If you were passing by sectionals Wednesday night . . .
Someone passing through the hallway outside the band room at Jackson Middle School this past Wednesday night, between the hours of 6 and 7 PM, would have seen a group of six bass players (five young players and a middle-aged coach.) The young players would have been playing excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and the coach would have been listening to them, commenting on their work, and occasionally trying (very ineptly) to conduct them. The young players would have been learning this very difficult piece, learning how to make musical decisions large and small, learning how to play together, learning how to blend their individual sounds into one sound (while still playing expressively). They would have been impressing their coach, and stray passersby, with their talent, maturity, and powers of concentration. Passing observers would have witnessed a group of young bassists in the process of becoming what will be an excellent bass section for the Portland Youth Philharmonic.
Jeff Johnson, Oregon Symphony Assistant Principal Bass, PYP Sectional Coach