Letter from Kaiser (10/30)

Hello Camerata Vivace!

Happy Halloween! I thoroughly enjoyed the costumes and themed outfits I got to see. Did anyone get my skull and bones t-shirt reference? Remember: if you choose to celebrate the holiday and go trick-or-treating tonight, please be safe and vigilant as you walk around the neighborhood. Most importantly: have fun! You’re only a kid once.

Our rehearsal was exactly the kind of rehearsal I enjoy: we made some big strides in achieving excellence while finding several things to work and improve on. As we get closer to Fall Festival (November 15th) make sure to truly be spending time with these pieces.

Seating Auditions:

Thank you for finding your new spots quickly and efficiently, strings! If you didn’t have a chance to see the full seating chart, here is a link to a Google Drive folder I made that I can upload seating charts to.

Listening with a Critical Ear:

Different conductors, orchestras, choreographers, and performers have different interpretations of pieces of music. Check out a few different versions of our Montagues and Capulets below and use your musical intuition to hear differences and similarities:

From The Royal Opera House

What is different about this recording?

Christian Spuck’s Interpretation (swords!)

GTCYS 10:

Winds/Brass:

Flutes/Clarinet: In Prokofiev we have several big “hit” moments, usually a half note, after the strings start the main melody. These need to be tuned at home with immense care. Use a tuner and try hitting those notes repeatedly and find your tendencies.

Oboes: Bright Lights, the 8^th note melody after measure 34. Use a metronome…. (84bpm)

Percussion: Experiment with your suspended cymbal/bass drum/snare rolls this week! Use an instrument at school or home and try out different dynamics, crescendos, and decrescendos. This will directly help when we get to Orchestra Hall and have to adjust.

Strings:

Violins: GREAT improvements in the Romeo and Juliet ¾ section. I noticed that our whole/half notes in the first 10 measures or so could still use some intonation work. Please check and tune each of these notes!

Violas: Work on the Prokofiev ¾ section: slowly, with a tuner, then a metronome, then again with a tuner. Thank you!

Cello/Bass: 34 in Bright Lights still had some moments that needed a metronome, especially working to NOT play on the downbeat. Practice it until you can’t make a mistake.

Kaiser Easter Egg: How old is this piece? Email me what year Prokofiev wrote his ballet of Romeo and Juliet (not the performance year, the composition year). First email to me gets a prize!

Next week we will be focused mostly on the Romeo and Juliet, a simple run of Bright Lights, and will check in on our holiday pieces for December. See you then!

Best wishes,

Kaiser