Not much time to spare, but quick recap of the last couple weeks.

Had my graduation recital on 4/9. Played Beethoven Op.102 No.1 sonata which went ok (missed a couple rough spots in the second). Followed by Bach Suite #6, which went terribly. Followed by Brahms Op.99 sonata second half which was just about the best I have ever played that piece.

Juries on 4/17 and 4/20 for cello and piano, respectively. Cello went ok, though one thing that I find interesting in my comment sheets is that almost everybody on the jury panel wrote that they wanted more breaths and stretches in the Bach Prelude. Which in a sense is exactly what I didn't want to do - there are too many performances out there that fragment the music too much by skewing the flow of time and rhythm ("going on coffee breaks," to quote Mr. Tobias, my teacher). His approach to this kind of music, and thus his challenge to me, is to keep the rhythm mostly steady - except for truly important places, of course - but keep it interesting by means of sound coloration and articulation. So my focus has been on working out a more varied bowing scheme that brings more internal life to the notes - dividing them into several voices, grouping notes across barlines rather than following a downbeat-oriented grouping, etc. Actually, I thought I was heading in the right direction when a listener at a mock runthrough a week before the recital commented that the prelude was "amazingly complex" - but I suppose judging by the jury comments, it's not quite convincing enough yet.

I know how to make Sushi now! Recipe courtesy of my dad, who came to my recital all the way from Vienna and stayed for 10 days. My weekend trip back home to Philly a week after my recital was the best one I've had in a looong time...the only negative thing about that weekend was that all that sushi my dad made gained me a good 7 pounds just over those two days :(.

Soccer update. I got my first scorer point in last Sunday's game by providing the assist to our only goal... Sadly, we lost 1-5 to Franklinville. But there's a reason they're the only undefeated team in the league.