Intermediate Concert Orchestra Repertoire: 2017 Concert #4

We are winding down the summer here at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp and the Intermediate Concert Orchestra is deep in preparation for their final performance of the season. We have a wonderful program planned for this concert. As is my tradition, I will give you some information all on all of the works that we are doing.

First, we are preparing Highlights from An American in Paris, by George Gershwin, arranged by Jerry Brubaker. This is a Belwin publication and is listed as a Grade IV. I first heard this arrangement at a new music reading session that was sponsored by JW Pepper at an American String Teachers Association conference. I have never done anything by arranger Jerry Brubaker before. But, I really like this medley from An American in Paris. I will certainly keep my eyes open for more of his arrangements in the future. This is scored for string orchestra with percussion. I think the percussion will add a really nice touch to this piece.  It includes bicycle horns.  I spent a couple of hours today, shopping for bike horns at two different pitches!! The students will be exposed to George Gershwin's interesting harmonies and magnificent melodies. The piece features 4 distinct sections that all provide wonderful opportunities for each voice. The arrangement is also very clearly edited with fingerings and good bowings, saving a great deal of rehearsal time for me. The students really like this arrangement and I think it will be a wonderful addition to our concert.

Next we are doing Smooth Sailing by Tom Sharp . This is listed as a Grade Three and is published by Ludwig Masters Music. It features opportunities for melody in all of the voices of the orchestra and a simple and lovely melody that is passed between all of the sections throughout the piece.  It is full of beauty and grace and contains an abundance of lush romantic quality to please the most discriminating ear.  I always love Thom Sharp's stuff and this is no exception.

Next, we have been spending a great deal of time preparing Mars from the Planets by Gustav Holst, arranged by Robert McCashin. This is a Tempo Press publication and is listed as a grade IV. This one is tough! We have spent a great deal of time on the 5-4 time signature and the intricate interplay between 5/2 and 5/2 feel. There are many divisi parts in this arrangement and a few 16th note passages that are really tough. The group has worked hard on this piece. And they love it. I'm not a hundred percent sure that we will perform it for our concert but I have challenged the students to prepare it well enough that it will be easy to make the decision. This one is a real challenge!

Finally, my dear friend Alejandro Bernard Papachrysanthou has written a brand new piece for intermediate concert Orchestra to perform this session.  It is entitled Sunset Colors and is a magnificent piece that we will premiere on Saturday. Please see the separate post about this composition.

It has been another great summer at Interlochen and I'm sad to see it winding down. That said, I am ready to get home and begin my work at NCSSM. I'm also very ready to see my family. Thanks to all who have been reading these posts throughout the summer. I hope that you will stick with me as we move into the fall and the new academic year. Thanks to all of my friends here at Interlochen who have supported me this summer. Let's do it again next year!

Peace.

Scott

Samba Me This! by Thom Sharp

One of the pieces that will be on our program Wednesday, July 24th at 6:30 p.m. is a wonderful Latin piece by Thom Sharp entitled Samba Me This! For this performance, we will be featuring Interlochen Faculty members, David Kay on soprano saxophone, Alejandro Bernard on keyboard,  and Aaron Tenney on bass, along with Intermediate camper, Daqi on drums.

Samba Me This! by Thom Sharp is a wonderful original tune for String Orchestra and Drum kit that features dancy Latin rhythms and a wonderful chord progression.  The piece is listed as a grade 3.5. It is definitely a hard 3.5.  Audiences will need to hold on to their hats for a fast ride on the samba machine! This piece is rhythmically challenging and chromatic but has a singable main theme. All sections are featured and everyone in the orchestra has shifting challenges in their part.  It is published by Latham Music.

Today was our first opportunity to put this piece together with our guests. It was a pleasure to welcome them to our Monday rehearsal and start really putting things together. The first concept that we really focused on was maintaining tempo throughout the piece. I had a wonderful opportunity to discuss the similarities between this piece and the Haydn Allegro that we are preparing. The concept of "inner rhythm" and keeping the subdivision going through audiation (inside your head) throughout the piece is a common theme with both works.

We also had a wonderful discussion about improvisation and how we go about adding the improvised saxophone and keyboard parts to the string orchestra framework. The students got a chance to hear both David Kay and Alejandro Bernard improvising over the fantastic string sounds that Tom Sharp has created. It is always a pleasure to do Thom's compositions as they have such a representative string/jazz orchestra sound.

The students also got to participate in and witness the kind of interaction that happens between music professionals within the context of rehearsal. We discussed the arrangement, the "roadmap," opportunities for improvisation, dynamic nuances, rhythmic nuances, and other musical factors in the piece. I find that it is a great learning opportunity for students to simply be part of those discussions along with the professionals that are in the room.

Finally, when there are guests in the room , there is always a sense of urgency and a need to be efficient with the time that we are given. The students of Intermediate Concert Orchestra certainly succeeded with that today. It was a wonderful, successful rehearsal. I am sure that the audience will love this piece when it is performed on Wednesday.

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues David Kay, Alejandro Bernard, and Aaron Tenney for giving ICO this great opportunity!

That's it for now. It is a beautiful Monday afternoon at Interlochen. I am looking forward to welcoming some friends from North Carolina to the area today and giving them a grand tour of our campus.

We hope to see you on Wednesday through the live stream.

Peace.

Scott

ICO 2016 Interlochen Final Concert

Before I close the door on my 2016 Interlochen experience, I want to make sure that I say a few words about the repertoire that I selected for our final concert of the season. That concert actually took place several weeks ago.  I am sorry I didn't post about it prior to the performance. I do, however I encourage you to check out the audio recordings of the concert at the Interlochen Public Radio website. I will attach the link here as soon as it is available.

For this concert we did 5 selections.

We began the program with Mandolina by Gabrielle Faure, arranged by Tom Sharp. Those of you that know me, know that I frequently perform alt styles works arranged and composed by Tom Sharpe. This, however, is a wonderful piece by Faure, originally scored for piano and soprano solo. Tom Sharpe has brilliantly arranged it for string orchestra. Let me Begin by saying that this is a pretty difficult work. We actually had to modify some of the viola and cello parts to accommodate some of the less experienced players in the Intermediate Concert Orchestra. That said, it was quite easy to transcribe the bass line for these areas of the piece. This work includes beautiful melodies for each section of the string orchestra. It begins with a lovely soaring cello line and then hands the melody off to the violins. The B section is led by the violas. The melody then returns to the cellos  featured on the A' section to the end. I must say that this addition does require a good deal of editing. The bowings also must be modified for young orchestra in order to make the phrasing really speak. Also, it takes some time to really figure out who has the melody at any given moment and how the accompaniment parts fit in underneath the melody. That said, when all assembled, this is an absolutely beautiful work. I would rate this as about a grade 5 piece. It is absolutely stunning when performed.

For our second piece, I continued with the French theme. We performed the Minuet from Le Tombeau de Couperin, by Maurice Ravel, arranged by Carrie Lane Gruselle. I became aware of this work 2 years ago at a new music reading session that ASTA presented in North Carolina. It is a little outside the box of what I would normally Program for young orchestra. Each voice in the string orchestra is very independent and it requires attention to dynamic detail, as well as attention to details in phrasing, bow technique, hooked bowing, and other techniques associated with the impressionistic period. This piece features lovely melodies in each section and requires students to be very cognizant of conductors' nuances in the stick. The B section of this work features a muted string section performing a haunting minor melody.

Third, the orchestra presented the world premiere of Peter Terry's Blindsighted. You can see my notes on this piece in my previous post.

Following that, we performed the world premiere of another String orchestra work. This piece, the Colosseum, by Macenna Hanson held a place very near and dear to my heart. Miss Hanson, you see, was the concertmaster of this very ensemble during the summer of 2015. She approached me at the beginning of the summer of 2016 and informed me that she was now a composition major at the Interlochen Arts Camp. She told me that she had been working on a piece for string orchestra. I offered to read the piece in one of my rehearsals and she enthusiastically accepted the offer. After looking at the score and hearing a midi recording of the work, I offered to spend some time on the piece and see if it might be performable. It became clear very quickly that this piece would be a favorite of the students and myself and we could certainly perform it on the stage of Kresge Auditorium. Of course, Macenna was thrilled and we, in fact, performed the world premiere of that work on our concert. It was such a thrill and pleasure to perform a work by a young composer and see her hard work come to fruition in such a magnificent performance space.

Our fifth and final selection for this concert was Bert Ligon's Bossa Rojo for string orchestra. This is a wonderful, light bossa style piece for string orchestra that features opportunities for teaching articulation, improvisation, and pop style playing for young string orchestras. This piece is a grade 3.5 and is truly a pleasure to perform. The melodies have been stuck in my head for the past several weeks! We decided to feature Interlochen faculty piano instructor, Alejandro Bernard  Papachryssanthou on the electronic keyboard as part of this performance. He added a solo on keyboards that was a true face melter! What a blast! It was a wonderful way to end the 2016 concert season for the Intermediate Concert Orchestra.

Again, I encourage you to check out the recordings of these pieces. I could not have been any happier with our performances. I look forward to continuing to write about repertoire that I select for the various orchestras I am working with in coming weeks and months.

Until next time.

Peace.

Scott

Interlochen 2016, ICO Concert #3

Today we are making our final preparations for the 2016 Intermediate Concert Orchestra's third concert of the summer season. It has been a wonderful week or so of rehearsals and ICO is really ready to give this performance. We have three pieces to perform on this concert and I know they are all going to be well received.

We will open the concert with Mendelssohn's Sinfonia # 7 in D Minor, Mvt 1. This is a wonderful String Symphony movement that will challenge any young string orchestra. It features wild dynamic swings, a contrapuntal texture at times as Mendelssohn is known to utilize, and requires independent counting from each section of the orchestra. I particularly love how the viola section is challenged in this piece. The ICO viola section in this session is certainly up to the task. This piece always requires a great deal of detailed rehearsal and the orchestra has risen to the task. My goal for the last two rehearsals is to really accentuate the rhythmic motion and variation in the peace and develop a little bit more of the dynamic nuance within each line of the work. This piece also provides ample opportunity for encouraging students to listen across the orchestra in an effort to solidify rhythmic stability.

Next, we will feature two of our esteemed cello faculty members, Dr. John Marshall and Dr. David Carter on the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto in G Minor. It has been a wonderful experience to prepare the accompaniment for this work and I feel that providing the opportunity for these young musicians to accompany such fine soloists is rare, indeed. Again, this accompaniment provides ample opportunity for teaching young orchestral musicians to look past the notes and rhythms and to find the direction in a piece of music. I always tell students that their first job in playing Vivaldi is to make every note "sparkle." I am also pleased that my bassist in this ensemble, Jonathan, will be performing the continuo part along with a student harpsichordist. Again, this is a rare opportunity for such a young musician and he has truly risen to the task. The smile on his face during rehearsals has been truly gratifying for me.

We will finish our portion of the program with another great jazz string orchestra chart from my friend Tom Sharp. This one is called Mayfair Drive and is listed as Medium Difficult by Lucks Music. This chart features a cool solo bass line and some really cool string riffs and sounds. Since I had a harpsichord player around rehearsals for the Vivaldi, I asked Tom to give me something that a keyboard player could use in playing this piece.  He quickly send me the changes and a lead sheet for the pianist.  (It pays to know the composer!!) Then, one of our piano instructors, Alejandro Bernard-Papachryssanthou tweaked the part just a little bit more and we will be featuring our piano player, Isabella, with the orchestra on this piece. Like many of Sharp's charts for string orchestra, this requires no improvisation on the orchestra's part and allows for teaching the orchestra swing style and a variety of other idiomatically jazz concepts.

This concert will be live-streamed and broadcast live on the web on Wednesday, July 27 at 6:30 p.m. I hope that you can tune in and check out a great performance by the Interlochen 2016 Intermediate Concert Orchestra.

Peace.

Scott

Interlochen 2016 - Getting Started!

Hello friends.

I am very excited to finally be situated in Interlochen, Michigan and ready to begin my work with the Intermediate Concert Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp for the 2016 season. This is my 6th season conducting this Orchestra and I have grown too love the process of turning these kids from all over the world into a high-level musical ensemble.  Many of you know that I had a little delay in arrival. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to request a substitute for the first concert of the 2016 season. I am very pleased that my dear friends Aaron and Wendy Tenney were able to fill in in my absence.  I made it to camp in time to see their performance and was truly pleased with what I witnessed. The performance was beautiful and I was particularly impressed with the beautiful strings sound of the ensemble. The sonority was absolutely stunning!  Congratulations to the Tenneys and all of the students for their magnificent performance.

Many of you know that I frequently write about the repertoire that I select for this ensemble. I intend to do that again this summer. My remarks on the repertoire for the first concert will be a little more brief than usual, simply because I haven't been immersed in that repertoire like I would have been had I conducted the program. The first concert included 4 selections:

• Pendleton Suite, Mvrt 3, M.L.  Daniels
• Of Glorious Plumage, Richard Meyer
• Concerto in G Major, Vivaldi, Arr. LaJoie
• Nanigo, Sharp

The third movement of the Pendleton Suite includes a driving rhythm creating an exciting concert opener. Tom Lajoie's arrangement of the Vivaldi is one of my favorites and the students performed it with a true musical energy and understanding. Of Glorious Plumage is a beautiful, epic work that highlights the ensemble's ability to play long, lush lines with beauty and grace. Finally, Nanigo is a West African folk tune and is always a great way to end the program.

As we move forward with this summer, I will continue to write about the repertoire that the Intermediate Concert Orchestra is preparing, concepts that come up as part of rehearsals, and other general themes that arise as part of camp and my time in Northern Michigan. I look forward to sharing my experiences with you. If you are seeing my blog for the first time, I also would encourage you to find me on Twitter where I am "Orchestraguy."  I will post shorter thoughts about rehearsals and camp there as well as links to various videos and, of course, new blog posts.

I am looking forward to a great summer full of wonderful music-making, happiness, and new rich friendships.

Peace .

Scott

Thom Sharp's Nanigo with Solo Electric Violin

Hey all -

For you string teachers out there: How about trying the tune based on West African rhythms called Nanigo, by Thom Sharp (Latham Music) with percussion section and electric violin? I did this piece at Interlochen last week and it was a huge success! This week, I will be doing his “Samba Me This” along with an improvised solo on soprano sax by my friend, David Kaye. Thom’s charts are really well done and can be performed with or without improvised solos. They almost all can can effectively incorporate electric violin. I encourage you all to take a minute and check out Thom’s stuff!

All the best.

Scott