XWO

Without me your sound would be weak,

Like a song bird without any beak,

But when I’m stuck on, you can sing your sweet song-

And tweet ’til your parents just freak!

I am still looking for more pics to add to this - so if you have some, please share them with me!

Flute I - Lauren

Flute II - Abbey

Clarinet I - Maia

Clarinet II - Shantal

Oboe - Nick

Trumpet I - Frans

Trumpet II - Sam

Trombone I - Alexander

Trombone II - Eric

Thanks to everyone who auditioned. There was a lot of hard work evident in the auditions. I hope that it was a great experience for all of you to prepare.

The first full orchestra rehearsal will take place during the regular Orchestra/Band period next Thursday. Come to the first rehearsal with music prepared!

The advanced orchestra audition committee faced some tough audition questions today, and after considerable debate, decided not to let any of the auditioning players into Advanced Orchestra this time around.

Six members of Orchestra I tried the auditions, and several were very close to making it. There was a lot of good playing, and this was a very difficult decision for the committee. The job of making these decisions is one of the hardest parts of being an OII principal player, and it has never been a tougher job than it was today.

Congratulations to all of you who tried the audition. Keep working and don’t get discouraged. Remember, that every time you take a risk and put yourself out there like that, you grow as a player, and it improves all of us. Don’t get discouraged. You will make it!

Thanks to everyone on the committee. I appreciate how hard this was for you all. Nobody likes to have to say “no” to a player that really wants to work and improve.

Eric has written a neat little program that can generate random scales for you. You can also feed it a key signature and mode and it will tell you what the tonic scale is. It will perform the reverse function as well.

You could use this program to test yourself on key signatures, or just to randomize some scale practice.

The program is small, easy to both download and run. Here is the link to Eric’s Post.

You can also download the program directly using this link: Eric’s Nifty Scale and Key Thingamabob

The program runs on Windows platforms.

Thanks Eric!

Our concert music for fourth quarter has been finalized, and I am looking forward to an exciting concert. The concert will take place on Tuesday, August 4th, at 7:30.

All of the recordings can be found on the MUSIC page. There have been a few changes from what you might be expecting, particularly in Orchestra I where I have completely changed the expected pieces.

In Advanced Orchestra, we will be combining with wind players into a full orchestra for two of our pieces. Wind players from Experienced Band will be auditioning next week for the opportunity to play the parts with us. Hannah and I will be listening to the auditions and making final decisions. It should be a lot of fun to play as a full orchestra.

In String Club this quarter, we will be playing the Zombies sequel, Curse of the Rosin Eating Zombies, along with Avatar by Doug Spata.

This concert will be a blast.

I’ve begun editing and posting podcasts from the Spring Concert. The first podcast is the Advanced Orchestra’s performance of Ahlan Sabaya Alfarah. You can find it on the Pods page, or in the sidebar. Remember also that you can always subscribe to our podcasts through any RSS reader, or on iTunes (just search for us at the iTunes store).

I will be posting a new episode every day or so, as I get them edited, so check back often. Enjoy.

Note: As the concert podcasts are now being posted,  XWOR is off the air.

In addition to the excerpts in the post below, all auditionees should preparte C, G, and D scales in two octaves (one-and-a-half octaves for bass). Even if you are not auditioning (or are already in Advanced Orchestra) you may want to download and work with the scales. Everyone should know these fundamentals!

Fingerings for each instrument can be downloaded here:

Violin Scale Fingerings

Viola Scale Fingerings

Cello Scale Fingerings

Bass Scale Fingerings