Youth Concert Info Nuggets

 

• Thursday, April 5, 7:00pm call time
• Meet in the music room
• White shirt, black pants, shoes and socks

If you were at the mass band practice last week, or you've been part of this concert before, you'll know that it is somewhat of an overwhelming experience to play together with so many other musicians.  Even finding a seat and a stand in that large group is a challenge, let alone hearing what's going on and adapting to different conductors.  When we're in an overwhelming situation, we focus on our own survival first, and think about the big picture later.

Here's a bit of context to help with that bigger picture.  The Community Band (here's their website) is made up of adults and youth from the Dufferin area.  The band provides a forum for adults to pursue the concert band experience.  Many communities have bands such as this; consider seeking one out (or starting one!) after you finish high school.

A major goal of our local Community Band is to "to provide adult mentorship for our youth in their study of music", per their website.  This is done both by including younger players in the Band, and by arranging an annual concert with elementary and high school bands.  Although there is no admission fee for the concert on Thursday, voluntary donations will be matched by the Community Band (up to $500), and will go to support music programs at the participating elementary schools.  And the experience of the rehearsal and concert also supplies opportunities for individual mentoring.

OK, what does this mean for us?  First things first:  make sure you are as comfortable as you can, with a chair and a stand for yourself or to share.  Make sure you can see the conductor, and they can see you.  The usual stuff, magnified in significance by the size of the mass band.

I took a little survey last Tuesday of the students sitting near me at rehearsal, asking them for advice on how to survive the strangeness of the mass band experience.  Here are some of their suggestions:

• the audience doesn't know the piece by heart, so they won't know if you make a mistake
• if you do make one, stop if you have to, don't panic and come back in when you can
• if you get lost, listen to what the more experienced players are doing
• don't worry if you have to drop out for a moment

Now that you have a bigger picture of the Youth Concert and some advice on surviving and thriving there, I have one final suggestion, which is that you embrace this concert as a singular event.  There won't be too many times in your life when you get to play in such a large group.  And singular events create opportunities.  

If I were to draw a Venn diagram of the Youth Concert, it would be a bunch of little circles representing the various individual bands, all surrounded by a larger circle representing concert band musicians in the Dufferin area.  Kind of a boring visual, and possibly an illegal use of a Venn diagram, but you get the picture:  we all have concert band musicianship in common.  So, if you sit down next to a stranger, reach out across that commonality, and strike up a conversation. Could be the start of making beautiful music together.