moving fast!

So since I have passed my audition for the Navy, things are moving really fast. Apparently, lots happened over the weekend because I got a call pretty much first thing on Monday from the Navy Music office. They said I will be going for my physical this weekend, and possibly even sign my contract for enlistment as a musician! Holy cow that was fast. And the funny part was the person who called me yesterday morning addressed me as simply "Herrera". Well I guess I should be getting used to that!!

I hope that everything goes well this weekend and I can sign my enlistment. It will be nice to know when I will be going to boot camp, even though it is going to probably be far off, at least a couple months away. Ideally, I want to get this basic training thing over with, but I would like to have a couple months to one - get physically ready, and two - cut ties with my current employer without making them hate me. I want to give them at least a month or two of notice, but I don’t feel comfortable announcing that I’m leaving until I have an exact date that I will be shipping out. I’m just so excited and nervous now! I can’t believe that it’s actually happening. My feelings are mixed about the whole thing. I'm super duper excited that I'll be a full time musician again (actually getting paid for it this time!), but at the same time I'm scared to death about the fact that I'll be enlisting in the military.

In other news, I haven’t really played since the audition. I’m taking a break for a few days, and I’ve been getting things taken care of that I had been neglecting over the last couple weeks. I am starting to feel the itch again though already. I was thinking of focusing on Eb for awhile, since I’ve been really neglecting it for the past few years. Also I was thinking about doing a small recital in CO before I left for the Navy. I’m not sure yet though, I have to be able to afford a plane ticket to CO and also a pianist, unless I can find someone who will do it for free…doubtful. We will see what I decide.



So…that’s it for now. I’ll update more soon!

I got a job!!

I did it! I finally have a clarinet job! Its not what I had planned or had anticipated. I had always envisioned myself playing in an orchestra or a D.C. band (or the Coast Guard band!!). But over the course of the last year, I have discovered that it doesn't matter who I'm playing for or what I'm playing. I just want to play. It took a whole year of working 40 hours a week in a non-musical job for me to realize how important music was in my life. I was starting to get depressed about my life and musical career. I just wasn't going anywhere, and I felt like I was doomed to be working 8-5 in an office forever. I was getting frustrated with auditions and the fact that I wasn't winning any of them. I was also getting frustrated that I couldn't get enough students to earn a full time income (or at least enough make more than I make at the U of R). To do this I needed to have 10-20 students per week. That entails only 10 hours of teaching per week. That sounded nice so I did a lot of advertising around the entire Rochester area, but only got one student out of it. Suck. So I was pretty down on myself. Then enter the Navy and my best friend Nina!! She's the one who made me aware of this opportunity. And I decided it had to be fate and pursued it fully! And I figured, playing marches and patriotic music is WAY better than answering the phone and scheduling MRI and CT scans all day. LOL!

Now fast forward 2 1/2 months to now, and last night I rocked my official audition! It was a much different audition than I'm used to, or what most classical musicians are used to! I played for a retired Navy bandmaster who also played trombone for the D.C. band for a period of time who lives in the Rochester area. There was no screen, no excerpts, and it was only him listening to me play. He invited me to his home in Hilton, NY to play my audition. His house was right on the lake! It was very beautiful. Anyway, he had everything set up in a large empty room (he said they were just finishing up their addition, and this was to be their new master suite), with hardwood floors. Can we say...LIVE?! Holy cow, I think my reverb lasted 5 minutes LOL. It took

some time to get used to, he had me start with the Weber 2, 3rd movement, but after about 5 measures I had to stop and start over...the reverb was shocking! In my audition experiences, I have learned that there is nothing wrong with stopping and starting over if you are sucking from the very beginning - as long as you play it 100 times better the 2nd time. I'm glad I did, because

I played it so much better the 2nd take. I played the entire movement, and I started to really enjoy the acoustics of the room. It was just so shocking at first because I practice in such a dead space. He had me play the last page again (all the crazy sextuplets, clarinetists know what I'm talking about!!), because he wanted to watch my fingers, LOL! Trombone players!

Next he had me play scales (I had also prepared the Copland Concerto, but I don't think he was

interested in that. Fine by me! I looove that piece, but it wasn't quite as solid as the Weber). He had me play major scales in a weird pattern, I played it ok, but he stopped me halfway through because he thought I was thinking about it too much. He also said that it was probably unfair for him to ask me to do that, since I wasn't a jazz person. Ha! Anyway, he then asked me to play a whole bunch of minor scales in various versions, which I totally owned. All that practicing paid off. Screw you G# melodic minor, take that!!!!!

Next portion was the sight reading. He gave me a packet of music, and asked me to play selections from it. It started out really easy, but then got harder as we progressed, ending with several marches. The marches were the normal tiny scores that were hard to read, which presented quite a challenge. But I think I did alright. At the end, he told me I was a "good" sight

reader, but not quite a "great" sight reader. What he meant by that is that I usually get it right the 2nd time, but not necessarily the 1st time. Well I could have told him that!! Well regardless, it was good enough for him to offer me a job!

I just want to mention that I played the audition on a Rico reed!!! Never thought that would ever happen, but I have fallen in love with the Rico Grand Concert Select Thick Blanks, 5 strength. Sorry Vandoren, its not economical when only ONE out of all 10 in a box plays well. It doesn't matter if that reed plays like gold, I still would rather have more reeds that play audition quality. So basically this is how I feel about the reed situation:

So now I will be working with my recruiter to get all the paperwork done to get enlisted. And hopefully in a few months (or less) I will be going off to boot camp! (gulp) But I'm just happy that I am finally going to have a career in music. And I will finally be getting out of Rochester! Now I just have to break the news to my bosses...not sure how that's going to go!

update...again

Well since its been over two months since I posted anything, I figured I probably should updatefor the few who may read this. Its been a busy couple months, both with non-clarinet related activities and clarinet related ones.

I have been in full force pursuing this Navy opportunity, and my audition is coming up very soon...like this week! I've met with the recruiter and gotten the paperwork process started. One thing's for sure - its going to be a pain! Once I pass my audition (cross your fingers!), I will have to go for a full physical and testing at a facility in Buffalo. Once that is over, hopefully we can get everything cleared and get a date to go to boot camp, which may not be for awhile. But if I can go sooner, the better! I want to get that part over with! The hardest part of this whole thing will be those two months. After boot camp, I will have to go to the Armed Forces Music School in Virginia for 6 months (!) That's a long time. And especially because I could probably teach a lot of the classes I'll have to take. I'm not trying to be braggy or conceited, but I do have a Masters degree from Eastman...I'm hoping I can test out.....maybe?? Not sure if that's a possibility yet. Regardless, I'll have to go for some length of time. The Masters degree is not all for nothing though - I qualify for the maximum starting pay grade, E-3, which will be nice (much more than I'm making now!). After that - hopefully I will be assigned to the Southwest Navy Band in San Diego! (cross your fingers with that too!!)

So after all is said and done, it may be almost a year before I get out to a band. I'm ok with that, because I will be playing my clarinet and getting paid for it, which is a whole lot better that what I'm doing now. I consider myself lucky to have the good job I have, but I have to remind myself that I don't want to be a secretary, I want to be a clarinetist!!

I'm going to try to update more often, even if it is only a little bit. Promise!!