Zuma Breakers Tutorials

Orchestra teacher Elizabeth Duke posted these fantastic tutorial videos for her students, who are playing Zuma Breakers!  Check it out:

Violin 1

Violin 2

Viola

Cello

Bass


   

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

The Avatar Debate

A friend of mine who teaches middle school orchestra recently asked me to settle a debate he'd been having with his class over my piece Avatar. The argument centers on the very last measure, which looks like this:

His 'cellos and basses prefer playing all of beat 2 as a three-note slur, rather than slurring just the 16th notes and playing the upbeat as an upbow, as written. So my friend, the orchestra teacher, turned to me to judge the case. Here's my response:

The reason it's a two-note slur instead of a three-note slur is:

1. That same rhythmic figure appears a two-note slur throughout the entire piece (practically every odd-numbered measure) so playing it that way at 59 keeps things consistent. It's an essential part of the piece's DNA. Changing it on the last rhythm of the final measure would be weird.

2. Playing a two-note slur at m. 59 ensures that the last note is played with a down bow, which naturally has more power than an up bow and results in a natural accent.

3. Playing a two-note slur and ending the piece on a down bow keeps things consistent with the violins and violas, who also end with a down bow. Everyone ends together on a strong down bow, which gives the piece both a sonic and visual sense of finality.

4. I'm the composer and I know what I'm doing.

There's plenty of room for interpretation when it comes to expression, style, and even flexibility in tempo and dynamics (within reason) but notes, rhythms, and bowing are all carefully chosen and shouldn't be messed with. Especially in this piece, which requires precise, articulate playing.

Let me know what you think – which elements of written music are open to interpretation?  And if you have your own debate about something I wrote, I'd love to hear about it and make a ruling.

Online Concert

It's time for another online concert!

Up first, please enjoy Gargoyles, performed by the DPO on October 28, 2011. (Possibly California's Dos Pueblos Orchestra? There's no indication of who the conductor is or where the group is located.)

Fantastic musicianship and some great, precise playing! The articulations are perfect. It's exciting to see such a large group that doesn't feel the need to play loud all the time. Their pianos are exhilarating.

Up next is the LaVilla School of the Arts Orchestra of Jacksonville, Florida performing A Breeze In the Keys.

There's a really nice energy in that performance and good contrasts between the bouncy rhythmic parts and the legato sections. Kudos to the percussion section on this one.

Next, let's hear from the Philharmonic Orchestra of Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, led by Andrew Bast. They're performing Maharaja.

This is a tough piece and they pulled it off nicely. It's all about pacing, and making sure you don't get too loud or intense too soon and they did a great job. They also have a good sense of rhythm and an ear for the style.

Finally, let's jet over to Germany (Berlin, I think), where Jana Wirth leads the Kammerorchester MSO in a performance of Agincourt.

Small but mighty! Those are some good players. The crispness of their staccatos is absolutely delightful and their intonation is spot-on. They look like high school students but they sound like pros. Well, done!

 

New Music Selected for 2013

I got word recently from my editor that I'll have two new pieces in Alfred Publishing's 2013-2014 String Orchestra catalog!

First is "Across the Wind," an intermediate-level major-key concert overture that features 16th note ostinatos. It features a lyrical middle section that I'm particularly proud of.

The second is "Dragonfly," an minor key piece that not only features furious 16th note rhythms, but also meter changes. It's intended for advanced groups, but I'm sure it will get picked up by ambitious intermediate players.  "Dragonfly" was developed from a piece I wrote many years ago on commission for a local school orchestra. That version was never published, but I was very happy with the themes, so I split it up and recycled it. The first part of that piece became the main theme to my first opera and the second part developed into "Dragonfly." And now it's getting published! So it's been a long interesting road for this particular piece.

Huge Gargoyles Performance

A friend of mine recently let me know about this YouTube video of a combined orchestra performing Gargoyles. Have a look:

This is really cool - I don't think I've ever seen such a huge orchestra performing one of my pieces.  They literally fill the floor of a gym and require four conductors (by my count).  Nuance goes out the window with an ensemble that size, but they make an impressive sound!  Well done, New Berlin Combined Orchestras!

Bingo!

So remember that spreadsheet that I keep with all the new music I write for the year? The one that helps me organize new pieces by difficulty level and tonality?

No?  Then check this out.  Or this one.

Anyhoo, just before Christmas, I finished the board, filling up every square!    I now have music for beginners, intermediate level, and advanced students in major keys, minor keys, and "novelty" selections.  That means that I've completed my self-imposed quota for the year and I still have about four months before I send anything off to publishers!  Plus, I've been working ahead for a while which means I have extras handy.  I also have previously-passed-over music that I can re-submit, so there's no lack of selection when it comes time to send music to publishers in the Spring.

Also, I found time recently to do some revisions on my opera.  I adjusted the vocal lines a little bit, made the choruses a little easier to sing, completely re-worked the wind parts in the final scene, and reduced the whole thing into a piano-4-hands version that will be easier to perform while still sounding like the full orchestral score.