I just wanted to share my thoughts on last night’s orchestra session with you. For me, it was one of the most enjoyable evenings we’ve had for a while.
For those not in attendance, we were asked to bring along our historical orchestra pieces and play through as many as time would allow. We just sat in our places so didn’t shuffle around to sit in parts. What struck me was:
- How easily we were able to slip back into the pieces and make a very presentable performance of them first time through
- We seemed to find the pieces straightforward and were able to add much of the colour that Conall encouraged us to put in
- Some of the pieces hadn’t been played in over 2 years
- Some new members had to be given parts as they weren’t around during their original outing, but manfully tried to sight read them
- I believe that removing the pressure of these pieces being part of a pending concert also added to the relaxed nature.
- I appreciate that some folk stumbled but it was by no means a crash a burn and a few more run throughs would have them at performance standard is required.
As a reflect on this success, I feel it reinforces our desire to access pieces which are straightforward at part level but contribute to a greater musical whole. The session was underpinned by a fruitful open discussion about the nature of orchestra pieces for 2015/16. The intent is to have these selected and reviewed for the next orchestra meeting on the 28th September. Hunting out suitable pieces ‘that can be cracked in 2 sessions’ to use Jim’s observation, was a useful measure.