It's been just over a week since the New England band camp for 2009 ended, but with the recent floods and the last week of term winding up things have been a little hectic. I didn't realise, but there have been some other comments placed along the way that I have missed. My apologies, but I have gone back and read them and really value and appreciate the input that has gone in. I've set up the blog to notify me when feedback does come through from now on. Anyhow, my place survived the floods with only a little stream flowing from the back door to the garage door, which is a relief since my computer is downstairs on the other side of the room. The water flowed on the cement and came nowhere near the carpet.
As I said in my last post, I took my camera with me and took photos of my journey. What I really wanted to do was take some video shots as well, but I will need a much bigger memory card or a video camera to do this. I had planned on video taping some sections of the drive including Dorrigo mountain, Waterfall Way, and sections of the drive through some of the smaller towns on the way to Lake Keepit. I'll talk about the journey another time when I have the photos sorted out from the camera.
The band camp itself was a huge success. We thought nothing could rival the camp of 2007 at Echidna Gully when a lot of top musicians were finishing up being in their HSC year. The standard set for 2009 may not have quite surpassed that of 2007, but it has aimed to set 2010 up for a bumper year with the talent being produced. The average school year would be around 8 1/2 to 9, with a spread of students from year 4 through to year 12. Very few students were in years 11 and 12 at this camp, yet the average standard or charts being played was about 3 1/2 out of 5 stars across the full concert band and advanced ensembles.
Congrats is due to the director, Di Hall, for selecting a terrific set of repertoire that challenged and brought about a new world of music to the students; concert band repertoire. No longer was all of the music arrangements of operas, musicals, movie scores, and pop songs. Music was being performed that was specifically composed for concert band. Flashpoint by John Moss was performed by the full concert band to a very good standard. The best way I can describe this piece is that it is similar in its sound and harmony to that of Steve Reich's first movement of City Life called "Check it out", minus the minimalism and synthesizers of course. This piece was composed specifically for concert band, and a lot of the students really enjoyed it. The feeling that they were performing "real music", is what we feel inspired them according to their reactions. I hope the majority of this music will be taken to the next camp in the series; Riverina.
The clarinet section was fantastic by the end of the week. We had two tutors for the clarinets; myself and Andre Vikas. Andre took the firsts, seconds and basses while I worked with the thirds. It was a bit of a change for myself, but I really enjoyed working with the thirds for the week. The challenge at the beginning of the week was getting the clarinets to come out of their shells and open up their sound when they played. This was especially true with the first clarinets, since they need to not only lead their section but essentially the concert band. Andre's work with his clarinetists ensured that they brought out more sound and played together as a section, rather than as individuals. While ensemble playing can be targeted with these rows, it's a bit more challenging to do the same thing with the third row. The work that I did with the third clarinets included learning new notes, attacking rhythms, and trying to make sections look less fearful than they first appear. One really big positive about the section I took was that everyone could play across that break of the instrument, and this is a massive achievement (and an absolute dream as a tutor). A "never say die" attitude was always present, and there was always the determination to learn more or get to the end of a piece of music.
It was evident after the last performance that there are a lot of emerging musicians to come through from this camp, both from the junior (years 4-8) and senior (years 9-12) sections. A standing ovation from the audience of parents, relatives and friends was given to the students as they finished their last piece in the concert. While a standing ovation is something you would normally acknowledge and appreciate as a professional musician, it was jaw-dropping and surprising to see this for a combined group of primary and secondary students. Even reflecting on it now I still get tingles and goose-bumps. While the staff brought the standard and "set the bar", ultimately it was up to the students to embrace and take on the challenge themselves and to have us, the tutors, assist them along the way.
For people living in the DET's "New England" region, be sure to keep an eye out for the regional tour band later this year. You will not want to miss this sensational ensemble!
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