On February 12th, 2013, was a concert I never want to forget. This year, the Utah Philharmonia and the USU Symphony Orchestra combined together to perform Igor Stravinky's Rite of Spring, in honor of it's 100th birthday!
Synopsis
The Rite of Spring was originally a ballet, premiered in 1913. This piece was very much ahead of it's time, and caused a near riot! Imagine a aristocratic audience who are accustomed to the beauty and elegance of ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The opening of the piece was enough to cause confusion. It begins with a bassoon solo, in the top of it's range--way out of the range any composer had dared to write for the bassoon. People would lean over and ask each other, "What instrument is that?" The savage, ritualistic nature is revealed quickly with the strange orchestration, voo-doo sounding rhythms, accents on strange beats, constantly changing meters, and provocative choreography. The setting of the ballet is in ancient pagan Russia, about a tribe and the various rituals that take place in preparation for spring. The ballet ultimately ends with a young female sacrifice who dances herself to death. Compared to a ballet about love and swans, this might be a little bit shocking.
Though it was originally a ballet, the orchestral music of Rite of Spring is most often performed alone (In fact, the choreography was lost for many years). The music in itself is enough to keep you on your toes! It is a fascinating piece, one that I had heard growing up (I am glad for classical music parents), but never fully appreciated until I got to perform the piece!
Combining Orchestras
The reason we combined orchestras was because of the vast orchestration of this piece. It calls for about double the instruments of a typical orchestral ensemble! Rehearsing was pretty interesting, because we could only rehearse all together a couple of times before the concert. Before we combined, we just rehearsed without all of the other parts. We actually had a few players at the U who weren't members of the orchestra (but amazing players) sit in and cover some of the parts. Since our school covered most of the first parts, I kept wondering what their rehearsal must be like having the 2nd and 3rd parts but no first parts...I asked one of the other flute players and she said her conductor did a lot of singing! Ours did too, actually, because every part is important. Even 2nd and 3rd wind players have a few solos in this piece, which makes it a lot of fun.
I played the piccolo 1 part. There are 5 flute parts for this orchestra! 1st, 2nd, 3rd/doubles on 2nd piccolo, piccolo 1, and alto flute. Our orchestra covered the 1st, 3rd/2nd pic, and pic parts, and the USU Symphony doubled the 3rd fl/2nd pic part, and covered 2nd flute and alto. What I love about the flute and piccolo parts in this piece is that every part is important--it was never the sole role of a part to play an octave under the high parts, there was a lot of switching off. The alto flute has a lot of long solos in this piece. For the piccolo parts, the function of the 2 parts was usually to switch off, play 2 different lines or whatever, but they were written in unison a few times. I was worried since we had two people on the 2nd piccolo (3rd flute part), but with the piece being as loud as it was, and us being good players able to play in tune, it turned out great.
I loved playing the piccolo part, it was a lot of fun, and very challenging. There really isn't anyone who doesn't have a challenging part in this piece. I was listening to professional recordings quite often while I was learning this piece, because there were some extremely challenging sections. Counting was so essential in this piece, but sometimes that wasn't purely enough--I really had to "feel" where the beats and off beats were to fit my part in. On some sections the piccolo part often had it a little tougher than the flutes because while they were playing an entire line, the piccolo would play on the accented beats, which were usually weird off beats and stuff. It took some time, and some embarrassing moments playing high notes in completely wrong places, but I got the feel of it, and it was enjoyable!
The piece is impossible to sight read, but once it is put together and everyone knows how their parts fit in, you start to hear the true genius of this piece of music.
The Performances
We had 2 performances: the first was February 12th, at Kingsbury Hall at the U. The 2nd was on February 23rd at Utah State University in Logan. Each conductor got to be the conductor at the other's school.
The first performance, February 12th: After rehearsing all day together on Saturday, and a few hours on the 12th before the concert, it was performance time! Rehearsing was a little scary, I must admit. There was some getting lost, but overall it came together great.
But, when we were on stage, I have never felt the atmosphere transform so much from rehearsal to the concert. There was something in the air, everyone was completely focused, and listening to each other, and the performance was absolutely outstanding. Even I had finally got this one little section I had never gotten quite right before...it was great. I will post the recording soon!
The second performance, this was really really sad for me....I got very ill starting a few days before the concert. And I didn't make it. I had a substitute.
My throat was so sore, I felt like someone had went inside and banged a hammer all over the inside of me or something. Apparently it wasn't strep throat, the doc said it was just a stupid virus I had to wait out. Not good....
Okay, so before you judge, you need to understand, I have been a performer for many years. 6 years in the Army Band, I performed through many physical ailments--viruses, allergies, near heat exhaustion, 8 and 1/2 months pregnant. I also performed in every weather condition you can think of. Rain, snow and ice, temperatures from below 0 to above 115.
So when I got this dumb throat thing that made it so I could not even blow a note on my piccolo....it was beyond ridiculous, but I couldn't. Two days before the concert, I realized how bad of shape I was in and I was trying all different kinds of medicines and home ailments but nothing would help. Pain meds helped some, but no amount of decogestants or cough medicine would help me.
We had a rehearsal on Thursday, and I decided to sit it out in hope extra rest would help me recover. There was a flute player at our school who had been sitting in playing 2nd flute in our rehearsals, and he is an amazing player who has been section leader of the Philharmonia and Wind Ensemble several times before, and also played piccolo a lot, so I knew he could do it. I called him and he sat in rehearsal that day with no problems, and said he would cover for me on Saturday if I needed him to. Which I did, sadly. But he did a fantastic job. Thank goodness. If it weren't for him, I would have showed up, and I would have played the best I could, but I would have been coughing and stopping in the middle of playing and it would have been bad. Me playing in that concert would not do the rest of the group justice.
Why am I ending on such a sad note? Wahhh, Wo is me.
Rite of Spring = AWESOME! Recording coming soon!
Check out the blog post written by Dr. Robert Baldwin, conductor of the Philharmonia at the U:
http://beforethedownbeat.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/the-rite-stuff/
Friday, March 15, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
My First Conducting Experience
At the University of Utah I am a member of the Runnin' FlUtes Choir (it's a play on the "Runnin' Utes"), and it is tradition in our group to give Music Education majors a chance to conduct a piece on a concert. I was very honored and privileged to be able to rehearse and conduct a flute choir arrangement of "The Moldau" by Bedrich Smetana. It was arranged by Kyril Magg.
Rehearsing and conducting this piece for the Flute Choir was certainly a learning experience for me. It has given me even more respect for all of my current and past music teachers and conductors and the great work that they do.
There is so much preparation involved in conducting a piece, and the Moldau is no easy piece! I played this piece with the flute choir my first year at the U. Learning the flute part was a challenge, but learning the score and conducting the piece was a completely different experience.
Challenge # 1: Multi-Tasking
My first couple of rehearsals, even though I had listened to the piece a dozen times, studied the score and practiced, I found myself getting lost in the music quite a few times. There are many repetitive sections, and because I was spending so much time looking at and engaging the players, I would easily lose track. If I was looking at the score, I would forget to pay attention to the details of how the ensemble was playing the music.
To help me with this, eventually I had to mark every section with different letters and numbers, which helped me stay at the right place in the score, as well as memorize the phrasing better (such as knowing how many times a certain phrase or idea would be repeated). I hope that over time I will figure out ways to keep myself engaged in both the score and the group.
This reminds me of the few times I have been asked to speak in church--I would bring notes to glance at as I spoke, but often when I would look up and speak to the congregation, I would look down and have no clue where I left off. One time I sat there going "uhhhh" for a minute, and repeated myself a couple of times before I got on track. Well, that's me and a score. Multi-tasking certainly has never been my talent.
Challenge #2: Error Detection
Another challenge for me was being able to listen to and hear all of the different parts and detect issues. If I was following a certain line or two, it was easy for me to ignore other parts that were going on. One thing I did to rectify this was to make note of the lines that had difficult parts in certain sections and focus mostly on those. By the end of rehearsing with the group, I think I was starting to get a hang of this.
Challenge #3: Rehearsal Preparation
My first couple of rehearsals actually went fairly well, because I had very specific musical aspects I needed to work on with the various sections. But there came a rehearsal that I found myself completely lost about how to fix a certain section. It was the last section of the piece. It is technically difficult for the players, and there are several tempo changes. I knew I wanted to work on that section, but I didn't have a plan on how I was going to address issues. In fact, I didn't even make an actual assessment beforehand about what the actual problems would be, which was the players listening to each other and moving their notes together. I found myself staring at the score a couple of times, with absolutely nothing constructive to say. I was not prepared for this. I was teaching my peers, fellow flute players I had played next to for years, and now they are all staring at me and waiting for me to tell them what to do. If it felt awkward getting lost in front of my colleagues that I know well and are all good friends, it will feel really awkward when I go out in the real world in front of a group of students who don't know me at all, and will judge me according to every move I make! After that rehearsal, I made sure I had a clear plan! Though the plan would often deviate (flexibility is important!), at least I didn't again find myself staring at the group going, "Duhhhhhhh."
The Performance
After all was said and done, the performance went very well. We have great players in this group. What would I have done differently? I wish I had recorded my rehearsals. I thought about it a few times, but I always forgot to bring the camera.
These are the pieces played on the concert. I will soon including audio recordings/
La Milonga
-C. Caliendo
Brazilian piece, very lively and jazzy!
Four Japanese Folk Songs
1. Kuroda Bushi
2. The Girl of Shonai
3. Soran Bushi
4. Kusatsu Bushi
-Traditional
-Arr. Cathey
Just like it's name, four Japanese folk songs, a really great arrangement.
Carmen Fantaisie
Flute Soloists:
Ashley Bolnick
Tori Sohm
Stefania Neumann
-Bizet (1838-1875)
-Flute Solo Part: Borne
-Arr. Simpson
The 3 soloists were members of our flute choir. This is a very virtuosic piece, split into three sections, and the soloists did an amazing job. The flute choir arrangement was taken from the flute and piano arrangement by Borne, and the having a flute choir accompaniment brings so much color to this piece.
Jamaican Rhapsody
-Traditional
-Arr. Nowak
Includes the piece "Daylights come back, me wanna go home?" At least that is what I think the lyrics to the song is....It's in the movie Beetle Juice! haha
Trio Sonata in G Major
III. Adagio e piano
IV. Presto
-J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Alicia Kim-Flute
Cindy Chen-Flute
Rachel Jorgensen-Cello
A classic trio by Bach
The Moldau
Melanie Addington-Conductor
-Smetana (1824-1884)
-Arr. Magg
If you haven't heard the orchestral version, listen to it! This is my all time favorite classical piece.
Innes Glas Mor
1. Lovely But Rugged
2. Kylemore Abbey
3. Gogarty’s Pub
-Lisa LeMay
***Amazing piece. There is a penny whistle part written. There are so many awesome moments in this piece, it's a brilliant arrangement.
Maple Leaf Rag
Joplin (1867/68?-1917)
Arr. Hurwitz
What we didn't have room to put on the program was the 7 (or something) different titles given to this piece. Each part had a different title on their part. I played the second part, which was the "Maple Leaf Rug." Others were "Rack," "Ruck," and several more I can't remember. So cute!! Haha. Another great arrangement.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Me in Nutshell
Where do I begin? I am a flute player, and a Music Education Major at the University of Utah. I have a wonderful husband and 5 year old son.
I love music, I love my family, and I just love life in general! I believe in living life to the fullest, always being open to new possibilities, and to never stop learning!
I have had many experiences in my life, many ups, and many downs, and have learned many lessons the hard way. But the hardships I have endured in my life has only made me stronger, and I have always had the support of family and friends, and God has truly blessed me.
I will just start at the beginning!
CHILDHOOD-HIGH SCHOOL (1984-2003)
I grew up in a musical family. Both sides of my family are HUGE, and are very talented musically and academically. My parents forced piano lessons upon me as a child, which I now appreciate VERY much because it gave me a good foundation in music that brought me where I am today! I also sang in church choirs, singing the alto part which taught me how to sight read music fairly well.
In middle school my parents allowed me to choose an instrument, and if I did I could give up piano lessons to take lessons for that instrument! I chose the flute because I just thought it sounded fun, and I thought the flute had a beautiful sound. Once I started playing I never wanted to put it down!
I think I often underestimated myself as a kid. I was usually a lower chair because I didn't do well playing at auditions and playing tests--I got very nervous! But it was okay because I was content where I was. I was dedicated to practicing and improving, and I did very well at local competitions.
In high school, I joined the sophomore band, and that Christmas my parents got me a new flute. It made the biggest difference in my playing (I was playing on an awful used one before) and I improved very much, very quickly. I moved up to 2nd chair (I didn't try for 1st, because the girl who was in 1st was teacher's pet and I didn't want to even try to mess with that--though looking back it is so silly!). I made it into the top band in my Junior year. I also was involved in choir in high school, and in my junior year I was a member or the A capella choir, and "Cantatrise" (elite women's choir in my high school). I have always loved to sing as well. In my senior year I was a member of A Capella and Madrigals, and 2nd chair in the band, once again. I made it to first, but the girl who I beat in the audition (they were blind auditions) kept challenging for 1st chair every week, until one week we both played awful (I honestly think it burned us both out! haha) and she played a little less bad than me. At that point I was just like, whatever, and let her keep it since her heart was so set on it. I made it as Principal flute player in the district orchestra, so I was very happy with that! I also played my first concerto, Chaminade, at my high school, and played it again for the district orchestra. It was an amazing experience.
My high school flute teacher was Nancy Walker, who was an awesome teacher that I will always be grateful for! I thought she was nuts with some of the music she put in front of me to learn, but it challenged me and helped me to reach new heights in music.
ARMY BAND (2003-2009)
After high school I joined the Army and spent 6 years Active Duty in the Army Band. I was stationed in Camp Zama, Japan, and Fort Gordon, GA. The Army was one of the craziest decisions I ever made. Even now people are often surprised when I tell them I am in the military. But it was one of the best! I learned hard work, perseverance, dedication, leadership, confidence, and so many qualities that helped shape who I am today. I also grew so much musically being in the Army Band. We played in so many different situations--rain, snow and ice, or 100+ degrees and humidity, we were there! In Japan we traveled all over the country to perform and maintain friendship and relations with the Japanese. We were the face of the Army in Japan. In Georgia we did many last minute, middle of the night gigs to support troops coming home from deployment.
While I was stationed in Japan I got married and gave birth to my sweet little boy. However I am divorced and remarried now, to a wonderful man who cares for my son like he is his own.
COLLEGE (2009-current)
I took night classes here and there while I was in the Army, but I really began my college career when I got off Active Duty and started at the University of Utah. My first year at the U, I wanted to major in music, but at the time I was a single mom and was worried that I would be unable to support my son, because music jobs are scarce. I took general education classes, and was thinking I would minor in music and major in Special Education. I auditioned for the ensembles at the school of music and made it as piccolo player in the Philharmonia, which is the top orchestra at the U, and the flute choir (Runnin' Fl'Utes!). When I was at school, the only time I felt that I was where I needed to be was when I was in the music building. So in the Spring I switched to Music Education. I decided to go with my heart, and I am glad I chose that path. I still don't know where it will lead me, but that is part of the adventure!
I love music, I love my family, and I just love life in general! I believe in living life to the fullest, always being open to new possibilities, and to never stop learning!
I have had many experiences in my life, many ups, and many downs, and have learned many lessons the hard way. But the hardships I have endured in my life has only made me stronger, and I have always had the support of family and friends, and God has truly blessed me.
I will just start at the beginning!
CHILDHOOD-HIGH SCHOOL (1984-2003)
I grew up in a musical family. Both sides of my family are HUGE, and are very talented musically and academically. My parents forced piano lessons upon me as a child, which I now appreciate VERY much because it gave me a good foundation in music that brought me where I am today! I also sang in church choirs, singing the alto part which taught me how to sight read music fairly well.
In middle school my parents allowed me to choose an instrument, and if I did I could give up piano lessons to take lessons for that instrument! I chose the flute because I just thought it sounded fun, and I thought the flute had a beautiful sound. Once I started playing I never wanted to put it down!
I think I often underestimated myself as a kid. I was usually a lower chair because I didn't do well playing at auditions and playing tests--I got very nervous! But it was okay because I was content where I was. I was dedicated to practicing and improving, and I did very well at local competitions.
In high school, I joined the sophomore band, and that Christmas my parents got me a new flute. It made the biggest difference in my playing (I was playing on an awful used one before) and I improved very much, very quickly. I moved up to 2nd chair (I didn't try for 1st, because the girl who was in 1st was teacher's pet and I didn't want to even try to mess with that--though looking back it is so silly!). I made it into the top band in my Junior year. I also was involved in choir in high school, and in my junior year I was a member or the A capella choir, and "Cantatrise" (elite women's choir in my high school). I have always loved to sing as well. In my senior year I was a member of A Capella and Madrigals, and 2nd chair in the band, once again. I made it to first, but the girl who I beat in the audition (they were blind auditions) kept challenging for 1st chair every week, until one week we both played awful (I honestly think it burned us both out! haha) and she played a little less bad than me. At that point I was just like, whatever, and let her keep it since her heart was so set on it. I made it as Principal flute player in the district orchestra, so I was very happy with that! I also played my first concerto, Chaminade, at my high school, and played it again for the district orchestra. It was an amazing experience.
My high school flute teacher was Nancy Walker, who was an awesome teacher that I will always be grateful for! I thought she was nuts with some of the music she put in front of me to learn, but it challenged me and helped me to reach new heights in music.
ARMY BAND (2003-2009)
After high school I joined the Army and spent 6 years Active Duty in the Army Band. I was stationed in Camp Zama, Japan, and Fort Gordon, GA. The Army was one of the craziest decisions I ever made. Even now people are often surprised when I tell them I am in the military. But it was one of the best! I learned hard work, perseverance, dedication, leadership, confidence, and so many qualities that helped shape who I am today. I also grew so much musically being in the Army Band. We played in so many different situations--rain, snow and ice, or 100+ degrees and humidity, we were there! In Japan we traveled all over the country to perform and maintain friendship and relations with the Japanese. We were the face of the Army in Japan. In Georgia we did many last minute, middle of the night gigs to support troops coming home from deployment.
While I was stationed in Japan I got married and gave birth to my sweet little boy. However I am divorced and remarried now, to a wonderful man who cares for my son like he is his own.
COLLEGE (2009-current)
I took night classes here and there while I was in the Army, but I really began my college career when I got off Active Duty and started at the University of Utah. My first year at the U, I wanted to major in music, but at the time I was a single mom and was worried that I would be unable to support my son, because music jobs are scarce. I took general education classes, and was thinking I would minor in music and major in Special Education. I auditioned for the ensembles at the school of music and made it as piccolo player in the Philharmonia, which is the top orchestra at the U, and the flute choir (Runnin' Fl'Utes!). When I was at school, the only time I felt that I was where I needed to be was when I was in the music building. So in the Spring I switched to Music Education. I decided to go with my heart, and I am glad I chose that path. I still don't know where it will lead me, but that is part of the adventure!
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