I'll start from the latest event and work backwards. Just yesterday, I was playing in the Ulster Hall in Belfast to a near-capacity crowd with the Ulster Youth Orchestra. Despite being 21 and at a music college, I had never done a youth orchestra course in my life until this Summer. I'm hoping to do some work with a professional orchestra sometime in the next year or 2, so I thought it would be a good time to get some experience playing in an orchestral section. Happily, I auditioned and got 1st chair, and had a solid lower brass section.
The rep we were playing was pretty good, not the best, but pretty good. We put on a programme of 'Russian Masterpieces'; Shostakovich's "Festive Overture", Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto #2" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade". The piano soloist for the piano concerto was Michael McHale, a brilliant Northern Irish concert pianist. We put on two fantastic concerts, one in Derry and one in Belfast, and both were just fantastic.
The best part for me was definitely our tutor, Paul Mayes. Every day we had brass sectionals with Paul, which for 2 days was going through the repertoire, but most of the time, he talked to us about playing a brass instrument, being a musician, and a whole host of related topics. I've taken so many notes on things that he has said, and I feel really motivated to play.
The biggest thing he said took me by surprise, but once I digested it, it made a lot of sense; Don't rely on your teacher to do everything for you. Work out what your weaknesses are, and fix them. There is always a reason why you're doing something wrong, and there is always a way to do it better.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Teachers and tutors are great for a lot of things, like learning repertoire, style, and buying you lunch, but they can't teach you how to play the instrument to it's full potential. It's up to you to master the instrument.
I'm feeling good about this next year, and I'm looking forward to proving myself again.
Just a week after I got home from Manchester for the Summer, I got a very exciting phone call; a trombone had pulled out of a gig, and I was first number that got called. The 'gig' was actually a two-week festival in St. Endellion in Cornwall, playing the Richard Wagner 4-hour masterpiece 'Valkyries'. I had never heard of the festival, but quickly found out that it was a pretty prestigious festival. The late Richard Hickox was the musical director there from 1972 to 2008, and made it into a festival to rival the BBC Proms. All of the musicians and choir members involved pay to be there, and all the international soloists do it for free.
It was a brilliant two weeks, not only because of the Wagner, or the other concerts, but the social aspect was fantastic. All of the musicians there were freelance musicians, mostly from London, and I got to meet some brilliant people. Every night was a great laugh, and I made a lot of good friends.
I got to play in two concerts aside from the Valkyries; the first was with orchestra and choir playing Berlioz' "Royal Hunt and Storm" and Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms", both fantastic pieces. The second concert was just the brass players, and featured the brilliant arrangement of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition". It's hard to beat the sound of a brass choir, and playing with such great musicians just made it a special concert.
Before the Summer, I cannot really remember what I did. College was tough for the last term, but I managed to get a 2:1 out of 2nd year, and a fantastic recital mark.
Lastly, I found out recently that I shall be auditioning for the 2nd trombone job for the Ulster Orchestra in just a few weeks time! This will be my first professional orchestral audition, so I'm gonna keep the head down for the next couple of weeks, and do my best. I'm feeling really good about my playing at the minute, and I'm looking forward to showing these guys what I'm capable of.
I'll roll out some more of these blogs in the next couple of weeks with updates and some listening suggestions!
'til next time...
Thanks ~ The Jazzbone
No comments:
Post a Comment