Even though I won’t see woodwinds, brass, harps or percussion this Sunday, I’d like to share part assignments for Tomás Bretón’s “En La Alhambra.” Please print a practice part for yourself, and start practicing.
Percussionists: stand by for your assignments, coming up soon.
Bretón part assignments – go to page 3 for winds/brass/harp (reminder: my rosters are NOT rankings)
I am very proud of everybody’s hard work and inspired by your fearless and passionate playing in our concert last Sunday. CONGRATS!! It was a very fun performance, and I keep hearing very positive feedback from audience members.
I’m writing to share reference videos for our upcoming program, and to let you know about upcoming Leadership Auditions.
Reference Videos
(these can also be found on the sidebar of this webpage)
(Note: we are playing 6 original songs by Jimmie, arranged by YCP composers and guests. The video above is only for you to get to know Jimmie, if you don’t yet)
Leadership Auditions
We will hold self-submitted, optional leadership auditions for leadership chairs for our March 2024 concert. If you want to participate, you’ll need to record two scales (major & minor) of your choice, plus 3 minutes (minimum) of solo repertoire of your choice. The deadline for submission is Friday, December 22.
More information, as well as submission instructions will be sent in the coming weeks.
Reminder: Rehearsal on Sunday 11/19 will be only for bowed strings. No winds, brass, harp or percussion.
I’m also including the links below from my last e-mail:
Strings Seating Roster (reminder: my rosters are NOT rankings! – I try to build balanced sections with players of all levels of experience all around the sections).
Amazing concert last night. I’ll take some time later in the week to write to you in more detail about our very successful performance.
I just wanted to take a moment today to send our string players the seating roster for our next concert, PDF practice parts for one of the pieces we will be performing on January 9: En la Alhambra by Spanish composer Tomás Bretón, and reference audio.
Reminder: Rehearsal on Sunday 11/19 will be only for bowed strings. No winds, brass, harp or percussion.
Strings Seating Roster (reminder: my rosters are NOT rankings! – I try to build balanced sections with players of all levels of experience all around the sections).
COUNTDOWN before concert (as of Tuesday, November 7):
5 days!
Hi everybody,
Great work on Sunday. CONCERT WEEK is here!! Our evening rehearsals leading up to the concert are extremely important. Please practice very strategically this week, and if you’ve already let me know that you can’t make one or several weeknight rehearsals, PLEASE practice EXTRA hard. A few important announcements below.
We now have (truly) final parts for the YCP piece. I’ve also bowed the string parts. We’ve simplified some rhythms here and there, added some missing details (trills, etc), clarified dynamics, and fixed some enharmonic spelling issues. We will hand out hard copies of these new parts on Thursday evening. However, if you’d like to download or print a practice part before then, you can find them here.
The week after our concert (Sunday, November 19), rehearsal will be for STRINGS ONLY. That’s WIBC weekend, so too many winds/brass/percussion musicians will be missing anyway. This will also be the first rehearsal for new repertoire for our January 9 concert. PDF parts will be distributed in advance.
On Saturday evening (our final rehearsal before Sunday), YCP staff will bring recording equipment to rehearsal to record Music for an Imaginary Cartoon. This will be our backup recording in case something unexpected happens on Sunday at the Schnitz.
Recap: 11/05/23
4pm-5:35pm: YCP
5:50pm-7:00pm:
Mussorgsky
Dukas
Beauty and the Beast
“Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid
Rehearsal plan for CONCERT WEEK
(subject to change! check this page for latest information)
Thursday, 11/9, 7:00pm-9:30pm
7:00pm: Totoro
7:20pm: Dukas
8:15pm: break
8:30pm: Beauty and The Beast
9:00pm: Little Mermaid
Friday, 11/10, 7:00pm-9:30pm
7:00pm: Poor Unfortunate Souls (with Zach)
7:20pm: Music for an Imaginary Cartoon
8:15pm: break
8:30pm: Mussorgsky
9:00pm: Dukas
Saturday, 11/11, 7:00pm-9:30pm
7:00pm: Music for an Imaginary Cartoon (recording!!)
COUNTDOWN before concert (as of Thursday, November 2):
10 days!
Hi all!
Thanks for a productive rehearsal last Sunday. Please see below for a recap and rehearsal plan for this Sunday (11/5). We have a lot to get done!
Recap: 10/29/23
4pm-5:00pm: Beauty and the Beast
5:00pm-6:15pm: Little Mermaid
6:15pm-6:45pm: work on Poor Unfortunate Souls
6:45pm-7:00pm: Totoro
Rehearsal plan for 11/05/23
If you didn’t wear your concert dress last Sunday, please do it this week. If you need to, consult page 8 of the Student Handbook for attire guidelines.
4:00pm-5:00pm: YCP piece (Music for an Imaginary Cartoon)
5:00pm-5:30pm: Dukas
5:45pm-6:15pm: Mussorgsky
6:15pm-6:40pm: Beauty and the Beast (268 to end)
6:40pm-7:00pm: “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid.
Weeknight rehearsals coming up!!
Our pre-concert weeknight rehearsals are coming up. These are extremely important, so make sure they’re on your calendar (Thursday 11/9, Friday 11/10, Saturday 11/11).
COUNTDOWN before concert (as of Tuesday, October 24):
19 days
Hi all!
I was very pleased with our rehearsal on Sunday. Keep up the great work!
It’s 19 days before our concert.
Please make sure to practice “Music for an Imaginary Cartoon” now that we have our final parts. String section principals: please add bowings this week.
Recap: 10/22/23
4pm-5:15pm: we read and worked on the final version of “Music for an Imaginary Cartoon.” We discovered some issues in the parts, particularly between [B] and [C]. Expect some kind of insert for this section.
5:15pm-5:40pm: read-through of Dukas (mostly good!!) and some work on this piece.
5:50pm-6:30pm: work on Poor Unfortunate Souls
6:30pm-7:00pm: Totoro
Rehearsal plan for 10/29/23
Concert dress check!!! If you need to, consult page 8 of the Student Handbook for attire guidelines.
If you missed it last week, check out this article about MYS on Oregon ArtsWatch
Happy practicing and see you Sunday!
Dr. G.
P.S. In case you missed it, click the photo below to watch a clip on KGW8 about the Oregon Symphony’s recent concert with Common, which I conducted (and am still starstruck about)
Common!
Rehearsal plan for 10/22/23 | MYS Symphony Orchestra
COUNTDOWN before concert (as of Tuesday, October 17):
26 days
Hi everyone!
Really great rehearsal on Sunday. I was very pleased with the progress we’re making on Mussorgsky and Dukas. We’re done with sectionals for the term. From now on, it’s all tutti work until our concert.
This Sunday, we’ll hand out parts of the final version of Music for an Imaginary Cartoon, and we’ll start rehearsing the piece. Please read on.
Recap: 10/15/23
Tutti: excellent work on Mussorgsky (read-through, detailed work [W] to end, and beginning to [M]-ish.)
Sectionals: woodwinds with coaches on Dukas, and strings/brass/percussion with me: [32] to retenu after [40] and [47 to 56]
Rehearsal plan for 10/22/23
4:00pm-5:00pm: Music for an Imaginary Cartoon (final version)
Hi everybody! We are now essentially a month away from our concert. By now, you should have had individual practice sessions of the entire repertoire. If you haven’t, please catch up ASAP! We only have 4 more Sunday rehearsals before the concert. Individual preparation is crucial.
Recap: 10/8/23
Tutti: First read-through of YCP’s Music for an Imaginary Cartoon
Sectionals: brass worked with their coaches, and the rest of the orchestra worked with me on The Little Mermaid and Poor Unfortunate Souls.
Rehearsal plan for 10/15/23
4:00pm-5:30pm:
Tutti minus percussion: Mussorgsky
Mr. Schlossman with percussionists
5:45pm-7:00pm:
Last week of sectionals for the term. Please focus on Dukas.
Flutes
Oboes
Clarinets
Bassoons
Strings, brass and percussion with me.
Happy practicing and see you Sunday!
Dr. G.
Style
Rehearsal plan for 10/08/23 | MYS Symphony Orchestra
Hi everybody! I missed seeing you on Sunday. I’m grateful to Mr. Castro and our sectional coaches for their work with you (I was away for my sister’s wedding). Below is our rehearsal plan for 10/08/23.
Recap: 10/01/23
Tutti work with Mr. Castro on Mussorgsky
Percussion work with Mr. Schlossman
String sectionals with string coaches (Dukas)
Winds, brass and percussion sectional with Mr. Castro (Dukas)
Rehearsal plan for 10/08/23
4:00pm-5:30pm:
Reading session of YCP piece “Music for an Imaginary Cartoon.”
Mr. Schlossman with percussionists
Hard copies of the first draft of this piece will be distributed right before rehearsal. Please make sure to get there at 3:45pm!!
5:45pm-7:00pm:
Sectionals!!! Focused on The Little Mermaid and Poor Unfortunate Souls
French horns
Trumpets + trombone
Percussion
Strings + woodwinds with me
NOTE: Please take an especially detailed look at rhythm in the “Under the Sea” portion of Little Mermaid.
Part Assignments
Up-to-date part assignments can be found by clicking on the link on the sidebar on the right (or the “quick links” towards the bottom of the page if you’re on mobile).
