may 2018 Vol. XVIII No. 3
Providing a challenging, fully integrated music experience for the young musician because of support from
Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia
people like you.
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2017-2018 Season Concert: Sunday May 20 • 4:00P.M • Washington Center Get Ready for the Dulcet Tones of Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp
“Both my mother and my older brother played the clarinet and I wanted to be different!” says SOGO flutist Katherine Hales, as she talks about why she was drawn to the flute. “My aunt played the flute ― we’re a very musical family ― and she let me borrow her old flute for the summer and I never gave it back.” Katherine, a senior at Timberline High School, will perform Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp at the May 20 SOGO concert. She will be joined on stage at the Washington Center by Olympia High School student Benjamin Albertson on harp. Katherine says she is thankful to have the opportunity to play the Mozart concerto. “I’m very excited to play this piece and I love working with Ben. I think Ben and I both agree that the second movement is our favorite because it’s so, so beautiful.”
SOGO’s New Music Director is Ready for the ‘Camaraderie and Vibrancy of Olympia’s Arts Scene’ SOGO is excited to welcome Cameron May as Music Director and Conductor, beginning in the 2018-2019 season. Though a native of Portland, Oregon, Cameron comes to Olympia from Champaign, Illinois, where he earned a graduate degree in orchestral conducting at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. May was initially drawn to the position because of the beautiful Pacific Northwest, but says he ultimately wanted to be a part of SOGO because of the people.
The challenging piece requires the soloists to watch each other closely. “We have to be set up so we can see each other. The harp rests on his right shoulder but I’m also supposed to be to the right of him and he has to be able to see me through his strings.” Katherine jokes that they do a lot of “head movements” to communicate while playing together.
Photo credit: Alyssa Tong Photography
“During my interview and audition, I was impressed with the warmth, openness, and commitment of everyone I met, from students to parents to staff. I was left with the feeling that all parties had the best interests of the organization at heart, and that really made me feel that SOGO was a place I wanted to work.” May does not plan to make sweeping changes right away. “My initial goal is to get to know the organization and community as much as possible. I feel that ― especially coming in as an outsider ― it is important for me to first do a lot of listening.”
Katherine will attend Western Washington University this fall and says she will “definitely” continue playing the flute. “Not only do I love music, but I feel like I’ve committed so much time that it would be a waste to just stop playing flute in college. I probably will not major in it, but there’s no way I’m going to stop in college.”
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A unique joy of working with young musicians is sharing many of classical music’s greatest masterpieces with them for the first time, and watching them start to develop a love of this music. ~ Cameron May
Benjamin is an accomplished harpist whose love of the instrument is clear. “I think it is no coincidence why it is considered the choice instrument of angels. Further, the harp is an instrument that allows direct dexterity. There is no bow, hammer, mallet, or valve to get between you and the sound. For this reason, I feel very connected to the instrument when I play it.”
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Benjamin says this Mozart concerto “is one of the few pieces in the harp repertoire from the classical era. At that time, the harp was a very different instrument, and it was quite limited in its ability to change keys. It is interesting to note (Cont’d on p.2)
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With the Conservatory Orchestra, May says he hopes to “develop a season of repertoire that gives the students a varied diet and maintains everyone’s interest.” “Some of my favorite classical pieces became my favorite classical pieces when and because I played them in my youth orchestra growing up,” May continues, “so I look forward to being a part of similarly formative experiences now as a conductor.”
But don’t expect him to stick to the same old pieces. “I am also interested in exposing the SOGO students to some pieces and styles that expand their musical tastes.” (Cont’d on p.2)
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