Quiet, Until it is Time.

Silence is best. This silence is needed in order to grow. This silence is needed for understanding of what needs to be accomplished. Silence is needed to be accomplished through thought, through lyrics, through melodies and through discoveries. Please, just give me some silence. With this silence, I will show you much more. Silence is best.

Two minutes. Please?

Isn't it funny how hard you work for something for hours upon end and when it is time to perform it, they don't even have two minutes to spare? I had my final for voice and piano today, also known as juries. I sang selections from The Marriage of Figaro, South Pacific and also Les Misérables. It went fairly smooth and was really excited to sing 'Bring Him Home' from Les Mis. It was going great. Next up was the piano. I started off playing a Bouree by Handel and a Sonatina by Diabelli, which turned out to be alright, even memorized. Next in line was 'Clair de Lune' by Debussy and I was even a little more excited for his piece than 'Bring Him Home'. I was ready to go, but then they said that I would only have to play the first two pages. It didn't feel too terrible until I was away from the Steinway and outside walking back to my dorm. My favorite section is the third and fourth page when it is D-flat Major with a lot of rolling arpeggios and switches to C-sharp minor with a continuous reverie of melody and harmony. It was the most difficult section in the entire piece. I started this piece back in the first week of January and worked incredibly hard to play the third and fourth page. Incredibly hard meaning well over 80 hours on just those pages alone. As I was walking back to my dorm, I was rather irritated and rather pissed off that I wasn't able to perform what I have worked so hard on. Now I have to study for some other finals and write a paper involving something I don't care about, but it will be rather difficult with Clair de Lune on my mind. Wow, I can't wait for summer. Only a few more days.

Dear Sterling College,

The least you could do would be to provide heat in the practice rooms so I don't spend two of the three practice hours thawing out my hands.

Seriously,

Travis Wicklund