Today is the fourth day since my retirement from MathWorks, after working there for 30+ years. The last month or so was rather intense. I had lengthy conversations with many people, and I had long lists of things I wanted to get done before my last day. As a result, my horn practice was more disrupted in March than at any other time in the past 8 years or so. It bothered me, but I just had to let go of worrying about it.
My horn recovery effort began on Saturday. I have practiced 2-3 hours per day since then. My routine so far has been to practice two sessions in the morning, with some exercise in between. Then, if I don’t have a rehearsal in the evening, I practice once more later in the day. I’m sure this will evolve as I get accustomed to my new schedule.
This seems like a good time to take a look at everything I need to play in the next couple of months so that I don’t get caught unprepared.
- Melrose family concert (April 7)
- Beethoven 5, movement 1
- Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf
Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf (Horn 1 in F). The grace-note figures are the trickiest things for me to work out.
- Melrose concert (May 4)
- Shostakovich Festive Overture
- Bernstein West Side Story Medley
- Zimmer Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
- Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez
- Marquez Danzon No. 2
- Williams Star Wars Suite
Williams, Star Wars Suite (Horn 1 in F). The Leia’s Theme horn solo!
- Symphony by the Sea concert (May 5)
- Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
- Mendelssohn Sym. No. 3
- Hazel’s studio recital (May 18)
- Sondheim (arr. Hughes) Send in the Clowns
Sondheim (arr. Hughes), “Send in the Clowns” (Solo Horn and Piano).
- Concord concert (May 18-19)
- Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn
- Lebrun Oboe Concerto No. 1
- Shostakovich Sym. No. 5