MYA's Last Big Concert of the Year

Last Sunday I had a MYA concert at Pick Staiger Theater at Northwestern University. It went really well! We played Saber Dance and Dance of the Rose Maidens by Khachaturian, Highlights From Wicked by Schwartz and a concerto by Vivaldi.

Before the concert, in the morning my mom took me to my clarinet teacher Dileep's house where I had a lesson. Then he took me to a neighborhood brunch party where I met some people from his neighborhood. They served crepes and grapes and lots of other things, but I only ate some grapes. I met two other musicians there. Dileep introduced me as his student and a good clarinetist. One of the guests said that he was interested in playing clarinet. He asked me what what was the most important thing for a clarinetist. I told him lots and lots and lots of practice and a little talent were the best combination.

After the brunch, Dileep dropped me off at the theater for my dress rehearsal. I met my friends Anatole, Nathan, Marc the clarinetist/saxophone player, Marc the trombone player, and Natalie, the first chair violist. First we played Dance of the Rose Maidens and Saber Dance. We did very well on both of them. The concerto by vivaldi didn't have any violins or winds so I sat out of it. It was really good. The four violin soloists gave a wonderful performance. Last we played Highlights from the musical Wicked which really needed some work. After the dress rehersal I went and got lunch at the student union. I have come to know that place well. I always get sushi there.

After lunch, I went backstage and waited for the concert to start. The Reading and Cadet Orchestras did very well. Finally, it was our turn to play just before the intermission. The Vivaldi was amazing. I think we pulled off the Khatchaturian pretty well -- Marc Turenne's saxophone solo was pretty awesome, but I think Wicked really needed a lot more work. Oh well, maybe next time. Alltogether, I thought we had a good concert.

When the intermission ended, the Concert Orchestra took the stage. My brother plays 3rd chair viola in this orchestra. This orchestra was amazing. Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsakov was so stirring that I was almost in tears when they were done. This piece has a lot of clarinet solo parts. Theo Mavrakis has a great sound, and his phrasing was stupendous. I really got the music when he played it. The first violin Rachel Stenzel had some fantastic solos as well. She was amazing. She sounds so mature when she plays, more like a professional than a student musician.  It's hard to believe she's in middle school. Wow! Many times throughout the piece, it sounded like the Rachel and Theo were having a musical conversation. It was very exciting.  All of the soloists did a wonderful job.

The second piece they played was movements of the Carmen ballet by Bizet. I tend to notice the clarinet soloists more than other solos for obvious reasons. Liah Watt has several solos in this piece, which she pulled off quite well. She had a beautiful tone. I was surprised that they ended with this piece, because the ending of the first piece is more of a show stopper, but every thing I have seen his orchestra do this year has been great. The concert ended with the Honors Wind Symphony which played very well.

This was the last big concert of the year. Another great year at MYA!  I'm really looking forward to next year.

MYA Audition

Two weeks ago during spring break I auditioned for MYA's Concert Orchestra. The pieces I auditioned on were the third movement of Five Bagatellas by Finzi and the first movement of Stamitz's third clarinet concerto. When I arrived at MYA, I went into a practice room. I was nervious. When I was warming up, I played too fast, and I messed up notes that I don't normally mess up. When I found out Mr. Pearson ( my orchestra's conductor) was the one recording my audition I was relieved. I like Mr. Pearson. He is friendly and energetic, and he makes everyone feel comfortable. Still, the same group of judges would look at my audition tape, even if the person recording me was someone I didn't know or someone who made me nervous.

Three of my siblings were auditioning around the same time as I was. My sisters played first. My sister Eowyn was auditioning on horn, and afterwards Mr. Pearson told me that she had done very well.

I went back to the practice room, and I kept practicing, better than before but still not as good as I normally play. After my other sister Rowena auditioned on cello, and my older brother Ari finished auditioning on viola, it was my turn. I started to feel really nervous again. I stared at the music stand, outside of the office that listed all of the people auditioning that day and their grade in school. My grade was listed as 78. I think my mom made a mistake. I laughed about my mom, and that made some of my nevousness go away. Mr. Pearson said that it was time, and I went in and started my audition. I played my scales really well, and I was surprised because I thought I wouldn't do very well, because I didn't do well in the practice room. I've memorized all of my major scales for 2 or 3 octaves, and I play them every day. Still, auditions make easy things seem hard. Then I played my orchestral excerpts, and I played the Finzi. Finally it was time for my hardest picece the Stamitz concerto. The piece seemed to drag on and onl, but I did really well.

After the audition I went home thinking I had done my best. If I make the Concert Orchestra, that will be great. I will be very excited. But if I don't, that's okay too. I like playing in my current orchestra, and there's always next year. If I've learned anything about auditions this year, it's that you never can tell what the judges will think.

Loren Kitt and Anton Stadler Both Play the Mozart Kegelstatt

The Kegelstatt Trio is a chamber piece for clarinet, piano, and viola.  It was written by Mozart while he was playing Skittles, which is kind of like table bowling.  I'm working on this piece with my brother Ari who plays viola and a pianist named Addison.  Mozart wrote the piece for his clarinet friend Anton Stadler. 

A critic from Mozart's time wrote, "I would not have thought that a clarinet could imitate the human voice so deceptively as you imitate it. Your instrument is so soft, so delicate in tone that no-one who has a heart can resist it."  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Stadler).

This reminds me of a master class at MYA taught by John Bruce Yeh this past weekend.  Mr. Yeh said that you should sing your song before you play it to get a good feel for the phrasing.  He said that music should imitate the human voice. 

When he said that, I was terrified that he might ask me to sing in front of everyone, so I was determined not to volunteer to play.  I also didn't want to play, because a lot of the wind players there were older and more experienced than me. While I don't want to sing, because I don't like singing, it actually makes a lot of sense.

Here is a link to Loren Kitt,  playing the third movement to the Kegelstatt.  His playing is very soft and delicate, and I like it very much.  http://www.acplayers.com/music/mozart-trio.mp3

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.

Sabine Meyer

Recently, I got a copy of Sabine Meyer playing the 3rd Stamitz Concerto.  I really liked it.  When she plays the Stamitz, she sounds so amazing.  I like how cute and chirpy she plays her staccato notes.  Her playing is so smooth, it's like silk.

Sabine Meyer started her career Berlin Philharmonic.  The men in the orchestra resented her because she was a woman, even though the conductor von Karajan thought she was the best.  She played there for a short time, and she had to leave because the orchestra, which was mostly men, voted her out.  After that, she became a full time soloist, and one of the best in the world.  I wonder what the men who voted her out of the Berlin Philharmonic think about her now.

It was unfair that she was voted out, but maybe it was a good experience, because I think she must like being a soloist.  She might have been stuck in the Berlin Philharmonic for all of her life and not realize what a great soloist she could be.

Three Things

I have three things to write about today.

Legere Reeds

Legere synthetic reeds are plastic instead of wood. I tried the Legere reed because my Vandoren reeds were warping in the cold weather. It was so bad that I could barely play a reed after using it for only one day.

I went to my lesson, and I couldn't play on my regular reed or my spare reed. I didn't know why, until Dileep (my teacher) looked at one of my reeds. He saw that it was badly warped. And this was a new reed! He gave me a Legere reed to try instead. It was clear, which was weird. I'd never played on a clear reed before, much less a plastic one.

I loved it. The tone quality was better than my old Vandoren reeds. I could immediately start playing without warming up too much. In the future, I think I'll use Legere reeds. I already had my mom order some from Woodwind & Brasswind.

2nd Seating Audition for MYA
On Saturday, I had another seating audition for my youth orchestra. I went in thinking that I was totally prepared. I had practiced the section plenty, and I could play it at a good tempo. I rarely made mistakes when practicing at home or rehearsing with the orchestra. The audition covered around 20-30 measures of the first movement of Beethoven's 1st Symphony.

Unfortunately, I went into the audition room. I picked up my clarinet, told the recorder my name, and started play. I got to this one part, and I messed up. So I started again. I messed up on the same part a second time, and this was a part that I never messed up on! I started again, and I did the part that I kept messing up and then I messed up another part 2 notes later! It was a disaster. I kept going this time, because I had started over too many times. I messed up again on another difficult section before finished, and this was a part that I had down almost perfectly the day before! I was even playing on my new Legere reed.

I felt so frustrated. Not only did I mess up on a song, but I messed up on a piece I totally knew cold! My mom said that everyone has a bad day and I would do better next time, not to worry. So I'm expecting last chair. I really wanted to make first chair. Oh well, maybe next time.

Interlochen Recording
Today, I made a test recording for my Interlochen audition. Interlochen is a summer fine arts camp in Michigan. It's supposed to be a really good experience, and I'm really looking forward to it. To get a spot in the Intermediate program, I need to record an audition and send it in by the end of this week. I've been working on two pieces: The 1st movement of the 3rd Stamitz Concerto and the 2nd movement of Finzi Five Bagatelles.

Here is a link to one of the pieces I recorded. Lots of improvement since the fall, but still a long long way to go. http://www.youtube.com/user/breuddwydiol#p/a/u/1/6Z69yGAy5DE
This is after 400 hours of practice.