Sunday, February 28, 2010

Dry spell

Wow, it has been ages since I've done anything musically. Of course I'm still teaching, but our orchestra has had to cut rehearsals back drastically due to budget cuts. But now we have a concert in 2 weeks, and we had our first rehearsal. Must say it was a bit rough! I'm sure it will come together by the concert though - all concerto winnners. Some of the biggies are Ibert Flute (m3), Dvorak Cello (m1), Beethoven Vln (m1), and a bunch of vocal things I can't keep straight. These people come from all over the country to play with our little group, which is amazing!

I've been playing clarinet in the community band. I get a bit frustrated with myself, but it is fun. I will play oboe on one piece that has a big solo, but that will be fine. I also played tenor with my friend's dance band (just a rehersal) last week, and for the most part I did pretty well! The music is really unfamiliar to me, so I'm really working on sightreading skills while everyone else knows these "standards".

The heat is on for my HS students - solo contest is in 2 weeks! I think most of them were kind of shocked when I pointed this out. But this will be great for them, I love contest time - everybody practices!