It’s been a crazy busy week! I meant to post this last Monday after I finished performing this set but as you’ll see in the next post I’ve been super busy. So here we go!
Alright, so I just finished performing my first concert set with the Salem Philharmonia Orchestra and I have some thoughts.
First Impressions….
I noticed quickly that most of the wind section are either retired teachers, retired performers or current teachers/performers. I love this about this wind section. My fellow clarinet players, Connie Gardner and Cheryl Martinez, are amazing. Connie and I both work day jobs and Cheryl is retired. I’ve played with Cheryl before in pit orchestras for Albany Civic Theater musicals and also when I have subbed for Connie in other groups. I love the comradery that this wind section has with each other. Everyone is respectful, helpful, and in general just great people! I’m so excited for the rest of the season!
I also feel like the orchestra in general is extremely committed to the music and to the group as a whole. Most of the positions within the orchestra, except for the conductor and the executive director, are volunteer positions. As a community group this is pretty standard but I find that this group is more committed to their positions, learning their parts, and the cohesiveness of the orchestra community then any other group I’ve played with.
I feel seen and heard, and most people already know my name.
I know that this may be an odd statement but hear me out. I’ve been in a couple groups where I could come, play my part, and leave without anyone talking to me. Ever. No “Hi!” no “How’s it going?” nothing. Now I know that part of that is on me. I could have started conversations. I could have been more proactive about getting to know other people. I’m slightly introverted when it comes to meeting new people who I feel have some sort of edge over me in some way. If I’m meeting a person who I know is a great teacher or a wonderful performer, even if they aren’t famous I become this shy, introverted, quiet person. I can’t help it! So being in that group was pretty intimidating sometimes and I became unhappy in it.
Story time: I remember one particularly embarrassing situation where I’d forgotten my music in my car at the dress rehearsal. We were practicing on stage and I hadn’t had a chance to set up yet. I was playing third clarinet and alto clarinet so not only did I have to navigate to the middle of the ensemble on a crowded stage, but I had to take all my instruments and music with me. I’m not shrinking violet. I have a large physical presence. So when I came back from getting the music from my car and no one in the ensemble even noticed that I needed to maneuver to my seat or offered to move I got extremely frustrated and emotional and just ran out of the hall leaving all my stuff behind. Ever since then it was really hard for me to feel motivated to go to rehearsal and I eventually took a break from the group.
So the fact that people talk to me and know my name is fundamental to my happiness in a group. I’m really enjoying playing with this group. Not only for the sense of community but for the music we produce. The sound of the group is cohesive and blended, there are some intonation issues at times, but what community group doesn’t have that issue.
Changes on the horizon…
Currently this orchestra is searching for a new conductor. The previous conductor, and also one of the groups founding members Dr. Sean Paul Mills, moved to Indiana where he was offered a tenure position at Ball State University. I played under him previously and he was amazing. He was not only a good conductor but he was a historian, a performer, and an incredibly funny man . He communicated well with the orchestra and he connected with every single member of the group. I subbed for Connie a couple times in the Willamette Valley Symphony Orchestra and I loved performing with him at the helm. He is greatly missed and the new conductor has some mighty big shoes to fill.
This concert set…
This concert set was conducted by Dr. Mark Perlman. He is currently the Music Director and Conductor of the Willamette Falls Symphony and the Tualatin Valley Symphony. He also founded the Oregon Mahler Festival which he also directs. He has multiple accolades in symphonic performance and currently teaches Philosophy at Western Oregon University.
He has an interesting personality, a bit eccentric at times, but seems personable and open with the orchestra. There were moments when I thought that he was unclear with his beat, but he was expressive and tried hard to communicate what he wanted from the orchestra, which unfortunately sometimes missed the mark. He definitely relied on the principle players in the wind section to just do their thing, sometimes lacking solo cues or helpful eye contact. I personally felt that as the rehearsals went on we got more and more information about how passages should sound and how they should be played. Which on the face of it sounds good, but we were still receiving that information even up to the last rehearsal. I feel like we should be done with that already and have had that information previously so we could perfect the delivery. Rehearsals for me were mixed. Sometimes I would leave rehearsal feeling frustrated, annoyed and disgruntled about the way we rehearsed or sounded, feeling that we weren’t making enough progress. Other times I left feeling great, confident that I knew my part and that the orchestra sounded good. All in all, I feel mixed about him as a conductor, but I think he would grow on me.
The program for this concert was interesting. We played Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, Death & Transfiguration by Richard Strauss, and Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for Violin and Viola by W.A. Mozart. I feel like the Mozart is a bit of an outlier for this concert. Both the Strauss and the Wagner are extremely programmatic. The Strauss is a tone poem and follows the path of a dying man from his death to his transfiguration after death. It is evident in the way the piece is written starting with an irregular rhythm in the cellos to demonstrate a failing heart and moving into strong orchestral motifs that paints the sonic portrait of the dying man. Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde is equally as programmatic. Tristan und Isolde is basically the opera version of Romeo and Juliet. Boy and girl fall in love, drama ensues, boy dies, girl languishes in her desperate grief and dies as well. It’s the quintessential tragic opera. Then there is the Mozart. A light hearted soloistic violin and viola sinfonia that is playful and lovely in its simplicity. To me this is a complete contrast to the other two, heavy and dramatic works. As the performer it seemed a bit odd, but I’m not sure how the audience reacted to the extreme differences in programming.
Thoughts about the performance…
So how do I think we performed? I actually thought as a group we did quite well. We were sensitive and at times extremely dramatic. There were a few moments of confusion between us and the conductor especially in the first performance of the Wagner. There was a moment where the group as a whole just lost the beat, we got back on but back in the green room we were all befuddled. The next night was much better for the Wagner.
The Strauss, well, I thought the first performance of this piece went quite well, no major hiccups and everyone was pretty in sync. Except, that at the end of the piece, after the conductor put his baton down, nothing happened. The audience was silent. No clapping, just…nothing. It got incredibly awkward and finally someone in the brass section started to nervous laugh. Then the conductor turned around and finally the audience applauded. We got a mixed standing ovation, but the first performance ended awkwardly. The next performance we didn’t have that issue. The Strauss went just about the same or better than the first performance. This time the baton went down and audience applauded. Normal concert ending. Whew!
I felt my personal performance was about at a 90%. Pretty good but could have been better. What I would like to do for next time is get together with Connie and make sure that if we have any exposed runs, like in parts of the Strauss, that we are in sync about tempo and timing.
Overall this concert set was successful. I think I’m still tweaking my concert preparation routine and will continue to work on it as the year progresses. One thing I know I’d like to do is work on communicating more with my fellow clarinet players. I’m so used to being to the principle player that I feel like I’m stepping on toes if I assert a question or feeling about performance practice to our section. I need to get over that.
The next concert will be on December 1 and 2, 2018 with the conductor for this set being Travis Hatton. Hope to see you there!
As always aim high and keep practicing.
~Sara
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