Letter from Tamara (10/23)

Last night’s rehearsals is what I call a “working rehearsal” We rolled up our sleeves and got to work on stitching together the various sections of Danse Macabre that we have been rehearsing separately.

There is still a lot of work to do, and not much time left to get it done. We have three remaining rehearsals before Fall Festival, and we need to split that time between our Festival performance pieces and our December pieces which were added to your folder tonight.

The major takeaways from our rehearsal were maintaining our tempo, watching and listening. Please use the metronome this week and practice Danse Macabre at 60 to the measure, or 180 to the quarter note.

Those who play on the downbeats have to practice giving energy through that downbeat to push the orchestra momentum forward so we don’t slow down. When playing on beats 2-3 you have to feel like you’re bouncing off of the downbeat so you don’t slow down. All the 8th notes need to cleanly fit into the tempo.

There is some great playing happening, but are not yet comfortable enough with our parts to look up while playing, to listen to how we are fitting in together, and to really perform the piece.

Please keep the momentum going this week and know that this ensemble is capable of delivering a really polished and refined performance of this piece. Your goal for next week should to feel performance ready, fully at tempo with dynamics and articulations.

Thanks all! Now, go practice.

Tamara Gonzalez