal book, and trying to play pieces I remember from my childhood.

In the past, I have scored a 99 out of 100, but this year, I am hoping to be well enough prepared for to get a full 100 out of 100.

NYSSMA is the first of three performances I will be giving this spring, so let's hope for a good start!

My Pieces

So, I have a fair number of pieces to choose from to perform at my senior recital, both those finished from last year, and the group I am working on this year.

Right now, I am trying to master the following (I have included links to versions of my songs I particularly like):

• Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Part 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqSulR9Fymg)
• Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G minor (https://youtu.be/mxnL7UrkmY4?t=11s)
• Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (https://youtu.be/cH2PH0auTUU?t=16s)
• Sinding's Rustle of Spring (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZRwm9UEu7o)
• Schubert's Impromptu op 142 no 4
• Chopin's Nocturne op 9 no 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtIW2r1EalM)
• another Waltz by Chopin and a series of pieces by Brahms, whose names I am forgetting at the moment

So those are the contestants! We will see which piece(s) will rise to the top to be performed this May...

Hi, I'm Anjuli! Welcome to my piano blog!

Here, I will be chronicling my journey to prepare for my senior recital at my high school. I have been studying piano for over a decade, and it is my biggest passion. I will be posting mini-updates about any road blocks I hit, or major breakthroughs on the way to my senior recital, so if you're interested, follow along!