And I thought I was scared before! (University entrance examination coming up)

Hi all,

I'm applying for Sibelius Academy (Finland's only music university) to major in double bass (Folk music dept) this spring. The five-day, two-phase entrance examination will begin on May 7th, and today I received an email containing practical information and MY PERSONAL EXAMINATION TIME.

IT'S FOR REAL NOW.

I was anxious before, but now... whoa. And this has nothing to do with sense or rationality - I know what's expected and I'm quite confident with my playing. I just played my whole repertoire through for the first time and recorded it on Zoom H2, and - well, it sounded like I want it to sound.

But still - nerves, nerves, nerves...

I just needed to share this. Thanks for reading!

 

Thanks! The results will be published on June 7th, so there's a month of waiting (if I get to the 2nd phase). I'll report here!

 

Alas, I didn't make it to the second phase.

The exam went very well, I think. My teacher liked my programme, and so did a friend of mine (who is studying at the dept. I was applying to) who I played it to a week before the exam. There's nothing I would change in my performance - I think I have found a musical identity of sorts, as a byproduct of preparing for the exam.

Next Monday, I'll call the dept. and ask for feedback of my performance, and take time to chew on it.

In a year, I'll try again. Meanwhile, I'll still be having a great time doing what I love: playing the bass with great musicians.

 

Yeah, 5-ish in this program, more for bigger ones like music pedagogy. Ten people made it to the 2nd.

Most people I know that study there needed two tries, now that I think of it. The jury seems to have this policy of wanting to see how one develops in a year. And I'm fine with that. It does show something that a person will come back to the exam after a year's time. I will.

I've had a wonderful day with the bass today. The first time in a long while with no pressure, no expectations, no hurry. This will be a good year.

 

I got the feedback today, and wow, I'm so happy!

The professor basically praised my musicianship, vision, professionality, and bold choice of repertoire. The drawbacks were technical, something I will have a great year with a great teacher to work on.

Woo-hoo!

 

Sisu, hehe That's what I hope too. Thanks!

 

Thank you, everybody! You're too kind!

 

Update zombie thread, one-two-three!

A year ago I wrote I would be having a great year playing bass with great musicians and mentored by a terrific musician. This is exactly what happened.

The constructive criticism I got last time was technical, centering on intonation and bow technique. To force myself to concentrate on these, I applied for a local student symphony orchestra, got in, and found myself hard pressed to manage even the simplest written lines, my bow technique being what it was. But I went on attending the rehearsals, shedding the parts furiously, working with my teacher to first even survive the rehearsals.

By December, I was confident enough to play the orchestra's main concert of the year, where we played two popular classics, Dvorak's New World Symphony and the Star Wars Suite. It didn't go badly, so I went on.

In March, a crack appeared in the bass, revealing a fault in the making, that had waited for these 70 years to come up. The bass spent six weeks at my luthier's, underwent a total de- and reconstruction, and came back nine days ago better than ever, a totally different instrument. Knowing there would be little time to actually play before the exam, during the weeks without a bass, I spent most of my spare time (and cycling to work) doing mental excercises - asking myself, what will I want my hands to do when the bass is back, I had also to ask, what is the core of my musicianship, of the tunes I will play in the exam. It was maybe the most productive time of my (short) musical career.

And so, yesterday I played my tunes to the jury, and today I received an email telling me I'd been accepted to the second phase of the (two-phase) exam, as one of ten candidates, a maximum of seven of whom will then be accepted.

There's still a lot of work to do before tomorrow, so I'll go back to the shed. I'm not overly optimistic, as it is still quite possible that I'll not get in this year: after all, at this stage it is not (only) about the individual musicians' skills, but also about the combination of people, personalities and ways of making music, that needs to be optimal for the new class to work. I'll remember to be myself, and that will be all I need now.

 

This is deep, good advice. Not just for today, but for life, to ruminate and chew on. Thank you.

 

I can't believe it - I'm in! The email came yesterday morning, and all day I read and reread it, to check if it's really true. Odear. This is something I've chased since at least 2007 when I first applied. Now I can start from the beginning again, empty myself to make room for more learning. No more short cuts - it's time to take the long way home.