Letter from Ms. Mary (1/6)
Happy First Rehearsal of the New Year!
Nice job, Philharmonia East, at our first rehearsal of 2026! A special welcome to our new members joining Philharmonia East at this time. I look forward to an awesome semester. I hope that our music-making brings new skills, new repertoire, and new friendships. We are in for a busy semester…We have a retreat next week, a concert in February, Spring Festival, as well as some special Tuesday night events during our rehearsals.
This week, we played through FIVE pieces! Wow! We were able to survey the landscape of most of our repertoire. We played Hop, Skip, and Jump; Jubilee Fanfare; March Triumphant; March of the Meistersingers; and Lean on Me. We were able to sample some of the skills and technical elements that are needed in our repertoire.
Next week, we will focus on the following pieces: Jubilee Fanfare, March of the Meistersingers, and Hop, Skip, and Jump. This week, we started our rehearsal with some scales. The pieces that we are playing this semester use different modes (types) and keys. Scales are ESSENTIAL to our playing. We will continue warming up with the scales we use in our pieces.
Before next week, I would ask that each of you do TWO things:
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Listen to Jubilee Fanfare. The link can be found here. Follow along with your music as you listen.
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Play the following scales in your choice of rhythmic variation: C Major, G Major, and E minor.
Thanks for an excellent start to our year. Thanks for bringing courage, kindness, and great attitudes to our first rehearsal.
Work hard, play hard. Frog power….
Mary Sorlie