Now into my sophomore year of college, I am learning more and more than I thought I would about life, and especially about music. For the first time I can actually see my professional career developing in front of me; what I am going to be doing post-college, the lifestyle I may lead, the places I may live.

Life is all a journey that we are all experiencing every day, in all of our particularities. Life's all about taking chances and being who you want to be, you know? I came across a quote today that I like very much:
How awesome is that? it's so important to have the guts, to have the courage to do something that you really want. It just puts into perspective what you have to do in order to achieve something that isn't just conventional.

Nowadays I feel like I am doing a decent amount of work in my endeavors. I am excelling in music theory and aural perception, and working through computer science. I am practicing hard and learning my pieces in my piano lessons, and accompanying thoroughly in several capacities: with my Cathedral job, weddings, and more. I have also started teaching again: I now have 7 students at the moment. Teaching is very rewarding, I love it.

Lastly, I've realized how important time management is, and that balance in life is the key to success. It's hard to make choices about when to work and when to play; we kind of have to do things by ear a lot of the time and see how they go. Things are good, though. By the time I make my next entry, I may not even be a teenager anymore (my birthday is November 16th).

Hope all is well!

-Chris

 I am back from my summer music camp. It took place on July 12 - 27, 2009 in Baltimore, MD, and Gettysburg, PA.  It was certainly a life-changing experience, as all of the summer institutions I go to.

Back in 2006 it started with the University of the Pacific piano camp, followed by the same in 2007. Then in 2008 I branched out and went to Idyllwild Arts Academy and did the Summer Music West program, together I was doing somewhat-intensive study for 4 weeks. Then this year was IMIF: International Music Institute and Festival, which had a 4-day concert tour at the end.

Overall, I played in 6 concerts a total of 12 pieces. And these pieces weren't short or anything: most of them were concerto or sonata movements, the first movement of the Dohnanyi Piano Quintet, or my solo pieces which were the first movement (Allegro) of the Haydn Sonata, or the Khachaturian Toccata. I enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with my peers, especially the international students (about 25% of them were from out-of-the-country). In my Piano Quintet alone we represented Taiwan, Argentina, Indonesia, Japan, and America.

Now I've got exactly three weeks until I am sitting in Buck Hall in Stockton, CA, pursuing a piano performance degree as a sophomore at the University of the Pacific. I have so much time, with straight days of nothing on my calendar, but I still have loads to do. I am learning more and more about music and my ambitions thus forth, and it is all an exciting journey.

More to follow! For now I am just enjoying summer, which has already lasted a full three months, I can't believe it! Good times, though, good times.

-Chris

This morning I decided I wanted to make myself a fake Starbucks drink with what I have a home.

My mom got me these really good Starbucks Frappucino 9.5 oz drinks (180 calories--yikes!), so I wanted to put those to good use. I put the following together in a spiffy blender:

• 1 - 9.5 oz. bottle of Starbucks Frappucino drink
• 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
• 1/4 cup of milk
• a little bit of chocolate syrup
• 2-4 ice cubes

Blend it all together and what do you get! A VERY good impromptu Starbucks drink at about 1/5 of the price!

Next time I'll get some caramel and it'll be even better!

Hope everyone's having a great day, a great summer--make sure you're relaxing enough, but still getting work done! I'll update more later!

~Chris

 May 1st, 2009 was such a crazy, outrageous, jam-packed and productive day I can't believe it! So many amazing things happened and it is just wonderful. Here's the breakdown in text:

10:15 AM - sight-singing final exam [pretty difficult]
2:00 PM - solo class [performance of Beethoven Sonata in D Major, 1: Presto]
7:30 PM - Marco Stefani's Senior Recital [absolutely amazing!]
8:30 PM - an incredible reception for his recital, catered in the University Center Ballroom, with a live jazz band [the Brubeck Institute Quintet]

Also,
- turned in my solo class materials [due 5/1]
- accompanied Raquel's violin lesson, which was rather fun
- found out that I am in Grace Covell Hall next semester with the same roommate from this year, which is BIG news because I was worried about where we'd be placed
- got ACCEPTED to the International Music Festival Institute in Maryland--a 2-week chamber music camp during July. This is also epic because I spent a good number of hours making a great application and I'm glad it paid off, because they awarded me an awesome scholarship!

Amid all this, I have associated with friends to the extreme and it's so much fun to be in the conservatory. People are really getting to know each other and respect each other more than ever before. I really love it here, and it's kind of sad that the 2008-2009 academic year will come to an end next week. I am ready for 2009-2010 though, it will be upon us shortly and I will continue my life as a sophomore in college; after an AMAZING summer, that is!

Take care folks, have FUN in life, enjoy yourselves!

-Chris

 Summer is so near, I cannot stop thinking about it! Everything about spring reminds me of summer and it makes me want to just hang out, relax, go swimming, and do all those cool things you do during the summer. It's kind of driving me crazy! :) There's exactly one month until finals begin (May 7th), and by May 16th I'm completely out of here for the completion of my freshman year. While it will be sad to be done for over 3 months, I am looking forward to it SO MUCH I just can't wait.

I want to be back in Brentwood living the times in previous summers; I want to be at LMC, the local community college, doing the sight-reading classes in June; I want to have July 4th again! I want to play tons of gigs with the jazz combo BFSC (we actually have tons lined up so far), and I want to just do new music projects and not have any obligations. I can be productive over summer, but I like the leisure feeling. I also want to hang out with my fellow Liberty friends once I finish up at Pacific so I can see how they're doing in their last few weeks of school. It'll be so much fun!

What I can do for now is just enjoy what I have, and it IS fun, don't get me wrong, but ever since

I got a little sick last week, I haven't had the urge to do much work any more. I'm going to finish this year off strong and then enjoy a great summer, especially -- amusement parks!!! I can't wait to go to those again. Good times, I must say. Hope things are going well in the world of everyone, just ENJOY yourself and make sure you're always having fun :) -Chris

 Things are peaceful right now; I am on spring break during my freshman year at the University of the Pacific; sitting here at home without complications of college, just able to soak in the atmosphere of this beautiful, 55-degree, blue-sky day. It's 2009--sometimes still hard to believe. Although, it all makes so much sense. The evolution of time and our development as human beings all fits into this scheme of time.

I have done so many exciting things already this year, been exposed to new things, met some outstanding people, and have been given SO many opportunities.

The "Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23" by Chopin has had its share of appearances in the first few months of 2009: I was invited to play at the UOP Honor's Recital (something not given to many students), which was a lot of fun. I performed in a master class (kind of like a public piano lesson) with a young, but world-renowned artist Chu-Fang Huang in which I also played the Ballade. Then, just a few weeks after that I did a competition at Sacramento State. While I did not place, it was still a great opportunity to share my performance and to continue growing as a musician.

This semester, my classes have somewhat modulated into ones very history-oriented. I am in "Music History: Ancient to Baroque", learning about everything that happened from the 1st to 15th century, it's so fascinating! I am also in "Music of the World's People", which is basically Ethnomusicology. It is so interesting to see how other cultures use music in their daily life, even today! On the more present side, I am in the second semester of "Pacific Seminar", a required class for freshmen at UOP, Music Theory and Aural Perception II, Applied Piano (lessons), Accompaniment, Choir, and Jazz Band at San Joaquin Delta. This is the closest to "all music classes" I've ever had, and it is SO exciting! I am being immersed in so much music and it makes me appreciate it all so much.

Last semester I worked at St. John's Lutheran Church from June 2008 - January 2009 as the accompanist for two services. Just a couple weeks ago I got an offer to play at the amazing Cathedral of Annunciation in Stockton (this BEAUTIFUL cathedral that's got to be over a hundred years old, looks like the ones in England). I am playing at 1-2 services a week as well as a rehearsal to accompany the choir. It's pretty cool because it's a mile away from campus and the money is even better than at the last church gig. Besides that, I am accompanying one of the UOP choirs, a huge honor for a freshman (considering there's LOTS of pianists at UOP), also a paying gig.

I am due to see lots of amazing performances at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. I just saw Martha Argerich play the Ravel Concerto, with Michael Tilson-Thomas conducting; it was the most outstanding performance I've ever seen in my life. I am going to see the London Symphony Orchestra on Monday, and then in two weeks see Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. I am so excited for all of this, and especially the 2009-2010 season, which has just been announced. It's going to be epic!

I have a mere two months left at UOP until I will have finished my freshman year of college. It will all go so fast, but summer this year will be so awesome. I have a full 14 weeks off, which is so much more than I normally had (only 7 weeks). June will be taken by the LMC sight-reading classes, my fifth year going; I may be going to a music festival for about two weeks, we'll see; I am planning on going to the International Barbershop Festival in July, we'll see about that too; and then I'll hopefully be soaking up everything summer has to offer, like swimming, outdoors, beaches, just fun stuff! Today for some reason reminded me of how much I love summer. It's such a transitional period in a person's life, so much stuff can happen in the course of a summer. It's really quite amazing.

I hope everyone is doing well in the land of Livejournal. I can't believe how LJ has 19 million journals, and many of you guys (including me) were part of the FIRST million. Gotta love the times back in 2003! This used to be my biggest passion--don't worry, I still appreciate this--but I think that it's kind of life a step in a person's life. This was a big part of me, and I still use it to reflect every now and then.

I'll leave you with a few quotes and mottos:

"The gift of happiness belongs to those who unwrap it"

"Love life"

"Why worry?"

Have a great day,

-Chris

 Today was quite a good day. I did a lot of nothing, then hung out with Trey for the rest of the night. It consisted of:

• Dinner @ Taco Bell
• Seeing Golden Hill's Christmas Choir Concert "Joy, Joy, Joy" which was INCREDIBLE!
• Going to Target and Best Buy, running into some familiar people along the way and chatting it up
• Singing all of the OC Times barbershop stuff with a new audio cable in our Prius which = GREAT sound
• Going to Starbucks and running into like 4832747 awesome people, having an AMAZING time hanging out there, and I got a free Peppermint Mocha Frappucino which was quite good
• Chatting with Miss Leah My Love from exactly 11 PM - 1 AM and having a wonderful conversation
• Sitting here, just relaxing, in the comfort of my chair in my room with the heat on and a nice comfortable sweatshirt, texting and listening to barbershop

Some things in life are just great!

You have to have things in life that you can look forward to. Without things to look forward to, how can one be happy in life? I am currently looking forward to my trip to Georgia to see my extended family (cousins and aunts), and then having a relaxing two weeks including New Year’s (welcoming ’09!), going to SF a few times, hanging with LOTS of friends, and preparing myself for my second semester of my freshman year at the University of the Pacific.

 

This first semester was so awesome, and I feel I did really well during finals week. Although I wasn’t able to get As in my GE classes: Pacific Seminar 1 and Intro to Sociology, I got solid Bs, which is PERFECTLY fine with me, because they were somewhat challenging, and I am good with Bs. I will work harder next term, so As would be nice, but as long as I didn’t get Cs, I am happy. My Fall Jury went well too--I played the Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G Minor. It’s epic!

 

I am just overall pretty happy with things. They are flowing, things are feeling good, I have giftcards to Starbucks, Coldstone, and Mimi’s, I have good friends, FaceBook is SO cool, flying next week will be awesome (essentially “tomorrow” since today is Sunday, really), and yeah, just so much to be excited and appreciative about. Too bad it isn’t Thanksgiving or something!

 

I love looking back on past years and thinking about things that have happened and either learning from those experiences, or looking at them as fond memories that I will forever cherish. Some of the times you spend with friends will be the most treasured you will ever have with them, and those are so special. Time will always keep going, we will always keep getting older, meet new people, and realize things about the world. Evolution is this crazy continuum that can truly boggle the mind. I always say just be optimistic about things because they can always get better. You need to be (for the most part) happy in life, or what’s the point of living it? I don’t want to always be thinking about the bad things, crying, or hurting. Life has to be fun and exciting, that’s just how it should be.

 

On that note, have a great Christmas holiday, everyone! I will see you in 2009!

 

-Chris

 Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my birthday! Oh how I am now a freshman in college...!

Since it is now Sunday,  November 16, 2008, I am now 19 years old.

To inspire Chris to have a great birthday, post here all your birthday wishes,hopes, and loves for him! If you're just his LJ friend, this is your # 1 way to give him a present: to comment on this entry. So what do you think? ;-) Now I've given you a good idea!

(The above text was written in my first birthday entry when I was turning 15 years old; obviously I don't use LJ as much anymore, but I figured I'd throw it in here AGAIN because I like it so much!)

• I am now a freshman at the UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC in Stockton, CA
• I am studying PIANO PERFORMANCE under Frank Wiens; loving it!
• Life is going by quicker and quicker each week (it's not even by day anymore, it's by week!)
• I am looking forward to continuing my life as an adult and working toward my goal of being a successful, professional musician
• I endorse the following: APPLE (iPod and MacBook), BOSE (headphones), TOYOTA (Prius), AMERICAN EAGLE (clothing), STEINWAY & SONS (pianos), G. HENLE VERLAG (sheet music), PILOT G2 (ballpoint pens), YAMAHA and ROLAND (jazz gigging), getting the cheapest gas possible (currently $1.99!), drinking lots of water, eating lots of fruits (apples and bananas), Canon, Wells Fargo, Verizon, Gay Marriage, & Barack Obama
• Sleep is very important: 56 hours a week (8 hrs/day, 7 days a week), or just mainly 8 hours a day, is KEY to a great and healthy day

There are more things that happened in the past 3 months, but nothing crazy or really life-changing; most of that happened during the summer. If you want to really keep in better touch with me, I am on FaceBook mostly now (as are 99% of college students), under the email thepianomaniac@gmail.com or just simply the name Chris Hewitt in the Pacific network. Add me if you haven't already! Have a great night!

More from me in the near future. Keep it real, world!

~Chris
(364 more days of being a teenager)

The Olympics are SO EXCITING!!! I am loving the fact that I don't start college until the day after these events finish, so I will have tons of time to watch it all. So far the US has won 3 gold medals, two of which included Michael Phelps, possibly the best swimmer in the world right now. I am looking forward to the Athletic Events coming up next week to see all the track and field stuff.

The Beach Volleyball events have gone well so far; the US has won in both the men's and women's categories--it's pretty intense. It's just so much fun! All these world records are being set, some of these athletes as young as 19 years old, even younger. It's also crazy to see how many TALL people there are in the Olympics: Phelps is 6'4", Phil Dalhausser for Beach Volleyball is 6'9", Yao Ming is 7'6"!!! But even with his hops the US still beat China in Basketball yesterday 101-70, that's pretty sweet.

Since I haven't updated in about 5 months... I'll give you a quick 411 on what's going on lately:

--> Big Fat Swing Company has been REALLY successful so far... we do 2-4 gigs each weekend this month and we just recorded our second EP album, "A New Chapter", which you can hear at our site: http://www.myspace.com/bigfatswingcompany
--> I graduated with a 3.67 cumulative GPA (up from 3.48 in the end of my sophomore year)
--> I am attending the University of the Pacific this fall with a $10,000 performance scholarship (still only pays about 1/4 of the overall cost)
--> I attended the Idyllwild Arts Summer Camp for two weeks in piano performance
--> I took some chamber music classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
--> I got a job as the pianist at St. John's Lutheran Church in Antioch, CA where I work Sundays from 8 AM - 12 PM
--> I am saving all of my earnings that I make this summer and depositing them so that I have sufficient funds while I'm in college
--> I took senior pictures!!! I should put these on here somewhere; they turned out really well
--> I saw "Wicked" for the second time in Los Angeles in June '08

That's basically all that's happened recently. It feels like I had more to say in my other update where I mentioned all the things that happened last summer. I hope things have gone well for everyone else. Have a great day!

~Chris

P.S. I turn 19 years old in three months! (that's intense)

All right, so my guesses for how well these performers are as follows:

1. David Cook - AMAZING. Great rock voice. Very powerful range. Could potentially win.
2. Michael Johns - Again, very very good. Awesome song choice ("We Will Rock You"), it did a lot.
3. Brook White - She was a little weak this week, but overall a strong performer.
4. Carly Smithson - INCREDIBLE SONG "Total Eclipse of the Heart", she sung it very well.
5. Syesha - Powerful, soulful, great.
6. David Archuleta - Not his best performance, but he's still got an amazing high range and is very mature for his age.
7. Christy Lee Cook - She is a little boring, somewhat emotionless, but vocally she was strong.
8. Chikeze - Good, but not incredible.
9. Ramiele - She's aight.
10. Jason - He's not necessarily the WORST by any stretch, I just don't like him too much.

My guess for the bottom 3 WAS:

Jason Castro
Ramiele
Syesha

BUT we'll see, cuz I am currently watching the results show. Every week it seems like one performer rises to the occasion of being more original than the last week, and then some performers mess up big time.

REAL bottom 3:

Syesha
Chikeze
Jason Castro - safe (back to couch)

AND Chikeze is out. Very nice. I mean he's good, but I know he wouldn't have won. And I like Syesha. I am glad she is staying. Next week, I think Ramiele should go.

Yes. This is my review of this week's episode.

-Chris

This past weekend was pretty good: it started out with performing "Singin' in the Rain" on Friday as a preview show. We didn't have school because it was February 29th. After that I hung out with Laura, Paula, Steven, Michael, Sharaya, Becky, and Anne in the park--that was fun. We performed the musical again, and then again on Saturday. Solo & Ensemble at LMC was also on Saturday: Lucas got a superior with a command performance, which is super good. Then yesterday I got a fresh 8 hours of sleep, practiced a bunch, did laundry, hung out with Dylan and Caitlin, and fell asleep early (11:30 PM). Super bad-ass.

I am definitely looking forward to the Jimmy Eat World / Paramore concert on April 8th with Miss Leah. That will be AWESOME! During Spring break I am going down to Big Bear in Southern California for a week. It only costs $100 a person to rent the cabin for a WHOLE WEEK! I am stoaked for that. It will be lots of fun.

I can't believe I graduate HIGH SCHOOL in three months. That is pretty crazy. Pretty soon all of my awesome summer plans will be happening and then pretty soon I will be a freshman in college. I cannot wait!

A few things:

Be optimistic. Pessimism is something that can be more "realistic" and truthful, but it just dampens spirits and hopes. It's always good to be happy.

Sleep. Some people think it's no big deal to just stay up all night, but I am telling you from experience that you will have a better day and will think straighter if you just get around eight hours of sleep a night. It also feels good to wake up and not think the world sucks.

That's about all I have for now. The weather's great, the gas prices are high, but it's the start of an exciting week so I am looking forward to that.

-Chris

When I entered high school, I did not have the slightest clue as to what I wanted to do for my career. I had some vague ideas that had been slopped around a bit, but nothing was definite. As I joined band and choir, it was made much clearer to me that I wanted to be a music major, a piano performance major in particular.

I joined the marching band my freshman year. This made me be really dedicated to something in order to excel in it. I eventually joined the symphonic band my junior year which led me to more musical opportunities. I had a crazy idea to try out for the position of president of the band, something I did not think I could ever do. I mustered up the courage to work up to the tasks I knew would be ahead if I were chosen and I took a much more leadership standard to how I acted. Through those actions I got the position and it has been awesome ever since. It is a tough job to be the president of any club or organization, however I feel it has strengthened me as an individual so I can make decisions for the whole band and let my voice be heard. Being president has led me to realize that any sort of career in the music field would be an amazing way to spend my life.

Besides the bands and choirs at my school, I have also taken an interest in groups all around the area. I am in a jazz combo called Big Fat Swing Company and we perform at various grand openings, restaurants, and private parties. I am also in a group called Diablo Wind Symphony, which is an elite group of about 40 high school musicians from the Bay Area, it is really exciting. Somewhat affiliated with the choral program, I am in a barbershop quartet. Singing barbershop is an insanely difficult task but very gratifying in the end. All these groups make the music in my life quite amazing.

As a music major in college, I will be working hard in ensembles, in lessons and recitals, as well as a cornucopia of individual practice. My main career goal with this major is to be the soloist in a symphony orchestra, playing piano concertos and touring all over the world. Basically, the performing aspect of music is what I am going for. Realistically, I would like to teach either in a private studio of my own or be a professor at a university. I would also like to be in the pit orchestra for professional broadway musicals as well as be an accompanist for any sort of group: choir, band, opera, soloist, anything. Music makes my life so fulfilled and enriched; I am so thankful that I am able to pursue my greatest passion as my career.

Music. This is just what I want to do. I know it is right; it is my utterly truest passion that I can certainly confirm without a doubt. Listening to any kind of music, playing it, writing it, arranging it--anything. Primarily, I just want to play the piano. That is my main love and that is what I want to do.

I want to learn as much as I can possibly learn. I want to do performances galore, I want to play with a symphony some day. I want to have a hefty repertoire of hundreds, even thousands of pieces. I want to really dig into chamber music this summer if I get into the SMW (Summer Music West program at SF Conservatory). I want to become the best sight-reader I can be, and in that be able to accompany anybody or anything anyone would ever need.

I want to be in the pit orchestra on broadway. That just sounds like so much fun. Honestly, to be playing in NYC, SF, LA or Chicago--imagine that. Playing eight shows a week, being around some of the best actors, techies, directors, and musicians that that field of production has to offer. It would be so thrilling. I have already done nine musicals, I know how to sight-read, I know I have the motivation.

I want to earn my Bachelor's Degree first--in Piano Performance, that is. We'll see if I want to tack on any other major or minor: composition, conducting, theory, education. Then I want to get into some freaking awesome school, like Boston Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, New England School of Music, USC, University of Michigan, Indiana University, SF Conservatory (if I don't get into it this year), and even Juilliard. Then if I go and get my doctorate, I want to just be so content in where I am getting my education. Can you imagine that? Graduating with my doctorate in piano performance... that would be in 2016. How mind-boggling!

I want to study all sorts of music. I want to learn about all the composers and all the magnificent things they did. Everything Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt, and Bach I want to learn (those are my top 5 favorite composers). It has to be so natural, playing and performing. I want it so badly.

And I know I have it. People have told me that I just have it. I am already working super hard. I first made this realization back in the summer of '06 that I had this driving passion. I mean, I had always played the piano, but I never had expression or musicality. Now that I have those, I can really improve and succeed. I have learned so much in the past year and a half. I have practiced and performed so much, it is quite exhilarating. Now that I know what I want and how to get it, I need to put all these ideas into action and not waste a moment.

Yeah, I just want to be that person on the stage with that concert grand Steinway, playing with an amazing orchestra in front of thousands of people. It would be the thrill of a lifetime. I know that I will be happy doing anything that involves music, I can't explain how much it means to me. It is such an incredible thing. I can't wait for college.

~Chris

Music is such an incredible thing. It’s what keeps me going throughout the whole day--in jazz, classical, choral, barbershop, rock, anything and everything that sounds amazing. I feel like when I’m living this life that music is what I am here for. It’s what I’ll love no matter what. I find it hard to explain without sounding crazy, but it all is just my utopia. I love so many kinds of music that I can just listen and enjoy the beauty of it. I love the lush chords in choral music, I love the sharp harmonies in barbershop, I love the variety of sounds in band music, I love the freelance of jazz, I love the seriousness and attention-to-detail in classical, and I love the thrill of rock songs that keep the music pumping, if you know what I mean.

    I am so glad to be so blessed with this love of music. It is truly my passion. I can’t imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life. Whether it’s playing percussion in a band or orchestra, singing in a choir or barbershop quartet, being an accompanist, playing in a Broadway pit orchestra, or doing the thing I love the best: being a soloist at the piano--I know I will feel at home. I will feel like it’s what I am here to do. It feels right, unlike sitting at a desk job doing work that I do not enjoy. When I am involved with music I don‘t consider it work: it’s my passion.

    When this holiday season concludes I will have been involved with over a dozen concerts. That’s a whole heck of a lot more than last year, were there were only a few band concerts and a choir concert. This holiday time I’ve also done gigs with my barbershop quartet “JAG” (Just Add Girls), a Select Band concert, several jazz-related events, and more. I love the performing aspect of music. Typically I do not get nervous anymore, but there are still times where I have some anxiety. However, after the concerts are over, I love the satisfaction of all that hard work paying off. It’s also great to listen to the recording and hear it from the perspective of the audience.

    Now that 2008 will be rolling around shortly, the spring musical will begin and that’s always a time filled with tons of music. Solo & Ensemble recitals, college auditions, Certificate of Merit, piano competitions, festivals, and more concerts are all in store. It is all so exciting. I am so glad that next term my only core class is English. You know what I got? Jazz band, a cappella choir, chamber singers, symphonic band, individual practice, and then English--plus involvement with five other groups. Not too bad huh? I think it’ll work.

    Being Band Council President this year has also brought necessary leadership skills into the picture. It has made me more of an outgoing and enabled me to be a better public speaker. It’s a great honor and I take pride in it. The whole fact that I am a senior this year and will be graduating in six short months is quite overwhelming, but it’ll only allow me to continue with my passion for music, through college and then into an awesome career. I am ready for the challenge, and will enjoy every step of the way as long as I’ve got my passion for music.

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my birthday; this time seems to be coming around quicker and quicker every year!

Since it is now Friday,  November 16, 2007, I am officially 18 years old.

To inspire Chris to have a great birthday, post here all your birthday wishes, hopes, and loves for him! If you're just his LJ friend, this is your # 1 way to give him a present: to comment on this entry. Eh, eh? ;-) Now I've given you a good idea!

(The above text was written in my first birthday entry when I was turning 15 years old; obviously I don't use LJ as much anymore, but I figured I'd throw it in there for posterity.)

Let's see--it's been about four months since I last updated, so here are a little bit of updates:

• I made JAG, the barbershop quartet at my school
• I am a part of the Diablo Wind Symphony, a very elite group of high school/college musicians in Northern California, it is way fun
• I am also in the East County Select Band, which is a group of about 70 musicians that play during this month and have a concert at the end of the month.
• piano is going well and it is getting more serious, UOP this past year was great!
• Halloween was fun! I went trick-or-treating
• Our family got a 2007 Toyota Prius for about 22 grand, it is an awesome vehicle and already has 6,300 miles on it. 55 mpg too.
• I am definitely majoring in music performance, if you didn't know. I may also do things like theory, conducting, accompanying, and composition. I love music.
• I got the new LG Chocolate phone on 10/9/07 and it is really cool.
• I am now EIGHTEEN and I can buy cigarettes, porn, and be stay out after curfew! Cheers! Not that I'll do the first two things of course.
  

All right, I'll talk to you people later, have a great day!

~Chris

Hey everyone,
It has certainly been a long time since I last updated. Three months, to be exact. Lots has happened, just as any time gap would pose. The main changes are pretty much the following:

--> I got a 4.0 for the whole second half of my junior year :)
--> the Saturn that I drove kind of blew a head gasket so it is now dead :(
--> I feel that I have improved as a singer
--> Disneyland and choir tour were awesome
--> I went to ENGLAND this summer, and actually just got back on June 30th. (Best vacation of my life.)
--> I saw WICKED and LES MISERABLES
--> My family is most likely going to purchase a new Toyota Prius within the next few weeks
--> I am the new BAND COUNCIL PRESIDENT for the 2007-2008 year, which is a great honor :)
--> I have continued to fall in love with photography and will hopefully get a new D-SLR camera in Fall 2007

Besides that, just minimal changes have occurred. I have acquired some new closer friends like Trey and David, and stil retained my best friends. We're right in the middle of summer right now I am having a blast. I can't wait to go to the University of the Pacific this summer (July 15 - 21, 2007). Piano Camp will once again be an AMAZING time of my life.

I am trying to get more into piano by the means of more sight-reading, more duets with Lucas mainly, but other people too, and of course my solo repertoire. I have done several gigs in the past few months and that brings in some awesome pocket change. Throughout this Fall season it will come in handy when I want to purchase (1) a new camera [$1000-1500], (2) BOSE noise-canceling headphones, because they're amazing [$300], and (3) a MacBook, because they're amazing and I need a reliable, sturdy, and sleek laptop for my college years [$1000-1500]. I was originally going to get a cheaper desktop for around $800, but I'd rather have a laptop that will last me 3-5 years than one which will crash within 12 months.

Tonight I am just spending the night at Derek's house--he made the Blue Devils, you know! That is quite an awesome thing on his part, though it does take much of his time during the summer and the first few weeks of school. He also got the new Sidekick 3 because of making lead trumpet in the top band at jazz camp. He's doing pretty well right now.

In other news... Lucas has been out of town for almost this whole summer. He left on June 19 for music camp in Stanislaus (the same day I left for England), and now he just left for an almost two-week camping trip. When he gets back he's going to go to UOP to be my roommate. He's a busy person, that's for sure. I am just glad he brought his saxophone with him on his current vacation so he can practice our duet material.

Anyway, I will wrap this up. Maybe I will update again some time this summer, but I guess I have just... outgrown LiveJournal and moved on. Not necessarily MySpace, but just in general. I write stuff down in a notebook because it's more personal and I have it with me at all times. That is good enough for me.

~Chris

--> First day of classes back from Spring break in my junior year of high school. I had a great day and it was great to see everyone again. A few things I've learned about myself:

• I am in love with Dr. Pepper


• Cream cheese bagels are like heaven


• Piano is my favorite thing in the whole world, and that's a fact


• I have a strange and unusually abnormal obsession with my iPod Video


• I have discovered some more of my true best friends in life


• I must go now or I'll be late for jazz ensemble :)

~Chris

Yesterday, the 31st of March, (basically today, but still), was the official CERTIFICATE OF MERIT testing for the Delta Branch in California. It was a pretty intense undertaking, but I for one think I did really well, which is awesome. I had to complete the following:

• an extensive written exam (level 7)


• ear training (part of the exam, only 10% of it though)


• sight-reading


• technique chart (12 scales, polyrhythms, chords, arpeggios, and chord progressions)


• my four prepared pieces by memory

And not only that but I had to accompany Paula in her flute evaluation with the Faure and the Bach songs. Those both went well too. The Faure was incredible (Sicelinne or whatever), and Bach was okay. As for my doings, this is how it went down:

• written exam: I am guessing somewhere along the lines of a 95-percentile. That means if I missed 7 or 8 points I'd still have that good of a score. There were only a few things I was suspicious about, and even then I made educated guesses and I'd say I did fine.


• ear-training: 100% fine, I know I aced it, even the level 10 (advanced) that I listened to for fun was easy


• sight-reading: I got all but one note, but I should get a 5 - Excellent, we'll see


• technique: scales were about 97% perfect. A few floops in eb harmonic minor and I accidentally totally skipped f melodic minor... oh well. everything else was perfect, so I should get a 5.


my pieces:

1. Bach: except for a slight mess-up around measure 10 and lack of some correct notes nearer measures 18 and whatnot, I'd say it was one of my better runs.


2. Beethoven: hardly any mistakes in the slow sections, except for that ending thing right before the slow quarter notes I kind of improvised... and then I made a few errors in the fast allegro. Gosh I freaking hate my frequency of mistakes. Is this at all common? I mean, I wonder if other pianists struggle with the same frustration. It just means I haven't practiced it enough.


3. Mendelssohn: this could be my convention song. Everything went well, you know, except for a few notes at the end, but it was great, so I am happy :).


4. Toch: pretty much flawless. Minimal, if any mistakes. At the ending I kind of rushed the glissando, but it was grrrreat. I am egar to hear my scores and all that jazz.

~Chris

Well hello, everyone! It's been a very long time since I've done a real update, and quite frankly it's because my focuses in life have been shifting a lot recently. At one time I'll be completely devoted to piano, and then I'll just want to hang out with friends. I'll be all obsessed with photography like I have been this past week, then I'll just want to use the computer or something like that. Then I'll be obsessed with driving! It is never-ending. That is why I like being able to have more than one hobby :).

This past week has run down like the following:

Sunday, 3/18:
- I packed up and drove to Southern California with Lucas and his mom. The trip was from about 10 AM - 6 PM. We checked into the Embassy Suites.

Monday, 3/19:
- toured UCSD and saw the beach; ate at Fuddrucker's

Tuesday, 3/20:
- NEW BILLING STATEMENT: 1500 text messages plus unlimited Verizon-to-Verizon, I am way excited.
- headed over to SDSU and saw TJ Hill who went to Golden Hills last year and graduated from Liberty; saw a jazz combo concert over at the college and ate dinner with Aundre at TGI Friday's.

Wednesday, 3/21:
- drove to Thousand Oaks, CA and toured CSU Long Beach--I like that college. We also saw the Queen Mary and went to the mall for a little bit

Thursday, 3/22:
- went to UCLA--now that is an awesome college. I had lunch at Sbarro's.
- drove 15 miles which took a blistering hour and a half in LA traffic and headed to USC and discovered their amazing music program (Thornton School of Music); we got Chili's To-Go
- Lucas gave a mini concert at the house to his aunt, uncle, grandma, mother, and myself (we stayed there the past night and that night)

Friday, 3/23:
- packed up and took the five hour drive back to Brentwood, CA
- packed up my digital piano and went to the Balfour Panama Bay and did a 2-hour gig with Straightforward, it went very well!
- went to McD with Derek and then to Rock 'n' Bowl with him, Tiler, and Elena; I also ran into Pat and Matt from cross-country 2005; stayed the night at Derek's house

Saturday, 3/24:
- headed over to my house in the morning to do a few things to Derek's laptop
- saw "The Wiz" at Deer Valley, which was quite interesting and very cheesy; Derek spent the night at my house

Sunday, 3/25:
- woke up early and drove over to Derek's house to await the arrival of Liz who drove all the way from Alamo to hang out with us! (It's a 45-50 minute drive.)
- headed over to the Antioch Mall; I bought a pair of pants at PacSun on sale for 70% off that cost $12 :)
- went to Jack-In-The-Box
- drove home and watched Borat at Derek's house for the first time ever for all three of us!
- had dinner at Derek's house and now I am home uploading about 1500 pictures and managing all of them

Quite a busy but fun-filled week, I loved it. The best is yet to come with heading over to Best Music tomorrow in Oakland, seeing "300" and having San Ramon jazz ensemble. Not only that, but on Wednesday I'm going to Boomer's with the bffs Derek and Leah, and on Thursday I am going to UOP to see a concert with Hannah's family! This is one of the coolest breaks ever, I am loving it! And I have pictures of every moment of it so far, cool stuff!

~Chris

What a glorious morning! It is sunny, the temperature is crisp, and I am in no rush to go to school because there is no jazz band today. Tech week has been going okay, but it is obviously very tiring. I was hurriedly finishing a math project yesterday, and on top of that I have a few homework assignments to still complete.

My photography has been kind of put on hold, though. I have over 1200 pictures still to be uploaded from the past couple of months, but once I do that I plan to take lots of more pictures, especially of the set and the amazing costumes in Beauty & The Beast.

The thing is, I have truly discovered that piano is my passion, so I want to devote as much time as possible to that, and of course to music in general, that's why I am sticking with choir too. But photography won't get me nearly as far as my passion for music will, so I will just keep photography as a hobby and not worrying about investing in a fancy new D-SLR like the Canon 30D any time soon. More sheet music, private lessons, and knowledge of piano is what I would like to acquire.

Lastly, I got a B on my pre-calculus test! That may not sound too great, but considering about half the class failed this insanely difficult test, I feel pretty satisfied. It was all about finding zeros, rational numbers, complex equations, and that kind of stuff. With test corrections I can raise that grade to an A-, too! I am ecstatic.

This is it for now, but take care everyone, I must be getting ready for school.

Pre-Cal is like studying piano music! Some passages and some sections may be very difficult, but fun after you learn how to play them or use them correctly. It's also good to stay on top of things and know what you're doing--this goes for both pre-cal and piano.

A performance is like a test! Both nerve-racking, but both usually satisfying afterward.

And more on this topic that I have previously thought about... I thought about this playing in the pit for Beauty & The Beast last Friday, 2/23/07.

(The preceding is just something I wrote about three days ago and never posted... I tend to have random spasms of analogies.)