Update from the brass section

Hello!

Sorry for the lack of posting so far... we're just being kept very busy here!  Here's my brief bio: I graduated from UWO with a MMus in literature and performance (trumpet) in 2006 and will be starting my doctorate in performance at Florida State University next month. 

The first thing I must say is what an incredible experience NYOC has been for me so far!  We had constant guidance from world-class teachers for three weeks including full section rehearsals (brass or winds+brass), individual sectionals (trumpets), and numerous private lessons.  On top of that, our teachers attended all of the rehearsals and gave us helpful tips both at the break and the end of rehearsal.  The brass and percussion section were lucky because we had the opportunity to prepare a separate concert which was yesterday in Toronto.  It was very exciting to play with such amazing players and to work with the exceptional faculty members. 

It is incredible how much of an impact this environment has had on my playing in the past three weeks.  The standard of musicianship throughout the orchestra is so high that everyone is always striving to keep up with each other and, because the atmosphere is based of friendships and positive energy, there isn't really an intimidation factor to get in the way.  It seems that everyone is having fun while working extremely hard to get our repertoire ready for the tour and recording sessions.  The result is a continually improving product and I fully recommend this experience to anyone even if your dream is not an orchestral career.  Orchestral playing is definetely the first priority here but there are so many other opportunities to develop as well.  Besides the lessons and being surrounded by great players all the time, another non-orchestral benefit is the chamber music.  I am playing in a brass quintet, a mixed sextet (violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, and piano), and a duo with trumpet and tuba.  It is a ton of fun to play chamber music with such talented players and I'm very glad that I took advantage of the opportunity.   

I have to get over to rehearsal now...
Regards,
Alan

Posted by Alan Klaus on July 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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