Week of Welcome

I've been in Oregon full time for two weeks now. The first week was very much just getting settled into the flow of town and getting over moving sickness (LJK and I both got sick that week, but staggered so we could at least take care of one another). The second week was the Week of Welcome at the University of Oregon; this is the week leading into the beginning of instruction for the term, but plenty of things happen.

Sunday, unrelated to school, I played in a community in Oregon for the first time: a clarinet choir called Platypus.
Monday, graduate entrance exams: two hours of theory / aural skills, two hours of music history.
Tuesday, lots of practicing bassoon and baritone saxophone.
Wednesday, baritone saxophone practice, jazz audition (baritone saxophone), bassoon masterclass (just observed, nothing performance ready yet), graduate meeting, and advising.
Thursday, some bassoon practice, classical audition (bassoon).
Friday, lots of flute recovery and practice, saxophone workshop.
Saturday, day off to spend some time in Portland.
Sunday today, some scale practice on saxophone, 4.5-hour jazz rehearsal.

The auditions were stressful as I barely had a chance to practice this summer before this week and I have not auditioned for ensembles in over five years. Both ended well though. This term I will be playing a shared role of first bassoon in the top wind ensemble and baritone saxophone in the top big band. I am excited to also be playing in the newly established saxophone ensemble (because I can provide a bass sax, they have started this new group), a saxophone quartet (not sure of the details of this yet), and the clarinet choir. I'm very hopeful that I will get to be a part of other chamber ensembles, especially with a bassoon studio that is more than 15 members. As far as lessons go, this term I will be studying bassoon as my primary, saxophone as a secondary, and flute as just an added challenge for myself.

Bassoon practice was orchestra excerpts, some that I've played in an orchestral setting (Tchaik 4, Mahler 1), and others that I haven't yet (Dukas Sorcerer's Apprentice, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Peter and the Wolf, etc.).
Saxophone practice the first few days preparing for jazz auditions, I played through most of the Intermediate and Advanced levels of Lennie Niehaus's Jazz Conception books as well as spent 90 minutes re-working on my scale studies for lessons that begin tomorrow.
​Flute practice was about 3 hours of sight reading and getting some of my foundations back before lessons start on Friday.

Tomorrow begins a new term toward a new degree!