Thank you for your work with Mr. McCurdy and with Amir on Sunday. I enjoyed listening to the last 30 minutes of rehearsal. Below is our plan for this Sunday.
Rehearsal Plan for Sunday, May 19
4:00pm-5:30pm:
Castro: Portland Beauty (with tour guests)
Moncayo: Huapango (with tour guests)
5:30pm-5:45pm: Break
5:45pm-6:15pm: Music for an Imaginary Cartoon
6:15pm-7:00pm: Capriccio Espagnol
Happy practicing,
Dr. G.
Margaux Hicks with MYS Concert Orchestra | May 12, 2024 | Photo by Kyra Hanson
Made by local middle school students at Portland Art Museum’s “Center for an Untold Tomorrow.” This is a private video and should not be shared outside of MYS Symphony Orchestra membership. Thanks!
We’re done with sectionals for the season. I look forward to working with the full orchestra this Sunday. Please note that this Sunday is our annual open house. It’s a great chance to invite friends to come check out what MYS has to offer. Send them this registration/information link.
Rehearsal Plan for Sunday, May 5
4:00pm-5:30pm: Tutti, including tour guests:
Moncayo: Huapango
Gipps: Oboe Concerto (no soloist)
5:30pm-5:45pm: Break
5:45pm-7:00pm: Capriccio Espagnol
Happy practicing,
Dr. G.
From MYS Symphony Orchestra’s “Rooted” | March 3, 2024 | Photo by Richard Kolbell
Our final set of sectionals is this coming Sunday (4/28). Woodwind sections will work with coaches. Strings will be with me. Percussion and brass will be dismissed at the break.
Rehearsal Plan for Sunday, April 28
4:00pm-5:30pm: Tutti, including tour guests:
Castro: Portland Beauty
Moncayo: Huapango
4:00pm-5:30pm: Percussion with Kevin
5:30pm-5:45pm: Break – brass and percussion dismissed
5:45pm-7:00pm: Sectionals
Woodwinds with coaches: Rimsky-Korsakov
RGR with strings only: Music for an Imaginary Cartoon
Happy practicing,
Dr. G.
From MYS Symphony Orchestra’s “Rooted” | March 3, 2024 | Photo by Richard Kolbell
More sectionals this coming Sunday, this time for brass!
Last week (4/14) we spoke about rehearsal punctuality (arrive by 3:45pm!), and planning ahead when it comes to conflicts/absences. Please make sure to have our weeknight rehearsals on your calendars! (June 13, 14 and 15). These rehearsals are required, just like our regular Sunday rehearsals. You must communicate in advance if you have conflicts. Please and thank you.
Also, please remember that the main point of my sending rehearsal plans in advance is that you practice in advance.
Rehearsal Plan for Sunday, April 21
4:00pm-5:30pm: Tutti (except percussion), including tour guests
Castro: Portland Beauty
Oboe Concerto (no soloist)
4:00pm-5:30pm: Percussion with Kevin
5:30pm-5:45pm: Break
5:45pm-7:00pm: Sectionals
Brass w/ coaches: Rimsky-Korsakov, Moncayo if there’s time
RGR with everyone else: Rimsky-Korsakov
Happy practicing,
Dr. G.
From MYS Symphony Orchestra’s “Rooted” | March 3, 2024 | Photo by Richard Kolbell
I enjoyed spending most of my day yesterday listening to your auditions and working on creating part assignments for our June 16 concert.
Please click the button below to access the part assignments. Please let me know if you spot any errors or have any questions.
A few notes:
Some of these assignments were made with our summer tour in mind. A few woodwind players will be doubling other parts (like horn, trumpet, trombone). We will provide transposed parts whenever necessary.
In the winds and brass, if you see something like this: “1(alt),” that means this person is the “alternate player” for the part. They will learn and rehearse the part, but will not perform it in the concert, unless the primary player is absent.
Please note the program order, included in the part assignments document and also linked here. Write your name and the program order on each piece of music. For example, on my part for Capriccio Espagnol I would write: “Raúl – 4/6” (since it’s the 4th piece in the program out of 6).
These auditions will be done by self-recorded video. Detailed submission instructions will be sent in the coming days.
The following instruments are exempt from submitting an audition (because there is only one “official” member of the section, or because there are already other processes in place): tuba, harp, piano, percussion.
Happy practicing!
Dr. G.
From “Rooted” on March 3, 2024. Photo by Richard Kolbell.
Congrats on a very successful concert! Thank you for your hard work, especially during the last couple of weeks.
A special shout-out to our soloist Ian Ko, who absolutely smashed the Lalo concerto. Way to go! Another shout-out to Ethan Ferguson, who stepped up to play the horn solos in the Beethoven symphony.
Group shout-outs to all the woodwind soloists in Beethoven, brass players and ALL woodwinds in Tin Soldier; harps, piano and percussion in Pando; string principals in the whole concert; and strings and EVERYBODY for such sensitive accompaniment of the cello concerto.
NEW REPERTOIRE
We move right into our updated spring concert program, listed below.
Touring guests will not play Capriccio Espagnol or Music for an Imaginary Cartoon.
SEATING AUDITIONS – CAPRICCIO ESPAGNOL (for all regular SO members)
We will have seating auditions this term. We will use excerpts from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. Only regular members of Symphony Orchestra will play Capriccio Espagnol (no tour guests).
These video auditions will be due Wednesday, April 3. The list of excerpts will be communicated in the coming days, as well as submission instructions.
REHEARSAL PLAN for Sunday, March 10
I will communicate our specific rehearsal plan and a temporary seating roster on Thursday this week.
Most likely, the first half of rehearsal will be spent on Moncayo (with touring guests), and the second half will be Rimsky-Korsakov. Again, I will confirm on Thursday.
Thanks, and congratulations again on the concert!
Best,
Dr. G.
Photo by friend of MYS William Gilliland
Hypermeter in Movement 3 of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6
Click here to download a marked-up PDF with the hypermeter in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Movement 3. I strongly recommend that you transfer the hypermeter markings to your individual parts, especially around tricky entrances of solos.
Below is a good definition of “hypermeter” if needed.
Hypermeter is a perceived, metric organization higher than the regular meter (3/4, 6/8, etc.). Typically, each regular measure represents one “hyperbeat” in a “hypermeasure.” Quadruple is the most common hypermeter. In quadruple hypermeter, four regular measures combine to create one hypermeasure, but duple (two measures = one hypermeasure) is also common, and triple (three measures = one hypermeasure) is less common. Hypermeasures are typically perceived due to changes and/or repetitions that take place during that span of time. For example, if a passage contains a four-measure phrase and its immediate repetition, the passage can be heard as two, four-measure hypermeasures. Similarly, a four-measure phrase followed by a distinctly contrasting four-measure phrase can produce the same result. Like regular meter, hypermeter tends to be mostly the same throughout a work, but irregular lengths can occur (typically due to phrase expansion techniques). Some pieces may not have a perceivable hypermeter. More here.
