Orchestrating Inspiration

I finally have a kid in an orchestra!  I have been waiting years for this!  Araceli is doing Summer Strings at Weber State.  She was nervous walking in the first day.  I, on the other hand, felt right at home.  Just the configuration of the chairs, the fan with the conductor's podium at the center, was familiar and welcoming to me.  I wanted to sit right down and play some music, but instead I got Ari all set up and left.  Two hours later, she had this report:  "It was hard.  The teacher would say, like, start at measure 30, and everyone would start to play, and I would still be looking for measure 30."

I had to smile.  I think she liked it.  My first orchestra experience, I was in fifth grade and I had Mr. Marsden for orchestra, who is Ari's cello teacher.  I fell in love with it!  Mr. Marsden was such a great teacher for me that I was inspired to try out for Utah Youth Symphony.  To try out, you had to be twelve, so I figured eleven was close enough.  Jason Klein was the conductor - crazy hair, frenzied demeanor - and he heard my audition.  I bet I played something very basic from Suzuki Book Two or something, and he must have either felt sorry for me, or been really bad at saying no, because he let me in.  There were probably at least 32 violinists, and I was last chair in the second violins.  I could have been back there playing the accordion and nobody would have noticed, it was so far away.   I could barely hear the conductor, and faked every note for two whole years before I caught on.  Every Saturday morning, I got up at 6 to be at rehearsal by 7:00, where I spent two and a half hours concentrating on making my bow go the same direction as everyone else's, because I was lost at all times.  Never had any idea where we were in the music because it was way, way over my head.  I remember one concert where I thought the piece was over, during the concert, until my stand partner turned the page and there was more music!  I quickly put my violin back under my chin and continued moving my fingers up and down the fingerboard in fancy ways until the piece (Tchaik 5) ended for real.

I can't fathom why I kept going and going, every Saturday, but I must have just loved the environment, because I still do.  I miss it.  I Played in Utah Youth for six years and ended up right up at the front eventually, even soloing with them my senior year of high school.

I hope Ari has a great experience playing in the orchestra.  I hope she loves the music and the friendships and the work and the result.  If she doesn't love it the way I did, I hope she finds something else to be as passionate about.  She is excited about her fiddling class, practicing a song about a crawdad and singing along.  You knew there was going to be a YouTube video!  Watch out, Yo yo!