Dear Met Musician and Family,
We just completed our sixth out of eight Monday rehearsals in preparation for our performance, which is just around the corner on Saturday, February 8! Attendance was strong this week, and we hope you felt positive about the progress the orchestra is demonstrating, both in terms of zeroing in on the notes and rhythms, but also bringing out the style and emotional meaning of this music! An effective performance must be both accurate and expressive. We are getting closer…..!
Having said that, there are also many passages where our orchestra still needs reminders about rhythms, key signatures, tempo transitions, and style. If you found yourself needing two or three tries to ‘get it right’ last night in a passage or two, thank you for looking at these spots before the next rehearsal on Monday, January 27 (remember, there is no rehearsal on Monday, January 20). We just don’t have the rehearsal time for practicing the hard parts on Monday night, or playing through a passage several times to remind everyone ‘how it goes.’
Looking ahead, we cannot emphasize enough how important your participation is on the Community Concerts scheduled for Tuesday, February 4. This is a critically important and valuable performance and learning experience for our orchestra, and is also a meaningful part of the MYSO mission—to share our music and your talent with students in the greater Milwaukee-metro area. We know this requires you to miss a day of school. But we know you will learn and grow as a musician on this day. Please look ahead and check in with your teachers to see how you can make this work. We need you with us that day, and the Community Concert day is a firm expectation of the MYSO Metropolitan Symphony experience!
Congratulations to all of the concerto competition participants! And, special congratulations to our honorable mention recipients, Max Hemann (viola), Annabelle Rook (bassoon), Kayli Abbott (trombone), runner-up Stephanie Neely (violin), and winner Kevin Mi (cello)! The adjudication team from the Milwaukee Symphony, together with both of us, were very impressed by the musicianship and preparation demonstrated by everyone who performed on Saturday!
Have a great week!
Mr. John Emanuelson (johnemanuelson@myso.org)
Mr. Jon Winkle (jonwinkle.tidc@gmail.com)