Movie soundtracks

Inspired by Laura's "I am the Doctor" and Faith's digging up Game of Thrones sheet music. I'm working on both of these to at least sight-read, if not perform.
And someone remind me to try out electric violins on "I am the Doctor" please! I keep meaning to add those but keep forgetting about it. Kaila has a new ax she wants to try out!

Different people have arranged these and have graciously made sheet music for strings available. I'm re-arranging it specifically for us.



The same guy did a Game of Thrones arrangement, but I thought this was cooler/different. Talk about using full bows! That's a lot of music being made by four people.

SF day three

Sorry I missed day 2! We were in the city all day and got back late. We walked some of the Golden Gate Bridge - Maria, Kana, and I made it the furthest - halfway. It was so foggy we couldn't even see the bridge before we started walking on it! We then went to Fisherman's Wharf, ghirardelli square, and the Hard Rock to celebrate Kaila & Sarah's birthdays. I'll get pictures up on Monday but right now I'm posting from my phone.
Now for the performance results! We received the silver award, with an average score of 85.3 out of 100. Our 3 judges were Dr Kirt Saville from BYU, Dr James Arwine from Pasadena City College, and Dr Brian Sproul from the University of Utah. Dr Saville gave us a great clinic on stage after we performed, talking about matching bows and various ways to be even more expressive with our phrases. They loved the challenging nature of the pieces we performed, the musicality of our performance, and David & Miriam on Bailes - they played great today!
I did get 2 CDs at the awards ceremony tonight. I believe one is judges comments and the other is a recording of the group. We had microphones right in front of us.
Finally we received a big shiny trophy for overall orchestra award! Both the trophy and silver award plaque will be at the office front desk on Monday to check out.
And now everyone is in my room. Don't know how that happened. Popularity is my curse I guess.
Yes I rode roller coasters. The Grizzly is a wooden coaster, the Psycho Mouse is is a Goofy's Sky School type deal, and The Demon has 2 loops and a double corkscrew!
Bed check time! I'll see all y'all on Wednesday.

San Francisco day one

Our day of travel went very well! We stopped after the Grapevine (why is it called that?) to stretch and for lunch around noon. We met 2 other school groups at In N Out going the opposite direction, TO L.A. for their festival trip. We got to the hotel right before 4 pm. Unfortunately, joe/David/Thomas/Jon 's room was not ready, but they did get free wifi & breakfast for being patient during the hour wait. A lot of us took advantage of the fitness center and pool/spa. I particularly enjoyed answering Sarah/Maria/Kana/Caitlyn's rapid fire questions about anything AND everything.
IHOP seems to be the popular choice for breakfast tomorrow, then it's off to San fransisco.

Schmoozing/out of the comfort zone

So I went to the Director's Symposium put on by the San Diego Winds last night, and who is the first person I meet walking in? Warren Torns, of course, who is one of our judges on Tuesday. I made sure to introduce myself and then he introduces himself. Yes, I know who you are, you're kind of a big deal.

WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE

Anyway, I told him I live in Penasquitos, where he taught for many years, and that he'll be one of my judges next week. Listening to him and Tom Cole (a judge on Wednesday), it is apparent that they expect notes, rhythms, dynamics, intonation, etc., to all be at a high level. But what they really want is to hear music. They want to be entertained and moved just like everyone else in the audience, maybe even more so since they have to listen to every group that day. Mr. Watson liked a lot of what we did at pre-festival, but he was genuinely excited by "Air". That how we want our judges to feel after we perform.

The person who most impressed me though, is Anthony Maiello. He's directing us tonight as the various band directors play in a group together. But he deserves his own post.

Meanwhile, because so many band directors tend to be trumpet players, I volunteered to play trombone if necessary. I played trombone in a community band over the summer. Turns out this is completely different. The other guys showed up with bass trombones, which means I ended up on first. And we sight read 10+ tunes. No prep, no explanation, no second chances (except for Mr. Maiello). I was just a bit out of my comfort zone. Luckily not only do I enjoy the challenge, but everyone else was chowing just as much as me, but on their primary instruments, so that's good(?). Tonight we are only playing 2 tunes, and this is one of them:



But hey, we played this one TWO WHOLE TIMES last night, so piece of cake! And I got to practice the music today. I'm looking forward to the concert tonight!

Air, again

Here's an update on Air to get it to the top of the first page for easy access. The link to a recording of Bailes para Orquesta is on the right hand sidebar.

EDHS 8th grade night

Thank you to Kathleen, Kaila, Jose, Andrew, Rinaldo, Hyeji, Axel, Caitlyn, Hyejin and Faith for performing at 8th grade night! I know it was nerve-wracking to play in front of a packed gym but it was much appreciated by the audience. And you will appreciate it if/when we get a big freshman class next year!

8th graders and parents, it was very nice to meet all of you, or see you again if we've met at Tuffree. Please feel free to contact me with any questions - mnowak@pylusd.org.

March Festival and rehearsal info

March is going to be a busy month! So I created a new page to list all the info you need.