Setting the stage for summer
Only two more rehearsals 'til Memorial Day, then the following week we jump into our summertime concert series. We're halfway through May already. Where does the time go.
The director was fishin' last week, but he was back...and walked in to a nearly-empty rehearsal space. Something had gone on there last week, necessitating the clearing, and alas we're the ones who have to put it back together. The second chair flute had arrived and had put together "the important row," as she put it (with a wink), but the rest of the band needed setting up. Goody. Those of us there helped the best we could, which in some cases meant moving chairs and stands from the racks on one side of the band clear to the other side. There isn't a whole lot of room to move things around--especially since the very front row was already in place at the time, so there wasn't room to bring any racks up that way--but at one point someone got a chair rack as close to the front as possible, making them less of a hassle to move. There were several current and retired band directors there at the time; the retired ones were like, I thought I gave this up when I left! The current ones were like, I already did this all day at school. You know, it is what it is, and if you've spent any time in a band, you expect this. It's not terribly pleasant, but we deal.
I ended up putting an extra chair in the second row, just in case. Right now we're down two flutes, and I'm not sure how many bassoons will be playing on any given day, but I stuck a chair in between the two sections just 'cause. As it turned out, we *did* have a fourth bassoon. The director started a scholarship program and that girl was the winner, so she will get to play the whole first concert with us and he offered her the chance to play the whole summer if she'd like. My putting the extra chair there meant nobody had to scramble to find another chair and stand. Sweet. Good call. We also got the news that one of our missing flute players, who's on a medical leave, will be back for the summer concerts. Now that is good news.
I'd gotten up to go get something before rehearsal when the section leader stopped me. The piccolo player and her husband had gone to visit family out of state and got stuck in traffic and weren't sure they'd make the rehearsal, in case I needed to jump in. No sooner had she finished talking and I started walking away did the piccolo player appear. Aha, she's here, stand down. But she did tell me that she won't be here for the first concert, and passed over the music, and I'm excited to see there's a big piccolo solo in at least one of the songs. If there's anything in the rest, it's nothing special, but that solo takes up nearly the entire first page of that three-page song, so that's pretty cool. It shouldn't be too hard, either; the flutes had the cues, so I've played through it a few times to some degree. We just haven't played it in ages so I hope it goes okay! I'd been on my way back to grab a marching folio from the music area behind the setup, as we were told to do so. The way the rehearsal schedule was set up that night, it looked like we were running through all the songs for Memorial Day, but no. We also didn't march on Monday. Our single marching rehearsal is on this coming Monday. Pray for no rain! (I am also going out after rehearsal, so I hope it's not too hot. I don't want to be sweaty and gross.)
The director and second assistant director were our two conductors this week; the first assistant director was given a chance, but he politely declined. Guess all went well last week, or well enough. AD2 went through a couple pieces including the John Williams medley, which includes a snippet from "Jaws." Alas, things were not lined up properly, leading to some quips. I started things off by saying, sound like we need braces. The clarinets riffed on that and went, Invisalign! Heh. Yeah, we reconstructed the shark's jaw and it was better. That was probably the most exciting part of band, that and we ended a few minutes early. It's all good. This week has its long moments--I will be working all of Thursday--and next week doesn't start off much better. But I'll go into that later...probably next Wednesday, as that's about the first time I'll be home since Sunday. Not kidding. I have two potentially very long days in a row. Your clue: What (musical) season is it?
The director was fishin' last week, but he was back...and walked in to a nearly-empty rehearsal space. Something had gone on there last week, necessitating the clearing, and alas we're the ones who have to put it back together. The second chair flute had arrived and had put together "the important row," as she put it (with a wink), but the rest of the band needed setting up. Goody. Those of us there helped the best we could, which in some cases meant moving chairs and stands from the racks on one side of the band clear to the other side. There isn't a whole lot of room to move things around--especially since the very front row was already in place at the time, so there wasn't room to bring any racks up that way--but at one point someone got a chair rack as close to the front as possible, making them less of a hassle to move. There were several current and retired band directors there at the time; the retired ones were like, I thought I gave this up when I left! The current ones were like, I already did this all day at school. You know, it is what it is, and if you've spent any time in a band, you expect this. It's not terribly pleasant, but we deal.
I ended up putting an extra chair in the second row, just in case. Right now we're down two flutes, and I'm not sure how many bassoons will be playing on any given day, but I stuck a chair in between the two sections just 'cause. As it turned out, we *did* have a fourth bassoon. The director started a scholarship program and that girl was the winner, so she will get to play the whole first concert with us and he offered her the chance to play the whole summer if she'd like. My putting the extra chair there meant nobody had to scramble to find another chair and stand. Sweet. Good call. We also got the news that one of our missing flute players, who's on a medical leave, will be back for the summer concerts. Now that is good news.
I'd gotten up to go get something before rehearsal when the section leader stopped me. The piccolo player and her husband had gone to visit family out of state and got stuck in traffic and weren't sure they'd make the rehearsal, in case I needed to jump in. No sooner had she finished talking and I started walking away did the piccolo player appear. Aha, she's here, stand down. But she did tell me that she won't be here for the first concert, and passed over the music, and I'm excited to see there's a big piccolo solo in at least one of the songs. If there's anything in the rest, it's nothing special, but that solo takes up nearly the entire first page of that three-page song, so that's pretty cool. It shouldn't be too hard, either; the flutes had the cues, so I've played through it a few times to some degree. We just haven't played it in ages so I hope it goes okay! I'd been on my way back to grab a marching folio from the music area behind the setup, as we were told to do so. The way the rehearsal schedule was set up that night, it looked like we were running through all the songs for Memorial Day, but no. We also didn't march on Monday. Our single marching rehearsal is on this coming Monday. Pray for no rain! (I am also going out after rehearsal, so I hope it's not too hot. I don't want to be sweaty and gross.)
The director and second assistant director were our two conductors this week; the first assistant director was given a chance, but he politely declined. Guess all went well last week, or well enough. AD2 went through a couple pieces including the John Williams medley, which includes a snippet from "Jaws." Alas, things were not lined up properly, leading to some quips. I started things off by saying, sound like we need braces. The clarinets riffed on that and went, Invisalign! Heh. Yeah, we reconstructed the shark's jaw and it was better. That was probably the most exciting part of band, that and we ended a few minutes early. It's all good. This week has its long moments--I will be working all of Thursday--and next week doesn't start off much better. But I'll go into that later...probably next Wednesday, as that's about the first time I'll be home since Sunday. Not kidding. I have two potentially very long days in a row. Your clue: What (musical) season is it?