Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The CYO Guide

Intro
An orchestra is where people from all different backgrounds, and personal history to come together and work with each other to achieve one common goal. Unlike team sports, our primary goal is NOT to be "better than" another group, but to be as best as we can both as an individual, and as a group, and then share our achievement and the joy of music with the rest of the world. 
If you are more advance than others in your group, then it becomes your responsibility to help out the others, not frown upon them. If you are falling behind, it is your responsibility to seek help from those that are more advanced than you, so you can too make positive contributions to the group.
The reward in this endeavor does not come from stepping on someone else to make you appear taller, but from sense of belonging, and how much we can accomplish as a group. We are to stick together and collaborate and become a single large entity like a school of small fish that can look like one huge animal from afar. In order to do that, we need to figure out how to use our own unique individual qualities to help the group out, and as a result, become less of an individual. Because people achieve so much more when people work together than alone. And that's why we have rehearsals.

Attendance
That being said, attendance is crucial. Everyday, we try to make progress. And every time someone is missing, we go backwards, for those that were missing didn't make the same progress the rest of us did, and we won't sound as good as a group, the next time we get together.
So I'd like to setup a guideline here:
1) Three unexcused absenses and you will not be allowed to play in the next concert. It is only fair that way for the others that do show up every week. Each concert will renew the count, so you will still have a chance next time.
2) Unless it is an emergency, I will expect at least a 24 hour notice for the absence, or I will count as an unexcused absence.
3) Depending on the case, I might count certain lateness, or a number of lateness as one absence (unexcused).

If nothing else, simply "showing up" shows a sign of respect, and make the environment much more pleasant, and other members in the orchestra will be much happier to see you than not.

Seating (for strings)
In many youth orchestras, string students compete with each other for certain seats. To me, this is counter productive. When you compete, sometimes you find yourself trying to be better than those who are already more advanced than you, which is practically impossible. The more practical thing to do is to learn from those more advanced than you, rather than struggling all by yourself. And when you don't get the seat you want, you'll just be grumpy for the rest of the season.
So in CYO, there will be no seating auditions. Seating shall be determined by me and the section leaders, which will be discussed in the next topic. The democracy in the orchestra is that everyone has a chance (we will rotate seats for every concert), and that section leaders, are not necessary (although most frequent) the one that sits in the most prominent seat.

Section Leaders
Starting from this year, I would like to implement more prominent roles for section leaders. I will chose one person from each instrumental section (only if there is more than three people in the section) to be the section leader. And again, they do not HAVE TO sit on the front-most seat. The section leaders will be responsible for basically his/her section: including  the unity of the section, allocation of divisi parts, seating, bowing (for strings), preparedness, behavior, etc. They will also act as a spokesperson for the section, so should any concern arises for the section or someone in the section (musical or not), section leaders should be the one to try to communicate that with me or the coaches. That is not to say, non-section leaders shouldn't talk to us, of course. Of course, I'd like to have good communication with every single person in the orchestra. But if it has to do with this orchestra, I'd like the section leaders to be involved as often as possible, unless it is a very private matter.
I will see if we can acknowledge their leader status on the concert programs so each leaders can have their role actually documented. It is an honorable position that you should put down in your resume, but of course, the trade off is that there is a little bit more work involved.

Now, on to more practical stuff

What To Bring To Each Rehearsals
1) your instrument(s) (obviously)
2) music stands. Please don't rely on the stands at MAC. There are three orchestras there on Thursday nights, and only maybe ten stands at the MAC. And please don't rely on your stand partner, no matter how reliable he or she maybe. It is always better to have more stands than necessary than not enough.
And lastly, but perhaps more important than you imagine,
3) PENCILS!! Bring two or three, bring several. If you don't write down what was mentioned in rehearsals, you will not remember them all, and you will not retain, and therefore not improve. In the professional world, one can be fired for not bringing a pencil. Why would anyone want to perform with someone who doesn't care to get better?
4) a good attitude. Try to be prepared for each rehearsal, but if for some reason, you don't feel too prepared, come with a good attitude anyway. No one in this orchestra is here to judge or be judged. Only to improve oneself and the group. Not having a good attitude will only hinder that process, and THAT might be judged by all who are commited to make this a better group.

Music
For CYO, it is less common for us to be working on a piece of music "exactly" as the composers wrote, therefore we will mostly be using non-original sheet music that are published. Instead we will mostly be using music that I have made certain corrections and arrangements to. Which means that you will be mostly using sheet music printed out of a home printer. And that means lots of loose single sheets of papers. If it is a multiple page sheet music, please please tape them up together. Taped up music will be much harder to lose, and much less likely to fall from your music stand.
Additionally, please do not put them in a clear plastic file/binder. If you do, you cannot write on it, nor will you be able to see the notes properly from all the glare of the stage lights. Please just keep them in your folder that was provided by NJSYO.

Concert Dress
Generally the dress code for the concert will be up on the NJSYO website prior to each concert. I will do my best to communicate my intentions to the board members so that it is reflected on the website, however, there may be times in which my request is not (perfectly) reflected on the website. Please keep checking this blog, and pay attention during rehearsals so you don't end up being the only one wearing white in the sea of black dress.
And yes, it will generally be standard white and black or all black formal wear. Details such as jacket, ties, and other accessories will be discussed during the rehearsals.

And lastly, 

Communication
I'm not a mean conductor, and I try to be as understandable and flexible as possible, while still maintaining the integrity, and discipline of the group and our dignity. As I mentioned, I really appreciate good communications. I feel that what could become an ugly situation can almost always be prevented simply by having good communications. Please don't just assume things. Please make sure that you make sure. If there is a concern, please talk to one of us. And if you have a praise, please say it, to your fellow musicians, to your coaches, board members, or even me :) We all appreciate that don't we? Good thing, not so good thing, whatever, it is always best to talk about it in a civil matter. I treat everything, and  I mean everything, including attendance issues, musical issues, behavioral issues, etc. case by case. This guide line is a "guide line". Not an absolute, follow word-to-word kind of thing. It is only an approximation of the rules to help you understand how I'd like this orchestra to function. In the end, everything shall be determined by what it was communicated to me. And the more you communicate, the better understanding I will have, and the fairer I can be.
Also, if you have good thing to say about the orchestra, please spread the word to your friends, families, and communities outside of us. This orchestra has grown a lot in many ways in the last couple of years, and I'd like to see it keep growing. We are on this journey together. Let's be proud of what we do here, and spread the good vibe, and create a great cycle. 

Looking forward to working with all of you this year!



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