My young clarinetist who brought the C score to try to play with the accompaniment called me last night. Her band teacher wanted to know if I could transpose the Schumann Fantasiestuck op. 37 no. 1 down a step so she could play from the C score. I said no. Good grief. I got on the internet and interlibrary loaned a couple possible copies of this piece. During the process I noticed that my local college has some kind of version of this piece sitting on the shelves (it exists for Clarinet in A, Bb, Cello or French Horn).

In the meantime I have fallen in love with this little opus. I linked in free MP3s of it in the last post and have been listening to them myself. Good stuff.

I screwed up my courage and asked my guitar student if she would mind paying me my rate of $35.00 instead of the $30.00 I charged her husband a few years ago.  She readily agreed of course. I am just such a wimp when it comes to these things.

I have been in email contact with an Alexander Teacher who does occasionally come to Holland. He is supposed to email me next time he will come. I will give him a few months and then regroup if he hasn’t come to town by then.

I met with a couple of soloists last night for the first time, preparing for the local Solo and Ensemble festival. They are both playing learning concerto movements. The violinists is doing one by O. Rieding and the violist is doing one by F. Seitz.

I don’t know these composers but the pieces are kind of fun.

I have worked with the violinist before, but not the violist. I was pleasantly surprised by her musicality. She was really using her ears and played with interp. How nice. I do love the viola.

Later I read the first 80 pages of J.G. Ballard’s autobiography: “Miracles of Life.” Published in 2007, it was on one of those “best of the decade” lists I have been looking at. So far, it really is quite a good read.