Music in the Mountains

May 20, 2008 at 11:08 PM

The North Georgia Chamber Music Retreat was terrific. Nearly 60 musicians played tons of music with varying instrumentation nonstop for the weekend. Everyone brought music to share and I would guess there were 20 bins of chamber music to browse through. The event ran itself - you just picked something you wanted to play and then recruited the required instrmentalists to a cabin front porch, living area, conference center room or sitting room to read through as much or as little of the piece as the group chose. It was a chance to play new music for nearly everyone. I particularly enjoyed the one session of large group music. We played the Tchaikovsky Seranade and several other string orchestra pieces.

I surprised myself with my ability to keep up. Many folks were conservatory or graduate students with outstanding musical skills. Each person had a list of all musicians in attendance and you marked a person off when you played in a group with them. This encouraged mingling and not sticking with friends you already knew plus there was a nice prize for the person who played with the most musicians. I definitely recommend the experience.