Intermezzo – Conductor Messages

Dear Musicians,

I am thrilled to welcome you all to BYSO’s Intermezzo Ensemble. My hope this season is that you grow as musicians, deepen your love for rehearsing and performing, and gain a new community of string friends.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at intermezzo@byso.org. I look forward to meeting you all and making music together on September 24th!  My dog is a 80 pound goldendoodle named Finchley, after a street I lived near in London, England.  He loves to swim and fetch!  You might want to remember his name or something about him for the first rehearsal!

Please plan to bring a pencil and your music in a folder to the first rehearsal and label everything! We’re a big group, so I’ll have seats assigned to help you find your spot.

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

• Print out your music when it’s becomes available
• Mental Practice/Preparation: Listen to the recordings (links will be updated closer to our first rehearsal) to hear what the pieces sound like…even better if you can follow along with the music. You are NOT expected to know your music perfectly the first night!
• 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 and ask about them in rehearsal or with your private teacher.

Songs for Fall 2024:

• Pieces of Eight
• Tango Por Uno
• Alpine Glory

Next up:

• September 24 – First Rehearsal!
• October 12 – Fall Retreat (9am-noon)
• October 15 – Seating Auditions at our Tuesday Rehearsal

Some helpful tools:

• Tuner
• Video instructions for “HOW” to tune: fine-tuners or pegs
• Metronome

Best and happy practicing,

Stephanie Hellekson