KIPP JOHNSON: Hard to believe
It's hard to believe how much has happened over the past few days. On Saturday night (June 24th), I went to go see the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra composed of the EMF faculty, then last night (Monday, June 26th) I got to hear the faculty play some chamber music. The chamber concert focused on the music of W.A. Mozart, but many of the pieces were transcriptions. It was interesting to hear arias from The Magic Flute played as flute duets, or a Mozart piano sonata played by saxophone quartet. The real highlight of the evening for me was hearing Mozart's horn quintet featuring Thomas Jöstlein on horn. Since he's the teacher with whom I'll be studying, I was excited to have the opportunity to hear him play such a virtuosic piece. Needless to say, he nailed it, giving a technically impressive and musically insightful performance. I consider myself extremely fortunate to get to work with him over the next few weeks.
Aside from the performances, the bulk of my time has been spent in rehearsals and individual practice time. The wind players have been practicing for the Star Spangled Favorites band concert this Thursday. While I prefer playing in an orchestra, I've enjoyed preparing this concert because not only are their two fantastic faculty soloists, but there are faculty members playing in the band as well. Kevin Reid is the faculty member playing in the horn section, and its been a great experience to play next to a professional in a rehearsal setting. The concert should be a blast.
The orchestras had their first rehearsals today (Tuesday June 27 th). Since it was the first rehearsal of the festival, many people didn't know which parts they would be playing and consequently were sight-reading at the rehearsal. Despite the lack of preparation, the rehearsal went well and we made it through the Debussey Nocturnes and Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique. These are both amazing pieces with some truly spectacular orchestration effects. Although neither piece is new to me, every time I play them they always sound new because of the sublime nature of the music and orchestration.
Outside of the music activities, I have had the chance to meet people from all over the country. I picked up some great information about some potential graduate schools I might apply to next year. I've also met some fellow athletes who've taken advantage of the sports facilities to play ultimate Frisbee and basketball. Unfortunately, the rain has kept us indoors most of the time, but when the athletic center is open, we take advantage of the indoor facilities.
So far so good!
-Kipp
Aside from the performances, the bulk of my time has been spent in rehearsals and individual practice time. The wind players have been practicing for the Star Spangled Favorites band concert this Thursday. While I prefer playing in an orchestra, I've enjoyed preparing this concert because not only are their two fantastic faculty soloists, but there are faculty members playing in the band as well. Kevin Reid is the faculty member playing in the horn section, and its been a great experience to play next to a professional in a rehearsal setting. The concert should be a blast.
The orchestras had their first rehearsals today (Tuesday June 27 th). Since it was the first rehearsal of the festival, many people didn't know which parts they would be playing and consequently were sight-reading at the rehearsal. Despite the lack of preparation, the rehearsal went well and we made it through the Debussey Nocturnes and Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique. These are both amazing pieces with some truly spectacular orchestration effects. Although neither piece is new to me, every time I play them they always sound new because of the sublime nature of the music and orchestration.
Outside of the music activities, I have had the chance to meet people from all over the country. I picked up some great information about some potential graduate schools I might apply to next year. I've also met some fellow athletes who've taken advantage of the sports facilities to play ultimate Frisbee and basketball. Unfortunately, the rain has kept us indoors most of the time, but when the athletic center is open, we take advantage of the indoor facilities.
So far so good!
-Kipp
posted by Eastern Music Festival Blog at
2:27 PM
