Letter from Kaiser (10/2)
Thank you for a fun rehearsal of review and introductions! Tonight we played through some Polar Express, Moods Of Mahler (just to sight-read), Snow Chase, and Angel City. Looking ahead, rehearsals are going to be even more focused on cleaning up passages, transitions, and overall sound and blend. We are past the point of notes and rhythms and should be well on the path to making musical moments!
For the busy parent and student, in this email:
Fall Festival:
Winter Holiday Community Concert:
Free Minnesota Orchestra tickets for the Cameratas!
GTCYS 10:
Seating Auditions Information and Sectionals:
Mahler Listening Resources:
Fall Festival:
Our two planned pieces for Fall Fest are Angel City and Celebrazione Sinfonia! They are now at the forefront of my planning and will take up a majority of rehearsals.
Winter Holiday Community Concert:
We will add up to Norwegian Dances, Snow Chase, and Polar Express for this performance. Please keep all 5 of these pieces on your practice rotation as they are all to be performed within the next two months.
Free Minnesota Orchestra tickets for the Cameratas!
Through the wonderful work of our Program Coordinator, Miranda Bryan, both Camerata Con Bio and Camerata Vivace are invited to attend a MN Orch concert for free! Keep an eye on your email for more information and a link to sign up. Students of the Camerata orchestras and their parents/guardians can sign up. The program will be/include:
Saturday, November 7th, 2026, 7pm
GRIEG
Selections from Norwegian Dances
HILLBORG
Piano Concerto No. 2, MAX Concerto
SIBELIUS
Symphony No. 2
GTCYS 10:
Winds and Brass: Seating Auditions! Your GTCYS 10 is to prepare for your auditions.
Strings: I’d love for you to focus this week on Celebrazione Sinfonia and the Norwegian Dances. Specifically: intonation and dynamics! Spend time this week not only practicing the physical instrument, but dedicate time to listen to examples from previous emails, use your pencil to write reminders, and use a tuner for isolated notes and moments!
Seating Auditions Information and Sectionals:
Next week are split sectionals for strings, and a large-group sectional for winds, brass, and percussion. This is because it will be woodwind and brass seating auditions! Please come prepared with your excerpts and ready to make beautiful music!
Woodwinds and Brass, here is a reminder of your seating audition excerpts:
Flute:
Norwegian Dance No. 2, 27 – 51
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 83 – 101
Oboe:
Norwegian Dance No. 2, 27 – 51
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 41 – 51
Clarinet:
Norwegian Dance No. 2, 35 – 51
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 91 – downbeat of 101
Bassoon:
Norwegian Dance No. 2, 27 – 51
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 103 – 111
Trumpet:
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 62 – 76, with the marked tempo change ritardando
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 95 – 1-1
Horn:
Norwegian Dance No. 2 39 – 51
Norwegian Dance No. 3 25 – 32
Tuba:
Norwegian Dance No. 3 25 – 32
Celebrazione Sinfonia! 130 – Downbeat of 136
Strings, again, my apologies for not getting the string seating audition excerpts to you earlier as I had hoped. To help you prepare, I don’t have finalized measures yet, but I can tell you that I am selecting excerpts from the following pieces:
Angel City, Celebrazione Sinfonia!, Norwegian Dances, and New England Holiday.
Mahler Listening Resources:
Check out this performance of Mahler’s 1st:
Here is a guided listening article for the piece.
This video is roughly close to our arrangement.
And: Your Secret Question of the Week (thanks for reading this far): What era of classical music are both Grieg and Mahler from? Email me your response for a prize!
Best wishes,
Zane Kaiser