Hope - A Review

At the 2nd half of the concert yesterday, the Chorale, Voices Rising, and the Concert Orchestra performed Hope, a piece written by Gary Frye, who is on staff at MYA.

I loved this piece!  First, there was a narration by John Hultman.  The whole thing was inspired by president Obama's speech.  The music was interesting.  I really liked the way the word "hope" sung in 4 part harmony swelled over the orchestra.  I also liked how the orchestra and the singing balanced each other out.  Each part was equally important.  The music filled me with joy and hope.

I'm not sure how to say how much I liked it, except to say that I loved every minute of it.  I want to hear it again.  They are performing it next in New York.  Maybe I should go there to hear it again...

A Good February Concert

Yesterday, I had an MYA Concert at Pick-Staiger Theater.  My group played the first movement of Beethoven's First Symphony.  Before the concert, we had a dress rehearsal.  The dress rehearsal didn't go so well.  My orchestra had trouble keeping a stead tempo.  We rushed through the easier parts, and we got lost in the faster parts.  Mr. Pearson stopped conducting sometimes, and just watched us.  The orchestra kept playing without a conductor, while Mr. Pearson just watched us.  It was obvious that we weren't watching him.  I was thinking that the concert was going to be a disaster.

An hour and a half later, it was time for the concert.  I didn't get to hear the first two groups perform because I was backstage.  That's too bad because I heard that the Cadet Orchestra played wonderfully.  Finally, it was our turn to perform.  We did much better than the dress rehearsal, but it wasn't perfect.  It wasn't the best we've ever played, but it wasn't the worse.  I think we can do better next concert.