Durham Symphony Review

Raleigh Symphony Review

The chorus went on first, and performed pieces by composers ranging from Arcadelt (the 15th-century Flemish guy) to Irving Berlin, and from a variety of cultures and styles. While I enjoyed their versatility, my favorite part about the chorus was their excitement and passion as they sang, and how they brought joy into each song. The guys in the group were excellent as well–not like the muttering fellows in the choir at one of my recent gigs–they really sang out, and it gave the choir a beautiful, full sound.

After the chorus was the band, who were quite a treat as well. Andrew and I especially enjoyed their version of Dizzy Gillespie’s Manteca. I don’t know many high school bands who would tackle this tune, let alone make it swing. But this band swung hard, and really captured the wild vibe that Dizzy’s tunes tend to have. All the musicians sounded great, but being percussion & low brass people, we paid extra-close attention to the mallets and baritone. The mallet girl nailed every part, and she had a huge grin on her face the whole time . Meanwhile, the baritone guy was moving effortlessly all over his horn–he had a very solid grasp of his partials!

We’ve seen several school concerts this year, but this show at Governor Morehead wins first place! Not only were the kids excellent musicians, they also brought such a positive and fun vibe to their performance, the kind you don’t see very often. We’ll definitely be back to check these kids out again!

This evening I played 3rd trombone in Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah with the Northeast Piedmont Chorale. The work itself is beautiful, and it’s easy to hear the influences of Bach and Handel (a couple of Mendelssohn’s favorites), as well as shades of the Romantic era when the piece was composed. Mendelssohn gave us low brass players many tacet movements, so for much of the gig, there was little more to do than sit, watch, and listen.

My seat in the orchestra was great this evening. Behind me was an 80-piece chorus that sang strongly and blended their voices very beautifully. Beside me was a tuba player, with whom it was easy to blend and get a good ensemble sound. Off toward the front of the stage were the cellos, who were a pleasure to listen to, and this one violist whose bow hand I could see under one of the horn players’ stands. His hand was so graceful and fluid! I watched the violist’s hand throughout the evening, enjoying the light touch of his fingers on the slender bow. What great technique he had!

Unfortunately, at times I would be distracted by the blast of the two overzealous horns directly in front of me. Despite getting “the hand” repeatedly from the conductor, these guys were going to town for most of the evening. Screaming horns directly in front of the trombone section have never been my idea of a good time…but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they mistook the name “Mendelssohn” on their music for something else, like “Wagner”.

Playing the music was fun as well. My part said “bass trombone”, but it was easily played on a tenor. And because we didn’t want to totally overwhelm the choir, we brass had to back off quite a bit…so big, splatty bass trombone antics were out. My goal for the evening was to blend in very smoothly with the section, and make a connection with the tuba player and cellos when we had lines together. I felt like a big, plush carpet sometimes. Other times, like a cellist. I enjoyed the challenge of staying low-key and changing roles throughout the night.

For several days last week, I played in an orchestra accompanying the Mt. Olive College Choir in Gounod’s beautiful St. Cecilia Mass. The music wasn’t very demanding, but packed quite a punch when the dynamic contrasts were done properly. As we rehearsed the mass, I tried different approaches to breathing, especially in the loud sections, and experimented with alternate positions in some of the repetitive accompaniment parts.

I had to give up playing my fun alternates after a while, though–the orchestra was crammed into the area between the stage and the front row like sardines, and the trumpets kept moving further and further back. Eventually, going into even 6th position could have been dangerous to the poor trumpet players’ backs, so I stuck with my F-attachment when they got too close. This gig made even the orchestra pit at Page Auditorium feel luxuriously spacious!

On Saturday, Andrew and I drove to Virginia, where my grandmother Fely Thompson lives, and performed dinner music for her 80th birthday party. It was probably the best gift I could’ve given her, because she is also a musician! She’s a brilliant pianist who studied at Peabody Conservatory and continued to perform and teach for decades. (She still has an active private studio at age 80!) We paid tribute to her long teaching career by arranging several tunes from the John Thompson piano method book for the Summerglen Duo. Believe it or not, these little piano pieces sound GREAT on trombone and marimba! We’ve added them to our repertoire, and are itching to record them!

Yesterday, it was back to NC for a Durham Symphony performance and a salsa rehearsal. Most of what I remember from these is being extremely tired. And this evening is my first rehearsal of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Northeast Piedmont Chorale.