Entry 4.

Newfound music- I think this was my favourite year out of the three I've experienced. I don't have to write anything about it for any other classes, but since this counts as a blog entry, I'm definately down for doing some good old rambling about what I went to this year.
1. Riley's 'In C.' I remember studying this very briefly in music history, and though that it was kind of nifty...I think it was even one of our listening examples, but it wasn't on the final exam (I don't think, at least) which sucks because it was one of the easiest pieces to pick out of the others. I was impressed that it stayed together without completely falling to pieces, and it actually sounded really groovy in some places, especially toward the end. I'm glad I got some of it on video- I'm not sure how much, seeing as my camera kind of died, but at least I got the beginning of it.
2. Scott's lecture on writing for high school band. It was really neat to hear about his experience writing for a band, though I had expected him to tell us how to write for band, not how he wrote for a band. Nevertheless, I did learn a lot from this session, especially from hearing what he wrote. My experience with a high school band was pretty terrible. I played french horn in grade 12 because no one else knew how, and I knew how to play five notes on it. Little did I know that I would be one of the better players in the band by the end of the year....How's that for a sad little story? We played at the rememberance day assembly that year, and after butchering Canon in D and making an incredible mess out of our own national anthem, the band hasn't been asked to play for another formal assembly since. With this in mind, I was leery about what I could write for a high school band, rather than what I wanted to write. In other words, my expectancies for a high school band were pitifully low, but I was enlightened by the recordings that Scott played and have a renewed amount of faith for high school bands which aren't absolutely decrepit. I'm really looking forward to this now, and definately agree with what was said in class- most of the repertoire for bands is too basic and unexciting, and the kids would be more apt to rise to the occasion of playing a slightly more difficult piece rather than slumping in their chairs while playing "Yankee Doodle," (another song that my band ruined). I also learned another important thing- get whatever money you can from the governement by whichever means possible. :)
3. Orchestra rehearsal- Yeah, so I was technically a part of this rather than sitting down and listening, but I was able to listen to what we played while playing, if that makes any sense. I think one of the best parts was getting to meet Cliff Crawley after having played a few of his pieces. I really liked what we played while we were in Russia a few years back- I can't remember what it was called, but it was something along the lines of "Down the Rabbit's Hole," or something like that...I know it had something to do with Alice in Wonderland, anyway, and I think that was my favourite thing written by him until I heard Tim and Nancy play 'The Lark.' That's something I'd really like to play someday.
4. Concert celebrating Cliff's 80th birthday- This was an awesome concert, and I enjoyed it from start to finish though I wish that I had been able to see the second half rather than sitting in the instrumental room playing the violin part on my viola and then trying to play the viola part on Tilly's cello to fill in the time before we went onstage. 'Not Waving but Drowning' is one of my favourite poems and it was features in the second half- which I missed- but hopefully it'll be performed again someday.

All in all I really enjoyed the Newfound Music festival this year, and am looking forward to seeing it again next year.