WINTER CONCERT DETAILS FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 19 AT 2:00 PM

CALL TIME: 12:15 pm
All musicians should arrive promptly at 12:15 pm. Please account for possible traffic delays.

DROP OFF:
All musicians should be dropped off in the Meydenbauer Lobby. Parents/guardians may park in the Meydebauer garage and walk their students to the lobby if needed. Parking in the garage is free for the first 30 minutes. (For a full list of parking fees, please see the Meydenbauer website.)

CONCERT ATTIRE
Be sure to check your ensemble’s concert attire requirements. Students must arrive wearing their concert clothing. They will not have a place to change later. Official photos will be taken during dress rehearsals, so students should plan to wear their concert attire through the entire dress rehearsal as well as the concert.

1/29/2023, edited with updated cello parts on 2/3/2023

Mark your calendars!

Our winter retreat will be Saturday, 2/11 at Odle Middle School (502 143rd Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98007) from 12:30-3:30pm. Retreats are for rehearsing and section work, but more importantly, for getting to know each other and having fun as an orchestra!

Seating Auditions:

Seating auditions are NOT optional this concert cycle.
We will hold seating auditions on two dates (check what date your section is auditioning):
- Violin 1 and Viola: At the retreat on February 11 (from roughly 2:00-3:00pm)
- Violin 2 and Cello: At our regular rehearsal on February 13

During seating auditions, coaches will listen to students individually to help place student leaders in the first two stands of each section. The coaches and I are looking for students who have shown mastery on their parts (posture/technique, bowing, intonation, rhythmic accuracy, expression), but we’re also looking for students who have demonstrated good preparation and strong rehearsal etiquette. We have been talking in rehearsals about what makes students good leaders and stand partners. You can ask your student what they think a good leader looks like in orchestra to help them prepare.

Violin 1:
Prelude: mm. 40-45 and mm. 56-end of 67
American’s Cup: mm. 78-90 (check your key!)

Violin 2: (updated 1/30, 2:30pm)
Prelude: mm. 17-30 (no repeat)
America’s Cup: mm. 69-86 (check your key!)

Viola:
Prelude: mm. 25-42
Appalachian: mm. 69-end
America’s Cup: mm. 38-53 and mm. 100-107

Cello: Updated Cello Parts (mark your music or print out the new copies)
Prelude: mm. 1-18 both divisi parts and mm. 40-downbeat of 49
America’s Cup: mm. 44-downbeat of 53 and mm. 60-72m
*Parts with bowing and fingerings coming soon

Challenge: By the time of our retreat, try to learn FIVE people’s name in the orchestra and BRING A PENCIL!

Listening is practice too…here are the links:

Prelude from “Holberg Suite” by Edvard Grieg
Appalachian Sunrise by Doris Gazda
America’s Cup by Alan Lee Silva ***Check out that TIME SIGNATURE!

1/23/2023

Hi All!

Let’s talk rehearsal plans…check out the breakdown of our rehearsals and get ready for those seating auditions!

Monday, 1/23 (that’s tonight!): Sectionals/Rehearsal. Working with your coaches to review music and start to identify possible seating audition spots.
Monday, 1/30: Sectionals/Rehearsals. You will receive your seating audition spots and they’ll be updated on this page.
Monday, 2/6: Sectionals/Rehearsal. Review and work on seating audition spots. Ask questions, make sure you’re clear on what is expected for the seating audition.
***Saturday, 2/11: Retreat. All first violins and viola seating auditions (pull-out from the last 1.5 hours of rehearsal).
Monday, 2/13: Rehearsal. All 2nd violin and cello players seating auditions (pull-out from rehearsal).
Monday, 2/27, 3/6 and 3/13: Seating placements and large group rehearsals.
Sunday, 3/19: CONCERT at Meydenbauer Theatre

Your esteemed coaches:
Violin 1: Coach Caroline Faflak
Violin 2: Coach Rafael Howell Flores
Viola: Coach Camber Charlot
Cello: Coach Janice Lee
Bass: Coach Moe Weisner

1/8/2022

Hello Debut Musicians and Families!

Welcome to the Winter Session of BYSO! In the fall, we focused on the “Farewell” portion of this year’s theme (Favorites and Farewells). This winter, we’ll be focusing on some “Favorites” of mine. Pieces that I have loved as a director, but also loved playing when I was a student musician. New to us? Learn “About Me” HERE!

Remember to bring a stand, pencil and your music to the first rehearsal and label everything! We’re a big group, so I’ll have some seats assigned to help you find your spot. Our first rehearsal will focus on getting to know each other and sight-reading our music. Sight-reading can be tricky, so hang in there! No one is expected to know the music perfectly the first night. Especially as the music bumps up a level!

Want to hear what we’re playing?! Here are the links:

Prelude from “Holberg Suite” by Edvard Grieg
Appalachian Sunrise by Doris Gazda
America’s Cup by Alan Lee Silva ***Check out that TIME SIGNATURE!

Things you can do to feel more confident sight-reading at our first rehearsal:

Print out your music!
Mental Practice/Preparation: Listen to the recordings to hear what the pieces sound like…even better if you can follow along with the music.
Find out what key each piece is in and try to play a scale in that key.
Look for anything you don’t recognize or might have a question about in rehearsal or with your private teacher.

I’ll see you on Monday evening!

Mrs. Ewing (You-ing)

Some helpful tools: