Happy Holidays

[TiberiaClaudia]

I echo Peter's sentiments in wishing everyone here a Happy Christmas!

Much love from SNOWY Michigan, USA,

Tiberia Claudia
A.K.A. Jenn

[heidi]

Wan't that quite a storm we had yesterday Jenn? I was in Grand Rapids yesterday afternoon. I took my daughter to the Nutcracker Ballet. We had a fun drive home in that blizzard.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Heidi

[Chris]

Merry Christmas to all! Now I am off to practice my violin for Mass tonight!

[Quijote]

Merry Christmas to all! Now I am off to practice my violin for Mass tonight!

Missa Solemnis?
Merry Christmas to you, too.

[Hollywood]

Season's Greetings from Beethoven's Vienna!

[PDG]

Merry Christmas to all! Now I am off to practice my violin for Mass tonight!

Do let us know how that went, Chris?

[TiberiaClaudia]

Heidi-

How was the nutcracker? I have some friends who attended...but I spent my ticket money on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra when they were in town. THAT was such a show, especially when they did the rock and roll kick butt snippets of Beethoven's 5th!! The fire on the stage that accentuated each dun-dun-dun-dunnnnn...

Sweeeet.

I love the snow...especially taking hubby's truck to an empty lot and doing doughnuts like some teenager. Shopping on 28th street was interesting yesterday to say the least, though. Meh. Why is it that when the weather gets bad, most drivers' IQ points correspondingly decrease? (Am I included in that for the doughnutting activity??)

The hour and 1/2 sitting in Schuler's cafe next to the snowy window and Christmas tree over a double espresso was very cozy...and well worth the insanity!

Good luck at mass, Chris! Can you say "break a leg" to a violinist??

Jenn

[Chris]

Missa Solemnis?

No, you would need a lot better violinist than I for the Missa Solemnis! But it went very well. We had the choir, a grand piano, two trumpets, two trombones, and two violins (including me). I was afraid we were going to get blown away by the brass, but apparently the balance was very good. Now I'm off to bed to get up and do it all again for morning Mass...except on the piano this time!

[heidi]

Heidi-

How was the nutcracker? I have some friends who attended...but I spent my ticket money on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra when they were in town. THAT was such a show, especially when they did the rock and roll kick butt snippets of Beethoven's 5th!! The fire on the stage that accentuated each dun-dun-dun-dunnnnn...

Sweeeet.

I love the snow...especially taking hubby's truck to an empty lot and doing doughnuts like some teenager. Shopping on 28th street was interesting yesterday to say the least, though. Meh. Why is it that when the weather gets bad, most drivers' IQ points correspondingly decrease? (Am I included in that for the doughnutting activity??)

The hour and 1/2 sitting in Schuler's cafe next to the snowy window and Christmas tree over a double espresso was very cozy...and well worth the insanity!

Good luck at mass, Chris! Can you say "break a leg" to a violinist??

Jenn

The Nutcracker was great, but it always is. The Grand Rapids Ballet does a supurb preformance. One year I saw it five times in a row, thanks to my youngest daughter that was is the Snow Choir, the piece right before intermission. Ironicly, that is my favorite piece in the show. This time I went with my older daughter. She is a dancer at school and had to watch it for a class grade.

I wish I could have seen the TSO this year. I went a few years back with my husband and just loved it. Do you know they have a CD of Beethoven (Beethoven's Last Night). I love the way the take a classical piece an rock it up. I coach competivie gymnastics and have used a lot of thier music for floor routines. It's great music for that.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I did.

Heidi

[Megan]

violin

Merry Christmas to all! Now I am off to practice my violin for Mass tonight!

Hi Chris,

What did you play at Mass and which kind of violin do you have ?

Can you recommend a good violin make.

Thanks

[Sorrano]

Happy and a safe New Year's Day to everyone! Hope that the year brings good things to all!

[Chris]

Hi Chris,

What did you play at Mass and which kind of violin do you have ?

Can you recommend a good violin make.

Thanks

We played Schubert's Duetche Messe, and a number of traditional carols that our music director arranged for the forces we had present.

I really cannot recommend a good violin make. Instruments even of the same make vary considerably. The best thing to do is decide how much you are willing to spend, go to a really good violin shop, and try a lot of them out. I find that the best instruments are not always the most expensive, though, so I suggest playing a bunch of different ones without finding out what the individual prices are. Just give the person who helps you a price range and as ask to try what they have in that rage without knowing the individual prices. And NEVER buy a violin without first playing it. Online shopping is great, but not for violins. And don't forget you will need a good bow to make a good violin sound good, and a good bow can be quite expensive too!

[LeftyBob61]

It's 2008 here on the east coast of the USA! A Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone!

- Bob.

[Megan]

We played Schubert's Duetche Messe, and a number of traditional carols that our music director arranged for the forces we had present.

I really cannot recommend a good violin make. Instruments even of the same make vary considerably. The best thing to do is decide how much you are willing to spend, go to a really good violin shop, and try a lot of them out. I find that the best instruments are not always the most expensive, though, so I suggest playing a bunch of different ones without finding out what the individual prices are. Just give the person who helps you a price range and as ask to try what they have in that rage without knowing the individual prices. And NEVER buy a violin without first playing it. Online shopping is great, but not for violins. And don't forget you will need a good bow to make a good violin sound good, and a good bow can be quite expensive too!

Thanks Chris,
Sounded like a wonderful Mass.
I agree about trying out the sound of the violin before purchase, but having said that, I found a really good website here in the UK where it allows you to listen to the sound of different violins within a wide price range from around £400 up to £6,000 . I can only dream of owning a £6,000 violin the sound is wonderful. But one much less can also produce lovely sounds too. I am not that professional.
Link to West Country Violins.
http://www.westcountryviolins.com/
Some folk I have spoken to rave about the sound of the Gliga Gama, violin , Romanian make. I think it is styled on the Stradivarius.
.

[Chris]

Thanks Chris,
Sounded like a wonderful Mass.
I agree about trying out the sound of the violin before purchase, but having said that, I found a really good website here in the UK where it allows you to listen to the sound of different violins within a wide price range from around £400 up to £6,000 . I can only dream of owning a £6,000 violin the sound is wonderful. But one much less can also produce lovely sounds too. I am not that professional.
Link to West Country Violins.
http://www.westcountryviolins.com/
Some folk I have spoken to rave about the sound of the Gliga Gama, violin , Romanian make. I think it is styled on the Stradivarius.
.

I guess that's a good start, but the speakers you are listening through and all kinds of other things will affect what you hear. I got my present violin about 10 years ago, and it was about $6000. I think it was overpriced, but it is a good instrument. Not fit for a true professional, really, but it's more than good enough for what I am able to torture out of it