Before I get to the topic mentioned in the headline, please allow me to remind you that we are back at the Music Hall on Monday night. The rehearsal order for this and all remaining rehearsals is posted on the Rehearsal This Week page. About a dozen NVOT students will be joining us for the Kalinnikov rehearsal this Monday. I think it will be a great experience on both sides of the aisle. Depending on the final count, I may or may not need to reorganize the seating for the first hour of rehearsal. Please be ready to be flexible.

This past Friday, I rehearsed the antiphonal sections of the Finale with students reading the brass parts out in the hall. It was a great eye-opener for the kids, who until this point, had only imagined what the cumulative effect would be. The experience made it a lot clearer. I also got a better opportunity to consider the ending, especially the effect of directional instruments close to audience members, and how we can make the final measure even more substantial in the Music Hall.

Barbara will be coming to work with us again for a second rehearsal as well on Monday. After my students leave, we’ll move the piano into place.

Last week I decided to make a program order change; I sent my suggestions out to the Board and received overwhelming approval for my choices. I have found over the years that my first instincts regarding the placement of the works in order often changes after we’ve lived with the pieces for several weeks. This was indeed the case this time. There were two things I didn’t like: I was concerned about starting this important concert with a 20th century work which many audience members would not find approachable, and I was finding that I didn’t like the idea of following the Kalinnikov with anything at all. So I moved the Sousa to the top of the program, moved the Persichetti to the end of the first half, and moved Mallory’s Galop to the second half. Now we have a great beginning and ending, and we still have one soloist and one guest conductor on each half of the program. You can see this all laid out for you here.

Lastly, Chris Wilhjelm from the Ridgewood Concert Band sent me this video of the Boston Symphony Brass. It details the complexities and rigors of the daily brass warm-up, and also shows what can happen when you allow brass players to use a video camera without adult supervision. See you Monday.