This is me!

Hi everyone!
It's Angela here and I'm glad to join. I also play the piano and I LOOOOVE it! I'm from PG and have been playin for 18 years and currently doing my M.Mus in London at the University of Western Ontario. I'm liking it here now that I've adjusted. I took my undergrad at the University of Victoria and graduated from that in 2006. Ah! Victoria! It's so beautiful there with the cherry blossoms in the spring and little bunnies and ducks!!!!! One of my teachers I worked with was Dr Robin Wood. He was wonderful! He used to get annoyed with me because while I was playing the Fantasie impromptu, I kept playing the SAME note wrong. And he said to me "PLAY THAT PROPERLY! Or I'll BOIL you in hot oil!!! *starts drawing* This is YOU and THIS is the hot oil!" haha! interesting sense of humour he had! He was very special. Never made a huge fuss over ANYTHING. Even that time when he was driving me home and we almost got hit by a car. Here I am panicking and there he is looking all relaxed saying "well that was close wasn't it?" He passed away during my second year university, but I never forgot his positive attitude towards life! No matter how bad things were, even if he was lying in bed in the hospital, he was always smiling and happy to be alive. One of his past students took over his studio and I was lucky to study with her since she was also an amazing teacher! After I graduated from my undergrad, I went back to PG and taught piano for a year. It was an interesting and enjoyable experience being the TEACHER instead of the student. One of the things I learned while teaching was to encourage the student and inspire them. If they see they are progressing, I find they WANT to learn even MORE. During that year, I was still doing some performing which I ALWAYS love to do! I performed with the Chorale Fantasie by Beethoven with the local orchestra. WOW! Was that EVER a huge production! Cameras, screens, orchestra AND choir! My boyfriend (now fiance) Andrew Furmanczyk was in the front row and was like the FIRST one there! Yep! He's my BIGGEST FAN!!I LOVE performing but I tend to get nervous! Like in my fourth year at UVic, my teacher put me in a local competition, and I was so nervous I couldn't STAND it! I think it's an age thing:) But I won it! haha! I never win anything so that was pretty exciting! I guess I really WAS meant to win that! But with performing, one just has to learn to enjoy themselves! I mean c'mon! You've put THAT much work into what you do! The least you can do is enjoy the experience:) And chill! Trust yourself!!! If you've done all the work and all the practising, nothing catastrophic is going to happen. Easier said than done? Yes!! Even after 18 years, I'M still working on that! Oh, and don't just focus on every note being perfect or on those little slips you had. Things can happen during a performance and the most important thing is that you get your musical idea across:)

That was alot of reading ( writing ).... Andrews girlfriend

When could we expect a duo of you two?

18 years is a long time, how old were you when you started?

Angela wrote:Hi everyone!
My boyfriend (now fiance) Andrew Furmanczyk was in the front row and was like the FIRST one there! Yep! He's my BIGGEST FAN!!I LOVE performing but I tend to get nervous! Like in my fourth year at UVic, my teacher put me in a local competition, and I was so nervous I couldn't STAND it! I think it's an age thing:) But I won it! haha! I never win anything so that was pretty exciting! I guess I really WAS meant to win that! But with performing, one just has to learn to enjoy themselves! I mean c'mon! You've put THAT much work into what you do! The least you can do is enjoy the experience:) And chill! Trust yourself!!! If you've done all the work and all the practising, nothing catastrophic is going to happen. Easier said than done? Yes!! Even after 18 years, I'M still working on that! Oh, and don't just focus on every note being perfect or on those little slips you had. Things can happen during a performance and the most important thing is that you get your musical idea across:)

Hey there baby

I'm soo happy to have you here!

YES! I AM your biggest fan! ^_^ You play so passionately when i see you play I see a real love for your music. I always get so drawn into what you're playing and it touches me so deeply. I feel like i'm really connected to you when I listen to you play! (that's why I was the first one there, cause i wanted to make sure I wouldn't get shoved off to the corner somewhere where I couldn't see my sweet heart

You played SOO beautifully! ^_^

Anyway! I'm REALLY glad to have you here! listen up everyone, Angela knows A LOT, so listen to what she's got to say ^_^ she's VERY talented!

I'm looking forward to your future potss! Hopefully you'll be active here on the forum

If not, I'll still love you

Hi Angela. Nice to read about you. Interesting reading
To bad about your teacher, but he passed on lots of knowledge it seems

Think you did a scoop pairing up with Andrew. He is a fine man

I saw a bit of your performance in one of Andrews lessons - It was great But, i guess you knew that

So welcome - Guess its about time

Just wanna say Hi and and welcome Angela! Great to have you here! Sorry to hear about your teacher. It was inspiring. Just curious.. what's PG?

PS: Best wishes to you and Andrew. ^_~

Welcome Angela-san! Very passionate introductory speech, it shows how much you luv your music
It's nice to have you around, so post and enjoy

Btw, I heard Andrew has been very naughty, you should hurry to aply a corrective on him

Hi Victor CS,
haha! I'm actually impressed you READ all that Been playing a long time. To the point that sometimes I forget how long it's been and I have to do the math in my head!! haha! I started when I was 6 but it wasn't easy! I was actually very terrible at it before. Reading music was hard to get my brain around and being small made it even HARDER to get around the keyboard (I'm 24 and only 5'1 so you can imagine how big I was when I was 6). But yeah. I never thought I'd be playing piano at THIS level! No WAY! How are you liking piano?

Hi zeroflash!
KAMUSTA!!!! haha(actually that's kinda the only word I know)! I just noticed you're in the philippines. It's funny because I'm filipino too Prince George is in Western Canada in British Columbia. Thanks for the best wishes. Andrew is fabulouso! Before we went out I was playing in the Canadian class at the provincial festival last year and he said he didn't think he'd make it. But low and behold! Guess who comes walkin through those doors?? ANDREW! He's always very supportive of me:) Anyways, good luck with continuing with piano!! Keep it up!

Thanks Thormandy:)
Yes Dr Wood did pass a lot of knowledge and it wasn't just about piano:) haha! During my audition at the Victoria conservatory, he and his wife were waiting for the collaborative prof to come in and be part of the jury. ANYWAYS, Dr Wood tells her that this prof who was late had computer issues and LOST all the marks. LUCKILY he had a copy of them in HIS computer so he was able to retrieve them! And Mrs Wood gets all annoyed and goes "AUGH! WHAT is the MATTER with THAT MAN??" And Dr Wood is like "Oh it's ok! You know these things happen." haha! He TOTALLY didn't make a big fuss! Man it took a LOT of effort to not laugh at the sight of THAT!!! Couldn't you imagine? Going into a laughing fit at your audition?

Hi Phobik2000
Andrew? Naughty? *tch tch!* Yes I LOOOOVE my music! And I love performing I just don't like the whole nerves thing, but that doesn't stop me since there are ways of gettin around THAT. Before that one competition I won in victoria (it was called the Mary Adamson award) I was SO nervous I thought I was gonna get SICK. Part of the reason might have been because my landlords over fed me before I had to perform! haha! Anyways, my landlady is like driving me and we get to the parking lot and I'm like "GROAN! I don't FEEL WELL! I can't play!" And she was like "Don't worry Angela. If you don't win, the sun will rise the next day." But I did well! So word of advise: Before performing (which all ya should ya know TRY to do once in a while) eat a GOOD meal and some bananas! Those help:)

I ate a banana today ^^ But no way I'm going to record anything tho

ahaha Banana. I remember almost passing out and banana did the trick.

Angela wrote:Hi zeroflash!
KAMUSTA!!!! haha(actually that's kinda the only word I know)! I just noticed you're in the philippines. It's funny because I'm filipino too Prince George is in Western Canada in British Columbia. Thanks for the best wishes. Andrew is fabulouso! Before we went out I was playing in the Canadian class at the provincial festival last year and he said he didn't think he'd make it. But low and behold! Guess who comes walkin through those doors?? ANDREW! He's always very supportive of me:) Anyways, good luck with continuing with piano!! Keep it up!

Hey! Kababayan! Well, thanks for the words of encouragement. ^_^ Well, that's Andrew. I don't know him that much as of yet. But I'm definitely 100% completely sure he's such a fine young man. With a great gift in playing piano at that. whooaaa... I haven't played in front of a crowd yet.. I jitter if someone's watching, what more if it's a lot of people. Best of luck to all!

Hi Angela
It is great to have you here, I enjoyed reading your story and it give me a lot of encouragement. Especially the part talking about you put all the work in it nothing catastrophic can happen, in theory and that the sun will come up the next day no matter what I like to think that in general I have similarly positive attitude as your teacher was. It is nice that he lives longer in you and his students that shows the great job he did.
It is amazing that after 18 years you still need fight with it. The great think is no matter how much you are nervous you can overcome your worries when you play.
I was also wondering about PG.. .the only thing came in my mind is PG rating... and then the next thing you mentioned was London... so then I thought maybe she meant GB as Great Britain... but you straightened that out already
Im so happy for you and Andrew. It is very important to find a compatible partner and you two for sure are.
I cant wait to see your wedding pictures I already told Andrew how great your kids are going to be super musically inclined. Sorry went to far in future
Im glad you joined our community and we can learn about you and from you.
Looking forward to see your posts. Have a great weekend.

Hi maggiekedves
haha! Yeah I'm in London Ontario, and PG is Prince George and that's a city British Columbia which is in western canada! But yeah! And as far as performing is concerned, we all strive for perfection but people MAKE mistakes and have slips. Ya just gotta.... SLIP WITH CONFIDENCE!!!!!! And performing is kinda like a skill. The more you DO it, the better you get at it! hehe! I saw it one of my students when I was back in Prince George! She was only 7, the youngest one I HAD and she had JUST started with me!! Well, the first time she had to perform, she was TERRIFIED! She wouldn't even go in the STUDIO! But after some coaxing and encouraging, she went up there and did it! The NEXT recital after that one, she was SO much more confident she was talking about dressing up and asking her mom "will I get flowers at the end???" She was SO excited, and she played SO well! She was so excited that she could barely sit still during that recital. The people across from me were giving me funny looks and I was like "oopsy Sorry! She's only 7!!!!!!" Anyways, keep playing!!!

Hi zeroflash
haha! Thanks for the reply! Haven't performed YET?? Aww! Well you don't have to start with HUGE crowds yet. Play for a friend or family member (pets count as family members). That way it won't be so intimidating and you won't have to worry about them goin nuts about any "wrong notes" or "slips." They will be happy to hear what you can do!!!! Then once you get used to THAT play for a few MORE close friends and family (but only once you're READY for that!). I mean sure! You may be a beginner, but what you can do is still beautiful! So.......PERFORM! SHARE IT! We wanna hear it!

Angela wrote:Hi zeroflash
I mean sure! You may be a beginner, but what you can do is still beautiful! So.......PERFORM! SHARE IT! We wanna hear it!

AND - We got the Performancetopic on the forum It is also practice to performe infront of a camera. The tension is there, couse you dont want to make any mistakes So create your own "nickname's performances" and post away!!
You to Angela

thomandy wrote:

Angela wrote:Hi zeroflash
I mean sure! You may be a beginner, but what you can do is still beautiful! So.......PERFORM! SHARE IT! We wanna hear it!

AND - We got the Performancetopic on the forum It is also practice to performe infront of a camera. The tension is there, couse you dont want to make any mistakes So create your own "nickname's performances" and post away!!
You to Angela

you are the most serious crusader of the Performance topic, like a real father ... good job

Oh Yeah I think its fun to see all of you
And think about the fun, in maby half a year, or a year, if you guys arnt sick and tired. Then the progress is really noticable. That is nice i think

Well.. I have performed in front of family members but... I tend to miss the keys a lot.. Hey!!!! That's a good idea. Hmm... I'll look for a camera and try to post in the performance topics!! ^_~ Thanks for that one!

zeroflash wrote:Well.. I have performed in front of family members but... I tend to miss the keys a lot.. Hey!!!! That's a good idea. Hmm... I'll look for a camera and try to post in the performance topics!! ^_~ Thanks for that one!

I'm looking forward to watching ^_^

zeroflash wrote:Well.. I have performed in front of family members but... I tend to miss the keys a lot.. Hey!!!! That's a good idea. Hmm... I'll look for a camera and try to post in the performance topics!! ^_~ Thanks for that one!

Yup, its nice if your joining in on the fun Then you will have your very own topic, and its easy to see your progress
Looking forward to see you

I just used my phone. sorry for the quality. still in the learning curve. and again, don't mind the background. ahahaha.

PS: Won't hurt though, I do want to play in front of a lot of people. ^_~

zeroflash wrote:I just used my phone. sorry for the quality. still in the learning curve. and again, don't mind the background. ahahaha.

PS: Won't hurt though, I do want to play in front of a lot of people. ^_~

Everything depends on you, if you want you can work your way to it... and in no time you will have an audience... oh yeah you already find a good audience right here

I agree 100%! ^_~ Thanks for the vote of confidence! I also like viewing our friends' performances!