Rehearsals will be held on Monday evenings from 6:15 – 8:30 pm. Musicians are expected to arrive and be prepared to rehearse 15 minutes prior to start time.
Print your sheet music prior to first rehearsal (using link at top of this page) and bring with you to rehearsal
Arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of rehearsal to ensure you are in your chair and ready to play at the start of rehearsal
Have fun!
ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR LAST REHEARSAL BEFORE CONCERT
In order to participate in the concert, Philharmonia students who miss the final Monday night rehearsal before a concert will be required to submit a video recording of them performing the excerpts used for seating auditions posted in the Conductor’s Messages on the Philharmonia page (below). For those excerpts, students will play their assigned part for the concert (Clarinet 2 plays that part, Trombone 2 plays that part, Violin 2 plays that part, etc.). Students can send a link to accessible platforms like YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Please make sure you have adjusted the sharing settings appropriately and make sure you are clearly visible in the video recording. Students must submit this no later than 11:59 PM Wednesday. Mr. Kempisty will review the submission and notify the student and parent of the result by end of day on Thursday.
About
Philharmonia is an advanced orchestra in the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra organization. The typical Philharmonia student has had several years of private instruction and substantial ensemble experience and is highly skilled on his or her instrument.
Philharmonia prepares high-level musicians for possible entry into Youth Symphony with challenging full orchestra pieces. Past works performed include Brahms’s AcademicFestival Overture, Tchaikovsky’s Slavonic March in Bb Minor, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 35.
Recent Philharmonia Performances
Conductor: Joseph Kempisty
Joseph Kempisty holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Ohio State University and a Master of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies degree from the University of Washington. He has taught elementary, middle, and high school orchestras in the Midwest as well as in the Bellevue School District, where he was also a school administrator for fourteen years. Learn more.
French Horn seating auditions are first on Monday, March 31st.
All other instrument sections have seating auditions on Monday, April 14th. Part spots are below.
Important Details for all: All instruments have four spots with at least three being from the Verdi. Please use the first part for your instrument (if more than one part). For the Verdi ‘Piu animato’ section, tempo should be quarter = 136 with focus on articulations, note length, and dynamics in addition to note accuracy.
Flute
Verdi: C to 14 measures after D; I to J; Piu animato to the end
Bizet Les Toreadors: Beginning to A
Oboe
Verdi: C to 14 measures after D; I to J; Piu animato to the end
Bizet Aragonaise: Opening solo to A
Clarinet
Verdi: G to H; I to J; Piu animato to the end (check the original part for missing dynamics)
Bizet Les Toreadors: Beginning to A
Trumpet
Verdi: 4 measures before D to E; H to I; O to the end
Bizet Les Toreadors: 11 measures before the end to the end
Trombone/Euphonium/Tuba
Verdi: C to E; I to J; O to the end
Bizet Les Toreadors: E to the end
Violin
Verdi: A to bottom of the first page (stop at the 2/4 time signature); 6 measures before E to F; I to J; Piu animato to the end
Viola
Verdi: H to I; 6 measures before E to F; Piu animato to the end
Bizet Les Toreadors: D to E
Cello
Verdi: Beginning to A; I to J; 6 measures before E to F; Piu animato to the end
Double Bass
Verdi: I to J; 6 measures before E to F; Piu animato to the end
Bizet Les Toreadors: 9 measures after A to B
Congratulations on a fantastic Winter Concert!
Spring Quarter Reference Videos
This is Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino Overture performed by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano (Italy) and conducted by Xian Zhang who will be Seattle Symphony’s new music director next season.
This video shows the score to Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino Overture. This performance is by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli.
This is a compilation of both of Bizet’s Carmen Suites performed by the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Japan) conducted by Kimbo Ishii. We will be performing ‘Les Toreadors’ (mvmt 1 in this video), ‘Prelude’ (mvmt 2), and ‘Aragonaise’ (mvmt 4). Check the YouTube notes for direct links to each movement in the video.
Winter Quarter Reference Video
For a video of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 4, Fourth Movement (Allegro con fuoco), use the link below. This final movement begins at 32:38. This is the ‘All-Star Orchestra’ conducted by Gerard Schwarz who was the music director of the Seattle Symphony for 26 years.
Symphony No. 4, Finale (Fourth Movement) by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky. This is a recording by a Russian symphony with the score. The Fourth Movement begins at 33:27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xldfaf4NGw
Welcome to Philharmonia’s 2024-25 Season!
The music for our first concert will be posted on our website and linked above in the weeks ahead. Please check for email notifications so that you can print out your music before our first rehearsal on Monday, September 23rd.
I am in the process of selecting repertoire for this season, and I would like to have the input of our Philharmonia musicians. If you have a piece or composer in mind, please email me the details at philharmonia@byso.org, and I will consider it.
