Dear Metropolitan Symphony Musicians,
We are so glad to work with you this year in MYSO Met! We were very impressed by the overall preparation and skills demonstrated to us in the seating auditions last week. Your work to get ready for this ‘first (or returning!) impression’ performance is a great sign of the talent and commitment of the members, and we know you will help to make this version of Met a GREAT one!
A word about auditions. These were ‘snapshot’ demonstrations of your skills. We made a lot of decisions about where you will best serve the orchestra while also having a meaningful and memorable experience making music with your peers. Violins needed to be sorted into two sections. Large sections, especially the violins and cellos, needed to be seated in a way that makes sense over 20-some chairs. We had to identify leaders and make stand partner decisions that will be mutually beneficial. Each wind section needs a ‘principal’ player for orchestral solos in our repertoire.
This is an imperfect process! We did our absolute best to find an appropriate seat for each musician in Met. We do not aspire to achieve perfect ‘ranking seating’ through each section. We need leaders throughout the larger sections and strive for seating that works for the orchestra as a whole, as well as for individual players. Each year, there is some shifting around from previous seating hierarchies. We know everyone is working hard and has improved since the last seating audition.
The important thing, for now, is to get to work bringing to life the great music we have selected for you to experience, starting on Monday! We hope that you will have a positive experience in your MYSO orchestra, and know you will with the correct positive attitude and consistent effort. It will be an excellent group, and you are an important part of Met!
If you would like to get a little jump start on our music, here are some YouTube links for our repertoire. (Please remember that ALL violins will be sightreading this music on Monday. The rest of the string musicians have received the parts.) You might follow along with your music and learn ‘how it goes’ before we get to work on Monday.
- Brahms, Hungarian Dance No. 5
- Saint-Saëns, “Dance Bacchanale” from Samson and Dalilah
- Jarre, Overture to Lawrence of Arabia
- Nelson, Jubilee
We will send you an email each week after our rehearsals. Please make a habit of reading our messages to you! You can ALWAYS reach out to us via email if you have any questions or concerns. We welcome your questions and want to help you in any way we can.
It will be great to work with you on Mondays at MYAC starting Sept. 12! Rehearsal starts at 6:30, but you should plan on arriving each Monday no later than 6:20 so we can get off to a good start with everyone warmed up and ready to go.
See you at 6:20 pm on Monday evening!
Mr. John Emanuelson (JohnEmanuelson@myso.org)
Mr. Jon Winkle (winkle@uwm.edu)