In October 2007 I quit the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra and headed out on what ended up being a 10-week spree of freelancing in various orchestras in Mexico (and one in the States). I lived out of my suitcase, met a TON of musicians, saw many different parts of this amazing country, and drank a lot, I mean A LOT, of cappuccinos of various quality out of paper cups.
My last "gig" turned into my current "job", here in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. They needed a third horn player, I showed up, played a week, and then they asked me to stay, at least for six months for now. So, I got the job, and then we went on vacation for two months. That was pretty cool. :)
I headed back to the frosty north, and spent about a month and a half there, just long enough for me to begin to imagine the positives of life in the USA again. But, always faithful to the orchestra, I came back here a few weeks ago to settle into my new job, new climate, new home, new life!
So far, so good. It is FANTASTIC to have a job playing high horn, as I can take the drastic improvements I've made in that area in the last year and really put them into use. I feel for the first time in my life that playing high notes is not especially scary or difficult, but is rather just like playing the rest of the notes. The horn is actually beginning to feel easy, and I find it's the music that's difficult, not the instrument. Now that, that is fun.
The climate here is perfect. At least so far. But it was perfect before too, and people say it doesn't change much. It's like heaven compared to Y...
The home is lovely as well. I'm renting the third floor of a house one block away from the theater, and right downtown. So the location is perfect, and I really like the space (below is my bedroom and my balcony!)
And the view from my balcony!
Of course the best part is drinking my own homemade coffee from my own favorite Nissan mug. That's probably what I missed most when I was "on the road"!
As far as my new life...well, I don't really have one yet. I mean, aside from rehearsal, I don't really do anything, and it feels pretty bizarre after running around the country for two months, and then running around MN for two more months. My days are basically pretty empty and I'm not sure what to do with myself.
I've found that I'm filling my time with this one huge question: how can I get better at the horn?? I've made a lot of leaps in the last few years, but I want to make quite a few more. I finally have an embouchure that works, a mouthpiece I love, and at least an order in for the horn I want. It's pretty much all on me now. I'm doing a lot of reading, listening, reviewing of old information, and processing. I'm hoping it all comes out the bell sooner or later! I've also become aware of some of the major things that have held me back so far and had some breakthroughs regarding that. But I think I'll save that for another post...
Alright chicos and chicas, I hope that answers all your questions. I'm going to try to be better with the pictures, but I make no promises.
2 comments:
What's with the enormous stone dude on top of the hill? If I didn't know better, I'd say that someone made a large sculpture of me from the last time I tried to dance.
MUCHAS GRACIAS for filling us in at last! I was so curious about where exactly in Mexico you were. (I figured it was either Guad. or Guanajuato) when one of your commenters mentioned "G-town".
I agree that playing high horn will present you with new and different challenges. I did the same thing earlier in my career.
This IS indeed a perfect opportunity to test out your new skills.
I never did make it to Guanajuato, but have always heard that it's one of the prettiest places in Mexico. Is this true?
What kind of horn have you ordered? How exciting!
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