Austria part 4

We woke up early on Wednesday morning to go see euphonium artist Fernando Deddos. He won the ITEC Composition Competition in 2010. He writes really cool Latin Funk music. He also studies in Pittsburgh. So maybe we will be able to get him to come to Penn State for a performance. 

We had a lunchtime concert in the foyer on Wednesday. It went well and a lot of big people in the Tuba/Euphonium world saw us play.

After our concert we went to Ms Brown's recital. We had a white out in the front row.

Her concert was really interesting. It incorporated percussion and dance.

After the day was over we walked around Linz and found a really great restaurant. 

Thursday morning I awoke to the sounds of a huge lawn mower cutting the jungle outside of our hotel. Not the best alarm. 

 We went to see a fantastic Euphonium soloist, Demondrae Thurman. He was awesome. 

 That night we went to watch the Italy vs Germany soccer game at a cafe in the Square. Ryan was clearly very excited. 

 We also touched based with the locals a little bit. He photo-bombed hardcore.

 Italy won. Yay! Drinks all around.

Today we woke up and went to a quick recital and then took a train up to the big hill surrounding Linz. These pictures can speak for themselves. 

 This church was amazing.

 Looking up from the city to the church at the top.

So tonight we are attending a concert given by Mnozil Brass. A 7 member brass ensemble that is world famous. They are unbelievable.

So I will write about tonight and our last day while on the train to Vienna at 4:40 am Sunday morning. joy of my life. See you then!

Austria Part 3

This is a combo of a few days since the internet really sucks here. So here is Monday (my birthday!) and Tuesday (our first concert!) in Linz, Austria. 

This is my breakfast pretty much everyday. No eggs and bacon here. Just some rolls with cream cheese or nutella and maybe a bowl a cereal. 

 

We wait at this subway stop every morning to catch the train to the Brucknerhaus

This was the opening concert was great and featured soloists and ensembles from the UK and Europe.

After that we stayed at the same place and watched Aaron Tindall, a former teacher of ours, play a recital. It was really good. 

Then we walked around a little bit. It is so beautiful around here. It's all so perfect.

Nothing like schnitzel and fries for a birthday lunch!

A Man serenading 2 girls tanning with a Tuba. You know your at a tuba conference when...

We like to try out all the different kinds of horns here

The Welcome to Austria concert that night was fantastic. Our teacher, Velvet Brown, played a ridiculous piece with her Tuba/Euphonium quartet Junction. The crowd loved it.

Ms. Brown also conducted a piece called "Sounds of ITEC" which was played by an amazing all-star ensemble of performers from across the globe.

So that's all the really happened on my birthday. We didn't really go out after the concert because we had to be awake at 7am the next morning and be here at 8:30 for a breathing warmup class with renowned euphonium soloist Steven Mead.

The breathing class was great because we had a very crucial dress rehearsal afterwords.

After our rehearsal we went to lunch before going back to the hotel to dress into our concert attire.

Brian is very swaggerful with his awesome sunglasses. 

Before our concert, we went to watch another concert featuring David Childs. He played a very cool piece called Sparta. You might hear me playing this in the near future.

 After that concert, we got ready for ours. It was in the smaller sized hall, but still equally as cool

Our concert was amazing. We played very well and my music got an international premiere! Everybody was complimenting me and the ensemble for such a great job. But it wasn't just me. The people in this group are amazing musicians and extraordinary human beings. We worked so hard to get here and it was worth every second of it. Not just for my piece, but for the whole concert. I couldn't keep the smile off my face!

After the concert and on our way to dinner, there was a beautiful sunset. And there is little doubt in me that it was my pap looking down from heaven. It was kind of a thrilling moment. I held back from the group and took a few shots. The first is through the Lentos Art Museum. And the second is a view from across the Danube River. 

A great ending to a great day in Linz. I will never forget this trip and what it means to me.