Letter from Kaiser (10/29)

Hello Camerata Vivace!

José Guadalupe Posada, “CALAVERA DE LOS PERIÓDICOS/CICLISTAS”, 1910

We are well on our way to Fall Festival (Saturday, 11/14) and our December Winter Concert (12/13). Although these concerts are a month apart, we will have a quick turn around after Fall Fest to prepare our music. As a reminder, our repertoire for this fall is:

Fall Fest:

Angel City

Celebrazione Sinfonia!

December Concert:

^ at least one of the Fall Festival selections

Snow Chase

The Polar Express

Norwegian Dances No. 2 and No. 3

(possibly one more secret new piece)

For your GTCYS 10, this week I noted some specific areas that need improvement looking ahead to Fall Festival. That being said, you also need to review and look over The Polar Express, Norwegian Dances,  and Snow Chase so we don’t lose any time heading into that concert cycle.

Strings: Overall, work on your bowings this week. Slowly piece together your bow directions and lift lift lift off the string for Angel City!

Violins: Celebrazione has several staccato 8^th notes that need more bow stoppage. Work on this before next week, please.

Violas: Your melodies in Angel City are good but I still want more sound. Practice closer to the bridge.

Cello: I fear we still need to play lighter. Experiment practicing the same excerpts at different dynamics levels and record yourself doing so. Listen to back to each dynamic level!

Bass: You’re doing a great job of filling out the sound! Work towards creating a clean start AND stop to your bows in Angel City. Think staccato!

Woodwinds: Continue to use a metronome as you practice through your parts. Celebrazione in particular needs a bit more care to not speed up or slow down!

Brass: Angel City, trumpets, is your go-to song for work this week. Listen to mariachi examples, create different colors of sound with your playing, and continue to grow confidence. In Celebrazione, all brass can come in with stronger “bell tones” on long notes.

Percussion: We are getting ready for more percussionists, woo hoo! Continue to familiarize yourself with the pieces and we will make a more concrete plan soon on finalizing part assignments. Practice all!

Camerata Vivace and Con Brio go to MN Orch!

For those that were able to sign up, our group outing to Minnesota Orchestra will be on Saturday, November 7th. We are working on finalizing our meet-and-greet with musicians from the orchestra during intermission, and can’t wait to see you there! Keep an eye on your email inbox for more details as we get closer.

Do you have repertoire ideas?

Don’t forget to use the Camerata Vivace suggestion box! Our SLT students created this just for you! I am always interested in hearing from you about what you would like to play.

Secret Question of the Week:

Watch this video recap of the 2025 Nevada All-State Mariachi Ensembles. Within the first five minutes you will see footage from rehearsals of both the high school and middle school group. First person to respond with an answer to this question gets a prize! The question is:

What if the meaning of the title of the third piece you see students rehearse, translated from Spanish to English? Hint: it’s a weather-based word. 

Thank you for a great rehearsal!

Best wishes,

Zane