11/21/13 - Day 64

Day 64 - York Community High School

Thursday, November 21, 2013

11/21/13 7:15 am

It's concert day and I'm excited, not to mention, nervous. I knew that they're well prepared and things would go smoothly, but the nerves are still there. We reset the stage this morning because there was a sports banquet last night. We also pulled a couple more charts of songs that might be played for the Bloomington festival in February. I had the percussionists in to run The Patriot during second period. During second period the concert orchestra ran some full orchestra pieces and we had time to start and end Gesu Bambino. I coached a quintet and a bass duo. The duet is extremely taxing and they are considering playing half of it pizzicato. The symphony orchestra rehearsed Glinka with the winds and percussion, then ran through the other pieces briefly before sight reading some more Vivaldi.

The concert was outstanding. The kids performed so well. I was satisfied with my conducting, but there are always things I wish I had done differently. I felt over cautious with some of my gesture choices. I need to take more chances. It was great to meet some parents and congratulate all of the kids for their hard work. Some of them congratulated me and said "good job".  That was reassuring, because Mr. O has built such a strong program and demands a such a high standard.