Home!

I'm finally home after a long two months filled with lots of music and lots of orchestra experience. It's really amazing how much repertoire we covered in such a short amount of time, considering the fact that we're a music "camp," not a professional orchestra. Here's the list of rep we did on concerts alone...that doesn't include other readings.

Barber: Overture to The School for Scandal

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major

Berlioz: Les Troyens; Royal Hunt and Storm

Bizet: L’arlésienne, Suite No. 1

Bizet: L’arlésienne, Suite No. 2

Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major

Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Debussy: Petite Suite

Dvorak: Symphony No. 8 in G Major

Haydn: Symphony No. 87 in A Major

Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses

Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major

Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor

Smetana: Overture to The Bartered Bride

Strauss, R.: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks

Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major

Wow that's a lot...and it's really hard, too. We're not talking arrangements of Bach concertos, we're talking rep that you would hear at any concert by any professional orchestra.

The Final Stretch

Well, it's down to the last week now. I can feel things starting to wrap up and I couldn't be more excited to go home. It's been a great experience but I really am burnt out. I've started to wonder that if I can't survive eight weeks of this, how am I supposed to do it 52 weeks out of the year? I think doing it as a job would be a lot different than doing it as a summer camp, so that is reassuring. As an orchestra player, music would just be a part of my life, rather than a consumer of my life. I think my stamina for long rehearsals has definitely grown, so my lack of enjoyment is not necessarily a physical issue, even though I have had some problems with my wrist. I think I'm burnt out because I'm honestly just sick of doing the same routine every day, seeing the same people, none of whom are my family, and it just gets old after a while.

In the next post I want to list all of the repertoire that I've played this summer, because it really is a huge list!

Next...

Wow, I only have two concerts left! It's amazing how fast this summer has gone, but at the same time I can't wait to go home.

Earlier today I played in an opera scenes masterclass. A reduced orchestra performed scenes from operas of Handel, Haydn, and Mozart. It was a pretty good experience; I really love opera music and this Classical-Baroque style is enjoyable for me to play. A lot of full time orchestras continue performances in the summer, but instead of traditional symphonic concerts, they perform as the orchestra for an opera company season. I've never played opera before, so this gave me a nice introduction. The only problem I have is that unlike a regular concert, the orchestra is crammed in a small pit and usually the instrumentalists have to live and perform in the shadow of the singers. Let's face it, the patrons care more about operatic divas than a rockin' viola section. However, it can be very rewarding if you approach it with a fairly selfless attitude.

Next concert: Strauss Til Eulenspeigel, Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3, Beethoven Symphony No. 6. WOW! Lots of notes to learn...

What a life...

I've been thinking a lot lately about orchestra salaries. I don't think I knew how much you could actually get paid just for being in an orchestra. Cincinnati base salary STARTS at $91,000 for a 52-week season. Chicago? Almost $150,000. It's amazing to me that I could get paid more than my parents make combined just for doing my "hobby." I do have to give myself a reality check from time to time though...there's no way I'm going to hop right into one of these orchestras after school. It's going to take time and lots of work. I'll probably have to pull myself up a ladder...start with a lower-tiered orchestra and move up the rungs of prestige to a Cincinnati or Chicago. But hey, it's a pretty sweet deal to make six digits doing what you love.

I'm hopefully going to take a couple auditions this fall to get my feet wet. Lexington is having sub auditions and rumor has it Dayton will announce a section opening. Kentucky would be nice, but I don't know if there's going to be an opening.

I decided that I would really like to play in Cincinnati and live downtown, either in a condo in the gateway quarters or an apartment in the Banks. Yeah, cause I could totally afford to drop $1000 a month since I'd be making bank in the Symphony!

Back into gear...

Well we had a week off of orchestra, but rehearsals start up again tomorrow. I think it will be good for me to get back into gear. It's been nice having some time off, but I do miss orchestra a LITTLE. Our concert coming up is Mozart Symphony 40, Haydn Symphony 87, and the Shostakovich Cello Concerto. This should be a fairly easy concert considering Mozart and Haydn didn't write very difficult viola parts. It will be a nice way to get back in the swing of things.

I had a really refreshing lesson today. My teacher was really positive and I think it's exactly what I needed to boost my attitude. We worked on Kreutzer, Bartok, and Bach. It's such a nice feeling to have the Hindemith competition over with so I can focus on some other repertoire. It's a really nice breath of fresh air.

Relief!

Well, the viola preliminary round of the competition was tonight. I played pretty horribly and I'm really disappointed in myself. I was really upset at first, but I've been getting progressively better. In the music world, you can't always succeed, and I think it was just my time to fail. It's definitely an experience I want to forget, but at the same time I can learn a lot from it. I'm really just glad it's over...it's a huge burden off my shoulders. I also feel like it was hindering some progress I had hoped to make in AACA, so now I can focus more on developing technically.

Finally, a break!

Sorry it's been so long. I've been very busy trying to prepare for the concerto competition and for our most recent concert, which was today. We performed Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses, Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto, and Berlioz's "Hunt and Storm" from Les Troyens. This concert had sooo many notes to learn. I hate to admit it, but I worked more on my faking skills than on the actual music. I feel a little guilty, but at the same time I have to set my priorities. Right now, the Hindemith competition is most important.

Luckily, I haven't been called for the next concert so I get the week off. This is perfect timing because the competition takes place on Monday, so I have several days of free practice time.

I'm going to get to bed, but I will do better with updating!

Going strong...

It's time for another cycle of music already. It's so hard to give a concert and have such a quick turnaround in terms of repertoire. There are still so many things that I feel need work in the Stravinsky, but I have to completely rid that music from my mind for the time being and focus on the next set of music. Tuesday we will be performing Smetana's Bartered Bride Overture, Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor and Brahms's second symphony. This isn't light music...there are tons of notes that require lots of work and focus and I'm still trying to develop ways of practicing more economically...we'll see how that goes.

I have noticed a huge difference in my energy levels from day to day. I think one of the big keys is to let off the gas pedal as much as possible. It's not that I half-ass a rehearsal, but I don't put as much physical energy into performing as I would at a concert. One other thing I have noticed is that good posture really helps how I feel physically after a long rehearsal. Who would have though that proper body balance and alignment would be good for you? The biggest key is keeping feet planted flat on the ground, no matter how tempting it is to cross your feet or stick them under your chair. I'll be experimenting more with this as the week goes on.

I'm still trying to figure out how to use these sound clips...

Until next time...

One down...

After a week of lengthy preparation, we finally performed our first concert. Surprisingly, I had a really good time. I think I had the most fun I've ever had at a concert. I had a great stand partner and fed off of her energy as well as the energy of the whole orchestra. It's so nice to play in an orchestra in which every single person is talented and knows how to communicate on a musical level. Times like these make me want to never leave orchestra!

I think I did a great job saving my energy for the concert. I realized that in rehearsals, it's not always necessary to put in even half effort. In the case of AACA, the rehearsals are mainly for the conductors anyway, so there is no point in wasting energy when it's not necessary. That way it is actually possible to pull out all the stops for the concert without becoming completely exhausted. That being said, I would love to reach a point where I am able to put in a fair amount of work for each service, whether it be a rehearsal or concert, but I think that skill is something that develops with years of experience.

A few weeks ago I played in a master class with Lynne Ramsey from the Cleveland Orchestra. She was talking about all the great orchestra repertoire and to sum it all up she exclaimed, "playing in orchestra is FUN!!!" This is how I feel right now. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to play so much amazing music with people I enjoy working with. Sometimes it seems like getting paid to do this full time would just be icing on the cake.

Stress City!

We've started rehearsals for our first concert. The program is Barber's School for Scandal Overture, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, and Dvorak's Symphony No. 8. I've played the Dvorak before but the other pieces are fairly new...and there are about a million notes to learn in each of them. I feel like I got slapped in the face with this music at the first rehearsal! Our concert is Tuesday so I have a couple days to learn it, but I have a lesson on Sunday so I have to prepare solo repertoire as well.

I might enter the concerto competition for low strings; the viola piece is the concerto I'm working on now, Der Schwanendreher by Hindemith. It's a good goal to have since I need to learn the rest of the concerto anyway, but it is definitely hard balancing it with orchestra work. I realize that this isn't something I would necessarily have to do as a professional orchestra player, but the added stress is certainly not helping my attitude towards a music career.

So...it's time to get organized and sort out priorities. Practicing seems like a good idea, but I need to organize my practicing to make it as efficient and effective as possible. It would help if I didn't have three hour rehearsals tomorrow and Sunday, but that's life...that's the "professional" schedule. I'm going to try to take it easy in tomorrow's rehearsal to hopefully save some energy. I'll also work on my sitting posture to see if that helps at all.

A good day of music always starts with a good night of sleep...

The fun begins...

Tuesday was the first official day of work at the festival. Some of the orchestras don’t start rehearsing until later in the week, but the AACA orchestra kicked off the week with repertoire readings. These sessions give the student conductors podium time without too much stress in terms of rehearsing since this music is not programmed for performances. It also gives the orchestra a chance to play through some repertoire to build experience and improve sight-reading skills.

The reading sessions we have had so far have been pretty enjoyable. We’ve read through Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, and Debussy’s La Mer. It’s nice to play music for fun with quality players you enjoy working with; I had a lot of fun with some of the other violas in the section. However, all the hours of playing have taken their toll. It’s hard to find motivation to practice after expelling so much energy with orchestra. This is one of my major fears of an orchestra career; unlike a typical nine to five job, being an orchestral musician can be extremely strenuous on both the body and the mind.

My lack of energy might be due to the fact that I haven’t had a regular orchestra schedule for about a month, but I think I have learned right off the bat that I need to build my stamina and save my energy. I think the stamina will come with more and more rehearsals, but the energy rationing is something I will have to work on more deliberately. We’ll see…

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! Over the next eight weeks I will be documenting my time at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. I’ve been selected to participate in the orchestra of the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen (AACA), a program that trains aspiring professional conductors in a very rigorous setting. The orchestra is of very high quality; the students are all fellowship recipients, having been granted free tuition and a living stipend based on an audition screening process. The orchestra rehearses and gives professional quality performances of some of the world’s most famous repertoire on a weekly cycle.

The schedule for AACA – putting together high quality concerts on a weekly basis - is very comparable to that of a professional orchestra, which is one of the reasons I am excited to be a part of this program. I am obviously looking forward to working with great conductors and playing great music, but I am also greatly looking forward to getting an idea of what a career in orchestral playing would be like. As a student, I perform in only two to three concerts per quarter, or about one per month, with only three short rehearsals per week. In high school I had a few experiences with putting together a program in a weekend orchestra workshop, but that process did not have to be repeated week after week, and the level of playing was certainly not that of a professional orchestra. In other words, no program I have been involved with to date has given me a sufficient preview of a career in orchestra playing.

I have been involved in music for my entire life, and continuing it in college seemed natural. However, I have never been completely certain about whether I want to pursue it as a professional career. I love music, but would I love it enough to make it a full time job? My fear is that I will stop enjoying it if it becomes too much like “work.” My hope is that at the end of this eight-week session, I will have a better understanding of what music as a “job” is like, and whether or not I can picture myself in this type of setting on a full-time basis.

This blog will include reflections upon not only practice, rehearsals, and performances, but also on my personal accomplishments and struggles as I wrap my mind and body around some of the mental and physical aspects of full-time orchestra playing.

Thanks for following! Talk to you soon