Fall Concert 2019
Going into this concert, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Do we get the trainwreck, or do we stay on track? Only one way to find out...
The sound check was fine. For the most part, there were no major balance issues, and we ran through some of our tricky sections and they seemed to go okay. All right. Fingers crossed.
We also had a special guest in the audience--our ailing clarinet player. She showed up in a wheelchair, but she was in good spirits and talking to people, so much so that every time I walked by, I never got a chance to say hi. Not that I know her that well, but still.
Most things ended up okay. The medieval variant piece AD1 did came SO CLOSE to not having the counting issue. This is the "rest, two-e-and, rest, four-e-and" part I've mentioned before. It lasts for several measures and we had four measures that were just fine, plus the dress rehearsal went fine, and then we hit the fifth and sixth measures of it and somebody to my left came in on one, creating an echo effect. Sigh. So close. Again, it was either the bari or tenor sax. The flute piece went okay. I'd practiced Friday night and took the trickiest part down to half-time speed, i.e., correct tempo, but played 16th notes as 8th notes to really solidify the fingering, and then stepped it up to about 20 BPM faster. I then practiced it at the proper tempo and counting, and what a difference it made. Overall, it went well for the concert. Most things were fine. Oh, and the big band medley, we made sure to go over the one really bad transition and it ended up being pretty solid, so phew. There were a lot of sighs of relief once this concert ended. The funny moment came during the "radio music" portion, where our emcee said, I have nothing to do with this... Sure enough, the director grabbed the wireless mic and said a few things before conducting us in all the little bits. He's told us all of this before but the way he explained it to the audience helped it make a little more sense. It seemed to go okay. We ended with our medley of service songs in honor of Veterans Day.
Before the concert, as we started the sound check, AD2 came on the podium to talk a little about our holiday concert next month. The plan is to have about an hour's worth of music for the band to play, and if any small ensembles wished to participate, let her know. We took an informal poll and the flutes were game. We're having a rehearsal at 7 PM on Thursday to see what music we have and who has what parts, and then at 6:30 next Monday before rehearsal, AD2 will help us out with whatever we've narrowed it down to. AD2 also said, turn to your neighbor and tell them where this next concert will be. There was a loud chorus of "X High School!" Well, good that people know! Tex had also turned and asked my high school stand partner if she was able to do the flute choir; uh, well, this concert is the end of her stint with us. I did tell her that if she was interested in continuing to play with us, she could talk with AD2 about it. I'm not sure she wants to, but I did say, you have not been detrimental to the ensemble. The Eb clarinet player added, it's cool if you stay. You could stay forever as far as I'm concerned, heh.
All I know is that this busy weekend was a kickoff to a potentially busy week--I've got two work things to consider for Thursday, plus I need to renew my driver's license and that has the potential to be a hassle and a half--so to add one more thing to Thursday is...not exactly great, but I'll deal. I'm more concerned about the weather. Talk about the potential to be a hassle.
The sound check was fine. For the most part, there were no major balance issues, and we ran through some of our tricky sections and they seemed to go okay. All right. Fingers crossed.
We also had a special guest in the audience--our ailing clarinet player. She showed up in a wheelchair, but she was in good spirits and talking to people, so much so that every time I walked by, I never got a chance to say hi. Not that I know her that well, but still.
Most things ended up okay. The medieval variant piece AD1 did came SO CLOSE to not having the counting issue. This is the "rest, two-e-and, rest, four-e-and" part I've mentioned before. It lasts for several measures and we had four measures that were just fine, plus the dress rehearsal went fine, and then we hit the fifth and sixth measures of it and somebody to my left came in on one, creating an echo effect. Sigh. So close. Again, it was either the bari or tenor sax. The flute piece went okay. I'd practiced Friday night and took the trickiest part down to half-time speed, i.e., correct tempo, but played 16th notes as 8th notes to really solidify the fingering, and then stepped it up to about 20 BPM faster. I then practiced it at the proper tempo and counting, and what a difference it made. Overall, it went well for the concert. Most things were fine. Oh, and the big band medley, we made sure to go over the one really bad transition and it ended up being pretty solid, so phew. There were a lot of sighs of relief once this concert ended. The funny moment came during the "radio music" portion, where our emcee said, I have nothing to do with this... Sure enough, the director grabbed the wireless mic and said a few things before conducting us in all the little bits. He's told us all of this before but the way he explained it to the audience helped it make a little more sense. It seemed to go okay. We ended with our medley of service songs in honor of Veterans Day.
Before the concert, as we started the sound check, AD2 came on the podium to talk a little about our holiday concert next month. The plan is to have about an hour's worth of music for the band to play, and if any small ensembles wished to participate, let her know. We took an informal poll and the flutes were game. We're having a rehearsal at 7 PM on Thursday to see what music we have and who has what parts, and then at 6:30 next Monday before rehearsal, AD2 will help us out with whatever we've narrowed it down to. AD2 also said, turn to your neighbor and tell them where this next concert will be. There was a loud chorus of "X High School!" Well, good that people know! Tex had also turned and asked my high school stand partner if she was able to do the flute choir; uh, well, this concert is the end of her stint with us. I did tell her that if she was interested in continuing to play with us, she could talk with AD2 about it. I'm not sure she wants to, but I did say, you have not been detrimental to the ensemble. The Eb clarinet player added, it's cool if you stay. You could stay forever as far as I'm concerned, heh.
All I know is that this busy weekend was a kickoff to a potentially busy week--I've got two work things to consider for Thursday, plus I need to renew my driver's license and that has the potential to be a hassle and a half--so to add one more thing to Thursday is...not exactly great, but I'll deal. I'm more concerned about the weather. Talk about the potential to be a hassle.