Tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, May 31, at 2:00 PM, the NCSSM Orchestra will present its 2nd annual Concerto Concert. This year our line up features a single movement of the following pieces:
Adam Collins, Cello Concerto, Mvt 1, Elgar
Audrey Chang, Piano Concerto No 2, Mvt 1, op 18, Rachmaninoff
Connie Zhu, Flute, Poem, Griffes
Darren Zhu, 2nd Piano Concerto, Chopin
Mindy Yuan, Piano Concerto in G, Ravel
I am so pleased that a concerto concert is now part of the NCSSM routine and tradition. These types of concerts are so important for an orchestra community for a variety of reasons.
1.They feature the excellent soloists in a community and provide them with what may be a "once in a lifetime" experience. Other soloists will use this as a stepping stone possibly to a career of soloing with orchestras.
2.They expose section players to literature that they would never otherwise encounter in a school-orchestra setting. (Trust me - the Griffes and Ravel that we are doing hadn't even hit my radar until they were programed on this concert!)
3. They provide excellent opportunities for lessons in expression, following a conductor(who is following a soloist), and interpretation that are invaluable to an orchestra.
4. They invariably feature literature from a variety of style-periods which also provides superior opportunities for teaching broad concepts to young musicians.
5. They are just downright fun! (Have you played the last 16 bars of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 2 lately? Trust me - it is just about as fun as any roller-coaster ride you could go on.) My students get so pumped to support excellent soloists and to be part of this wonderful format.
I am really looking forward to the performance. We have one last run-through tonight at 6:00 and then it is all over but the shouting. If you are around the Triangle, come on out tomorrow. It is sure to be a blast. If not, watch my blog for video posts over the next few weeks. I will try to feature some of the performances right here.
Peace.
Scott
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