Letter From Kaiser (11/7)

“Flower Thrower” – Bansky, 2003

This morning, I was walking my dogs, watching the beautiful sunrise, and reflecting on our rehearsal and how to prepare for the next week. I kept thinking of the word “extremes”. How can we push ourselves to play the strongest fortes in the Prokofiev, extend our phrases all the way to the end in Bright Lights, and how do we physically do that? We must push ourselves to find the extreme strength and lightheadedness within our music.

It was wonderful to hear you play this week. Next week is our final rehearsal before Fall Festival, and we will also be joined by some guest Symphony/Philharmonic musicians to fill out our sections. This is the week to really commit to your GTCYS 10 and look ahead in our musical preparation for our December concert, too!

Also, I misspoke at rehearsal in regards to your call time. Your call time for Fall Festival is 11:50am. Our dress rehearsal starts at 12:25 sharp, and our concert starts at 3:00. 

GTCYS 10: 
Strings: Explore the 4 ways we spoke about sound production: contact point, bow speed/length, bow weight, and vibrato (when applicable). We should work to find ways to utilize this in the many different musical asks we get from Nishimura and Prokofiev in our Fall Festival music.

Winds/Brass/Percussion: Remember, the strings should listen back to you, but give them something to listen for! Always project your sound and push yourself to articulate with excellence. Practice your entrances at different dynamic and style contrasts.

Great work this week, see you soon!

Best wishes,
Kaiser

Zane Kaiser (he/him/his)
Camerata Vivace Conductor
Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies
zane@gtcys.org

“The piano ain’t got no wrong notes” – Thelonious Monk