VYOA News & Updates

I just finished the second week in residence with the VYOA. So much happened that it is difficult to know where to begin. I continued to get to know the VYOA musicians, taught 3rd and 5th grade music classes at the H. O. Wheeler Integrated Arts Academy and an advanced theory class at Johnson State College, attended rehearsals and meetings, and coached the Vermont Youth Orchestra on Enlightened City, my piece they will re-premiere in January, but more on that in a moment.

As well as writing for orchestra, I love writing choral music, so it was a special treat to finally have a chance to meet VYOA choral conductor Jeff Buettner and watch him rehearse the VT Youth Concert Chorale and VYO Chorus. One of the pieces the chorus sang was a gospel-inspired work by Kirke Mechem, a composer I met this year in California during a premiere of one of my choral works. Jeff is meticulous and his comments were spot on. I grew up singing in student choirs that sang many gospel or spiritual-inspired pieces, so I asked the singers if they had ever heard a real live gospel choir. Being immersed in that all encompassing, communal gospel choir sound is definitely an experience one never forgets, and I hope they will have a chance to see what that is all about if they have not already done so. I was so impressed with Jeff that the next day I drove to Middlebury to check out his Middlebury College Choir dress rehearsal, which was just as enjoyable. I look forward to working with Jeff and the singers as my residency continues.

Later in the week, I heard Asiat (“Ace”) Ali conduct Presto – the VYOA’s beginning string ensemble. What he is able to accomplish with kids this young (3rd – 6th grade) is simply amazing. I know from watching my wife Victoria teach kids that age that even if it looks easy, it definitely is not, and Ace is doing a great job. My favorite moment was when he said, “Well everyone, now that we are having so much fun, it is almost time to end.” All of the pieces are so short, and the concert was probably around twenty minutes at most. I also had a moment to listen to David Gusakov conduct the Vermont Youth Strings. The students in this group are older and not quite ready for the Vermont Youth Orchestra, but you can tell that many of them will be in the near future. It is important to remember that these young musicians are the future of the VYO, and even the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

During the week, I also mentored young composers via the Vermont MIDI Project. Some students are more developed than others, but it is just awesome that any of these students are even composing at all. To think that students from places like Barnet, South Royalton and Norwich, VT are able to easily share their work and have online discussions with someone like me from New York City is amazing. These are not just high school aged students, but some students are even in third and fourth grade. I am able to see their music, hear it played online via MIDI sounds, and offer comments that appear with all of the other mentors’. In many ways, I think that coupled with meeting the students in person when possible, this is an ideal way to teach. My only hope is that I have a chance to eventually meet all of the students who are creating these interesting pieces!

I also heard a Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble (VCME) concert, which was quite interesting. I re-connected with musicians I haven’t seen in a long time, like Steve Klimowski and Michael Arnowitt, and also met some Vermont-based composers for the first time.

On my final residency day, I had a chance to conduct the orchestra for the second rehearsal of Enlightened City. That was a lot of fun, particularly when I told the brass and percussion to play louder! Nick, Josh, Penuel and Brian in the percussion section took this to heart, playing like there’s no tomorrow! It was great to connect with everyone from the podium, and show them that every note matters, and that the solos really do need to shine when they occur. Sometimes, orchestral players forget that every part is audible, and when one person plays excellently, everyone sounds better. I also coached the percussionists and brass players with my piece, and even coached the percussion section with the Percussion Concerto by Joseph Schwantner, a piece they are about to play at their First Night concert. Since I studied with Joe (he was actually one of my first composition teachers), I hope I gave them some insight into his sound world.

I am having the time of my life working with the VYOA and the Vermont musicians I come into contact with – I’m really looking forward to being back in January for the premiere of Enlightened City on the VYO’s Flynn Center for the Performing Arts concert.

Rob Paterson, VYOA Music Alive Composer-in-Residence

Robert Paterson is the Music Alive Composer-in-Residence with the VYOA. Music Alive is a national residency program of the League of American Orchestras and Meet The Composer.

A concert.
The focus of all our efforts.
So long prepared, so swiftly passed.

We, the members of the Vermont Youth Orchestra, just performed our first major concert of the season, and Sally was the star. Sally Bruce, our concertmaster, played the first movement of Saint-Saëns’ third Violin Concerto, and knocked it out of the park. She achieved that wonderful air we all aspire to: making it look easy. And, I suppose, in an odd way, it was easy. It’s just that playing something like that is only easy so long as you spend many   hours, for many years, not just practicing, but thinking about music, too. It isn’t just an athletic training, but the result of emotional and intellectual immersion as well. In fact, a musical immersion. And even then, when the actual time comes, the intensity of concentration must not lapse. Playing in public sounds tough and daunting, and it is. But when the concert finally comes – well, “easy” might not be the right word, but the experience is one of ease and of freedom.

The orchestra was working very hard during that concerto too, though in a different way. We were functioning somewhat like the negative to Sally’s positive. Over and over, in rehearsal, the orchestra players had been striving to be ever quieter, yet always perfectly synchronized, so that we could be the rocky landscape behind the face of the Mona Lisa – context, scale, and atmosphere, without distracting from the central offering. When we do all concentrate and do our part, it is indeed a sense of ease that floats up, much as an athlete will speak of entering ‘the zone.’ Although we practice hard, we do not turn into automata. The concert is not an exact replica of rehearsals. Things always ‘happen,’ either challenges or inspirations. Sally was able to float with the moment, and we were able to sail by her breeze. And that meant that the audience could relax too, confident that everything was reliable, yet at the same time unprecedented.

And how the audience responded! So many cheers! If florists around Burlington are out of stock this week, our concert could be the reason.

Of course there were lots more pieces in the concert, all very different from one another. The difference between a concerto and a purely orchestral piece is obvious – the presence or absence of a spotlight on one central soloist. But on the inside, amongst the community on the stage, the difference is not so great, since someone is always playing the tune, and the rest of the orchestra accompanies that tune. Maybe the first violins now, maybe the violas. Perhaps the oboe, then two trumpets, then the second violin section…

Just as our eyes scan the scene, but always, even for the shortest moment, pick a focal point, so are our ears led from sound to sound, and, as musicians, our own contributions constantly flit between foreground and background. So here, now, after many weeks of training to be ready, we go before the public, not like trained seals, but as companions with newly honed freedoms. Finally we have the last crucial ingredient that makes it all come alive and become real; the audience. Now at last we can all, together, take a thrilling ride in the briefly real world of music.

That first concert may be over, the scores back on the shelf, a new list of pieces to practice. But nothing ended. It was all part of the preparation for the next concert, and the next. Bravo to the players of the VYO! We have even wilder regions to explore this year.

Andrew Massey, VYO Interim Conductor

(Photos: Berta Frank & Lisamarie Charlesworth)

This past Sunday’s rehearsal was the only one so far where I’ve had only one job the entire time- to lead a section.

During most rehearsals I switch roles, going (sometimes not so seamlessly) from concertmaster to soloist.  Physically, I really only stand up and move about three feet and turn to face the windows at the back of the rehearsal hall. That part is manageable and really not intimidating. Mentally, it’s a huge switch. Changing my mindset to be able to play my concerto in the technical aspect while weaving together the musical ideas to complete the picture is a daunting task. It’s not a mental state I can get to without preparation and a very good idea of where my music “head” is in relation to other emotions.

For example, if the thought ceaselessly running through my head is “Hmm, I wonder if there’s any coffee left in the kitchen… Also, can’t forget to study Asia and the Middle East for the geography quiz tomorrow…” I need to make a mental U-turn and find my bearings. It would be fantastically helpful to have a mental GPS…

Sally (far left) and VYO members in France - July 09

I associate many musical ideas in the Saint-Saëns concerto with memories, and quite a few of them are from the VYO’s France Tour this summer. During one chorale melody I’m with my friends on the balcony of our hotel in Paris, watching the Eiffel Tower light up at midnight. At one point in the development section, I’m walking through the winding streets around the Museé d’Orsay looking for
somewhere to sit and eat lunch. The only memory I want to stay as far away from as possible is the jetlag. That disjointed, sleepy and over-caffeinated feeling (which is a pretty accurate description of most mornings in France!)…well, I don’t know exactly what that would sound like musically.

The concert still seems far away. It hasn’t quite hit me yet that in roughly three weeks, I actually have to perform. It won’t be too scary though, because no matter how nervous I get (and trust me I’ll be pretty terrified), about 80 of my friends will be there with me, and I know I can always look over my shoulder and remember they’re right behind me.

Sally Bruce, violin

Editor’s Note: Sally has been a VYOA member for 12 years; this is her second season as concertmaster for the VYO. She will be performing the first movement of Camille Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 with the VYO during their upcoming Fall concerts:

Friday, October 2 at 8:00 pm – St. Mary’s Church, St. Albans

Sunday, October 4 at 3:00 pm – Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

For additional information on both concerts, visit /index.php?events/action/show/id/event/yr/2009/mon/10

(Photos: Stina Plant,  Duncan Yandell)

The VYO has been in rehearsal since August in preparation for the upcoming Fall Concerts that kick off the 2009-10 concert season. In the coming weeks, both Interim Conductor Andrew Massey and soloist Sally Bruce will be adding their voices to the blog.

Enjoy!