| Author |
Subject |
Ellen
G 
Registered
User
(9/4/00 8:14:40 am)
Reply |
The
Hills Were Alive...
The youth orchestra kids are
great!!! In three days they had I think 7 full rehearsals, a few
sectionals, all sorts of activities, mediocre food but great
cookies. So if you were driving through NY and heard Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 2 or Bizet's Carmen, among others, that was our guys!!!
The conductor of one of our groups also works with the
Boston Youth Orchestra, and apparently their kids do a solid week of
camp in Maine in preparation for the season. (This includes faculty
chamber groups, which I think is great.) Sounds more like bona fide
music camp than a rehearsal weekend.
Am curious as to what
other youth orchestras do, whether their seasons are confined to one
weekly rehearsal or they also do these intensive camps for
preparation. While I can see that a week would make a tremendous
difference musically, I am naturally looking at logistics, time and
money, and the impact on other family members not involved in such
outings. A week is a long time.
Also got my first peek at a
percussion part which has always fascinated me. I mean cellos don't
get X measures of rest, go to the back and read a magazine. Weird.
It is beneficial to get a little instrument awareness or
sensitivity, although I remain hopelessly biased toward
strings.
There was only one other parent besides me that took
an instrument, and we duetted -- but only in a cabin far, far away
from well-trained ears. Down time and meals was spent with the
conductors -- adults stick together, despite our musical rank -- so
I appreciate all the input I've received from you enabling me to
carry on an intelligent conversation. Whew!
And issues were
interesting, such as the training orchestra kids having a "seminar"
on how to select an appropriate audition piece, how the process
works, what matters and why. Although I suppose there are different
schools of thought on it, I couldn't help but think this is a step
in the right direction.
Seating! That was a hot topic:
whether kids should just be rotated throughout the season. And
already, at this age, you can see the factions. Some kids are
serious musicians, envision conservatory and beyond, and seem to
need this type of formal procedure. So what do you do with the kids
who love music, are talented, like this level of performance but
have no intention of taking on the rigors of a professional career.
Things like that. Interesting dialog from all sides, pros and cons,
pros and amateurs. And the BEST part is that you could make a
comment and not have to check the Board in a few hours to see if
someone had written in response. So in that respect, I didn't miss
you guys as much as I usually do.
Also schoo'sl attitude
toward their students' participation in the youth orchestra. Amazing
how cranky some teachers get when their kids leave class for lessons
or a music commitment.
And being a chaperone, overhearing
conversations. A lot more kids could use a sounding board like ICS.
Comments so many of the kids have here about auditions, what lies
ahead, attitudes of non-music friends, etc. I didn't say a word,
just listened. But it is clear people with a musician's soul need to
interact with one another because others, no matter how close they
may be, just don't get it.
|
KeyWestStrings
Registered
User
(9/4/00 8:25:10 am)
Reply |
Re: The
Hills Were Alive...
Hi, Ellen:
Regarding your comment
about kids needing other musicians to interact with, i.e. Cello
Chat---I am reading a biography of Jacqueline du Pre. She REALLY
could have used the ICS board as a child and adolescent. 
Judith McKnight
|
Rebecca1234
Registered User
(9/4/00 10:06:20 am)
Reply |
Re: The
Hills Were Alive...
The Hills were alive with the sound
of music
lalalalala!!!!
hehe sorry
|
Laura
Wichers
Registered
User
(9/4/00 10:39:55 am)
Reply |
Re: The
Hills Were Alive...
"Down time and meals was spent with
the conductors -- adults stick together, despite our musical rank --
so I appreciate all the input I've received from you enabling me to
carry on an intelligent conversation."
I assume, about the
intelligent conversation, you were referring to the other chaperones
and not the conductors? hehehe...
I think that regardless of
dedication/seriousness, kids should be rotated in youth orchestras,
with the exception of the principal and maybe asst principal. In
high school, I started rotated my section after two years of hearing
complaints about who sits where, why are they sitting ahead of me
when they can't play 'x' notes, etc, etc, etc. Besides stopping the
complaining, it gave me an opportunity to sit with each cellist and
get an idea of what I needed to go through in sectionals. Our
section had a wide range of people, and the rotating brought us
together as a group of friends as well as musicians. We even got
comments on the "superb" cello section vs. the other string sections
at festivals! I've also found that losing that competitive edge that
comes with a rock-solid seating arrangement can work wonders for the
people at the back of the section. It's as if they feel trapped and
shoved when they are seated in the back; when you sit them in the
first four, they play out much more and seem happier with
themselves.
And as for the schools' attitudes about missing
class for music activities, I can definitely relate. The majority of
non-musicians seem to think that music is not a valid passtime (or
profession). Missing the academics for a silly little hobby like
orchestra is absolutely awful. I've done a lot of reading about the
many, many, many benefits that playing an instrument offers, not the
least of which is better mathematical and analytical abilities. IMO,
academic teachers need to become aware of these, and other,
benefits. Because they see it as just a silly little hobby, they do
not give it the respect or attention that it deserves. In high
school, I caught a lot of flak for leaving early or missing school
altogether for music activities, and I told them: "It occurred to me
by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition"
- said by Einstein about his theory of relativity. Maybe the
academic teachers don't respect Rubenstein, du Pre, or Feuermann,
but they probably respect Einstein. Wouldn't they like to have a
Nobel prizewinner among their past students? Well, maybe if they
didn't harass those students for missing five minutes to get to an
audition....
-Laura
|
matthias24
Registered
User
(9/4/00 2:41:07 pm)
Reply |
Alas,
'tis true,
yes Ellen. There truly is nothing
more joyful than receiving the percussion parts for a new piece.
Anticipating the wonders that are yet to come as soon as the
directer gets to your section, and fighting over who plays the
Tympani or mallets on this song, or calling out "I want the snare
part!" Only to find the simple word "Tacet" at the top of the page
when you finally DO get your music. And even more joyful yet, can
that "Tacet" mean, when you perhaps didn't finish your homework the
night before, or feel like pulling the big soft Tympani covers up to
take a quick nap while the directer pours his love and attention
over the woodwinds and brass sections. Just as well. They always
seem to ignore us poor percussionists anyway.
~ Aaron
~
|
Corrina
Connor
Registered
User
(9/6/00 3:58:19 am)
Reply |
Re: The
Hills Were Alive...
Regarding your question about Youth
Orchestra seasons:
We have a weekly rehearsal of 2 and a half
hours on a Monday and then we have frequent weekend rehearsals from
9am - 5pm. We have one of these about every four weeks.
We
usually rehearse in tutorials in the morning and then about a four
hour orchestral rehearsal. It is very productive. We used to have a
weekend away camp but they've been canned because some of the older
members of the orchestra don't want to come because as starving Uni
students they need to earn money in the weekend, and can't come to
camp without loosing money.
So, these 1 day rehearsals are
better because people can come and go as they require!!
As
you say, logistics and costs can sometimes make the event
unfeasible.
Also a week is really tiring!!
We do have
a National Youth ORchestra. This is the top 91 musicians (under 25
years of age) in the country. The auditions are hard (many excerpts
from Bartok Concerto for Orchestra/Mahler/Shostakovich etc). The
excerpts and members are chosen by NZSO principals.
They meet
for nine days from the first weekend in September. I know that it is
extremely expensive to run, because the fee per player is only $90!
This is to encourage many people. They also have masterclasses,
seminars, chamber music. Conductors have been Ben Zander and Mark
Churchill. The orchestra is 41 years old.
I do know that they
have to work out timetabling VERY carefully to prevent burnout, and
keep the concentration of all the members - the youngest being
11.
Seating: in neither of the orchestras I play in, or in
NYO we don't rotate. We are assigned desks after auditions. It is
not best at the front, worst at the back. It is very carefully
thought out because our excellent conductor believes in strong backs
of sections. Occasionally, if he thinks that we need a shake up, he
mixes up the desks, so the back desk comes to the front etc. Also,
if he thinks at concerts somebody is not pulling their weight, he
brings them up to the second desk. It works. We play better! A
regime of fear reigns, but all in fun. It is good to have a
conductor who treats us like proper musicians (which we are). Nobody
is shoved to the back. However when people are absent we move up to
fill the spaces, so everybody is friendly. We have many music
majors, other majors, school kids etc. . .some who are serious to do
performance, and some who want to keep up their skills. Playing Shos
10 at the moment will definitely keep up skills!!
I think
that this is good, because it bodes well for community orchestras in
the future - the fact that amatuers will be better and
better.
School - will, everybody has trouble with that. The
simplist option is to leave (or never go!!!!!!) Yes, it is a
struggle for many people, but well, it's there. . .  another
trial
Aaron - I'm fond of percussionists 
CORRINA
|
matthias24
Registered
User
(9/6/00 9:31:16 pm)
Reply |
YAY!!!
Thank you so much!
~ Aaron ~
| |
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands (Moderator only)