Thursday, September 1, 2011

First rehearsal and more

Alright, I'm back.
Sunday morning was the first rehearsal of The B'shnorkestra ensemble for the September gigs.  The day before it I threw a b-day barbecue for my good friend (and violinist) Paris Hurley.  About half-way through this barbecue my nerves kicked in.  Sometimes I think my brain is incredibly evil.  It will imagine every worst scenario out there and kick my body into panic mode.  But the party was a blast and I managed to get some sleep that night.
The rehearsal started with everyone introducing themselves.  Not everyone knew each other.  But soon after that I was thrilled to see each section working together on the parts, figuring it all out.  We worked section by section.  A lot of the work was things I needed to figure out.  Conducting with one hand and playing with the other is not the easiest thing to do, but luckily the trumpet can play that way.  As cheesy as this sounds, music really does feel like a jigsaw puzzle to me.  I spend a lot of time making the pieces and putting them in their general spots and then as a band we put these pieces together.  I was completely thrilled that by the end of the rehearsal we had run two pieces from head to toe.  I had hoped to get to three, but I also knew that that was probably overly ambitious.  There was a great feeling in the room at the end, and I was so happy to have created that in some way.  I left feeling completely exhausted with a pounding head ache but also relieved that it worked (take that brain!).
I went from there to Mt. Saint Helens with my boyfriend, Chris Credit (and saxophonist) to relax and enjoy some really breathtaking scenery.  That part of WA is pretty wild.  Volcanos create some beautifully devastating landscape.  We did some awesome hikes and I sang the remaining two songs I have to finish over and over in my head hoping to get some inspiration out there.
I am now back and ready to power through to the end.  I listened to the recordings from the rehearsal and was happy to hear that it still sounded good even after a break.

1 comment:

  1. The unfolding of these new pieces is blowing my mind! Yeah, Sam. That was one of the most satisfying rehearsals ever. You have great musicians with great attitudes. I'm really looking forward to learning the other pieces.

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