Concert

Today has been rather dominated by the concert I played in this evening. I’m a member of a local orchestra (the Misbourne Symphony Orchestra), and we were performing this evening at St Mary’s Church in Chesham.

On the day of the concert, we typically have a final rehearsal in the afternoon, and today was no exception. These rehearsals stand out by virtue of the fact that we are padded out by quite a few extras. The repertoire for tonight was very brass-heavy, including Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Overture to Candide by Bernstein. While normal rehearsals have only limited brass (a few trumpets, mainly), today we were bolstered by the full complement of french horns, trombones, tubas etc - the works. We also had substantial extra help in the form of percussion, double basses and a harp.

The extras are usually experienced players, and they need to be - often the first time they see the music is on the day of the performance. Some parts in particular are very exposed and there’s no chance to “hide in the crowd” - particularly true for harp and percussion who tend to have parts where mistakes are obvious.

The orchestra’s special trick, in my experience, is to definitely not peak too early! The final rehearsal is usually pretty scary as there have only been around eight regular rehearsals. This means that everyone is running on peak adrenaline, so the concert performance itself is usually the best it’s ever sounded. On the whole, I think that we managed the same this evening.

They’re actually quite a friendly bunch, the orchestra. The extras I only see four times a year, generally, and it’s nice to say hello. The regulars come from all walks of life, including professional musicians as well as amateurs like me. There are also all ages there, ranging from late teens right up to people in their seventies. Having a shared interest in music means it can be easy to start talking to people you haven’t met before.

If you’re a musician, this sounds fun to you and you’re somewhat local, do get in touch with us to find out about getting involved! I’d love to meet you too.

Anyway, as normal after a concert, I’m a bit hyped up right now, so being sat on the sofa with a glass of beer next to me makes this a great time to write this blog post. Let the unwinding commence.

Photo by Lucas Alexander on Unsplash