Letter from Dan (9/8)

Dear Concertino West,

It was great meeting you all last night and seeing some familiar faces! Last night, we introduced ourselves to our stand partners, met some GTCYS staff members, sight read music and briefly played for parents/guardians. I want to extend a special thank you to those of you who signed up for our various crews! If you are still interested in joining, reply to this email!

Here’s a recap:

• Prelude Crew: Arrive at around 6:15pm to help set up chairs and percussion.
• Encore Crew: Stay after rehearsal to put chairs and percussion away.
• Social Crew: During breaks, help make everyone feel welcome by engaging in conversation with people outside your friend group.

Each week, you will receive a message outlining what we accomplished in rehearsal and what to prepare for next week’s rehearsal. As a member of GTCYS, I ask that you commit to practicing your GTCYS music 10 minutes a day – or what we call the “GTCYS10.” To help with your practice at home, I’ve created this Practice Playlist. For easy access, you can find this linked on the Concertino West Member Page (password: concertinowest25-26). Please note that the tempos and styles of these orchestra performances may be different than what we’ll do in our performances this season.

GTCYS10 for this week:

Using the Practice Playlist, listen and follow along with each of your pieces at least one time this week and then work on the following sections by focusing on rhythm first, then notes and bowing/articulation:

• Claire de Lune: Look up any unfamiliar notes and play through, if you like
• Johnny Comes Marching Home: Beginning to Rehearsal 7
• Beethoven: Beginning to the Trio
• Russian Sailor’s Dance: Beginning to Rehearsal 3
• Waltz: Beginning to 25

Woodwind players only: Next week (Sep 15), you will have sectionals. This means you’ll have some extra special attention with a professional musician who will help you with your music. This is a great time to ask questions that are specific to your instrument (fingerings, tuning, tone production, etc.)

I look forward to seeing you all next Monday!

Dan