Letter from Diane (11/11)

Dear Camerata Con Brio,

Orchestra Hall Awaits! Thank you for your focus at tonight’s rehearsal. We are ready for a concert!

As we discussed in rehearsal, playing at Orchestra Hall is a lot different from our rehearsal space. You will need to WATCH rather than listen for tempo and rhythm cues.  Winds, brass and percussion, this will be especially important for you. Take a look at the photo above of last year’s Camerata Con Brio at the Fall Festival and notice how the woodwinds are on elevated platforms and how the brass and percussion are on an even taller platform that is towards the back of the stage. This distance between the first row of the orchestra and the brass and percussion is significant.  If these players don’t internalize the pulse and watch the conductor they are likely to  play behind the beat. We will have a chance to figure this out during the dress rehearsal on Saturday morning.

Here are some details for Saturday morning:

• Arrive at 8:35 and enter Orchestra Hall at the Peavy Plaza entrance
• Wear Concert BLACK (new this year!)
• Bring something to do during down time.  If you have a deck of UNO cards, bring that and join our CCB UNO tournament!
• You may wish to bring a snack.  If you do, please make sure it does not contain peanuts.
• Our concert begins at 10:30 and will be done by 12:00.

• Run through the whole program–first “The Marriage of Figaro” and then “Nostalgia”. You know where your tricky spots are.  Go after them.
  • (violins–make sure you practice Figaro m.135-139. Count and subdivide so you know where you are in the measure!)
  • Winds, if you have a solo, practice with the metronome running so you get in with good tempo and then lock in to that tempo throughout your solo
  • Percussion: practice with the metronome on so you are prepared to play ON the beat, not behind it, on Saturday.
• After Saturday’s concert, please start practicing the Dvorak. Our target tempo at m. 180 is mm=125
• Also after Saturday, start practicing Bizet’s “Carillon” our opening tempo is mm=132

Some Orchestra Hall Fun Facts:

• Orchestra Hall was opened in 1974 and was renovated in 2014. It is considered one of the best concert halls in the US and is distinctive because of its acoustic cubes
• There are 114 Cubes in the concert hall designed to scatter the sound on the stage throughout the hall
• Orchestra hall seats 2,089 people

Want to learn more about the acoustics of our great hall?  Watch this 5-minute video on the Orchestra Hall cubes.

I’m so excited to share the fantastic work that you have done so far this year with our audience on Saturday!  Until, then keep polishing your parts and always live your life Con Brio!