Chautauqua - part two

This is part two in a multi-part post. To read from the beginning, click here.

After the balmy 80s of the tropical storm on Sunday, the weather returned to a much more seasonable 60s-70s for the remainder of the week. On Monday I began working with the saxophone ensembles and in sectionals with the Band 1 woodwinds. I took a chamber music approach to the ensembles, and opted to keep everyone together. In retrospect, some of the music may have been a bit too challenging for three consecutive days of rehearsal followed by one performance, but I made a conscious decision to challenge the players, rather than pick repertoire that was sight-readable. There is probably a happy-medium that I missed, but I think that if I erred, it was on the right side - adventurous rather than cautious.

The repertoire we played included:

Basin Street Blues
To Yonder Lovely Grove
a Brahms Chorale
Fly Me to the Moon
Vignette

I'll post details on how to obtain this music in a later post, for those interested in ordering copies and trying them out.

One of my goals for the week, which we did acheive, was to combine as many saxophones from all of the ensembles into one monster sax ensemble. I think we ended up with 22 or 23 saxes all in one group performing To Yonder Lovely Grove. Here are some rehearsal photos of the monseter group, taken during our only full rehearsal on Wednesday:


Working with the saxophones was my primary responsibility for the week, and I divided my time between sax ensembles and Band 1. I really enjoyed getting to know the New Horizons players. They were truly excited about playing sax and making music, with wonderful questions about embouchure, fingering, and other technical aspects of playing. The word to describe their interest in music is PASSION. They love it. They are there to make music. Sure, socializing is a major component of the camp. But it is an outgrowth of the music-making.

Over the course of the three days, the ensembles came a long way. Musicianship improved. Music was made. It was all so fast - a whirlwind. It is hard to digest, being used to 18-week semesters, with week-long breaks between rehearsals or lessons. The idea of cramming everything into five total days is strange, if born of necessity. And the sax ensembles really only had three days - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday rehearsals with a Wednesday performance.

I wonder if I'm too intense for this type of environment. I enjoyed it, and would go back if invited, but I think I need to learn to be more laid back. Those who know me outside of music consider me very laid back. But they haven't rehearsed with me. I try not to create stress in rehearsals. But I am intense, with a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. The New Horizons musicians rose to the challenge. I just hope it was a positive experience for everyone involved. It certainly was for me.

To continue reading with part three, click here.