Letter from Mr. Larson (3/24)

Sinfonia East Students and Families,

The week’s are moving fast and we are progressing well towards our Spring Concerts, but there is still a lot to do! Last week’s sub, Zane Kaiser (GTCYS’s Camerata Vivace director), had many positive things to say about how responsive you were to ideas about articulations and dynamics. He also commented on how much fun you were to work with. Thank you for working hard during my absence.

For our April 21st concert, Sinfonia East is the only orchestra performing so we will play a complete concert with the following:

Finale (from Symphony No. 5) – Beethoven arr. Meyer
It’s About Time arr. Story
Highlights from Harry Potter – Williams arr. Story
Havana arr. Lopez
Bratislava – Holesovsky

For the Spring Festival at Orchestra Hall, Sinfonia East is limited to two pieces. We had a discussion at our rehearsal about which pieces we should perform to highlight the work we have done this semester/year and they had great ideas and I agree with the most common answer. For the Spring Festival we will perform:

Highlights from Harry Potter – Williams arr. Story
It’s About Time arr. Story

For your GTCYS 10 this week:

• It’s About Time
  • Listen to the listening link and mark your parts for who has the melody. When you are not sure, guess. We will go through the music next week to make sure we know where the melody is.
• Highlights from Harry Potter
  • Go beyond notes. Find the articulations, accents, and dynamics that will make this music come alive.
• Jupiter
  • Needs to be memorized before the Spring Festival. Start now so you can enjoy playing with everyone!
  • Strings – do a bowing check every 4 measures. Do you know which notes are slurred? Know which direction your bow starts when you start a new phrase.
• Finale 
  • Quarter note = 140. Practice with a metronome to keep the tempo moving forward. There were many passages where everyone wanted to slow down. If you notice when you are practicing, draw a forward arrow to help you keep moving ahead
• Havana arr. Lopez
  • Play a couple of times to keep it ready to perform
• Bratislava – Holesovsky
  • Play a couple of times to keep it ready to perform

Listening Links

Beethoven arr. Meyer – Finale

Holesovsky – Bratislava

arr. Lopez – Havana

arr. Story – It’s About Time

Williams arr. Story – Highlights from Harry Potter

I know there is still at least one more Spring Break on the calendar, but soon we will get to have a rehearsal with everyone present. Happy practicing!

Mr. Larson