Thanks PS! Finished my undergrad :)

[nanabush]

I think I joined this forum in 2004, when I was just starting to scratch the surface of classical piano music.  I was really at a point where I began playing 'for fun' rather than because my parents made me, and I found that the resources on this forum (and yes, I'm one of the people who loved the "is this the hardest piece EVER" threads) were amazing.

I started in economics/math after high school because it was "safe", and really did not feel I was doing the right thing.  So in second year, I auditioned for the music department with the following rep:

-Bach G major P/F Bk1
-Beethoven Sonate Pathetique
-Debussy 'pour le piano'

And luckily I made it in (auditions were around the same time as university exams, and I was at a point where if I didn't make it into music, I was going to BOMB my classes).

So over the past four years, I've gotten lots of opportunities working with different musicians on vocal music, chamber music, duets (which kick ass), and learning more solo rep than I thought was possible for myself (I used to work reallllllly slow... but those juries really creep up on you).

The whole time, I stayed a member on this forum, and loved seeing discussions popping up about rep that I was either planning on playing, or was currently playing.

So 9 years later (I still find this disturbing... and I'm only 23), I am now happy with where I've gotten, and I really think that it is largely due to the community on piano street.  I haven't posted a lot recently (barely in the past few years) but I've been lurking about haha.

So I just played my final recital:

-Bach Partita in Bb
-Beethoven Sonata Op. 57
-Debussy l'Isle Joyeuse
-Brahms Op.119
-Rachmaninoff preludes in D major, B minor, Bb major

I am pretty sure that there are about a hundred threads on each of the individual pieces, and I could easily spend a few hours just reading up on other peoples' opinions on this stuff.  If only we could quote some members for essays haha...

Anyways!

Thanks to all the members on this awesome forum! 

[j_menz]

Congratulations!! 

Though my invitation to that final recital must have got lost in the mail. 

[piano6888]

Congratulations on finishing your undergrad!

[charmsjr94]

Congrats!

I'm a freshman right now in my music school. I'd be really interested to hear about where you're getting a job or how "livable" your wages are.

I've been reading a lot of scary articles recently about how pointless it is to even study anything besides medicine or engineering.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Whoever finishes their undergrad for piano gets spared when the end of the world comes.

Good job bro.

[iansinclair]

My congratulations also!  A wonderful achievement!

And a word to charmsjr -- it is never, ever pointless to study something which you love doing.  Maybe it takes 70 plus years to figure that out, but it's true. 

[j_menz]

Repertoire:
Beethoven 32 sonatas
Stravinsky Petrouchka
Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Everything by Scriabin
Everything by Rachmaninoff
Everything by Bach
Everything by Carl Vine
Everything by Sorab

Who on earth is Sorab?

And why not the Diabelli Variations?

And does "everything" mean everything for piano only or have you branched out?

[outin]

Who on earth is Sorab?

Sorab 28?

[ted]

It is never, ever pointless to study something which you love doing.  Maybe it takes 70 plus years to figure that out, but it's true.  

At sixty-five I second that. And in the creative arts, whoever else you admire or learn from, in the end you must have the courage to be yourself, listen to the music within you and to that alone. I didn't manage it completely until fifty-five. If you do not you will live someone else's dream, and far too many musicians do that.

Congratulations, and be assured you have contributed as much to the forum as you have taken.