November Update
Everything in the McCracken world is going quite well. I wish I had more time to write the last few weeks. When I started this post, the countdown to our performance was 42 days…now it’s 34 days! It’s been really hard not to have the internal countdown. The kids have made remarkable progress since the beginning of the year, but time really seems to be flying by. In retrospect, it has felt a little like choosing 10 pieces was the wrong direction to go. While it’s not any more in terms of minutes of music, it’s 10 different styles, 10 different keys, etc…but we’re trying our best to get all this music prepared.
Our performance schedule, while hectic, feels like it was the right way to go. I was quite happy after our late September performance. Certainly nothing was perfect, but it was as good or better than any band I’ve ever had at that time of year. Our October concert, just under four weeks ago, was very frustrating. They did extremely well on the Hazo and Grundman, but the Bach transcription was particularly disappointing. That piece is so deceptively difficult! Not in a technique sort of way, but in terms of the mature musical demands it places on the students. That must be why I like it so much. It took a long time for them to get used to playing in D minor, especially in terms of pitch. In fact, we’ve even been using a chorale in D minor for the last several weeks to try to help the adjustment. We also invested a ton of rehearsal and sectional time in it the two weeks prior to the concert. It really seemed to turn the corner a few days before the performance, but alas! The November concert went extremely well. It wasn’t surprising. Although we only had three weeks to learn four new pieces, they learned the material quickly. It was quite a relief from the frantic feel of the previous concert. We also replayed the Bach which was much more representative of the work we had accomplished in rehearsal.
So preparations feel as though they are progressing well, although you wouldn’t know it based on my stress level. We’ve performed everything we’re presenting at Midwest at least once, and about half the program twice. Nothing is “Midwest ready” yet. We have moments where we sound fantastic, and others where it seems clear the selection committee made a mistake last year. This upcoming week, prior to Thanksgiving, we’ll be sure to record each piece at least once. When we get back from the short break we’ll start the tricky balance of rehearsing the pieces that need the work, fine-tuning details on the others, continuing to develop fundamentals, and trying to sneak a run-through of the whole program here and there. In order to continue to maximize rehearsal time, we’ll record every rehearsal these final weeks before Midwest.
CLINICS
We’ve been fortunate to have several outstanding people come to work with the kids in recent weeks. I posted about the Sam Hazo clinic. Later that same week, John Whitwell, our Midwest Board Liaison came to meet the kids and work with them some. For the second time in three years I was absolutely blown away by his work with them. He has such a magical way with the kids that I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to be in one of his bands.
November 7th was an institute day for us, so we had a special rehearsal with Ryan Nelson from Northwestern University. Dr. Nelson rehearsed Joy Fantastique, the work we commissioned from Douglas Akey, and the finale from Symphony No. 4, another work we commissioned from Andy Boysen several years ago. This clinic was the biggest reason our last concert went so well. The kids were playing much more musically after his time with us.
Last Tuesday, Charlie Menghini (Vandercook College of Music) worked with the kids during our normal Tuesday after school rehearsal. I don’t know if it was the weather, or the fact it was the day after a concert, but the kids were a lot more chatty and squirrelly than normal…especially with a guest. Very disappointing. Dr. Menghini, however, was just masterful in setting the pace, and got an amazing amount of work done on two of the weaker pieces.
FUNDRAISING
Our band parents have been the best. Because of their enthusiasm the community has really rallied to support our efforts. Fundraising, to this point, has been extremely successful. The response from our band alumni was both overwhelming and humbling. Even the smaller carwash and pie sale type events where more profitable than they have been in years. Local businesses have been extremely supportive in placing ads in our concert programs, and a few have even taken advantage of our different sponsorship levels.
We are placing an ad in our regional paper in early December to thank all of those that have supported us with both monetary and in-kind donations.
PRE-CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE
Besides our Midwest preparations, the rest of our energy has been going towards our Community Performance at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. The hall holds over 800…that’s a lot of general admission tickets to sell for a middle school band concert!
All of our guest conductors will be with us at this performance, and Mark Custom Recording will be there. It’ll be nice to have a high quality recording to use as a tool for our last week of rehearsals. Our advertising poster is here. (it’s a big file 2.6 M
.
CONCERT PROGRAM
We’re also busily designing and writing the content for our concert program. The finished product needs to get to the printer late November, early December…so that feels pressing right now. As is tradition, we’ve asked several political figures to write letters for inclusion in the program.
We have a special project related to our concert program that I’m going to continue to keep secret and tease a little bit longer. Let’s just say, that to my knowledge, no performing group at Midwest has done this before.
I think that’s enough for now. Happy Thanksgiving!
(For topic suggestions or questions relating to our Midwest performance I can be contacted via email: cdestefano@skokie735.k12.il.us or through the contact page on our website.)
—–