Letter from Mr. Larson (5/5)

Sinfonia East Students and Families,

It was good to see everyone on Tuesday and I am looking forward to celebrating this year’s work with our performance at the Spring Festival! Today’s email has three parts: Spring Festival; Audition Questions & Answers; End of Year Party.

Spring Festival

You will want to double check all of the concert details linked in your GTCYS email, but some of the highlights are to be to our warm-up space by 12:50. You can start arriving as early as 12:35, the lobby doors will probably be locked until 12:35. Wear concert black, bring your music, double check that you have everything needed for your instrument. Be ready to listen for instructions as well as be ready to walk with a purpose. When it is time to move between warm-up spaces for our warm-up as well as moving for the Jupiter rehearsal everyone needs to be listening and ready to move or else you may miss something.

Spring Festival Concert order is:

It’s About Time arr. Story

Highlights from Harry Potter – Williams arr. Story

Jupiter – Holst

For your GTCYS 10 this week:

• Memorize Jupiter
• Use a metronome to confirm rhythms in It’s About Time
• Know when you have the melody (and when you don’t)
• Practice – practice – practice

Listening Links

arr. Story – It’s About Time

Williams arr. Story – Highlights from Harry Potter

Audition Questions and Answers

A few questions were turned in and I did not get a chance to answer them during rehearsal, but I will address a few of them here.

If my solo is too long, could I skip the D.C. al conda and just play the piece one time through, or would the effect be different? I want to be able to showcase all of my skills during the piece.

• Solo requirements for auditions state “3 minutes or less”. It is ok if your solo is a little longer than 3 minutes. If your solo is a lot longer than 3 minutes you should pick the best 3 minutes. It is helpful to hear at least 2 – 2.5 minutes as a minimum but do what makes sense.
• Yes, you can skip the D.C. to accommodate time. If you want to clarify what you are doing for your audition, state your plan so a judge knows you did it on purpose. That will remove questions about why you altered from the traditional performance printing.
• You don’t have to start at measure one. Again, when you introduce the solo portion of the audition, state what the judge will hear and it will be fine.

Should I use a metronome on the scales?

• You should practice with a metronome.
• You should record your audition WITHOUT a metronome.

End of Year Party

• Treats
• Time to remember the year
• Bingo with fantastic prizes
• 6:30 – 7:30. Only one hour of fun and PRIZES!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Sunday’s Spring Festival performance

Mr. Larson