I'm a link in the chain

I've just had the best rehearsal I can remember in a long time. It was a rehearsal with my NVOT Wind Symphony, coming at a point in the year when I am just about as over-booked, over-tired, and over-used as one can be. Our production of Man of La Mancha opens with a preview matinee tomorrow, I'm in the middle of a rehearsal cycle with the Westchester Symphonic Winds, marching season and registration looms, I'm aching from going to the gym for the first time in weeks, and it's tax season. How much can one take?!?!
But the truth of this is that I owe a great deal of my excitement and rehearsal productivity to two fine conductors at Montclair State University -- Dr. Tom McCauley and Paul Hostetter. Tom rehearsed the Wind Symphony in a clinic on February 12 during the MSU Band Festival, and Paul rehearsed my String Ensemble yesterday, on the first day after our winter break. Both rehearsals pushed my stduents' creative and musical capabilities, as well as my own. I came away with new ideas and new inspirations to work new angles in pursuit of better intonation, more creative excitement, and higher personal goals. I know these ideas will also lend themselves to my Concert Band and Westchester Symphonic Winds rehearsals -- in the end so many people benefit from just a small amount of time spent in these inspiring clinics.
This has come about only because I willingly put myself on the line. It is not a comfortable moment when you invite a respected conductor to stand before your group. It leaves me feeling open and vulnerable. But I've learned over the years -- first from attending and running conducting symposia, and later from taking my NVOT ensembles to adjudication festivals/clinics -- that "nothing ventured, nothing gained" is a fundamental to moving yourself forward.
The best part is not knowing what good I have done to inspire that one student in the ensemble who is now juiced because of this. Even if this happens with just one student each day, the possible effect is magnificent.

What makes a good rehearsal?

I had an excellent rehearsal on Monday night, with the Mozart ensemble from Westchester Symphonic Winds. I think it's worth considering why it was so good.

1. The players came eager to play and well prepared. The eight members of this group are obviously enjoying this timeless music, the Serenade in C minor. There is a great personal rapport among them, and a great deal of personal and musical respect as well. The pride in their efforts extends to their personal preparation since the last rehearsal two weeks ago.
2. We are fortunate to have a beautiful and acoustically sound venue in which to rehearse and perform. If you've never been to Tarrytown Music Hall, you really need to go to www.tarrytownmusichall.org, pick a concert, and go. This beautiful hall will celebrate it's 125th anniversary next year, with good reason. The acoustics are marvelous. The hall was saved from the wrecker's ball in 1980 and is lovingly cared for by Karina Ringeisen and Björn Olsson, and the Friends of the Mozartina Conservatory. So I think the players are rightly excited to play there.
3. The rehearsal was a collaborative affair. Yes, as conductor, I have my critical opinions about the direction we are taking with the work, but I also let the players contribute. I added several crescendi where there were none in the parts, and after asking the players to add them, and playing the section, I asked, "What do you think of that? I want you to agree with me, or it's not worth doing." I remember a lot of rehearsals growing up in the 70's and 80's with "tyrant" conductors, and the thing that the experiences taught me was that the methodology only works to a point. If the players don't believe in the musical ideas, they won't work in performance.
4. At one point in rehearsal, my principal bassoonist asked about the tempo of the Trio in the Minuet movement: "Don't you think it's dragging?" She was right - although I'd made the decision that I wanted the Trio to be slightly slower and more relaxed than the Minuet, I had not communicated that well. Whether non-verbally or spoken, I had not defined this section as having that slightly relaxed tempo, and the section suffered for it. I was happy that she brought this up, pleased that redoing the section yielded the results I wanted, but most of all, I felt relieved to admit my omission. Although I try to prepare my scores to the best of my ability, I had missed the detail of showing this finesse of tempo, and I was grateful that it was not lost on my players.
5. I had goals for the rehearsal, and I accomplished almost all of them. No rehearsal is perfect, but a rehearsal without goals is bound to be a waste of time. The players were motivated at the end of rehearsal, and several have emailed me in the time since to ask about sectionals before the next rehearsal, to make it even better. Their enthusiasm makes me more excited, and that in turn sends the energy back to the group. We're all a part of this "chain of inspiration," and I think this is critical to making all ensembles work at capacity.

I am so happy to be working with the WSW, and at this point in my life it's a critical link between my past and my future. More on that later.

In the meantime - Have a great rehearsal!

Starting out

Of course we all know that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step," but writing the first blog entry seems to be a challenge. At this point in my career, there is so much I'd like to say and share. It's difficult to narrow it down to what I feel is most important as a starting point.
So I'll reflect for a moment on the past week.
I was very fortunate to take my NVOT Wind Symphony to Montclair State University on Friday to perform for Dr. Tom McCauley's band festival. Like 2008, the day served as a benchmark for my students' progress on our current repertoire. With only 5 weeks into the rehearsal cycle, bringing three works to performance level was a challenge. We performed John Philip Sousa's Gallant Seventh March, Travis Cross's arrangement of Be Thou My Vision, and Alfred Reed's The Hounds of Spring. Tom's clinic was excellent -- he touched on many topics of intonation, tone, and musicianship that the players needed to hear, and about which I needed to be reminded. His schedule for the day also included an opportunity for us to hear one other band (New Paltz High School Wind Ensemble), attend master classes with MSU faculty and students, and hear both the MSU Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony. We arrived back at NVOT with enought time to reflect on the day for a few moments before the Winter Break began.
Even after 27 years of teaching, I have to say I am excited by opportunities like this. For a long time, I've thought that it's a wonderful thing to be able to share ideas with other professionals, and cull ideas from the best teachers and colleagues to incorporate in my own work. I've been so fortuante to work with some of our country's best teachers. Hopefully I will be able to continue this ideology as long as I conduct, teach, and play.
After the festival, on the way home, I thought about the ideas shared, and how fortunate I am to be one link in an artistic chain of inspiration. The many human connections that brought me to the day, the experiences that I gained from the day, and the inspired growth that will be outcome of the day are all points of the connection in this chain of inpiration. I know that I will want to comment on and discuss this concept more in the future.