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Week 2 pianoless. I am kind of getting used to how the keyboard sounds and feels and what I can and can not practice. House destruction and renovation isn't too far behind schedule.

That's an impressive tool you have there NeuralF. Did you put that software together from scratch or is it a modified 3rd party package? Congrats on the Ballade. Quite an accomplishment in my book.

Re: Triple J

Thanks! I put that website together from scratch. Ruby on rails + Bootstrap for the user interface (if that means anything to you). I'll PM you an invite code to try it out.

Week 87: I record A Thousand Years a few times, doubt I have a keeper, but may end up with one of these not so perfect ones being submitted. The deadline for the recital comes before the next weekend, so the week will go fast. Achievements? Not much that I can think of. I did practice every day, at least for a few minutes. The new piece Tracks in the Snow is coming together.

My teacher: "You were in the zone! The 1st and 3rd sections sounded really good!" *woohoo* Of course that little bit of a high doesn't last too long, as there's always something else to work on. Now about that 2nd section ...

AOTW: My first live recital was yesterday! Not only was it live in front of about 50 people, it was live-streamed so that the player's friends and family around the world could watch. Both my daughter and my mother in the US watched the live stream from the comfort of their homes! That actually made me more nervous than the live audience.

The performers included five children, ages 4 1/2 through 10, and eleven adults. I played Chopin Mazurka 6 2, and Villa-Lobos Na Corda da Viola. I started out a bit nervous in the Mazurka and made a couple of fumble finger mistakes, but the Villa-Lobos went perfectly. I was able to get caught up in the music and forget about the audience. I was the last adult player before my teacher, who played a fantastic Villa-Lobos piece. Then a vocal student sang two pieces as the finale. It turned out to be a great performance by everyone, and lots of fun. The piano was a wonderful 1935 August Förster Grand with a mellow voice, and it was a delight to play.

So, I feel very happy and proud to have this first formal recital under my belt. It went as well as I could have expected, and leaves me looking forward to the next one!

Wow, SwissMS - an international debut! How cool that your family could watch. I bet they were excited. Congratulations.

Cathy

Congratulations SwissMS!!!
Great job, and with live broadcast for everyone. Is there any record of this recital! That would be great!
Looking forward to listen you live next year, in our Party.

Congrats on your achievement SwissMs!

Survived my 2nd recital over the weekend. I was last to perform so it was really nerve wracking though a bit more at ease compared to the first time. According to my dear husband, I did much better this time around... Made a few minor mistakes but it was not a complete disaster. what else could a girl ask for?

That's great Ellec. I'm sure you're going to improve your mental skills with those recitals.
Congratulations!

Congrats SwissMS! Is the recording posted somewhere? I'd love to hear your recital as well.

MaryBee -- that's awesome to hear as well. The zone is a great place to be.

SwissMS, now that's something to be proud of. How cool that your family could listen in from so far away! Thank you, technology!

Thanks for the "Congrats" everyone. I cannot post the link to the streaming here because I do not have permission from the other performers. The Villa-Lobos is my AFB quarterly recital submission though, so I will be sharing it soon!

Wow, everyone has been doing so well!

Special congrats to SwissMS and Marybee! What great accomplishments indeed!

My ATOW is to have only missed 2 days of playing despite going up to Nuremberg for 4 days! We had a fantastic trip and even got to spend the better part of the day on Sunday with PatH, whom we met at the Brussels EPP back in July.

I highly recommend Nuremberg as a place well worth visiting. I would go back in a flash!

I can't wait to hear this SwissMs. Congrats on your AOTW.

Congratulations to MaryBee, SwissMS and ElleC!

I had a good lesson today, mainly devoted to Mozart. Not bad, considering that I practiced single handed (left only) for a couple of days. Now I have to focus on the three fast right with the right hand...lots of work needed but I'm in no hurry. I love this piece and I want to do all I can to play it decently.

My AOTW besides getting my piano tuned YAY! is that I have two appointments next week for interviews with piano teachers. Although I am making progress on my own I feel the need for objective evaluation of my progress and I'm too subjective about it and expect way too much from myself. Don't we all?

Ray (my tuner/tech) gave me a compliment wrt my playing of Come back to Sorrento but I believe he was being too kind. He did say it's a difficult piece for a beginner to play well so maybe not. He's a very accomplished player as well as an RPT.

In any case wish me luck finding a teacher that I get on with and can afford

My AotW: I received a phone call from a national TV channel (www.tvi.iol.pt) because they are planning a serie of 10 episodes to tell the story of 10 "amateur musicians". They saw my video on YT and they want to do the second episode with me...

OMG, this is getting serious...
I accepted

Wow! Well deserved.

CarlosCC - that is so fun. I love it when I can tell all my friends that I know someone who's really accomplished something Guilt and fame, all by association, that's my deal! Congratulations! I hope there'll be a way we can watch later - couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Cathy