Rehearsal Update: Master Class Preparation

Alan Kay

This week, our rehearsals have definitely had some extra umph - we are preparing to play in a master class for Alan Kay. Mr. Kay is a professor of clarinet at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Stony Brook University, and plays with the Orpheus Orchestra as well as many other chamber ensembles. We are thrilled to be able to get advice and feedback from him.

We are going to be bringing Elliott Carter's Canonic Suite and a few movements fromYvonne Desportes' French Suite. We are doing our very best to iron out all the kinks still left in these movements - it would be pointless to perform for Mr. Kay and only have him tell us things we already know we ought to be doing.

At the core of all our rehearsals is maintaining the core group sound we are working so hard to define. The tendency when trying to make something "right" is to focus on how you sound and what you need to change, often at the expense of truly playing together. Right now, we are working on doing everything as a group, and truly "giving up" to the group sound. Although this does lead to some frustrating rehearsals, its so worth it, and we are looking forward to seeing what Mr. Kay will say on Friday.

If you'd like to attend, the master class is open to the public:
Friday, June 21 @ 5pm
$10 at the door

The Historic Hoover Theater
1635 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95216