Capitol Quartet Update #3

My apologies for taking my sweet time in uploading this post, it was due exactly a week ago!

-Katie

After two days of blogless granting the Capital Quartet has decided to resume our blogging and keep the rest of the world informed of our Houston activities.

Tuesday was a low key day for us. We had initially planned to attend a Rice bassoon studio recital, but it was canceled so instead we spent the majority of the day at the University of Houston shaping cane, working on reeds, and rehearsing our quartet music.

In our spare non music time we went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and gazed in wonder at prehistoric fossils, rare gems, and mollusks. It was awesome. After getting our science fix we walked to a nearby park and enjoyed the sunshine. The nature inspired our bassoon playing, as did the science.

Wednesday was more eventful. We were coached by UT alum TK Dewitt, who is now the second bassoon in the Houston Grand Opera. Working with TK was great and revealed a lot about our quartet. We mostly focused on line and bringing out parts that were more important than others. Essentially we finessed our performance. Thanks TK *thumbs up*

Before our coaching we wandered around a museum-rich neighborhood. Our first stop was the Rothko Chapel, self described as a place of art, spirituality, and human rights. We thought visiting this museum would provide interesting insight to spiritually connecting with our music or whatever it is that “artistes” do. Katie was frightened of the Rothko Chapel though and didn’t stay long. Next we took a stroll through Houston’s photography center. Fun. Finally we took some time browsing through the Menil Private Collection, one of the finest private art collection in the United States.

After gallivanting through museums and bassoon coachings we decided it would be fun to spontaneously go to Kemah Boardwalk… so we did. And we were right, it was fun. We didn’t do anything at the boardwalk other than stroll along the ocean and take in the sights.

Thursday our day began yet again at our favorite spot in Houston, The University of Houston. We worked on our quartet music before jetting over to the Hobbit Café, a middle earth themed lunchtime getaway. While Katie was disappointed that the food was not authentic Hobbit food we still had a great time. Afterward we rushed over to Jones Hall to be coached by the Houston Symphony second bassoon Elise Wagner. Elise focused on our phrasing and exaggerated musicality. A nice aspect coupled with TK’s coaching the previous day.

After a hard two hours of coaching we vegged out and did some very important shopping at the Galleria.

It was a good day.

-Pearson