My weekend post is in two parts, because I felt that this next section deserved it's own post.
Sunday was the spring concert for Daniel's Music Foundation. Through
New York Cares, this organization has been my favorite to volunteer for
this past month. DMF is a music program for children and adults with
disabilities. If you have some time, look over the story behind how it all got started....amazing!
Over the past few weeks, I have been able to meet so many
great people, and students who have touched my heart. My job during
the courses was to sit with a student and engage them to participate in the class. Sometimes there were challenges, especially with the younger ones, but in four weeks I did notice a lot of improvements within each individual. In the adult/high school keyboard class, I just so happened to work with the same student each week, so the instructor asked me to aid him on stage during the performance. Fortunately, I didn't have to do much, as long as I got him on the right note at the start of a phrase, he was able to figure out the rest on his own.
I sat with the students in the auditorium during the first recital of the day. There was a "Rock 'n Roll" theme, which really produced some great acts, that I didn't even get to see during the classes. Even when the kids were not performing and just watching the others, I saw so much excitement in their eyes, and they were clearly vocal about it at the end of each song. Made me really miss performing back when I was a kid.
Music really does heal!!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
A Weekend of Music, Food, Sun, and More Music, Part 1
I just had a lovely yet crazy weekend.
Saturday was the Great Googa Mooga Festival in Brooklyn. This is the first time for this festival of music, food, and drinks. I heard about it through Twitter several months ago, and it sounded like the greatest idea ever – bands playing while you get to feast on food from various restaurants in the city, and go beer/wine tasting! Tickets were free for a group of 4 people, so I definitely wanted to take the opportunity to try this out.
The festival was in the middle of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which I was not at all familiar with. After arriving to the park entrance, it took me 45 minutes to find the place, because there wasn't any proper signage. Although once I got in, things were a lot better. Since it was still a little early, there weren't as many people, and easier to get through food and drink lines. I managed to try a "Soul Roll" from Cooking with Coolio, which was a delicious egg-roll with groud turkey with veggies, unfortunately with no Coolio in sight :(. One of my friends arrived an hour after me and we were able to enjoy some beer and the best chicken fingers I've ever had from Dirty Bird To-Go.
As the day progressed, there were hour long waits for just about everything. The bands playing on the main stage made those waits much better. There was this weird system for getting tickets to spend on the beer/wine tasting sections. While waiting in the one line for it, a very sweet New Orleans group, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, kept me and a friend entertained for an hour of waiting in line and for a couple other friends to arrive. Another favorite was Holy Ghost!, whose sound was just as awesome as the explanation point in their name! Lastly, the grand finale was the Roots! I'm a fan of ?uestlove, and really enjoyed seeing how talented this band really is, sousaphone and all.
Overall, Googa Mooga was just ok. It was really great in the beginning, however, I think the organization didn't account for 20,000 people for a 9 hour day. I've heard that they worked out some of the kinks for the next day of the festival and hopefully they've grown from this experience for next year. By the way, I hate that I wasn't allowed to take my good camera, so here are some phone pics.
Saturday was the Great Googa Mooga Festival in Brooklyn. This is the first time for this festival of music, food, and drinks. I heard about it through Twitter several months ago, and it sounded like the greatest idea ever – bands playing while you get to feast on food from various restaurants in the city, and go beer/wine tasting! Tickets were free for a group of 4 people, so I definitely wanted to take the opportunity to try this out.
The festival was in the middle of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which I was not at all familiar with. After arriving to the park entrance, it took me 45 minutes to find the place, because there wasn't any proper signage. Although once I got in, things were a lot better. Since it was still a little early, there weren't as many people, and easier to get through food and drink lines. I managed to try a "Soul Roll" from Cooking with Coolio, which was a delicious egg-roll with groud turkey with veggies, unfortunately with no Coolio in sight :(. One of my friends arrived an hour after me and we were able to enjoy some beer and the best chicken fingers I've ever had from Dirty Bird To-Go.
As the day progressed, there were hour long waits for just about everything. The bands playing on the main stage made those waits much better. There was this weird system for getting tickets to spend on the beer/wine tasting sections. While waiting in the one line for it, a very sweet New Orleans group, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, kept me and a friend entertained for an hour of waiting in line and for a couple other friends to arrive. Another favorite was Holy Ghost!, whose sound was just as awesome as the explanation point in their name! Lastly, the grand finale was the Roots! I'm a fan of ?uestlove, and really enjoyed seeing how talented this band really is, sousaphone and all.
Overall, Googa Mooga was just ok. It was really great in the beginning, however, I think the organization didn't account for 20,000 people for a 9 hour day. I've heard that they worked out some of the kinks for the next day of the festival and hopefully they've grown from this experience for next year. By the way, I hate that I wasn't allowed to take my good camera, so here are some phone pics.
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| The main stage at the beginning of the day...it was nice. |
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| The Great Googa Mooga Cake |
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| While waiting in line for drinks, there were people handing out cup holders. Any Aqua Teen Hunger Force fan will love this! |
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| Hanging out with 20,000 people watching the Roots. |
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Let's Face It, I'm a Sucker For Eastern-European-Romanic-Period Composers
I got a nice little treat today. Not only did I get to hear one of my favorite classical pieces performed by a great orchestra, I got to hear them rehearse it!
The New York Philharmonic occasionally has an open rehearsal for their big performances at Avery Fisher Hall for a very affordable price. This week they were performing the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2, Dvorak's Carnival, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Obviously from the last mentioned piece I had to see this performance. Because I am planning on going away for the weekend, the open rehearsal was my only option.
For an early morning event, the hall was pretty packed with all age groups. I found myself a good seat like a giddy little girl and anxiously waited for them to start. After the orchestra was seated and the conductor, Alan Gilbert, came out and announced that their resident composer of three years, Magnus Lindberg, was in the audience. It is his final year and final composition for the New York Philharmonic, so this really is a special weekend for the group.
Up first was the Tchaikovsky piece. I'm not going to lie...there were definitely tears forming in my eyes (yes, I'm a dork). I've only heard recordings of the 4th Symphony, so it was nice to be able to hear a lot of the sections that are marked "piano" instead of cranking up the volume on my iPod. Even though it was a rehearsal, they did play through a whole movement once without stopping before going back and fixing spots. Honestly, going back and replaying sections was my favorite part of this whole experience, because I got to hear it all over again.
I'm a fan of Dvorak's work, but I have never heard Carnival until today. It was the shortest piece on the program, which was helpful because I was still on a Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 high, sorry Dvorak! But honestly, I did enjoy this piece too. It has a great, catchy theme.
Finally there was the Lindberg Piano Concerto No. 2 premiere. Mr. Lindberg, near the front of the audience was out and ready with the score in front of him, which made me wish I was sitting a little closer so I can get a glimpse of it. I could definitely see a connection between this piece and the rest of the program, and the piano soloist's cadenza was amazing! It was such a nice treat to get the first sneak peak of this composition.
I'm a little sad that I won't be able to attend the actual concerts this weekend, but this rehearsal was a great alternative. Do other orchestras do this? I need to look this up. I've later looked at the program notes to get a better idea of the work. It's amazing to read what it took to come up with these masterpieces.
The New York Philharmonic occasionally has an open rehearsal for their big performances at Avery Fisher Hall for a very affordable price. This week they were performing the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2, Dvorak's Carnival, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Obviously from the last mentioned piece I had to see this performance. Because I am planning on going away for the weekend, the open rehearsal was my only option.
For an early morning event, the hall was pretty packed with all age groups. I found myself a good seat like a giddy little girl and anxiously waited for them to start. After the orchestra was seated and the conductor, Alan Gilbert, came out and announced that their resident composer of three years, Magnus Lindberg, was in the audience. It is his final year and final composition for the New York Philharmonic, so this really is a special weekend for the group.
Up first was the Tchaikovsky piece. I'm not going to lie...there were definitely tears forming in my eyes (yes, I'm a dork). I've only heard recordings of the 4th Symphony, so it was nice to be able to hear a lot of the sections that are marked "piano" instead of cranking up the volume on my iPod. Even though it was a rehearsal, they did play through a whole movement once without stopping before going back and fixing spots. Honestly, going back and replaying sections was my favorite part of this whole experience, because I got to hear it all over again.
I'm a fan of Dvorak's work, but I have never heard Carnival until today. It was the shortest piece on the program, which was helpful because I was still on a Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 high, sorry Dvorak! But honestly, I did enjoy this piece too. It has a great, catchy theme.
Finally there was the Lindberg Piano Concerto No. 2 premiere. Mr. Lindberg, near the front of the audience was out and ready with the score in front of him, which made me wish I was sitting a little closer so I can get a glimpse of it. I could definitely see a connection between this piece and the rest of the program, and the piano soloist's cadenza was amazing! It was such a nice treat to get the first sneak peak of this composition.
I'm a little sad that I won't be able to attend the actual concerts this weekend, but this rehearsal was a great alternative. Do other orchestras do this? I need to look this up. I've later looked at the program notes to get a better idea of the work. It's amazing to read what it took to come up with these masterpieces.
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