Hello. Is it me you're looking for?

Hi. I'm Nikki.

Those who know me will vouch for the fact that my life actually isn't that interesting.  If you are looking for a fairy tale with dragons, dungeons, and magic, you might want to double check your URL.  Despite the fact that I have met some fire-breathing people, I don't know any dragons, the only dungeon I've been in is the tuba locker in the band room, and no one has ever come up to me and said "Yer a wizard, 'arry".  Although if they did, I'd ask them to put their contact lenses back in and call a cab for them right away.

Although I'm not a wizard, I am many other things.  Forgetful is one of them.  In the past month, I have lost two pairs of sunglasses, a pair of headphones, lots of valve oil, several pieces of music, and now with this blog post, my dignity.  I think I'm on a roll.

Aside from that, I play(ed) varsity soccer and was a goalkeeper, mainly because it involved less running, which I am always a fan of.  I like to write mainly because I make myself laugh more than the people around me.  I am a Christian and I recently delivered a sermon that was surprisingly not met with the boos and rotten tomatoes I was expecting.  I love the beach, especially at night, love biking when I can, and love the forest.  However, if there is any way that the frogs, spiders, snakes, worms and fungus could be eliminated, it would be much appreciated.

I'm also a musician.  I've been playing the horn for almost 9 years.  However, I was not one of those people who immediately picked up an instrument and could play Flight of the Bumblebee in seven different keys.  My mother likes to describe my playing initially as "dying elephants" which is an odd, yet extremely accurate depiction.

But even if I couldn't play every piece in the repertoire by age 10 (cough Mozart is a jerk cough), I strangely enjoyed missing all the notes.  At first, I loved the grimaces of my parents who tried their best to hide the traumatizing effect of an elementary school band concert.  But eventually, I stopped looking at my parents and started looking at myself.  What I found surprised me.  I discovered a mirror and a telescope, a breath-taking sunset and a melancholy drizzle, a tender embrace and the searing pain of betrayal.  I discovered the emotions of music.  And I couldn't be more in love.

This relationship has yielded some incredible experiences.  Recently, I've been extremely fortunate in my acceptance to the Eastman School of Music, where I will be attending in the fall, and with this amazing opportunity of NYO-USA.  I auditioned in November for the program and was miraculously accepted (they must not have been paying much attention to my recordings).  My mom and I celebrated in the hallway of the University of Illinois campus where I was auditioning for their music program and were subsequently scolded for disturbing the other audition candidates. (If any of you are reading, I am truly sorry but from what I heard you sounded wonderful and I'm sure it wasn't a problem for you.)

This summer from June 30th to July 23rd I will have a once in a lifetime opportunity with many other young and talented musicians.  We will begin with a two week residency in Purchase College to rehearse and get to know the other orchestra members.  Although, after two weeks, because of my aforementioned poor memory, I may know the names of about 5 of them, including myself.  After that, we begin our tour with a concert in Purchase College on the 11th of July, and a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on the 13th.  From there, we fly to Moscow, perform at the Moscow Conservatory on the 16th, take the train to St. Petersburg and perform at the Mariinsky II theater on the 18th.  The tour is concluded with a performance in Royal Albert Hall as Prom 13 in the BBC Proms on the 21st (I don't think you understand how much I am fangirling right now).  If you want to learn more about the program, check out the Carnegie Hall page http://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/National-Youth-Orchestra-of-the-United-States-of-America  or you could always ask me, although I may have to look it up myself.

Throughout this incredible experience, I'll be posting here (with some pictures) to let you know how I'm doing and what I'm doing.  I am ultimately truly honored by this experience to do what I love while traveling to these marvelous places with other incredible artists. I will try my best to post in detail all of the events that happen to the best of my memory.  Although, knowing my memory, I'll probably have forgotten what I ate for breakfast by the time lunch rolls around.  Maybe this blog is more for my own records than yours...

So, thank you, in advance, for reading as I chronicle my fairly mundane life.  I will try to keep it as interesting as possible but there's only so much I can do.  After all, I'm not a wizard, just a musician.