Students arrived last Saturday, auditioned on Sunday, and
began classes and rehearsals on Monday.
On a typical day, I spend two hours at Junior Band
rehearsal and three hours at World Youth Wind Symphony rehearsal. When I am not
in rehearsal, I’m mostly likely to be found in the library, working on music
for the next concert.
On Saturday nights, my band shares a concert with
the second high school band, the Interlochen Symphony Band.
Last night was WYWS’s first concert, and the program
consisted of:
Smetana Fanfare – Karel Husa
Lullaby for Kirsten – Leslie Bassett
Rose Variations, featuring trumpet soloist John Aley
– Robert Russell Bennett
Bells for Stokowski – Michael Daugherty
“The BSO Forever” March from Divertimento – Leonard
Bernstein, arr. Clare Grundman
It was NOT an easy program, but the kids managed to
knock it out of the park. They received standing ovations at three different
points in the program (after the Bennett, after the Daugherty, and at the very
end).
My favorite piece on the program was the Daugherty.
It was a new piece to me, and really challenging for
the kids. They all did a fantastic job, but the brass especially got a lot of
positive feedback at the conclusion of the concert. Some of their features
(such as 12:45) actually gave me goosebumps. It was incredible.
I
couldn’t be more proud of what the kids were able to accomplish in only six
rehearsals, and I’m looking forward to watching them continue to grow as
musicians over the next five weeks.
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