This last Thursday was our region orchestra competition at Ben Lomond high school, which was tons of fun, as usual.
To be perfectly honest, when I first started playing the violin, I didn't see it as a realistic part of my future. I didn't enjoy it at much as playing piano and practicing was such a pain. But that was before I joined an orchestra, and experienced what it was like to make music with other people, not just myself. I suppose you could say I fell absolutely in love with it.
Rehearsals are lots of fun and tend to be pretty lighthearted. Honestly, with all the messing around we do, it's amazing we get any real practice time in, but we do. Concerts are the best though. I love the anticipation that builds deep down inside me and the feeling of camaraderie that's more abundant than at rehearsal. We know that each of us has put in hours of effort and dedication and now we've all come together to do something spectacular and that feeling can't be rivaled.
I love when we go out on stage and for once we set up with hardly a word. Everyone pays perfect attention as we watch our conductor. He raises his arms up and gives us a little smile and whispers reminders under his breath and then we start.
It's different than rehearsal because this is the last time, and so it has to be the best time. We each play with our whole heart and soul. The audience disappears and it is just us and the music and we let it penetrate deep into our bones. When we near the end of a piece, you can feel the energy building, the frantic anxiousness to end just perfectly, and then we all release our last note at exactly the same time and quiet grins sneak across our countenances as the soft vibrations ring out into the stillness for a few moments. Then there is applause and we all release the breath we've been holding and replace our serious masks in anticipation of the next number to play.
We play our last selection, wait for the ringing and the applause, then stand up and bow before exiting the stage like the serious, mature musicians that we are. Then we reach the hallway and suddenly we're just a bunch of fancily dressed teenagers again, laughing and joking and teasing, recapping all the highlights and blunders of the performance. But the feeling is still there and it doesn't leave. It's a feeling of belonging, of family. My orchestra is my second family. We are all alike in our love of music and that creates a bond as strong as family ties.
This last year our orchestra was split into two different classes. Sometimes it seems as if this has torn a rift between us, as if we'll never be the same. But then we all come together again to perform and that rift is sewn back up, as if we were never divided. Nothing can separate us. We are further bonded by our continual successes. Last week the Chamber (more advanced) group received straight Superior scores, while the regular class earned two Superiors and an Excellent. That means we're going to State! I'm excited because it means one more performance, and one more night to spend with my family, one more chance to prove our dedication to each other and one more opportunity to succeed together.
Okay, so maybe my view of the orchestra is slightly idealistic. I may in fact be the only one who sees it this way. There are definitely those who see these competitions as just one more thing to check off their list, worth only a grade and nothing more. But not to me. To me, these times are the highlights of my life. I'm happier when I'm performing than I am hardly anytime else, and it's because of the music and the people. I love both, and I'm so extremely grateful for both. I'm so grateful for this time in my life that I have to be a part of something bigger than myself. Something worthwhile.
To be perfectly honest, when I first started playing the violin, I didn't see it as a realistic part of my future. I didn't enjoy it at much as playing piano and practicing was such a pain. But that was before I joined an orchestra, and experienced what it was like to make music with other people, not just myself. I suppose you could say I fell absolutely in love with it.
Rehearsals are lots of fun and tend to be pretty lighthearted. Honestly, with all the messing around we do, it's amazing we get any real practice time in, but we do. Concerts are the best though. I love the anticipation that builds deep down inside me and the feeling of camaraderie that's more abundant than at rehearsal. We know that each of us has put in hours of effort and dedication and now we've all come together to do something spectacular and that feeling can't be rivaled.
I love when we go out on stage and for once we set up with hardly a word. Everyone pays perfect attention as we watch our conductor. He raises his arms up and gives us a little smile and whispers reminders under his breath and then we start.
It's different than rehearsal because this is the last time, and so it has to be the best time. We each play with our whole heart and soul. The audience disappears and it is just us and the music and we let it penetrate deep into our bones. When we near the end of a piece, you can feel the energy building, the frantic anxiousness to end just perfectly, and then we all release our last note at exactly the same time and quiet grins sneak across our countenances as the soft vibrations ring out into the stillness for a few moments. Then there is applause and we all release the breath we've been holding and replace our serious masks in anticipation of the next number to play.
We play our last selection, wait for the ringing and the applause, then stand up and bow before exiting the stage like the serious, mature musicians that we are. Then we reach the hallway and suddenly we're just a bunch of fancily dressed teenagers again, laughing and joking and teasing, recapping all the highlights and blunders of the performance. But the feeling is still there and it doesn't leave. It's a feeling of belonging, of family. My orchestra is my second family. We are all alike in our love of music and that creates a bond as strong as family ties.
This last year our orchestra was split into two different classes. Sometimes it seems as if this has torn a rift between us, as if we'll never be the same. But then we all come together again to perform and that rift is sewn back up, as if we were never divided. Nothing can separate us. We are further bonded by our continual successes. Last week the Chamber (more advanced) group received straight Superior scores, while the regular class earned two Superiors and an Excellent. That means we're going to State! I'm excited because it means one more performance, and one more night to spend with my family, one more chance to prove our dedication to each other and one more opportunity to succeed together.
Okay, so maybe my view of the orchestra is slightly idealistic. I may in fact be the only one who sees it this way. There are definitely those who see these competitions as just one more thing to check off their list, worth only a grade and nothing more. But not to me. To me, these times are the highlights of my life. I'm happier when I'm performing than I am hardly anytime else, and it's because of the music and the people. I love both, and I'm so extremely grateful for both. I'm so grateful for this time in my life that I have to be a part of something bigger than myself. Something worthwhile.
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