A Look Back at 2012

Ok, I know I already posted my New Year's Eve post yesterday, but I thought it might be interesting to write a little snippet about what happened each month this year.  (AKA, I know I'll forget promptly what I did, so it would be good to write down at least some of it for posterity.)

Visiting NYC with Yuri in January

January -  Yuri was still visiting me for most of this month.  We were living in my dorm room in New Haven, where it was super cold, and doing tourist things in NYC, and eating out a lot.  I was very happy to have him there, but very sad because I knew he would be leaving very soon.

Eating Louis' Lunch in February

February -  This was a tough month.  Yuri had just left and I was in the throes of a lot of difficult schoolwork for my music history and Portuguese classes.  The weather outside really was frightful and I felt very gloomy and alone in New Haven. :(  I did, however, discover a wonderful New Haven establishment known as Louis' Lunch.  Louis' Lunch is the home of the first ever hamburger.  They cook it on vertical griddles and have strict restrictions about what toppings you are allowed to use.  They won't even let you put ketchup on! But rightly so, because they are the most delicious hamburgers I have ever had the privilege of eating.

Visiting NEOJIBA in March

March -  March was much better than February for me.  I took off a few days from school on either end of our two-week spring break and went to Brazil for three weeks.  Whenever I go, I work for an El-Sistema program there called NEOJIBA, teaching, performing with the orchestra, and doing other various musical tasks.  I really like working with my students, but of course the best thing was to visit Yuri.  Pictured here are the permanent horn teacher and the horn players from the younger of the two orchestras in NEOJIBA.

My older sister getting married in April

April - This was a super exciting month because it is the month when my older sister got married!  She and her husband had been dating for about three years before they got engaged, much of it long distance.  After the engagement, he moved to Germany, where she has a job, and the planned the whole wedding from Frankfurt! The wedding took place in Virginia.  We were all really happy that they got married, though I didn't like my bridesmaid dress at all.  They seem really happy with married life, so that's really sweet, but I haven't seen them since the wedding, because my brother-in-law is trying to sort out his visa status, and thus can't come to the US until it's all figured out, and my sister is so busy with her job that she couldn't even get time off to come visit us for Christmas!

Visiting Brazil, Yuri, and NEOJIBA in May

May - I left Yale on the first day after I finished my exams and went to my parents' house for less than 24 hours, and then flew back to Brazil for six more weeks.  There, I did pretty much the same thing as I did when I visited in March, except they also had me go visit a new "nucleo" very far from where I lived, to help with the beginning horn students there.  I had a great time as usual, though I worked my butt off!  In this picture, Yuri and I were enjoying our daily relaxed coffee.

The horn section of Music Academy of the West 2012
with one of our teachers in June

June - After my time with NEOJIBA was up, I flew to my parents' house, again for under 24 hours.  Then I was off to Santa Barbara, California, to participate in the Music Academy of the West.  During this eight-week program, I learned a lot through orchestral playing, chamber music, and private lessons.  I would highly recommend this program for anyone serious about making a career in classical music! I'm just sad I can't go back this summer - it conflicts with the summer chamber music workshop I'm starting in my hometown.

On the bus with MAW friends in July

July - In July, I was still at Music Academy of the West.  I got to be really good friends with two trumpet players, and we hung out a lot.  This picture was taken on the bus after we watched the fireworks on Independence Day from the pier in downtown Santa Barbara.  I think in July is when Music Academy got so busy.  By the end, I felt like it was another semester of school because it was so many weeks long, and so much work! I was usually playing from 9 am until 6 or 7 pm with very few breaks.

Harbison Quintet performance at MAW in August

August - In August, Music Academy came to a close, but not before I had two important performances within two days!  First, I had a solo performance of the Hindemith Sonata in E-flat, and the next day, my wind quintet performed the Harbison Quintet.  Both performances were very successful, which made a great conclusion to my time at MAW.  Afterwards, I went home for the last week of August, for the first week of true relaxation since before Yuri arrived the previous December.  In late August, Yuri and I decided to break up.  It was a mutual decision because the long distance was becoming way too hard for us to keep up.  Also, both of us were getting some great career opportunities and felt like we needed to be able to pursue them without outside influences.

Tubing with friends in September

September - On the first weekend of September, I chaperoned a trip of the youth group I used to belong to when I was in high school.  We went to a river house owned by one of the other chaperones. It was a pretty fun trip; one of my best friends from high school was also chaperoning  so we hung out a lot.  There was a lot of playing of board games and tubing on the river!  The next week, I went back to school, where I had to get down to business preparing for an audition for a professional orchestra that I was going to take in October.

Dressed as Tetris pieces in October

October - In October, my wind octet at school grew very close, and we ended up deciding to make a group costume for Halloween!  We made life-size Tetris costumes, and wore them to a couple parties.  They were super popular.  Also, at the end of the month, I did my first audition for a professional orchestra, in New Orleans.  I advanced to the second round, which was my goal, but didn't get any further because I was so stressed out about all the airports being shut down for Hurricane Sandy!  I ended up getting stuck in Louisiana for a week, during which some friends of an acquaintance of my sister took me in.  Coincidentally, the husband of this couple that I stayed with, is best friends with one of my good friends from both years I did YOA, and he had his recital while I was there!  It was great to reunite with an old friend, make so many new friends, and get to know a city I'd never previously visited during my week there!

Soup cooked by Sarah and me in November

November - In November, I did a lot of school work and preparation for my recital, which was in December.  I had a lot of makeup work from missing a whole week of school while stranded in New Orleans.  I was also very busy preparing for my degree recital, which took place in December.  Sarah was living with me for five weeks because of major issues with her apartment, and we started cooking together regularly, resulting in some delicious French Onion Soup and many nights of all-yellow dinners (macaroni and cheese, scrambled eggs, bananas, and orange juice).  At the end of the month, it was my birthday, so Sarah and I had a joint party - me for my birthday, and Sarah for finally resolving her living situation and getting a room in the same dorm where I live.

My recital in December

December - I started off December with my degree recital, in which I performed a huge variety of repertoire.  I think it went pretty well, but I have yet to receive my recording, so I'm not really sure yet.  A few days before this I restarted this blog, which I had pretty much neglected since 2010.  After one more week of classes, I returned to my parent's house once more, where I celebrated Christmas and New Year's, as you read about in previous posts.





So that was my year in an extremely large nutshell! Thanks for bearing with me.  Your reward for getting through this super long post is this photo of a guinea pig wearing a sombrero!

Until next time!

Lauren