Oh dear, I found out about a workshop in Southern California and maybe I'll go next summer with my violinist friend if we can put together a trio? In which case I'd have to learn two chamber works and one cello sonata over the next year. Nothing as hard as Brahms though!
We'll see, but I may be putting Dr. Molly's schedule to good use 
We worked on the 1st and 3rd movements today during rehearsal and will focus on the final concert movements for the rest of the week. Since I keep bombing the hard part of the 1st movement, the coach asked me to just play the left hand. I also dropped out my left hand in the military section of the 3rd movement. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I wasn't able to show up fully prepared but c'est la vie.
We also played the second movement twice today, after I practiced the Trio with metronome this morning as advised by the coach. The interactions between piano and strings don't make musical sense and you just have to trust yourself and keep going and count the rests properly and then somehow it all ends up in the right place!
I had my piano lesson on the 2nd and 4th movements and it was really great! I got musical, technical, and pedaling advice. I never learned about half or quarter pedal and instinctively sometimes do light pedal but it's not really a conscious thing. He advised me to shift my foot back a little to have better control over pedaling lightly.
Turns out the piano coach is one of the top concert pianists in this country and he gave us a "little concert"! I thought maybe he'd play some Chopin or something but then he played Rhapsody in Blue as a piano solo for us. What a massive piece! It was fabulous. There are two other pianists here and one is an English guy who sounds really great from what I hear through the windows. He's playing DvoΕΓ‘k's second piano quartet which is a wonderful piece and is at the top of my piano quartet wishlist. It looks very challenging, though.
In the evening, I met up with the cellist from my group last summer and we ran through Beethoven cello sonata No.2 and the first and second movements of No.3. I've only prepared the second one for a couple of weeks years ago to read with someone, and last year I was sight reading it with her. Somehow having it sit in my head for the last year made it magically better! I wasn't playing all the notes but I really did quite a decent job faking my way through it. I think maybe I should learn both of these sonatas. Even if I run through them once a week, if I keep getting better eventually I'll be able to play them properly. I used to think the Rondo of the second sonata would take a lot of effort to learn, but now I don't anymore?? I'm amazed. I think I've become a better pianist!
I hope I don't get overambitious with all my plans 
Though there's a big difference between "fun commitments" and "official commitments" and as long as I don't overdo the official ones I'll be ok!
I'm very much enjoying following along with your journey as well. This is not something I will ever experience so it's really interesting to hear about!
A crazy thing: the violinist in my group (who lives in the Portland area) offered me a harpsichord when I met her 5-6 years ago. I didn't have room for one then. Now we have a finished basement and we were talking during break today and I ended up asking if she still has a harpsichord looking for a new home. Turns out that she has two harpsichords and a hurdy gurdy that she picked up at estate sales! I asked her how big the harpsichords are and she said both are 9 feet long!! Really long but narrow. I was just talking to my husband about it because part of me is a little tempted (apparently one of them is a very nice one) but I thought it was going to be 5 feet long or something like that. I don't think I actually have space to put a 9 foot instrument unless we got rid of the dining table and made the dining room a harpsichord room instead
I care about having airy spaces and nice aesthetics so I don't think a 9 foot harpsichord is in my future! I'll go to her house at some point and play some Bach though.
twocats
Wow! Do you know how much I love harpsichords?
When I was shopping for a house 6 years ago there was one with a harpsichord. I made an offer, with the condition that the harpsichord stays! They didn't accept! I wish I were in Portland. I would buy a harpsi to play one Rameau prelude over and over. But 9 foot is big.
Rubens I've only played one briefly in an antique shop! I can't really play by ear but somehow some Bach came out of my fingers! I can't imagine that they're both really 9 feet but I'll go check them out. I only play Romantic pieces these days (plus the occasional Beethoven) but I think I could enjoy Bach if I had a harpsichord. Maybe if it's a really pretty one I could justify fitting it somewhere?? 
This was on the board today (I whited out the piano coach's name)
That's the thing with harpsi's. They are sensuous, luscious instruments. Even an average harpsi will give you the experience. Whereas with pianos you have to go high-end to have a fulfilling experience. @twocats 's bosie (or my Baldwin) will do, sure. But I'd take a mediocre harpsi over an average piano any day. Now let me go measure the free space in my living room.
Iβm not encouraging you one way or another, but I took a semester of harpsichord in college, and despite having an egotistical jerk for a teacher, I very much enjoyed that class. Itβs a lovely instrument to play. 9β is big though!
Yamaha C5X
Rubens well, when the time comes and you can convince your wife, apparently there are kits you can buy where you assemble it yourself! One of the estate sale ones the violinist got was in an attic, unassembled. I'll have to ask who did the work, because from what I saw online it takes 300 hours to do it. Maybe she did it herself!! I saw one in an antique shop for about $1K.
Practice this morning working on tips from the coach! I'm about to have to rehearsal. Thankfully this piano is easy to play. Oh no, my hands started sweating for the first time on this trip and now my hands and feet are going to be swampy for the rest of the day. I really hope we can play a really exciting Molto Presto at the end! The cellist said I like to play fast. I just like to play at performance speed...
