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Thursday, April 11, 2013
Newsletter #24 (4.11.13)
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Thursday, April 4, 2013
Newsletter #23 (4.4.13)
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Big Trip 2013 - day 5 - it's a wrap!
This will be a quick blog... I should have posted it yesterday.
Day 5 of the Big Trip ended with everyone at the airport, but started at the Juilliard School of Music, Theatre and Dance. We were dropped off at Juilliard and half of us went to Christophe Landon's violin shop and half of us took the Juilliard tour.
Juilliard - we got to see where the students live (dorms, right next door, next door to Lincoln Center), hear about their lives (they only play in large groups some of the time - private lessons are the main focus), see where they practice and where they perform.
Christophe Landon - Christophe himself greeted us and his workmen showed us lots about the instruments they were working on. We saw a cello in the shop that was worth well over $200,000! Then after the shop, we got to play a few of his instruments - I can't remember what the cello was that Cassidy and Henrik played (was it a Guaneri??!!) but it was worth well over $1,000,000 - really! The violists got to try this crazy looking instrument that breaks the traditional mold:
After a quick chance to see Carnegie Hall (all behind scaffolding - we weren't able to take a picture), the bus took everyone to Chinatown before going to the airport. And now students and parents are all back in OR! Happy Spring Break!!
Day 5 of the Big Trip ended with everyone at the airport, but started at the Juilliard School of Music, Theatre and Dance. We were dropped off at Juilliard and half of us went to Christophe Landon's violin shop and half of us took the Juilliard tour.
Juilliard - we got to see where the students live (dorms, right next door, next door to Lincoln Center), hear about their lives (they only play in large groups some of the time - private lessons are the main focus), see where they practice and where they perform.
Christophe Landon - Christophe himself greeted us and his workmen showed us lots about the instruments they were working on. We saw a cello in the shop that was worth well over $200,000! Then after the shop, we got to play a few of his instruments - I can't remember what the cello was that Cassidy and Henrik played (was it a Guaneri??!!) but it was worth well over $1,000,000 - really! The violists got to try this crazy looking instrument that breaks the traditional mold:
After a quick chance to see Carnegie Hall (all behind scaffolding - we weren't able to take a picture), the bus took everyone to Chinatown before going to the airport. And now students and parents are all back in OR! Happy Spring Break!!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Big Trip 2013 - Day 4 - last full day in NY
As I type this there are a ton of teens in a small hotel pool in Paramus, NJ - enjoying some well deserved time off! (Well, ok, the pool closes in 30 minutes and they'll be 'taped' in their rooms soon after, but at least they got some pool time in).
Day 4 was chock full - we got a whopping 6 hours of sleep and after a simple carb-loaded breakfast at the Courtyard, we hopped on the bus and went down near the meat packing district to Carroll Studios. Along the way we were treated to more fantastic tour guiding by Joanne. We met conductor Paul Haas who worked with our groups (Combined and then Chamber) for over an hour an half. Might have had more time with him, but we left the cello and bass bows on the bus and it took about a half an hour to get the bus back. Paul has a very sarcastic wit about him and is a masterful musician. He helped improved the musicality of both groups! He is a visionary director - he uses music as an medium for doing art installations. To get more of an idea about what that looks like, check out his group Sympho - www.symphoconcerts.com.
After the Paul Haas clinic we were treated to a tour of Downtown, Wall Street, and Battery Park. The World Trade Center (building #7 which up until recently was called the Freedom Tower) is almost done being constructed. We even got to swing by the 9/11 memorial pools - very powerful visuals! Here's some pictures of the Tower from far and close. And the middle picture is rather special - that is actually the top of the tower - it'll be placed on top of the 1776 feet - it's the top spire!!!! They were working on it at street level (you can kind of see people inside it working on it) and our bus stopped right next to it!!!!
After that tour it was time for a fun boat ride. The NY River Taxi company does a 1 hour NY Harbor tour that included spectacular views of the skyline, Ellis Island, and Lady Liberty. The tour guide J.P. was fantastic (he told us all sorts of jokes, stories, and kept us very entertained!). Here's a little of what we learned. The East River isn't actually a river - it's an estuary of the Atlantic and it switches direction with the tides. His wife's name is Nicole and she works at a cool downtown restaurant. NY is made up of 5 boroughs. And so much more. A great time was had by all!
After a quick lunch we had to dash off to Lincoln Center - all the way back uptown. The Paul Taylor Dance company is one of the pioneers of contemporary modern dance. Known to stretch audiences sense of what dance is, we were treated to some unbelievable choreography and dancing. Ask the kids - some loved it, some didn't (many slept through the first number... they were really tired and it was soft!). For me personally, it was a cultural highlight. Gorgeous dancing set perfectly to beautiful music. At the end, because it was the end of their season, Mr Taylor came out on to the stage himself - he is in his 90's and now we can all say that in our lifetime we saw him! Here's a picture of us outside of the David Koch theater.
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Dinner was at the Juilliard Cafe - the cafeteria where the students themselves eat. Nothing too exciting to report there, other than usually you have to be accepted into Juilliard to eat there (they only accept 7% of the auditionees). After dinner we drove down 5th avenue - wow - some shopping there!!! Then we were dropped off at Rockefeller Center. We went up to the Top of the Rock. Crowded, but so amazing- beautiful skyline - perfect weather - awesome views:
Then it was time for one last Times Square shopping trip - a slight less crowded than last night because the theaters were "dark" (meaning, not performing). And now we're back... swimming (some lovely water ballet going on down here)
Tomorrow we're off to Juilliard and Christope Landon's Rare Violins - then Chinatown. It's been a great trip so far!!!
Day 4 was chock full - we got a whopping 6 hours of sleep and after a simple carb-loaded breakfast at the Courtyard, we hopped on the bus and went down near the meat packing district to Carroll Studios. Along the way we were treated to more fantastic tour guiding by Joanne. We met conductor Paul Haas who worked with our groups (Combined and then Chamber) for over an hour an half. Might have had more time with him, but we left the cello and bass bows on the bus and it took about a half an hour to get the bus back. Paul has a very sarcastic wit about him and is a masterful musician. He helped improved the musicality of both groups! He is a visionary director - he uses music as an medium for doing art installations. To get more of an idea about what that looks like, check out his group Sympho - www.symphoconcerts.com.
After the Paul Haas clinic we were treated to a tour of Downtown, Wall Street, and Battery Park. The World Trade Center (building #7 which up until recently was called the Freedom Tower) is almost done being constructed. We even got to swing by the 9/11 memorial pools - very powerful visuals! Here's some pictures of the Tower from far and close. And the middle picture is rather special - that is actually the top of the tower - it'll be placed on top of the 1776 feet - it's the top spire!!!! They were working on it at street level (you can kind of see people inside it working on it) and our bus stopped right next to it!!!!
After a quick lunch we had to dash off to Lincoln Center - all the way back uptown. The Paul Taylor Dance company is one of the pioneers of contemporary modern dance. Known to stretch audiences sense of what dance is, we were treated to some unbelievable choreography and dancing. Ask the kids - some loved it, some didn't (many slept through the first number... they were really tired and it was soft!). For me personally, it was a cultural highlight. Gorgeous dancing set perfectly to beautiful music. At the end, because it was the end of their season, Mr Taylor came out on to the stage himself - he is in his 90's and now we can all say that in our lifetime we saw him! Here's a picture of us outside of the David Koch theater.
.jpg)
Dinner was at the Juilliard Cafe - the cafeteria where the students themselves eat. Nothing too exciting to report there, other than usually you have to be accepted into Juilliard to eat there (they only accept 7% of the auditionees). After dinner we drove down 5th avenue - wow - some shopping there!!! Then we were dropped off at Rockefeller Center. We went up to the Top of the Rock. Crowded, but so amazing- beautiful skyline - perfect weather - awesome views:
Then it was time for one last Times Square shopping trip - a slight less crowded than last night because the theaters were "dark" (meaning, not performing). And now we're back... swimming (some lovely water ballet going on down here)
Tomorrow we're off to Juilliard and Christope Landon's Rare Violins - then Chinatown. It's been a great trip so far!!!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Big Trip 2013 - Day 3 NY
With little sleep, we all poured on to the bus this morning at 6:30am (after the 5:30am breakfast call). Thank goodness our tour guide suggested we leave at that hour (an hour earlier than we had first scheduled) because about half way to NY we hit TRAFFIC!!! 3 right lanes closed on 95. Our incredible bus driver, Mr. Daniels, maneuvered the bus at one point into a rest area (some pretty fancy bus driving) and then it took us about an hour to get past the traffic jam. But once that was over, we were treated to the beautiful NY skyline from the Jersey side.
You can really see the new World Trade Center - it's enormous!!! It's not completed on the top, but it's already taller than most everything else! With Sinatra's "New York, New York" (thanks to Mr. Mozell) we crossed the Washington Bridge into New York.
We pulled up to the beautiful Church of the Intercession and were treated to a lovely lunch by our hosts. The church was stunningly beautiful inside. We got to hear the warmup of the other group - from New Mexico, Hobbs High School Choir - and then were treated to a lovely pipe organ demonstration by the church organist Mr. Bill Randolph. He even played Bach's Toccata and Fugue (you know the one that starts Disney's Fantasia?!) for us. At 2pm we played our concert. Hobbs first, then our combined orchestra, then chamber orchestra. I have to say, it was a great concert! Well received!!
Our NY tour guide Joan whisked us into the bus and we were given a bus tour of Harlem. We saw the building the President Clinton works out of in Harlem. We learned about and saw the old Brownstone buildings. And we got to go shopping at a little African market with stalls.
Then it was Pizza time - V&T Pizza next to Columbia University (an Ivy League school) - that was across the street from the very large St. John's the Divine Cathedral. The pizza was awesome... check it out: http://www.vtpizzeriarestaurant.com/#/home
Skirting Central Park, we made our way to Broadway and traveled towards the Theater District - passing many NY landmarks, including Juilliard, City Center, and Columbus Circle. I think we were all mightily impressed when we came upon Times Square... it was soooooo cool! So many people, shops, advertisements, people, food, people, and lights... and did I mention people???
By 7:30pm we were all at the Foxwoods Theater in time for Spider Man. I don't even know how to capture in words how totally amazing that show was - parents, I'm pretty sure your kids will tell you lots about it - it was pretty technically incredible! I can honestly say that I'm rather enamored with Spider Man now (strangely, also the Green Goblin too... but that's because the actor who played him rocked!). Quite a highlight!!
On the bus ride back to New Jersey (Paramus - when you say that city, put the accent on the "am") we got to see a spectacular view of the city. Now we're at a lovely Courtyard hotel and will be getting a few hours of sleep (hopefully about 6 or 7) before our busy day tomorrow. I NY
You can really see the new World Trade Center - it's enormous!!! It's not completed on the top, but it's already taller than most everything else! With Sinatra's "New York, New York" (thanks to Mr. Mozell) we crossed the Washington Bridge into New York.
We pulled up to the beautiful Church of the Intercession and were treated to a lovely lunch by our hosts. The church was stunningly beautiful inside. We got to hear the warmup of the other group - from New Mexico, Hobbs High School Choir - and then were treated to a lovely pipe organ demonstration by the church organist Mr. Bill Randolph. He even played Bach's Toccata and Fugue (you know the one that starts Disney's Fantasia?!) for us. At 2pm we played our concert. Hobbs first, then our combined orchestra, then chamber orchestra. I have to say, it was a great concert! Well received!!
Our NY tour guide Joan whisked us into the bus and we were given a bus tour of Harlem. We saw the building the President Clinton works out of in Harlem. We learned about and saw the old Brownstone buildings. And we got to go shopping at a little African market with stalls.
Then it was Pizza time - V&T Pizza next to Columbia University (an Ivy League school) - that was across the street from the very large St. John's the Divine Cathedral. The pizza was awesome... check it out: http://www.vtpizzeriarestaurant.com/#/home
Skirting Central Park, we made our way to Broadway and traveled towards the Theater District - passing many NY landmarks, including Juilliard, City Center, and Columbus Circle. I think we were all mightily impressed when we came upon Times Square... it was soooooo cool! So many people, shops, advertisements, people, food, people, and lights... and did I mention people???
By 7:30pm we were all at the Foxwoods Theater in time for Spider Man. I don't even know how to capture in words how totally amazing that show was - parents, I'm pretty sure your kids will tell you lots about it - it was pretty technically incredible! I can honestly say that I'm rather enamored with Spider Man now (strangely, also the Green Goblin too... but that's because the actor who played him rocked!). Quite a highlight!!
On the bus ride back to New Jersey (Paramus - when you say that city, put the accent on the "am") we got to see a spectacular view of the city. Now we're at a lovely Courtyard hotel and will be getting a few hours of sleep (hopefully about 6 or 7) before our busy day tomorrow. I
Friday, March 22, 2013
Big Trip 2013 - Day 2, DC
Wow - what a day! What a trip... and we're only on day 2! Let's see, where do I start...
Chamber got up early early early and rehearsed from 7:30 - 8:30am (yes, that's 4:30 - 5:30am Oregon time!). We actually got quite a lot accomplished. We packed up the bus and headed off for the Smithsonian museum - the American History Museum. On the way there we saw monuments, other Smithsonian museums, and the White House, again. We were supposed to see the Stradivarius collection of instruments (a quartet of stringed instruments) but found out that they are deep in storage and not accesible. We had to settle for a Civil War violin and a beautiful single Stradivarius cello (from 1701) - we were able to see the beautiful body style, gut strings, and rough scroll:
Next we went to the National Cathedral, but on the way got to drive along Embassy row - I think we saw no less than 40 nations' flags!!! The Cathedral - what a beautiful building! First begun in 1907, it took over 80 years to complete. Click here for more about the history of this amazing place: http://www.nationalcathedral.org/about/history.shtml
We were given what will likely be a once in a life time experience - we went to the 7th floor and then up a crazy length of spiral stair cases to the top of the Cathedral to see the Carillon bells. 53 bells - from humongous to little (the little one was 17 pounds):
Ed, the Carillon player, performed 3 pieces for us - amazing... bells ringing all around us. We'll get some video up in the next little bit. All I can say is that it's the most amazing musical experience!!!
After the demonstration, we had the opportunity to hear the rehearsal for Bach's St. John's Passion. At first it seemed a little slow... violas, cellos and basses listened to a low string sectional, violins listened to a violin sectional. But it all came together when we got to hear a run through of a few of the arias. We got to see baroque instruments - including a lute and a theorbo (check this instrument out!), baroque oboes, a baroque bassoon, and a portative organ - and hear a contra tenor singer. This tall man, who's day job is apparently working at the South African Embassy, sang in what seemed to us a woman's voice - gorgeous... hauntingly beautiful! We were all amazed at the beauty of his voice!
Then it was time to finally perform. We drove through town (saw a beautiful bald eagle on our way into town, flying near the Pentagon) and got to the Martin Luther King Memorial. In the somewhat cold (only about 50 degrees) and wind (tape and clothespins kept our music kind of on the stands!) we performed for about an hour. In the middle of our set there was apparently a red fox that ran up the side of the memorial behind us. Lots of tour groups walked through and got to hear us. After we performed, we got to tour the memorial and then it was time to go to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The haiku for the day is: "The wind was blowing. What the heck was that red fox?! Martin Luther King." (haiku in honor of the Cherry blossom festival in DC right now).
The Kennedy Center is astounding - grand and formal... beautiful! We entered in the Hall of Nations - flags a plenty! We got to hear some beautiful jazz, while relaxing in a beautiful environment - huge red carpeted hallways, ornate chandeliers, and lots of people roaming around. Here's more info about this amazing cultural hub: http://www.kennedy-center.org/index.cfm
But, here's the fun part of the story... I'll make this quick. A few of our kids saw some sketchy men talking about pick pocketing - and one of those men approached one of our kids. Our kids talked to us about this wrongness and asked to speak to security. With Mr. Winkler's approval they talked to security about what they saw, and about 45 minutes later the result was an apprehension of the thieves... our kids helped to catch some bad guys. Very exciting... police (actually, they were United State Park Police as it was on National Park land) and all around good stuff! A proud day for our Titans!
After all that, we were hungry - dinner at Fuddruckers right next to Chinatown, and a quick stop at a DC sweatshirt vendor (lots of sweatshirts and hats purchased). Then it was time to return to the hotel. We're off at 6:30am tomorrow for NY.
Quote of the day might be: "Nolan, where's your violin?"
What an amazing day. What a wonderful performance by our group. What amazing musical experiences. And, there's more to come...
~Ms S
Chamber got up early early early and rehearsed from 7:30 - 8:30am (yes, that's 4:30 - 5:30am Oregon time!). We actually got quite a lot accomplished. We packed up the bus and headed off for the Smithsonian museum - the American History Museum. On the way there we saw monuments, other Smithsonian museums, and the White House, again. We were supposed to see the Stradivarius collection of instruments (a quartet of stringed instruments) but found out that they are deep in storage and not accesible. We had to settle for a Civil War violin and a beautiful single Stradivarius cello (from 1701) - we were able to see the beautiful body style, gut strings, and rough scroll:
We also were treated to other beautiful American History items - Dorothy's slippers, Old Glory (the original flag that flew above Fort Henry - it's HUGE!), Julie Child's kitchen (really!) and more.
We were given what will likely be a once in a life time experience - we went to the 7th floor and then up a crazy length of spiral stair cases to the top of the Cathedral to see the Carillon bells. 53 bells - from humongous to little (the little one was 17 pounds):
After the demonstration, we had the opportunity to hear the rehearsal for Bach's St. John's Passion. At first it seemed a little slow... violas, cellos and basses listened to a low string sectional, violins listened to a violin sectional. But it all came together when we got to hear a run through of a few of the arias. We got to see baroque instruments - including a lute and a theorbo (check this instrument out!), baroque oboes, a baroque bassoon, and a portative organ - and hear a contra tenor singer. This tall man, who's day job is apparently working at the South African Embassy, sang in what seemed to us a woman's voice - gorgeous... hauntingly beautiful! We were all amazed at the beauty of his voice!
Then it was time to finally perform. We drove through town (saw a beautiful bald eagle on our way into town, flying near the Pentagon) and got to the Martin Luther King Memorial. In the somewhat cold (only about 50 degrees) and wind (tape and clothespins kept our music kind of on the stands!) we performed for about an hour. In the middle of our set there was apparently a red fox that ran up the side of the memorial behind us. Lots of tour groups walked through and got to hear us. After we performed, we got to tour the memorial and then it was time to go to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The haiku for the day is: "The wind was blowing. What the heck was that red fox?! Martin Luther King." (haiku in honor of the Cherry blossom festival in DC right now).
The Kennedy Center is astounding - grand and formal... beautiful! We entered in the Hall of Nations - flags a plenty! We got to hear some beautiful jazz, while relaxing in a beautiful environment - huge red carpeted hallways, ornate chandeliers, and lots of people roaming around. Here's more info about this amazing cultural hub: http://www.kennedy-center.org/index.cfm
But, here's the fun part of the story... I'll make this quick. A few of our kids saw some sketchy men talking about pick pocketing - and one of those men approached one of our kids. Our kids talked to us about this wrongness and asked to speak to security. With Mr. Winkler's approval they talked to security about what they saw, and about 45 minutes later the result was an apprehension of the thieves... our kids helped to catch some bad guys. Very exciting... police (actually, they were United State Park Police as it was on National Park land) and all around good stuff! A proud day for our Titans!
After all that, we were hungry - dinner at Fuddruckers right next to Chinatown, and a quick stop at a DC sweatshirt vendor (lots of sweatshirts and hats purchased). Then it was time to return to the hotel. We're off at 6:30am tomorrow for NY.
Quote of the day might be: "Nolan, where's your violin?"
What an amazing day. What a wonderful performance by our group. What amazing musical experiences. And, there's more to come...
~Ms S
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Big Trip 2013 - Day 1
Big Trip 2013 - Day 1 blog
Well, after no or little sleep after last night's concert, we all met at school at 4am! Actually, everyone made it, and there were no issues. The bus was there - bus driver Brian left on time at 4:30 to deliver us to PDX. Thankfully there were no plane issues (the plane my family was scheduled to go on got canceled... thank goodness that didn't happen to the tour!).
We flew into Dulles airport on time - we had one 'first time flyer' - Andrew C - who was very happy the plane took off and landed easily! Our wonderful DC tour guide LaVerna and bus driver Mr. Daniels met us at the airport, with Jimmy Johns box lunches! All the luggage made it and we were off to the monuments. We did a driving/walking tour of Constitution Ave, Pennsylvania Ave (yes, we drove past 1600 Pennsylvania twice), the Capitol (the flag was flying over the Senate house so we knew they were in session), and the monuments - we walked the beautiful Korean War monument, the Lincoln, and the Vietnam. LaVerna is a wonderful tour guide - she knows the city so well and has been giving us tons of history and tidbits about what we're seeing. Here are some Ms S-centric pictures (as a group we've all taken a ton of other pics - ask the kids to show you!):
At the Lincoln Memorial. It was really amazing to see this beautiful sculpture - and the Gettysburg address on the wall to the left, and the imprint of the "I Have a Dream" speech on the front steps...
At the Capitol... (wow, there's a dome... cool!)
After the touring, we went back to Virginia to our hotel. Nice hotel - beautiful big rooms - suites! And, even though everyone was a little tired, we had a really productive combined group rehearsal. At 10:30pm the pizzas came, and then it was time for lights out - or at least rooms were closed down - at 11:15pm. Chamber will be up at 7:30am for rehearsal, and the whole group leaves the hotel tomorrow at 8:30am for a great day of sight-seeing, concert going, and performing! More blogging tomorrow...
~Ms S
Well, after no or little sleep after last night's concert, we all met at school at 4am! Actually, everyone made it, and there were no issues. The bus was there - bus driver Brian left on time at 4:30 to deliver us to PDX. Thankfully there were no plane issues (the plane my family was scheduled to go on got canceled... thank goodness that didn't happen to the tour!).
We flew into Dulles airport on time - we had one 'first time flyer' - Andrew C - who was very happy the plane took off and landed easily! Our wonderful DC tour guide LaVerna and bus driver Mr. Daniels met us at the airport, with Jimmy Johns box lunches! All the luggage made it and we were off to the monuments. We did a driving/walking tour of Constitution Ave, Pennsylvania Ave (yes, we drove past 1600 Pennsylvania twice), the Capitol (the flag was flying over the Senate house so we knew they were in session), and the monuments - we walked the beautiful Korean War monument, the Lincoln, and the Vietnam. LaVerna is a wonderful tour guide - she knows the city so well and has been giving us tons of history and tidbits about what we're seeing. Here are some Ms S-centric pictures (as a group we've all taken a ton of other pics - ask the kids to show you!):
At the Lincoln Memorial. It was really amazing to see this beautiful sculpture - and the Gettysburg address on the wall to the left, and the imprint of the "I Have a Dream" speech on the front steps...
At the Capitol... (wow, there's a dome... cool!)
At the Korean War memorial...
After the touring, we went back to Virginia to our hotel. Nice hotel - beautiful big rooms - suites! And, even though everyone was a little tired, we had a really productive combined group rehearsal. At 10:30pm the pizzas came, and then it was time for lights out - or at least rooms were closed down - at 11:15pm. Chamber will be up at 7:30am for rehearsal, and the whole group leaves the hotel tomorrow at 8:30am for a great day of sight-seeing, concert going, and performing! More blogging tomorrow...
~Ms S
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