The Journals of a Dreamer: My Night

Thursday, March 29th.
Utah Wind Symphony Concert featuring the Concerto Competition Winners

Best. Night. EVER!

I love insta :)

Seriously, it was such an amazing musical experience! I have been so looking forward to playing with them, and when the chance came, it was simply wonderful! The Utah Wind Symphony is so talented, tight, musical, and professional... I am SO lucky I had that chance to perform with them! Everything about it was so great.

First, the rehearsals leading up to the concert were neat. The first few were frustrating, because playing with 40 accompanists is very different from playing with one, but once we got the logistics worked out, everything started to run smoothly, and we all got a feel for the music. My piece is so fun to play with full accompaniment! It makes the big parts bigger and the cool parts cooler. Magic.

At rehearsal one night I met Mandy, the girl who I've been compared to basically my entire high school career. Mandy is a saxophonist who graduated from BYU a couple of years ago, and I'm basically following in her shadow--way to represent the lady saxophone players! ;D I also talked to a floutist who was on the judging panel for final auditions in Murray. She had some kind words to say to me as well. Overall I felt pretty welcome with the Utah Wind Symphony, and even though I was really nervous about speaking up, the overall feeling coming from the rehearsals and the group was very warm. :)

Thursday, my concert day, was pretty hectic with me and my mom running around getting ready, gathering everything I needed... My sister helped curl my hair, and then my neighbor did it in a gorgeous side-up-do and lent me some "WOW" earrings. Another neighbor provided some hair flowers to top it off. I wore this gorgeous blue dress, and walking out in it on stage..... ahh it felt good!

The performance was the best part! I had a fan club of over 30 sitting in the audience, and I played from my heart to them. I performed the piece memorized, and I played it better than I ever had in rehearsal. It was one of my best performances, and with the UWS behind me it was spectacular! Supposedly I'm going to get the professional recording of my piece, so we'll see if it's legal for me to post it here. :) If not, go look up Fantasia for Alto Saxophone by Claude T. Smith. GREAT piece.

A cool thing about being a soloist was hanging out backstage, where there was this guy named Alex who was my shephard for the night. He showed me where to go and when and provided me with anything I needed. I felt so cool hanging out in the {men's} dressing room {I don't know why they put me in there. Technically me, Whitney (flute soloist), and Max (euphonium soloist) all shared the room}. The room had a long counter with mirrors with bulb lights all around--I felt a little diva-like. And I took up half the counter with my stuff. :D It was great hahaha....

*taking up half the counter like a boss*

Right before the concert. Really excited to play!
(p.s. Max and Alex were in the room with me when I took this. They laughed at me--I'm kind of a dork sometimes. Nbd.)

The concert started off with a number with just Utah Wind Symphony, then Max followed. I performed my piece just before intermission, and right after, as I was just finishing putting my saxophone back in its case, my teacher Ray walked in. He was so proud of me. He gave me a hug and praised my performance. I thanked him for teaching me so well--he really is a wonderful teacher, and a great supporter of my music, and he's kind of like a musical father to me. I'm excited to continue studying under him at BYU! :D

My fan club attacked me when I came out during intermission and again after the concert was over. :) Haha it was so fun to see all my friends and family and neighbors there for me. I'm so glad they came (thank you everyone!)! Basically my whole night was amazing. It was something I had looked forward to for a long time, and it more than fulfilled my expectations! Definitely the biggest, most amazing, most memorable musical performance I've ever given in my entire life. Receiving the scholarship was also a highlight--I haven't decided what I'll do with it yet, but I'm thinking mouthpieces.

Anyway, that was my night. Enjoy the pictures! :)