It's all about song choice...

I got the good news about a week ago -- I'm a semifinalist for the Myrna Brown Artist Competition sponsored by the Texas Flute Society this May. What's neat about this accomplishment is that I've submitted tapes for the preliminary round at least twice before with no result. This competition has been on my radar for a while since there is no age limit, and I suspect it might be one of the last big competitions that I enter for that reason. One of the requirements for the final round is that you perform a 25-minute recital program of varied styles and periods, including the Karg-Elert Caprice No. 23. For the semi-final round, each of the 10 contestants performs 15 minutes of that program.

I have been obsessed over repertoire selection since I found out that I'm advancing. I'm definitely at the point in my career where I want to play more than just flashy music, and yet in order to stay competitive, you must impress the judges with a certain level of technique. At the same time, I want to select music that fits my strengths and personality, and definitely some music that I've performed before. All of these factors pull at me in addition to the issue of accompanists. I should know more this weekend after I talk with HT. She would be my first choice if I brought my own pianist. After running my program ideas past Eva, I think I'm close to locking in the repertoire. I will announce the works probably in my next blog.

Here are some pictures btw from the Arts Festival last month. I played only one piece with cd accompaniment: TRKS, and had a positive response from the audience. If I play next year, I'll have the flute microphoned. Anyway, it was a good time.