Wow. Just... wow. We played two concerts with the youth orchestra, one away in a small university town, and one at home, which is essentially a big university town. And wow. The concerts were amazing. The size of the orchestra has been buffed to around 70ish from the 50 of last year, if I'm not mistaken. And it makes a noticeable difference. I feel like I can play more or less as loud as I want for any given passage (assuming, you know, I want to play the soft passages still soft, just comfortably soft, instead of the effortful soft this still-improving trumpet player usually pulls off). This especially became noticeable at the end of Finlandia.
This... this... THIS. Especially noticeable on the Tuesday show, this piece of music is absolutely amazing. I happened to notice a percussionist in our local pro symphony while I was playing. Even from the back of the church, I could tell how incredibly moved he was by the piece, and it was an amazing experience playing it. The ending (7:22 on in this recording) was the loudest I've ever played on a stage in my life. It felt incredible. Such a great way to end off my stint as principal.
Yeah, that's it. I'm going to be sitting second or third for the rest of the year, it looks like. I was a little upset at first, but I'm more rational and agree with the decision now that I've let my emotions slide away. I mean, the listed principal is a good player, for sure. We're about tied in terms of skill, with just a different set of strengths and weaknesses. And I'd trust him the most of out anyone, even myself at times, to lead the section. Also, I'm only registered as a part-time student, so I'm incredibly grateful of the management, conductor, and board that I'm in the orchestra at all.
Both of the other pieces, Mozart and Berlioz, deserve their own post, so I think I'm gonna start dedicating certain posts to composers, probably about once a month. Expect the next one to be about everyone's favourite insane Frenchman, who dresses in drag, has people play with their bows upside down, and only wrote one piece, just in multiple incarnations! That's right, it's Hipster Berlioz!
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