Ensemble

The music for this chapter (copy-paste-able version in the comments): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jpi4Y4cuKHaTcAYEYh1sv?si=be3518bc01b04b13

+++++++

After discussing some more small tasks that I needed to do, Frank dismissed me. I had a lot of work ahead of me, but my thoughts kept thinking about Aleksei. I wanted to ask Nastya how she and Aleksei were holding out, but I realized I had no means to contact them. Aleksei did not have a phone and Nastya never gave me her contact info. I guess I would just have to wait until Nastya came back.

The same went for our predicament with the wraith… I had no choice but to approach Nastya on the subject, but how to even broach such a subject without her thinking that I had finally lost it?

In the end, I decided that I would just have to look for an opportunity. The right moment was sure to come. In the meantime, I would just focus on my music and on that hideous task that lay ahead of me. Forming my own ensemble.

By the time I got back to my room, I already felt defeated. Outside of my 3 friends, I did not know anyone, let alone knew how they played. I couldn’t even start from the music and look for musicians since Frank told me clearly to do it the other way around. Just asking my friends if they knew anyone also seemed like it would bypass the entire meaning of this exercise. But maybe I could start by asking them…

I decided to postpone the problem until lunchtime so that I could finally get some time to practice the cello. If I was going to have to participate in competitions, I would need to be on the highest level that I could possibly reach. I started by looking up which competitions there were this year, but I noticed you needed to be promoted by a conservatory for most of them. I needed to discuss this with Frank. I had no idea if this school was a recognized conservatory. But Frank was right that the school would certainly become famous in an instant in the classical world if we managed to score plenty of awards and good placements in contests aimed at the conservatory level around the world. It was probably also a good way to find sponsors for this school. It was a dangerous bet because if we performed poorly, it wasn’t only our own reputation but the school’s as well that went down the drain with us.

After looking up what was usually played, I noticed that Bach’s cello suites were part of the mandatory repertoire in almost every one of them. That piece seemed to stalk me wherever I went.

I made a list of all mandatory pieces in competitions that I could find and of how many times that piece returned in different competitions. I marked down the ones that I already owned the scores for, and for the others, I would need to ask Frank to get them for me as soon as possible.

The rest of the morning I worked on Bach’s third cello suite, not forgetting my practice for notation at the same time. It felt like bliss to be practicing in solitude with Lise and Rosalinde for once. It had been such a rollercoaster of events since I entered this school, that I had started to feel like I was neglecting my cello.

Time passed quickly and before I knew it the church bells struck 12. It was time for lunch, so I made my way to the cafeteria.

When I picked up a tray to go and stand in line to get served, I was approached rather aggressively by a blonde boy who had his hair split down the middle. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Tobias. I overheard a couple of teachers saying that you are assembling an ensemble. I think you will want me to be in it. Not to brag, but I am an amazing violinist.”

He did not give me any time to respond and started mentioning pieces that we most certainly should play that would bring out his fantastic sound the most.

Ah… He was that kind… I rolled my eyes. He kept on tooting his own horn and bragging about how fantastic he was. I did my best to remain friendly and give him noncommittal responses since I just got that speech from Frank about making connections to other musicians and not burning down any bridges.

While we moved up in the line, I started to have a harder and harder time not just bluntly stopping this conversation and walking away as I would have done at my last school. I could not wait until I got my food from Annie and could go and sit at the Saint Cecilia dorm table and be rid of him.

This would all have ended peacefully if only he had not started dissing other musicians. Of all people, he started ripping on Nastya, saying that she wasn’t as good as people said. According to him, she only got the highest score on the entrance exam due to her granddad’s influence. Everyone knew her family was rich, and they probably filled a few pockets for that result, because any neutral jury would of course have picked him. It was the drip that made the bucket spill. I can take a bit of arrogance, but ripping on my friend… This just went too far for me. My blood was boiling.

“You know, Nastya is one of my best friends and someone I look up to in terms of music! I won’t stand for this. You just torpedoed any chance of me selecting you for my ensemble.”

That shut him up alright. I could see him grow pale. But then he exploded and started shouting how we were all the same not recognizing true brilliance achieved through hard work.

“Yes, yes. You think you are brilliant; all the others are just amateurs. I got the picture.” I said with a clear sarcastic undertone. I probably should not have added even more fuel to the fire, but I had had it at that point…

His tantrum escalated even further, and I could see him lift his hand. I had probably gone too far, but I would not have gone this far if he had not started offending Nastya. In return, I gave him an ice-cold stare directly into his eyes and asked, “Are you really going to hit a girl in front of everyone?” He looked around and noticed that everyone around us was looking at us. This incident was going to be the gossip of the day.

“You could just as well bury your career,” I added in an emotionless voice. His hand started shaking and he took a step back and shouted, “I’ll remember this!” Before running off like a child without getting any food.

At least no one else approached me as I made my way down the line, but people were whispering. The gossip was really going rampant. I hope people would not think too bad of what I did here… Why did I have to lose it like that? Frank had just given me a speech about the importance of building bridges… In any case, it was clear to me that I was going to have to make a decision about the members of my ensemble soon or this kind of thing would only start happening more often.

When it was my turn in the line, Annie said “You got some serious patience… I don’t think I would have held out that long.” She then filled my plate with a few slices of roast, some veggies, and mashed potatoes. Just like yesterday at dinner time, she gave me an extra fruit yogurt for dessert while giving me a wink and saying that after that ordeal I deserved it.

I made my way to the Saint Cecelia table and not looking at who else was already there, I sat down with a large sigh. I needed to find an ensemble quickly before the news that I was looking for people would spread around the school. The last thing I wanted was to meet more people like Tobias.

“Are you okay? We saw something happen between you and Tobias, but we were too far to intervene.” Axelle said. I could hear she was worried.

“It was nothing. I just hope he won’t bother me anymore.” I said absentmindedly.

“Tobias, giving up? You can forget about that. Once he gets an idea in his head, he pursues it with everything he has. It’s both his greatest strength and his biggest flaw.” A ginger boy that I had not seen before said. The ginger girl next to him was a new face too. She started to chuckle.

Then he said, “You’re lucky Arlynn, it seems he switched his target.”

Seeing my bewilderment Sara whispered “Those are Ian and Arlynn. You know, the musical twins from Ireland.”

“Never heard of them, what do they play?” I mean I saw them in Flagey… but I could not remember what instrument they played…

Ian started laughing at our little exchange.

“Let me introduce us, that will be easier,” the boy said. “I am Ian, and this is my twin sister Arlynn. I play the saxophone,”

“And I play the flugelhorn,” Arlynn said. They both held out a hand for me to shake, which I happily shook. They seemed relaxed enough to deal with.

“They call us the musical twins in Ireland since we were on the telly as child prodigies. They always made us perform together.” Arlynn explained. It was amazing to see them get along. That got me interested in seeing them play together.

“Since we are doing introductions and we haven’t been officially introduced, I’ll join in.” With elegance in her pace, the tanned dark-haired girl got up and walked over to where I was sitting. “I am Carla.” I recognized her immediately. She was the Spanish flutist that came in second on the entrance exam. She wanted to give me the famous “dos besos”, but I automatically gave her three kisses as we do in Belgium. She looked a bit flabbergasted about what just had happened. She probably did not expect the kisses since I had been shaking hands in this international community.

Axelle started laughing. “You one-upped her with your strange Belgian ‘tres besos’ custom.”

“That’s how we do it in Belgium,” Sara said to Carla who seemed to be getting what just happened and they all started laughing.

I looked around the table and suddenly an idea started playing in my head.

We had a piano, a cello, a violin, a flugelhorn, a saxophone, an oboe, a flute, a tuba, and a harp. It was a pretty strange combination. There was only one member of Saint Cecilia that I had not met yet, but the idea that I got would solve my current predicament and keep troublesome people like that Tobias away from me.

“I do not know if you guys have heard, but I have to create an ensemble and I just got the most splendid idea. What would you guys say if I turned Saint Cecilia into a dorm ensemble?”

I seemed to be met only with positive reactions and started to feel relieved that forming an ensemble had gone so easily until Sara said “But what are you going to do about Tobias? Didn’t you just have a fight with him?”