Winter YouTube Concert

Winter concert season is just about done for the year, so let's put together a YouTube concert of recent performances!  First up is the Wydown Chamber Orchestra, directed by Dr. Jan Davis of Clayton, MO performing Iroquois Journey.

Man, those kids can play! I love the tempo and their articulations are so precise. Best of all, they bring an energy and passion to the piece that pushes the performance over the top. Check out how the 1st chair violin is getting into it! Nicely done.

Next we have the MNPS Honors Orchestra performing Las Mariposas Exoticas. They don't start playing until 0:25.

It's just slightly too fast, but the group has a good sense of the style and delicacy required for the piece. Also, it's always nice to hear the optional percussion used. Way to go!

Up next is the SLJH Chamber Orchestra performing Agincourt.

This group has an excellent sense of dynamics and made the transitions and changes in energy feel seamless. They also have a good balance and intonation and kept up with the tempo beautifully. Great job!

Finally, Gauntlet, performed by the Mineola High School 8th Grade Orchestra, directed by Sarah Ramsingh.

There are a few little problems here, but I like the transitions between the fast section and the middle section and back again. I also like that they played what's written in measure three. A good performance - Nice job!

 

Winstride Tutorials

Another great orchestra teacher has made a series of tutorials for her students - this time of Winstride! Please enjoy:

Violin 1

Violin 2

Viola

Sorry, Cellos and Basses, it looks like there aren't videos in this series for you just yet. But thanks to this wonderful teacher - I hope your students, their parents and the school administration appreciate your efforts!

Edited: Cello and Bass videos have appeared on YouTube! Enjoy!

Cello

Bass

Online Concert Spring 2014

The school year is wrapping up and that means lots of Spring concerts!  Let's have a look at some really good recent performances from YouTube.

Up first is the James Bowie High School Sinfonia Orchestra of Arlington, Texas performing Avatar.  They have a very precise and articulate sense of rhythm, their intonation is really good and, best of all, they do some really interesting things with dynamics. Please enjoy:

Up next is the Prelude Chamber Strings performing Across the Wind. They do a fantastic job navigating the corners and emotional changes and technical demands of the piece.

Next is a rousing performance of Dragonfly, performed by the Marina High School Orchestra. Very precise ensemble playing. Nice job.

Finally, here's a slightly older video of the ISTA Honor Orchestra in Iowa and their intense performance of Agincourt.  I appreciate the musicality and the dynamics. The intonation is good and they finish strong. Nice job, ISTA orchestra!

A quick note to YouTube posters: There are lots of videos that I'd love to feature on this blog but I can't embed them if you don't check that box on the upload page. Please make your concert videos sharable!  Also, if you could include more info about the location, conductor, and date of the performance when you write out the video's info, that's nice to know too.  Thanks!

Doug Spata in Italy

Back in September I spent 10 days in Italy, seeing beautiful things, visiting wonderful places, and meeting fascinating people. This was my second trip to Europe - the first was in 2002 and Italy was just a small leg of a larger journey, so when it was time to go back, I knew that I wanted to explore Italy more.
And explore I did! I signed onto a guided tour which took me to Rome, Tivoli, Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, and Venice. I brought my trusty Olympus SP-620UZ along with me and a list of things to see and when I got back home I compiled the thousands of photos and hours of video into an epic video. And then (much like Peter Jackson's upcoming Hobbit movies) I had to split it up into three smaller videos because YouTube has a 15-minute limit for videos on a basic license. Then I made a trailer for the videos using an iMovie template.  So please sit back and enjoy my trip with me!

Trailer

Part 1: Rome

Part 2: Tuscany

Part 3: Venice

 

Doug Spata's Olympic Dream

The Olympics begin this week and it's always an exciting time for the world. I love watching the opening and closing ceremonies and the Parade of Nations, though I don't have a specific sport that I follow. The first Olympics I was aware of was the 1984 games in Los Angeles and I remember that for a long time all anyone could talk about was the U.S. gymnastics team.

TV coverage does a good job of highlighting the dramatic stories that drive the competitors and led the athletes to the games. They all have that "Olympic dream," to achieve at the highest level in front of the whole world.

Even though I'm not an athlete, I have an Olympic dream of my own: it would be an epic thrill to hear one of my compositions used in during Olympic competition. I'm not talking about the opening and closing ceremonies – that's way too much to ask. But it would be amazing to hear one of my pieces accompany a gymnastics floor exercise, a synchronized swimming routine, or, at the Winter Olympics, figure skating or ice dancing.

As a kid, I especially enjoyed hearing the music used in the gymnastic competitions because it's so full of color, energy, and emotion. I think some of my pieces would be suitable. Need something with a dark energy? Try Avatar, Elementals, or Storm Trail. Something more rhythmic and angular? There's Agincourt. Need a bright explosion of sound? Quicksilver or Star of Valor. For something more lyrical, have a listen to A Hero's Welcome. And if you need something fun and sassy, I recommend Violet's Tango, Samba Del Sol, Lemon Twist, or Mambo Incognito. Of course, Gauntlet is good for any occasion.

Professional recordings of all these and more are available at alfred-music.com.

So if you're an Olympic-level gymnast, synchronized swimmer, figure skater, or ice dancer... you're probably training really hard and don't have time for music classes, so you've never heard of me. But if you're someone who knows an Olympic-level athlete, maybe suggest one of my pieces and help make my dream come true!