Final Concert Reflection (Orchestra)

Our last concert was yesterday night at Bloomfield Hills High School. This concert was one of our most incredible and successful concerts at the IA. We performed 10 pieces, each of which was a concerto featuring instruments from cellos and violas to flutes and pianos. There are many things that I am proud of, many things that our ensemble improved upon, and many things that I personally improved upon.

Things that I'm Proud Of:

I'm most proud of how our ensemble worked to make each soloist the star of the show. We fine-tuned everything that was needed to accomplish this including changing our dynamics to match the soloists', keeping track of where the soloist was and adjusting if they jumped ahead or fell behind, and essentially memorizing each solo to make this possible. Listening and adjusting to the soloist is essential in accompanying them because it makes it as easy as possible for them, and assures them that they can trust us to save them at any costs!
On top of this I am also proud (as always) of how our ensemble worked together. We communicated effectively, cuing and signaling whenever applicable. We breathed a LOT more during this concert which made coming in together and staying together much easier. It also made it a lot easier to play correctly because oxygen in the brain is always helpful.

Things the Ensemble Improved Upon:

In this concert we definitely improved upon our communication as a group. Accompanying soloists is a very different task than what we are used to, so this concert took more practice and rehearsals than the average. We essentially had to learn an entirely new skill! We improved our balance as an ensemble to fit the soloists, and this will help us when we are playing our everyday average concert pieces. The amount of time we accomplished these things in is extremely impressive!

Things I Personally Improved Upon:

For this concert the seniors were not there for the majority of the time, and because of this I moved up to second chair. Being second chair is much different than being in any other position because as a principal player you have many responsibilities, including cuing (more dramatically), determining bowings, collaborating with other section leaders, and watching Mr. Wolf more forcefully. This wasn''t my first experience as a principal player but I still learned a lot during this concert that I will apply in the next two years.