I’m exhausted. There is construction on all sides of my building, and my body has decided that I need to be up by 8am even if I’m up working until the early hours of the morning the evening before. This has been happening nearly every night.

So… I’m playing in a concert in Stanford’s Memorial Church this Friday evening, and we’ve been rehearsing with the 100-piece chorus down at Stanford. Living in Oakland does not make rehearsals at Stanford convenient, but I’m glad for the opportunity. :) Cindy and Chris met me for a quick bite to eat in Cupertino after tonight’s rehearsal. We went to a place called Top Cafe (I think) on De Anza for good, cheap Chinese food. It’s not the sort of Chinese food we eat at home, but it was really tasty. There’s nothing like a yummy 11pm meal.

Livia and Geoff want to read some string trios on Sunday, so it will be a nice weekend of music.

And speaking of Geoff, I went to see him perform at the Legion of Honor last night. Stephen Prutsman was playing as well, which is always a treat. Stevie is my favorite pianist. He’s freakishly talented, and as a bonus is hilarious to hang out with. He was wearing a cool purplish/silver suit with shiny cross cuff links, and was excited to strike up some cheesy “Thinker” poses for me backstage after the show. I’ll have to get those photos online at some point. :) Anyway, the hall at the Legion of Honor is beautiful and has a wonderful, clear sound. I’m going back for performance #2 on Saturday afternoon.

The Program:

Haydn Quartet in G Major, Op. 33 #2 (“The Joke”)
Shostakovich String Quartet #7
Franck Quintet in F Minor for Strings and Piano

Going to try to get some sleep. Good night!

Stephen Prutsman backstage at the Legion of Honor

Barry Shiffman and Chris Costanza backstage at the Legion of Honor

Leslie Robertson backstage at the Legion of Honor

Stephen Prutsman and Geoff Nuttall backstage at the Legion of Honor

Stephen Prutsman and Geoff Nuttall backstage at the Legion of Honor

Barry Shiffman and Iris Otani at rehearsal in Memorial Church

Rehearsal in Memorial Church, Stanford

Warren Wu at rehearsal in Memorial Church, Stanford

Warren Wu and Isabel O'Meara in the round room behind Memorial Church

Barry Shiffman and Steve Sano in Memorial Church

Chuck Ott and Jerry Watanabe pose with my cello case

Geoff Nuttall with Isabela Costanza backstage at the Legion of Honor

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Sigrid, Chris, Isabela, and Barry)

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Chris, Isabela, Warren)

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Chris Costanza with a Campbell's Soup tie)

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Warren's mom, Jack, and Maria Soong)

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Barry Shiffman, Stephen Prutsman, and Phil Ying -- surprise visit!)

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Geoff Nuttall with Elizabeth and Ilya)

Backstage at the Legion of Honor (Elizabeth and Ilya)

Rehearsal for the Stanford Business School's end of year concert

Ilya Levtov and one of his friends

Rehearsal for the Stanford Business School's end of year concert (they're rehearsing Popper)

Livia and Geoff

Isabela Costanza jumps into the pool