Thank you for the great rehearsal on Monday night. I feel we made some great progress in many areas.

Mackey – The composer loves to write melodies which weave throughout the instrumentation. We need to strive to hear and follow these lines, then balance counter-lines and accompaniment accordingly.

“Funny Girl” – We are starting to sound like a pit orchestra, and that’s the goal. We need to continue to work on listening skills to develop a better feeling of pulse and swing.

Avshalomov – This pieces has so many contrasts, not just programmically, but musically and technically as well. One movement is very straight forward, and the next has some extreme demands. Stay ahead of the curve as we rehearse two movements each week.

Whitacre – This is an extremely demanding piece on this program. The challenges require us to portray an apparition, a mechanical one at that. So precision in interpreting the parts is paramount. Please practice this part with goal-driven precision.

Marquez – I was extremely happy with the change of style that we accomplished, especially in the opening section of this piece. I’m sure many of you have an image of what this piece portrays. For me, I imagine myself riding in one of the cruise boats on the San Antonio Riverwalk. With each change of tempo, I imagine a different bar or restaurant with new music, at every turn in the river. I’m sure you’re envisioning your own scenario. Our goal should be to help our listeners create their own imagined journey. Thanks for the great progress, especially in the first section of the piece.

I’ve updated the Rehearsal This Week Page. Please take a look, and energize your practice for next Monday!

Thanks to Matt Kowalski for conducting the first part of this week’s rehearsal. I appreciate your preparation and work with the group, Matt. Here are my reflections on this rehearsal.

Sullivan – I had asked Matt to specifically work on the barrage of notes throughout all movements at a slower pace. Please consider this as you prepare these movements for the next rehearsal on September 30.

Styne – I liked a lot of what I heard, but we will need to work at creating a “pit orchestra” kind of sound that is filled with big Broadway sound and excitement. Next rehearsal: September 23.

Avshalomov – I have to say that I am liking this piece more as we actually start to rehearse it. I think the success will be in the details. Next Monday, I plan to quickly review movements 1 & 2, then rehearse movements 3 & 4.

Whitacre – We definitely need to approach this movement carefully and steadily. Please practice the section I rehearsed (m.1-65) so we can review it at a higher level, then move on to rehearse the next section, m.65-124. Next rehearsal: September 23.

Marquez – We were right on the edge of starting to listen more carefully to the internal lines and created a more balanced (and therefore more symphonic) sound, when we ran out of time. This will be paramount to allowing this gorgeous piece to blossom. Next rehearsal: September 23.

That’s the basic run-down. Please check the Rehearsal This Week page for the rehearsal timeline and last minute updates. See you Monday!

This post will serve as a friendly reminder about tomorrow evening’s rehearsal. If you didn’t already, please review the notes I sent on Wednesday morning, and double-check the posted rehearsal schedule.

See you then!

Thanks, everyone, for a great first rehearsal. I appreciate the fact that we pushed a great deal of music at everyone, and we got through it all — and no one got hurt!

As promised, I’ve uploaded the errata for the Avshalomov. Please follow that link, and transfer the appropriate notes into your part so you have them for next week.

I’m updating the rehearsal plan for next Monday. As I discussed, my Curriculum Night was rescheduled from Thursday to Monday, but I should be able to get to rehearsal by 8:45 pm. Matt will take the first part of the rehearsal; plan on playing Funny Girl and Pineapple Poll with him.

Here are some general rehearsal notes:

• Styne/Funny Girl – We need to put on our “orchestra pit” hats for this. In general the piece needs to sound more full and warm, and we need to get the swing section at m.129 to swing better.
• Mackey –  Lush sounds! We will want to work on listening skills to involve everyone in every line as we work on this piece.
• Avshalomov – The best strategy at this point is to prepare the notes and rhythms as best you can, until we are more familiar with the piece.
• Marquez – I suggest you watch this YouTube video of Dudamel conducting the piece at The Proms. Pay special attention to the dialogue of melody/accompaniment, and the general energy of the piece.
• Gulino – Balance will be the main issue here. We’re overplaying a bit.
• Whitacre – Concentrate on the technique of your own part for now. This is going to take work to pull this together. Just like with stage comedy, this kind of musical illustration is very specific, and requires just the right tweaking to carry it off.
• Sullivan – Get cracking on the notes, especially woodwinds! Be prepared for Matt to “woodshed” this considerably on Monday.

I’ve updated the Rehearsal This Week page to reflect Matt’s rehearsal plan, and will update it further by the weekend.