“That’s the idea”
Holy crap you guys! This week has been absolutely insane!!!
We have officially entered into week 1 of the festival! All the remaining students have arrived, chamber groups were assigned, and we were sorted into our studios for private lessons. With the addition of more classes, my schedule started to get pretty busy! But that didn’t end up changing the number of hours spent in the practice room! Thursday, I had a late orchestra rehearsal and ended up practicing for 7 hours! I don’t think I have ever done that before!
So, let’s get into the details!
Orchestra
This week, joining us was conductor Andrew Grams, and professor of viola at Eastman School of Music, Masumi Per Rostad.
Our repertoire was:
Prelude to Der Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Wagner
L.E.S. Characters (Concerto for Viola and Orchestra) by Jessie Montgomery
Symphony No. 2 by Sibelius
One of the things that I loved the most about Maestro Grams was his sense of musicality and communication with the orchestra. His passion for music was incredible, and he put 150% into every rehearsal, even in the extreme heat. One of the phrases he used the most was “that’s the idea.” One of the rehearsal strategies I appreciated was the full run-throughs of each piece. Every rehearsal, we would run the movement before we worked on the details. We were able to get an “idea” of how it should sound before we dissected each phrase. It was a really efficient way of rehearsing.
Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 is now probably one of my favorite symphonies, next to Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. This symphony is, I believe, the epitome of romantic music, and I believe it is the perfect soundtrack of romance. The fourth movement is incredibly beautiful, and if I weren’t so focused on the music, and the right movie scene was playing, I would probably cry! So, enjoy this performance of it by the Oslo Philharmonic.
Faculty chamber concerts
This week we had two incredible faculty chamber recitals! My favorite piece on Monday was the Shostakovich Octet! If you’re into heavy metal music for orchestra, this is the piece!!! It was absolutely incredible! I’ll link a video at the end of this section. This concert also featured a piece by Jennifer Higdon. Her music has absolutely inspired me, and her piano trio’s Pale Yellow was probably the most beautiful music I have ever heard. It was only unfortunate that I had a coughing attack right in the middle and had to step out. But that’s life I guess!
Wednesday, we had quite the interesting combination of music. But the jewel of this recital was George Crumb’s The Voice of the Whale. What a spectacle! There were masks, prepared piano, lighting, and all kinds of extended techniques. It was captivating like nothing else. What an incredible piece of music to witness in person.
Lessons
This week we started our private lessons and studio classes! I was assigned to Karen Strittmatter Galvin’s studio! She is incredibly knowledgeable and so much fun to work with! She has so much passion and energy for the violin and in one hour taught me more about how to practice effectively than I have ever learned before. I cannot wait until our next lesson this coming Tuesday! I am so excited to be working with her and really hope that I can hone in on my ability to practice strategically.
Visiting groups
This week we had the pleasure of having two different bands visit and perform. Each was very different in technique, genre, and energy.
Steep Canyon Rangers - bluegrass
Time for Three - string trio
2 ice cream socials!
As you will see in my comment on ice cream below, there is certainly no shortage of ice cream at this festival!
Monday started off strong with an ice cream party at the French Quarter house for all the college students. We had an awesome toppings bar, and I’ve determined that crushed chips ahoy cookies are one of my new favorite toppings. It was really great to have this to get to know more of the college students here and meet more of the new people who had just arrived!
Today, Sunday, we had an ice cream social for all the violin students on campus. It was super fun to get to chat with the high school students and also find out what my colleagues are currently working on repertoire-wise. This social was also a chance for the faculty to discuss with the students important things to know about how to survive this festival. We talked about the different roles of an orchestral player, proper posture and seating, how to mark your music efficiently, and so much more! I am looking forward to this next week of orchestral studies!
Other activities this week included:
I have my very own little mail box here on campus! So if anyone wants to send me a letter send it here:
Sarah Kelly
Brevard Music Center
P.O. Box 312
Brevard, NC 28712
Packages go to a different address:
Sarah Kelly
Brevard Music Center
349 Andante Lane
Brevard, NC 28712
New shower curtains!
We finally received new shower curtains for most of the showers! Goodbye, the not supposed to be black polka-dot curtains from hell!
A fresh bag of laundry!
Since when do people have time for laundry!? I was very grateful for the wash and fold service here. A bit pricey, but I guess worth it!
Nap time!
With the overly busy schedule, having some time to let my body recover from the business was worth it!
Ice cream overload
I thought I was going to be really good over the summer by not having constant access to ice cream (my #1 trigger food)… But alas, it is so hard when there is an entire deep freezer full of all kinds of ice cream treats all day long! And how can one not partake when the rest of the people are indulging! Safe to say, I will not be short of ice cream this summer!
Rain!
After an eternity of days in the mid-90s with high humidity, the thunderstorms that have graced Brevard the last few days have been a much-needed blessing. That is, if I remember my umbrella! LOL
I got hissed at by a cobra chicken (Canada goose).
I’m getting my steps in and more! I’m hoping to start incorporating some more active exercise next week!
I got to go to church today! It was super fun, quite a small branch compared to what I usually see in Utah, but it was amazing. Everyone there was so nice, and they already have me lined up for musical numbers the next few Sundays! Also, we had a potluck after church, and after having only eaten cafeteria food for the last few weeks, some home-cooked food tasted amazing! Bless the saints of Brevard, North Carolina!
Looking ahead, next week gets really busy! But let’s be real, when am I not extremely busy?
I will have two concerts this week! I'm so excited to be in the faculty side-by-side orchestra playing Dvořák’s New World Symphony on 7/3. 7/5 I will be performing two world premieres written by some of the student composers here at the festival!
Caio!
SK
