Orchestra: CYO
Attendance: very good :)
Coaches present: Mr. Lin and Jennifer (thank you!)Repertoire rehearsed: all but Gounod
Little things I noticed: or rather there is something that I hadn't noticed before, and that is, there is this little bosai tree on the platform of the Middletown station, where I take the train from every week. I'm slightly ashamed that I didn't notice it until today...
Another thing (and it is not a good thing). Some people are leaving without helping putting the chairs away after the rehearsal! If each of us all put away the one chair we sat on, then each of us would only have to put one chair away and the room will be clean in matter of seconds (maybe a minute)! A lot of times I see a handful of nice people putting everything away, while many leave without doing anything. Please don't think cleaning up is not your responsibility. If you use something, then it IS your responsibility to put whatever that is back where it was, whether you are at home or in a public place (actually especially in a public place).
Notes:
Once again, congratulations to Olivia for making it into the All-State Orchestra! That's a big deal! Proud of you!
With Mozart, we worked on making differences between major key sections and minor key sections. The first step is recognize them (by LISTENING). At this point, I believe every single one of you is comfortable enough with your own parts to listen and pay attention to what is going on outside of your own parts. Listen to the music, that we are making together, and see what kind of character it is. With Mozart, and especially in this particular piece, he just doesn't give us a break. He constantly goes back and forth between major and minor. So be on your toes!
I'm happy now, because this orchestra has finally (or I should say, "already"!) evolved into a group of "musicians"! We are no longer a bunch pitch producing machines! I'm extremely excited about it, so keep listening and keep singing (with your instruments)!
It made me really really happy when a bunch of you started dancing around while playing Jessel. I loved it, and you guys sounded great too!
Music is most beautiful when the performers themselves are "feeling" the music. Thank you guys!
So what I was trying to say (when my little comment kept getting side tracked, and I had to abandon the thought in the end) is that like in many other cultures that embrace duality of things, where two opposing aspects and characters are viewed as equal (America NOT being one of them), in music, major and minor are opposite forces that compliment each other (you've all heard of "yin and yang", right?). And no, they do not compete. In fact they rely on each other. Without the dark, you wouldn't recognize the light. Without the light, there'd be no shades. Opposites are necessities. These opposing forces give shapes to music, and these shapes create stories. And as musicians, we are story tellers (very vague stories, but stories nevertheless).
Next week, we WILL have a rehearsal, and I was speaking with our favorite janitor, and he said we are welcome to use the theater! I'm thinking of (once again) trying to utilize the projector for our purpose, which didn't go so well in our December concert... But I think I know how to use it better this time, and hopefully they will let us use it, so we can do something fun with it :)
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