Inventory of Groups
*Miller Family *Pryor Family *Roommates at the UC *Chamber Orchestra- Villa Lobos cellists/singer *Cellists *CCPA Cellists/musicians *Strings *Classical music listeners *classical music players *RU *Chicagoans *Columbians *Missourians *Wendy Warner’s Students *Freshman Cellists *freshman at CCPA/RU *Sevgi’s 8am piano class *Dr. Hussey’s 9:30am theory *Art history class *CCPA Orchestra *Performer for CCPA composition stuff *English class *Performance class *RBHS people *RBHS orchestra *Group of really close friends from back home *Silly partying friends back home *MOSSYO *Student of Kirk Trevor’s *Student of Mary Manulik’s *Student of Darry Dolezal’s *MU Chamber Seminar friends *NHSMI people *Cello friends from here *All State friends *Colleen’s piano students *RBHS Theory program people *Rock music listeners *fans of Apocalyptica *fans of a LOT of other bands *fans of Stephen King * A LOT MORE that I don’t want to come up with!!
Rules that Govern Groups
When I had to think about which groups have some unspoken rules, however silly it may be, the first thing I thought of was Bach. I HATE Bach with a passion. I think he is one of the most lame, boring composers that ever walked the face of the earth. All of his music sounds basically the same, nothing weird about it at all and it always seems to be something calm, which I can’t relate to. So this makes it veeeeeerrrrrrrryyyy difficult to play and let alone perform because I have no connection to the music. Now I have been known to be extremely open about this fact if the chance is given to me, but there are certain groups that if I were ever to mention Bach, I would need to be very very careful with which words I choose. Basically, this applies to half of the groups I am associated with. I am finally at the point with Kirk, Darry, and Mary, that they just know without me even having to mention that I absolutely despise Bach. But with MOSSYO, All State, MU Chamber, CCPA cellists, Wendy, and any theory class ever, I really should keep my trap shut. Some people take great offence… The people who were in my AP Theory class at RBHS were all really wonderful people and great musicians. There were only four other kids in that class with me and they were all seniors when I was a junior. I already felt as though I was walking on egg shells. I didn’t want to seem less mature or knowledgeable, I wanted to prove myself as up to the “senior standards” or something like that. Anyway, there was this one guy in the class that was SUPER good at theory… and he loved Bach. Like more than I have ever loved any composer. He would literally sit down and completely analyze a Bach Choral for the hell of it. He loved the different conventions used and was a big supporter and lover of counter point. This really does go hand in hand with pretty much every theory class ever, which is especially why I couldn’t just shout out in the middle of class “I HATE BACH AND I THINK HE’S THE WORST THING THAT HAPPENED TO CELLISTS SINCE PACHELBEL’S CANON!!!!!!!!!!!” See, this would just end up badly. We’re talking about arguing with a guy who got angry when we started to work on 20th century numerical ways of composing, I mean, not too open minded and happy with the new style. I wouldn’t ever dare to speak the yelling above to any of the judges in my jury coming up, or any of the grad student cellists. I might just mention, hey, not a huge fan of Bach, but I would never ever tell them the full extent of my hatred. Even writing this seems as though it might be bad news because Jessica and Spencer (fellow cellists) may possibly read it. There are many little things like this which I have to kind of filter before I say anything.
Gaining Membership
One of the newest, and in my opinion, most important groups that I had to gain membership to would have to be the CCPA cellists. I was absolutely scared to death that it would be an intense, cut throat environment when I got here, but it has actually turned out to be pretty calm and friendly. There is still an intense pressure to prove yourself as a cellist though. Because we are in the same ensembles and studios as many graduate cellists, there is an intense pressure to be seen as a good cellist. I feel as though there is a slight unspoken way about us as musicians. If you play and don’t sound very good at a particular performance or rehearsal, you are looked down on. People normally won’t act very different towards you, but the group’s opinion of you as a whole has lowered significantly. On the other hand, if one were to perform and play amazingly well, you are treated more as part of the group. The older students embrace you more so as one of their own and you kind gain an official membership to the group. Those who are in kind of a place of power in the group are either the students who have been here for a while, or the ones who have been in school in general for a while (such as any first year grad student). Through doing a decent job in my auditions in the beginning for seating, my performance in performance class, my performance for the composition recital, and my involvement in a few extra ensembles, I feel as though I have begun the process of proving myself and being truly accepted as one of the cellists. In the music world, it seems like it is a whole process of building up your reputation as a person, performer, and a hard worker that gets you far and will gain you connections and gigs.
