Fresh Faces, New Spaces! RCHESTRATING the FUTURE
volume 25 #1 October 2024
Berets Financial Services, LLC
Bischofberger Violins
Coldwell Banker - Evergreen Olympic Realty
Evergreen Brass Quintet
Faith Lutheran School
Hammond Ashley
JT Painting Company
Lolli Llama Candy
Music 6000
Nova School
Old School Pizzeria
Olympia Waldorf School
Orca Pediatrics
Relentless Leadership LLC - Crestcom
Sofie’s Scoops Gelateria
Olympia Waldorf School
Union Goldsmiths
Alot has changed since you last heard from SOGO! At the end of last season, our orchestras were so big that students were almost falling off the stage, so over the summer, we took the leap of faith of adding another orchestra and reassigning our conductors. While the Conservatory Orchestra, our most advanced ensemble, is unchanged, Greg Allison is now conducting the new Philharmonic Orchestra, and Dan Craig is now conducting the Academy Orchestra. We were also very pleased to add Linda Pyle to our conducting staff, and she has taken over the Debut Orchestra.
The addition of the Philharmonic Orchestra allows us once again to create margin for growth in each ensemble. As we continue to welcome new younger students to SOGO, many of whom have never played in an orchestra before, we want them to have a smaller, more intimate environment in which to succeed. Entering a Debut Orchestra with nearly 60 students (as was the case last spring) can be overwhelming for a young musician visiting SOGO for the first time.
For the past four seasons, we have used Jefferson Middle School for Sunday rehearsals. As the groups grew, however, the only spaces large enough to accommodate them were the cafeteria and the gym, the latter of which is less than ideal for music-making. Starting this year, Academy and Conservatory have moved over to Capital High School, which has a band room large enough to accommodate a full orchestra. Debut, Brass Choir, and Philharmonic are continuing to rehearse at Jefferson.
Using two different buildings on the same day has been a significant change for us, but so far it seems to be working well.
Our stalwart Teaching Artists are now spending most of their time with the Academy and Philharmonic orchestras, with the string TAs also helping in Debut and Conservatory. This significant reduction in TA time for Conservatory has been a goal of mine since I started working for SOGO. I believe the oldest students should be the most self-sufficient, and the Teaching Artists’ time is best spent helping our younger students develop good orchestral playing habits.
At SOGO, we strive to create an environment that is collaborative rather than competitive. Keen-eyed audience members will notice students sitting in different places from concert to concert, or sometimes within the same concert. String players need experience sitting in the front, middle, and back of the section, woodwind and brass players need experience playing first, second, third, and fourth parts, and percussionists need to be versatile and play many different percussion instruments. A young musician’s self-worth should NOT be determined by where they sit, so we have our students sit in a variety of places throughout the year.
Rehearsals are well underway for our November 3 concert at the Washington Center, and we’ve got lots of great music planned for our 25th anniversary season. Get your tickets now, and I’ll see you soon!
Meet Linda Pyle
The new SOGO Debut Orchestra Conductor!
Linda is not new to SOGO as her roots go back to 2012 when she was a Violin Teaching Artist with SOGO’s after-school program, POGO
- Play On Greater Olympia, that has morphed into SOGO 2 Schools. When Mrs. Pyle was 14 years old, she had an amazing youth orchestra experience with Paula Fairchild as her conductor. She decided then and there that she wanted to be a youth symphony conductorwell, she made it!
An interesting view of her life by the numbers…
• Total instruments she performs professionally each month: 5
• Total subjects taught each week: 10
• Total number of inches in her family: 296 (that is spread out over just four members!)
• Total number of students taught on a weekly basis: 462 (at Chambers Prairie ES)
• Mrs. Pyle’s musical interests are varied: she plays violin with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, fiddles with a local bluegrass group and plays bass guitar, cello, keyboards, and electric violin with her worship team.
When not making music, Mrs. Pyle enjoys teaching yoga, Pilates, and Sunday school, but most of all, cheering on her two children’s athletic and academic endeavors along with her husband.
Debut performs in the Washington Center Black Box, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2:30pm.
TheSOGO Brass Choir and Ragtime Band are headed to Croatia and Montenegro!
So…you might have a few questions. What? Why? And, who exactly?
Let me start by saying that the SOGO Brass Choir and faculty Woodwind Quintet traveled to Italy for a tour back in 2010. We proposed another tour about four years later but we just never got traction. Then we got busy with a music director search, conductor changes, a pandemic (you might remember that) and most recently significant growth. As we looked at the season ahead last January there was a wild thought - “let’s tour again!”
We will be in Croatia and Montenegro from June 26-July 6, 2025. We will be presenting four concerts and some of those will be in collaboration with local ensembles. At present, there are
62 of us on the tour - about half musicians and half guests. An international tour is one of the most unique, inspirational, memorable, and relationship building experiences musicians will have in their career.
Lastly, you might be thinking, okay, I understand the part about the SOGO Brass Choir - but a SOGO Ragtime Band?
Well, we were looking at a way to include some string players (both teaching artists and students) and a Ragtime Band seemed a good alternative as the original instrumentation in Scott Joplin’s day included strings and winds.
The SOGO Spring Concert will feature one of the pieces we will be performing overseas and you are invited to attend our Bon Voyage Concert on 7:00 PM, June 24, 2025 - place TBD.
SOGO was founded on the vision of two passionate students who believed in putting their peers at the heart of their musical journey. In just eight weeks, this vision became a reality, with over 90 young musicians joining in the first rehearsals. Since its inception in 2000, SOGO has held firm to this commitment by giving students a voice in shaping the organization, electing representatives from each orchestra and inviting student leaders to serve on the board.
Every year, our musicians take part in this important tradition by selecting representatives who embody the spirit of collaboration, leadership, and creativity. We are incredibly proud to announce the newly elected student representatives for the 2024-2025 season. These individuals will play a vital role in ensuring that student interests continue to guide the future of SOGO.
L-R DEBUT: Elsa Manelski, Rylee Hultz, Finley Kochaniewicz ACADEMY: Ewan Caudill, Elliot Brewster, Audrey Gauthier-Shepard PHILHARMONIC: Lila Wilson, Iila Kennelly, Russell Shrestha CONSERVATORY: Zoey Bernal,* Kyan Porter, Will Cummings, Allison Walker,* Annika Hillier, Isabella DiBenedetto-Campos.*
2010 Brass Choir in Italy!
Greg Allison, Artistic Director