Welcome to the Musicians’ Corner!
You’re in the right spot to find: ORYSO Weekly updates, Audition Results, Season Syllabus, Concert Reviews, Helpful Musicianship Tips, and Rachel’s Notes on Taking Auditions.
ORYSO 2010-2011 Season Auditions:
- Dates: September 11-12th, 2010
- Times: By appointment, between 1-6pm. Email rgrubb1@utk.edu to set up your audition.
- Info we need to set up your audition: Full name, instrument(s), age, phone number, email address, preferred date and time, parent’s name, and school.
- Audition Music for Junior Symphony (mostly middle schoolers): 3 minutes of a prepared piece (music may include a Suzuki piece, any solo piece, orchestra/band music, or an etude)
- Audition Music for Advanced Symphony (mostly high schoolers): a 2 octave chromatic scale and 5 minutes of a prepared piece that best displays your ability (music may include a solo sonata, concerto, etude, orchestral excerpt, or other solo piece)
- All musicians who audition will be accepted into an ORYSO orchestra. Orchestra rehearsals are on Sunday afternoons.
Great Caesar’s Ghost! What fun we had at the Oak Ridge High School auditorium Saturday afternoon.
In its Oct. 31 concert, the Oak Ridge Youth Symphony Orchestra outdid itself, as it surpassed even the high standards set in its debut program last season. Like the witches brew stirred up so graphically by YSO performers, some dominant thoughts rose out of the spooky fun of it all — a leap of faith, a labor of love by community volunteers, and a wonderful conductor by the name of Rachel Grubb have reached goals not ordinarily obtained so soon.
Let it be said, early, that the ORYSO is a tremendous addition to ORCMA’s umbrella, and the community should rejoice for the talent in its midst.
The “foot” lights of the high school stage were jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkins; and the players were decked out in clever and creepy costumes. The welcome was delivered by a saw-wielding Freddy Krueger, while the hunched-over conductor — a glorified witch with a laser stick instead of a baton — “scared” the junior symphony players into playing well Richard Meyer’s “The Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space.”
The piece was spooktacular. And I didn’t hear any boo-boos … did you?
Next came three witches and their “brew.” As they dramatized Shakespeare’s Sabbath scene from Macbeth, the orchestra caught the flavor and mirrored the rhythms of iambic pentameter (think of a mummy’s favorite music genre — rap or is it “wrap”?).
This amusing piece had its premiere performance right here in Oak Ridge, and we believe Composer Deanna Clement would have been pleased.
When the time came for voting on the best costumes, beautiful people and monsters emerged from all over the audience of “Mummies and Deadies” and other friends (or is it fiends?) of music.
The parents whooped and hollered for their own, and the rest of us just marveled at all the creativeness.
In third place was a guy who looked for all the world like Obama; second place went to a bunch of fall leaves with a body inside (we think); and first place went to a baby who was dressed in a green environmentally correct dinosaur costume.
Stealing the show, however, in black street clothes was Micah Layne, who served as master of ceremonies. Hold on to your seats when this free-wheeling emcee starts to work up an audience.
Such fun!
The senior orchestra’s rendition of Mussorgsky’s “A Night on Bald Mountain” yielded up many delicious treats, as Maestro Grubb did a magnificent job of guiding the thrills and moods from eerie quivers of upper strings to the dark moans of the bassoons and trom“bones” (a skeleton’s favorite instrument by the way) to the explosive whole.
The riot of rhythm and color was just right and the delicate beauty of woodwinds (in groups and in solos) was memorable, especially Nicholas Mize’s clarinet pastoral. This is a great piece that intensifies on the Witches Sabbath.
The darkly sonorous sounds from the lower strings and brass were satisfying enough for even the Boogie Man. And who could resist the shrieking banshees? Good stuff, this supernatural atmosphere.
One could feel a surge of warmth from the audience as the orchestra began to play a medley of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” Jerry Brubaker’s arrangement actually seemed to convey verbal meaning — whether it was horror or beauty.
The nature of this music is artful and it received an artful performance. Congratulations to all.
We will never think of this Halloween concert without breaking out in a smile. What if the Oak Ridge Youth Symphony Orchestra had never gotten off the ground?
Now THAT is really scary.
“Some people see things as they are and ask why? Others dream things that never were and ask why not?” -Georg Shaw
April 2009 ORYSO Gala Concert Review:
Can we have the drum roll please? On Tuesday night in the Oak Ridge High School Auditorium all but the red carpet was rolled out for the first ever Oak Ridge Youth Orchestra concert. The on-stage chemistry of Conductor Rachel Grubb and fifty students from six counties was never lost on the large eager crowd who came to soak up still another cultural opportunity offered by The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. That the program featured young performers was even more exciting. After all, these “kids” are not just a treat, they are essential to the future of orchestras everywhere.
It was a thrill to witness a fresh new crop of talented people, beginning with Maestro Grubb, a real live wire whose high spirits, terrific pace and confidence brought energy and life to all three pieces. She was dynamite on “Overture for the Next Generation,” a work she commissioned from University of Tennessee graduate student David Pegel, whose own talent is something to celebrate. Pegel’s alluring mixture of old and new harmonies, old and new colors, and brand new rhythmic darings were fascinating. Short and sassy on one hand and smart and boldfaced on the other, it certainly grabbed one’s attention, and one could feel the enthusiasm of both conductor and players.
Ryan Liu, Concertmaster and winner of the Concerto Competition, played the first movement of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor. One hopes and prays that whoever plays this lovely romantic work will play expressively. Liu, bless his heart, played beyond expectations. With reliable technique to spare, he tossed off the challenges and then went to the heart of the music. His melodic articulations were beautiful and his subtle use of rubato was immensely satisfying. Liu’s standing ovation was quite simply a must. And we agree with the prominent horn player of the Oak Ridge Symphony who said “Liu deserved a shinier piano.” You see, the nice but old Steinway could use a refinishing.
Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite No. 1 had appeal to spare, beginning with the robust unison melody adapted from the popular Provencal noel. This closing piece also showcased the orchestra’s proud horn and brass section. In fact, this was an ideal number to demonstrate the strengths of all sections. One of the joys of the whole piece was the way Maestro Grubb pumped it with energy.
There were many heroes recognized Tuesday night, along with the senior students. Seaira Stephenson, Volunteer Executive Director spoke of ORYSO’s birthing pains and of the “mid-wives” who saw it to fruition. But there was one hero who stood out. Oak Ridge High School student Roddy Lee, Student Director of the ORYSO, Assistant Concertmaster and Principal Second Violinist gave life to his own visionary dream. He wanted Oak Ridge to have a Youth Orchestra and he stayed with the dream until it was a reality. Bravo!
The inauguration of the Oak Ridge Youth Orchestra was enjoyed on too many levels to address in one review. But to all you who got hooked by this production, we hope you will help reel in audiences for future programs. Attending Youth Orchestra concerts is a pretty cool thing to do.
Becky Ball
Oak Ridger
Some ORYSO Bragging Rights:
Knoxville News Sentinel Front Page http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/21/premiere-a-high-note/ http://www.knoxnews.com/staff/bob-fowler/photos/
Article about William Mason (ORYSO cellist): http://www.oakridger.com/archive/x1362393612/Hes-the-t-o-p-s
Article about Roddy Lee (ORYSO Founding Student Director and Violinist): http://www.oakridger.com/archive/x2138484859/From-vision-to-reality
Recommended Summer Music Schools and Festivals:
Music in the Mountains Conservatory
For a comprehensive list of Summer Music Festivals, visit:
http://www.ayporchestras.org/resources/summer-programs.php
Rachel’s Notes on taking auditions:
Before the audition day:
- Being well prepared and playing “mock auditions” for family and friends helps calm nerves at the actual audition.
- Practice a lot with a metronome and tuner.
- Practice your music “100 times turtle speed”!
- During the last few days before your audition, imagine yourself playing the audition calmly, confidently, and musically.
- Don’t “blow your chops/fingers/brain” by cramming the day or morning before an audition. If you can, set practice goals for the audition over months or weeks of practicing.
- Say “no” to: caffeine, lots of sugar, salt, and negative thinking before an audition.
- Say “yes” to: light exercise, lots of water, and positive thinking!
The day of the audition:
- Please dress nicely, similar to concert attire.
- Arrive early! It will give you time to feel comfortable in your surroundings and save you the worry of being late.
- Double check to make sure you have all of your music, your instrument, and anything else you may need for the audition before entering the audition room.
- While warming up, ignore other auditionees and concentrate only on your own playing. Practice slowly.
- Unless it is a “blind audition” (like Junior/Senior Clinic), introduce yourself confidently to the judges and let them know what music you have prepared for the audition.
- Take a deep breath before you begin to play, and know that you will play the best you can at that time.
After your audition:
- Reward your self! You did a great job and have learned a lot! (My personal recommendation: get a chocolate milkshake with family or friends!
Last updated by Rachel Grubb on: March 28th, 2010.