February 2006

Regionals 2006

February 19, 2006 08:52

Wow. So, Regionals ended yesterday, and while it wasn't as musch fun beingthe host school, it was great!

Here's a nice little overview of the events:
Thursday night, 7-9pm
~"Don't be late"
~The orchestra was set up in a circle so that the strings were facing the winds, with the conductor in the middle, and we barely fit on stage
~I didn't think that my reseating audition went all that well, but I kept my spot of 6th (out of 16) 1st violin.
~Rehearsal were conducted at a nonstop pace
~The conductor was fond of us saying/singing our parts
~He compared bow placement to a 5-lane freeway, with lane 1 (piano) being over the fingerboard, and lane 5 (ff) next to the bridge.

Friday morning, 8-11am
~Part of the Overture to Nabucco should be played Pink Pantheresque
~Bopping, only playing the fist beat of a note so that the sections can hear how everything fits together
~The nice BandMoms brought us lunch
Friday afternoon, 12:30-6pm
~The band director came to work on Carmen some
~Carmen is dirty, sexy music
~He told us "if you flirt like you play, you'll be alone your whole life"
~They had a door proped open, which allowed this cold breeze right on the violins...
~Our conductor would often stop conducting
~Most of our pieces had big, flashy endings, and we were told that it should be intense enough that we broke strings
~We were given a new piece to read, "Russian Sailor's Dance," from the Red Poppy. It became a favorite, and we decided to try to add it to the program
~He kept having to tell the strings to be quiet, and the brass to be louder
~We weren't allowed to practice anytime when we weren't in rehearal (breaks included)

Saturday morning, 7:30-11am
~The percussion, winds, and brass were told to think of each piece as a concerto for therir instrument and orchestra
~It was interesting to find out the the people a chair ahead, and a chair behind me had both been playing 6 years longer than I have
Saturday, lunch break
~The orchestra got to watch the dress rehearsals for the choir and band
~The choir sounded great, but much of their music was about death, which was a little odd
~The band was ok (they were great my first year, but last year and this year, the orchestra has been better)
~There was one movement that the band did which was really neat; only the tubas were playing, and everyone else was singing.
Concert, 2pm
~Before the concert, we warmed up with a simple, 4-part harmony version of Navy Hymn
~Overture to Nabucco
~The opening with just the low brass sounded great
~Everything else was fast and tight, as it should be
~Carmen Suite
~The introduction to the audience was really funny
~Prelude to Act 1
~I love this movement, all the upper strings are tremeloing the entire time
~It was loud, intense, and great
~Habanera
~Very seductive... fun to play
~Les Toreadors
~We managed to play the slow section!!!
~American Portrait No. 1
~This went really well, its really pretty, and really fun.
~Very Coplandesque
~The violin solo in the middle was really pretty
~We got a standing ovation, which is always fun
~Our conductor announced that we had prepared an encore piece in less than 1 1/2 hours of rehearsal time since it was handed out
~Russian Sailor's Dance
~I think this was our best piece
~The ending is great, cause the firsts are on the second G above the staff for 12 measures while everything else is building under it, the it ends in this big chord.
~While the audience gave us another standing ovation, our conductor turned to us and said "Lets do that again!" if only I didn't have to wait another year...

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Exciting Week

February 15, 2006 16:24

Life can be so exciting.

Last night, I went to one of Joshua Bell's recitals. He was accompanied by Jeremy Denk. They played:
Mozart Sonata No. 2 for vln and piano
Beethoven Sonata No. 9 for vln and piano
Bartok Rhapsody No. 1 for vln and piano
Prokofiev Five Melodies for vln and piano
Ysaye Caprice d'apres I'Etude en forme de Saint-Seans
Tchaikovsky something

It was wonderful and great. I loved the Beethoven (and the Bartok - though it was a little odd. and the Yasye.) After the concert, I got to meet Joshua Bell (again) and Jeremy Denk, that was fun, though I'm really quiet and shy... nut anyway, Joshua is really friendly towards his fans, its really nice.

I only have a few complaints-
1) even though I hate them, glasses could be a good idea for watching the concert. EVERYTHING on stage was blury...
2) The Scottsdale Peforming Arts Center doesn't bounce sound very well............ And the lobby is just like an airport.
3) A 7:30-9:30 concert followed by a CD signing till 10 in a city two hours away from where I live when I have a Chem Lab at 7am is just a bad mix...

Tomorrow is the first day of regionals!!! I'm still a little disapointed that we are hosting the festival, cause the bus, hotel, and all the other travle stuff is half the fun...

Thats all for now

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!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

February 10, 2006 16:29

I got to conduct orchestra today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was great fun, and my classmates were wonderful. We worked through several pieces, stopping every now and then to work on parts. And I think that they even sounded better by the end of the hour. (Plus, several of my friends said that they liked my conductinig better than our concertmaster's - personally I think he's the better comductor, but he's a perfectionist which gets to be a bit much for some people).

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Conducting - Help!!!

February 7, 2006 16:39

At school, my director's 2nd daughter could be born any day now. And, in preperation, I was one of the three students selected to conduct for the week he's out.

So if anyone has tips, tricks, or links to information about couducting, I'll gladly take it.

Thanks!

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Twang - Snap

February 6, 2006 21:04

So, I was just playing as usual (the concerto I'm working on that I really don't like), on the d string I might add - when my g broke...... not as scary as when my bridge fell (twice) but I something I want to repeat.

Anyway, when you break strings, how does it usually break? Cause till now I've only seen strings break into two pieces... The core in this string snapped, with the wirs stretched around nothing. It had a nylon core, are those more likely to break than perlon?

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Sectionals and Puppies

February 6, 2006 16:14

So, every few weeks at the high school, we have rehearsals entirely devoted to sectionals (they used to be once a week, but there wern't enough practice rooms/spaces to make that fesible this year. Sectional days are usually really great for everyone, but I don't get to play (section leader = sectional leader = (in high school) conductor). Anyway, heres how the seconds currently stand:
1) me
2) this girl seems really good, but her violin (or playing is really quiet)
3) this girl is also fairly good, she really supports the section volume wise
4) is able to play, but doesn't have the confidence, so she doesn't play out
5) ok, not great... plays out when he knows the part
6) absent due to medical stuff, who knows when he'll be back
7) ... he can't play at all, has never learned about using all four fingers - just slides around with his 1st/2nd fingers. Torommow with his and the director's oks, I'll put tapes on his violin, cause I'm at a loss of what else to do short of him taking lessons
8) ........ if possible, worse... I'll put tapes on his violin too
9) shes new, and seems ok. shes trying to catch up on a month of rehearsals. for a student violin, her violin is really nice

So that what I'm working with....... Today we spent SO much time trying to tune measures note by note. (Just listen to the people around you!!!)
But I think that is was a good hour. I think that some people were able to better understand what the parts are supposed to sound like (we'll see tomorrow...). But I think I wore off a layer of skin on my fingers by snapping for an hour... (note to self - put metronome in case)

Then, in band, we got the lecture about mistakes not being funny. And laughing at your mistakes disrespects you; laughing at others' mistakes disrespects them and the director.

Also, I was talking to the directors about being a music educator, and one of them told me that if I wake up every morning wanting to spend my life sharing music with others then I would be welcome in the world of music educators; but if I wake up some mornings not wanting to play or practice, then music education isn't for me, and I should find something else to do. That seems like on of those important little scretes that often gets glossed over. Maybe music education really is for me...

Regionals is next weekend. My school is hosting this year, which will be very different from every other year (the past two years, is been a 5-6 hour bus ride (very fun).

Off the topic of music, I got my guide dog puppy (a 6 week old golder retriver) on Saturday.. His name is Fen, and he is just plain cute! I'll try to post (or link to) pictures later wher I get back on my other computer.

Thats all for now.

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February 3, 2006 17:39

yikes... quite a bit of new music (not including solo/lesson stuff (about half and half violin/flute) :
Requim
Symphony 1
Symphony 26
Symphony 35
Symphony 40
Symphony 41
Ave Verum Corpus
Alleluja
Magic Flute (in two different groups)
Marriage of Figaro
Amadeus! (arrangement)
(all of the above is by Mozart)
Kanon-Pachelbel
Golden Age Polka - Shostakowich
V Novy Zivot - Suk
Tribute to Lionel - Waignein
Ae Thou My Vision - arr. Cross
Solden Jubilee March - Sousa
National Game March - Sousa
Celebration Overture - Creston (impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Volver a la Montana - Hanson
Smerican Portrait No. 1 - Smith
Carmen Suite - Bizet
Overture to Nabucco - Verdi
American Riversongs - La Plante
Lion of Lucerne - Curnow
Daydream - Mahr
Black Horse Troop - Sousa
Air - Joio
Fanfare and Frippery - Stephan
Pagodas - Meyer
Jazz Suite - Tiffault
Capriol - Warlock
Capriccio Espagnol - RimskyKorsakov
Peer Gynt Suite - Grieg

......... so, I got most of that music this past week.... lots to work on this weekend..............

Also, tomorrow, I get to ride in a car for 10 hours to pick up my guide dog puppy!!!!

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