Flamboyance, beauty, and virtuosity come to the Washington Center stage Sunday, March 27, 4 p.m. Olytix.org or 360.753.8586
SOGO - So Y’Know Newsletter
YOUNG LIVES being shaped THROUGH MUSIC
March 2011 Vol. 11 No. 3
The challenges of Concert Programming
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any observers would think that organizing and rehearsing a group for performance would be the most difficult job on the conductor’s plate. Although these are important and at times difficult tasks, music selection is probably the most difficult. For each repertoire selection, there are usually ten to thirty that are considered but not chosen because of a number of factors including difficulty, personnel, programming, historical significance, and composer variety. For the March concert, the Conservatory Orchestra members would probably express how much fun the flamboyant Bizet Carmen Suites are to play. Cellist and student board member Keadrin Dick was asked to share her thoughts on the repertoire and how things were progressing. “The music is beautiful. It’s pretty difficult at first, but we’re getting into it really well. It’s fast, exciting, and yet has calm parts that could lull a person to sleep. The rehearsing is going pretty well, but for some strange reason Mr. Welsh likes to pick on the cello section..... As for the coaching, Ms. Edge and Ms. Rhydholm have had some very good suggestions regarding articulation and bowings for the viola and violin sections. Ms. Martin has done well with helping the cello section through some pretty rough spots, and we almost have it completely down. I think we’ll be ready for the concert in March. It should be fun for everyone. “ A highlight to this particular program is our soloist, Tumwater High School senior William “Will” Wertjes. He will be performing Arutunian’s virtuoso Concerto for Trumpet. Will is not only a distingushed Student Board member, but he is an eight year veteran member of SOGO. His high school band director, Peter Klinzman, shared the following about Will. “Will is a driven, competitive musician who understands the connection between hard work and success. He is very reliable, responsible, and easy to work with. Will is a great student and I have thoroughly enjoyed having him in my classes.” On a side note, Will is not only a fine trumpet player, but also a very successful pianist under the tutilage of Carol Crawford. Continued pg. 3 Pictured above: William Wertjes (photo by Doug Ford)
SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 4 P.M. Washington Center CONSERVATORY ORCHESTRA John Welsh, conductor Mendelssohn, Fingal’s Cave Arutunian, Concert for Trumpet William Wertjes, soloist Bizet, Carmen Suites BRASS CHOIR Greg Allison, conductor Zdechlik, A Centennial Fanfare McIntyre, Canzona Van Tonder, Siyahamba
Tickets $7 - $19
(6 and under free with an adult + $2.50 service charge)
Olytix.org or Box Office at 753.8586 Orchestras nation-wide are collecting food and donations for local food banks during the month of March. Please bring non-perishable food items or cash donations to the concert for the Thurston County Food Bank. Thank you!
Also appearing: Academy & Debut Orchestras
What is SOGO’s newest challenge?
PACIFIC NW ORCHESTRA FESTIVAL May 2012 John Fleckenstein, SOGO Executive Board
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he SOGO Board is well into planning the first Pacific Northwest Orchestra Festival. This will be a gathering of four youth orchestras over Memorial Day Weekend, 2012. We will host it at St Martin’s University in Lacey. The Kairos String Quartet from Central Washington University, the Camas Wind Quintet from Pacific Lutheran University, and the Evergreen Brass Quintet have agreed to join us as faculty. Sam Jones, resident composer for the Seattle Symphony will participate as a speaker and conductor. Continued pg. 2
March Concert Sponsor OLYMPIA FEDERAL SAVINGS SOGO | 1629 22nd Ave SE, Olympia WA 98501 | www.studentorchestras.org | studentorchestras@gmail.com
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DOWNTON EXPRESS – to be released
page 1 continued...Pacific NW Orchestra Festival
Starring Philippe Quint, violinist Co-starring Nellie McKay, singer- songwriter Director David Grubin, Emmy Award-winner Produced by Michael Hausman
On Friday and Saturday, faculty will be available for private lessons. On Saturday, orchestras will spend half the day rehearsing as an orchestra, getting advice from faculty and performing for their peers. The rest of the day will be spent in master classes, performing on their own instruments and in small ensembles. hy do something of this
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owntown Express marks the first time that a classical musician has been featured as the lead in an American independent film. To prepare for the role and further his understanding of film and theatre, Quint spent three years training intensely with producer and acting instructor Sondra Lee.
Sunday will be filled with more rehearsals and a grand finale concert at the Washington Center. This will be a fabulous opportunity for our graduating seniors to end their SOGO experience and for all our musicians to have a wonderful adventure, taking the next step in their orchestral life.
Downtown Express, shot in the summer of 2010 in New York, chronicles the life of Russian classical violinist Sasha (Quint) who has recently come to New York to study at Juilliard, and who, defying his cellist father, becomes part of the experimental and raucous Downtown music scene of the city. Sparks fly when Sasha meets and begins performing with Ramona (McKay), a multi-talented singer-songwriter.
As you can imagine, there will be many opportunities for SOGO parents to help with this event.
The film’s score features original music by Michael Bacon, McKay, Quint, as well as Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the street musicians of the city. “I was instantly swept away by this story because it mirrored my life in so many ways,” says the Russian-born Quint, who defected to the U.S. as a teenager, in part to avoid army service in Russia, in part to study with The Julliard School’s renowned teacher Dorothy DeLay and take instruction from such luminaries as Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman.
magnitude? For one thing, there is nothing like it along the entire West Coast. For another, it will be a great experience, not only for the orchestras that attend, but our own SOGO musicians as well. How great to be the hosts of an experience that other orchestras (who may not even know SOGO) will speak of for years to come! Colleen Welch, Vice President SOGO Board
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e welcome Doug Ford to the SOGO staff as he will be coordinating the Pacific NW Orchestra Festival details... “I’m pleased to be part of the Pacific NW Orchestra Festival planning team! The event will be the first of its kind with a focus on performance and education. Unlike many events of this nature, instead of competition among the participating groups, we will foster collaboration with combined rehearsals, elective workshops and social opportunities.
Suzuki goes Americana! Mark O’Connor string method
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o to http://www.wpix.com/videobeta and search for “Manhattan students learn to play the violin”. The video documents O’Connor’s new string method he developed using American music. The video shows how the method has been adopted by the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City. It can be best described like a Suzuki method with a bit of an Americana twist. Beginner string players work through each level of the method book, which eventually prepares them for venturing off into their choice of classical, jazz, or rock style of playing. If you have never heard of Mark O’Connor, he spent his childhood winning fiddle contests and studying with American fiddler Benny Thomasson as well as with French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, has collaborated with famous musicians of many different genres and trains people young and old to learn new genres of violin playing every year at his fiddle camps. Lately he also has spent much time performing and recording in classical spheres, having released recordings earlier this year of his American Symphony and String Quartets, Op. 2 and 3.
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My wife, Lindsey Ford, brought me into the SOGO tribe many years ago. She was a member of the original board and then served as president. I’ve been photographing SOGO students and concerts for several years; you may have seen me at the back of the Performing Arts Center with tripod and camera. Krina Allison often uses the photos I’ve taken in publications and posters. I also plan to create a multi-media presentation using those photos for fund-raising and public relations purposes. I come to this project with a background in education and event planning. I was a professor at Saint Martin’s University, and more recently, the manager for judicial education at the Administrative Office of the Courts. Building an event like PNWOF and growing the relationships to make it happen is exciting for me! I look forward to working closely with the planning committee, staff and volunteers over the coming months to make this a great event. “ Doug Ford, Festival Coordinator
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page 1 continued...Concert Programming
BACHTRACK
The site offers classical music by the numbers The Guardian’s blog On Classical (London), Tom Service writes, “Here’s a fun game: what was the most performed work of classical music throughout the world last year? Who was the busiest conductor? Which was the most performed opera? And who was the most overpaid diva? At last, answers to all of those questions and more (apart, alas, from the last one) are revealed on Bachtrack, the classical music listing site. The data is based on trawling through the thousands of orchestral concerts and operas that Bachtrack lists annually, and the crunched numbers throw up some surprising facts. There are some interesting differences between American tastes and the rest of the world. Number of orchestral performances - Reminder: this excludes opera and ballet performances. Worldwide USA only 1 San Francisco Symphony 144 2 Chicago Symphony 137 3 New York Philharmonic 127 4 Orchestra Milano - Verdi 121 5 Berliner Philharmoniker 119 6 Los Angeles Philharmonic 118 7 Concertgebouw 117 8 Vienna Philharmonic 111 9 Bournemouth Symphony 107 10 Philadelphia Orchestra 99
San Francisco Symphony Chicago Symphony New York Philharmonic Los Angeles Philharmonic Philadelphia Orchestra Boston Symphony Indianapolis Symphony Cleveland Orchestra Houston Symphony Cincinnati Symphony
Most performed works Worldwide
USA only
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
125 101 93 87 84 82 78 77
Messiah (Handel) Symphony no. 7 (Beethoven) Symphony no. 1 “Titan” (Mahler) Piano Concerto no. 2 (Chopin) Pastoral (Beethoven) Piano Concerto no. 1 (Chopin) Piano Concerto no. 4 (Beethoven) Symphony no. 5 (Beethoven)
139 137 122 118 99 96 89 85 56 48
Messiah (Handel) 45 Symphony no. 2 (Brahms) 39 Don Juan (Richard Strauss) 29 Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky) 29 Turkish (Mozart) 26 Symphony no. 7 (Beethoven) 26 Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz) 25 Symphony no. 1 “Titan” (Mahler)25
Zampa was chosen for its historical importance as one of the most played overtures of that era of French opera and because of the skill set needed by the players to negotiate some technical challenges including a beautiful clarinet solo. As Summer Was Just Beginning was partially chosen for the title during this dark, cold and damp time of the year – hope is always good. It is actually a tribute to James Dean, whose life ended so tragically as it seemed “just beginning”. It has a beautiful melody with Scottish roots – relating to Dean’s heritage - and is well scored for the winds and strings allowing us to talk about and develop phrasing as an ensemble. The Tahiti Trot is simply an interesting piece of art and musical lore. Supposedly, the Russian 20th century composer Shostakovich was challenged by conductor Nicolai Malko to write a composition in less than an hour. It was rumored that Shostakovich won the bet by completing the score in 55 minutes. The Debut and the Brass Choir will also be performing in the concert, with a number of traditional and non-traditional works from the repetoire. If you haven’t already purchased your tickets, Olytix. org is a convienent online service of the Washington Center, which allows you to choose your own seats on-line. If you are more inclined to talk to a fellow human being (during Box Office hours), call the Center at 360.753.8586. Avoid long lines by purchasing your tickets today! $7-$19 (6 and under with an adult are
HOT SUMMER MUSIC FUN...
free + $2.50 service charge)
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f you would like information about summer music sessions around the state of Washington, please check the SOGO website during the month of March to make your summer music plans. Young musicians can attend classes, or a week(s) of music camp. There are a number of great experiences just waiting for you. Costs and dates vary, so be sure to check on-line to see what would fit your interests most. www.studentorchestras.org
For the Academy Orchestra’s March concert, the program consists of an opera overture, Zampa, by the 19th century French composer Ferdinand Herold; a contemporary ballad for orchestra, As Summer Was Just Beginning, by American composer Larry Daehn; and Dimitri Shostokovitch’s arrangement of Tea for Two titled Tahiti Trot.
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Sponsor ~ Olympia Federal Savings Pick up your copy of SOGO’s book The Little Pernambuco Tree for $12.95 at the concert.
2010 SOGO BOARD & STAFF Executive Board of Directors
THIS ISSUE OF THE SOGO Newsletter...
Soo-Myong Chung, President Colleen Welch, Vice President Peter Despot, Secretary John Fleckenstein, Treasurer
1. The challenges of Concert Programming 2. SOGO’s new challenge...PACIFIC NW ORCHESTRA FESTIVAL 2012 3. What is Bachtrack? Find out in this issue of So Y’Know
Board of Directors Joyce Allen Joan Armstrong Wendy Clark Jilyna Dick Susan Hill Dr. Tina Husseini
Thank you to all of our wonderful 2010-2011 SOGO advertisers
Susan Myers John Oliver Dana Phelps Dr. Tim Scholes Joel Williams Student Board Keadrin Dick, cello Dakota McRostie, violin Will Wertjes, trumpet Music Director John Welsh Artistic Director Greg Allison Administrative Staff
Bischofberger Violins, LTD. Cabinets by Trivonna Cooper Dental Arts David Stone Violins Evergreen Brass Quintet Heritage Bank Insight Geologic, PLLC Marvin Road Golf & Batting Range Music 6000 Music Centers, Inc. Nova School Olympia Federal Savings
Krina Allison, Executive Director Pat Kabler, Finance Director Mary Jo Rydholm, Librarian Doug Ford, Orchestra Festival Coordinator
1629 22nd Ave SE | Olympia WA 98501 www.studentorchestras.org 2010-2011 SPONSORS Lassen Foundation Olympia Federal Savings Olympic Dermatology & Laser Clinic Puget Sound Energy Foundation R.L. Ray Violin Shop Tumwater Eye Center & VUE Washington Center for the Performing Arts Washington State Arts Commission
Olympic Dermatology & Laser Clinic, P.S. Olympics West & The Hampton Pioneer Technologies Corporation Providence Health & Services Southwest Washington R.L. Ray Violin Shop, LLC Salon Salon Schuback Violin Shop, Inc. South Sound Women’s Center Tags - Awards and Specialties Tanasse Chiropratic The Guardsman Tumwater Eye Center