There is hope in the Reformation...

By glance of the title, you may think I'm about to break my rule and discuss religion. WRONG! Fooled you. This entry is actually about a 2 hour rehearsal with the newly reformed UMBC Symphony. It was the first under the baton of Dr E Michael Richards, of music theory 5 and music history II fame. Dr Richards and I go way back. I remember when he was hired and my good friend Stef and I had to gather information to present for his consideration for tenure. I've been to his house a few times for birthday parties even. I had never worked with him though in a large ensemble. I have to admit I am not 100% in playing, I can't support like I normally can so I was relying on strength tonight and not so much technique and form to play well, so I didn't play that well. We spent 2 hours tonight working simply on the last movement of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 in D major "The Reformation". Now the trumpet part isn't terribly loud, or high but I was beat mentally. I never had such an intense orchestra rehearsal, and the group never sounded so go. I had performed this piece a few years ago, my handwriting is still on the score. I can say that it sounded better tonight, after one rehearsal, than it did when we performed it. Nothing against the old conductor, him and I were pals, he was my trumpet teacher. Dr Richards has the group re-energized, and is working the group mentally, pushing everyone to their limits. It was quite exciting. I can't really explain it. Its going to be a hell of concert if the group can mentally mature and keep the intensity.

I checked out a new CD today, 8-bit Operations. Its the music of Kraftwerk played on nothing but sounds from 8-bit video game systems. Very interesting stuff, and definitely creative and inspirational. I would recommend giving it a listen. Just in case no one has heard of Kraftwerk, heres a link to their wikipedia entry. Kraftwerk. Heres a video of my favorite song by them, "Pocket Calculator"


Well I think thats enough for this entry. Please keep reading, those who do, and tell others to read! I appreciate it and peace.