We’ve spent weeks rehearsing the material, but we haven’t quite begun to play together entirely. Hopefully by the time our first concert rolls around we’ll have had enough experience working with Ken that we will trust his tempos and interpretations. Last night’s rehearsal was a wake up call: we’ve only got a few weeks left before our first concert and still a lot of work to do.

Tom Salata, Clarinet, Principal

Today was really fun because of the 3 movements, but all of our chops were really tired a the end. Taylor actually got to play more than three notes, which was fun.

Melanie Schultz, Bassoon, Co-principal

We are just barely into the season, and already, we’ve had Carlos Kalmar come and conduct the 1 movements of both Debussy’s La Mer, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.It was an exhilarating experience, not to mention the extreme tempos he took it at.The orchestra played with great energy and enthusiasm, while the tempos made it even more exciting.

Also, just last Saturday, Oregon Symphony Concertmaster, Jun Iwasaki, came and coached the first violin’s sectional, and was also willing to watch the string tutti. He gave our section excellent ideas to explore, and enhanced our musical sense and alertness as a whole.We really gained a lot from these two fantastic experiences, and hope there will be more in the future!

Natalie Yu, Assistant Concertmaster

A couple weeks ago, conductor Ken Selden left many of us in apprehension when he mentioned that “Carlos Kalmar” will be guest conducting next rehearsal. We feared the worst. We will undoubtedly face the humiliation of not knowing our repertoire–all in front of a professional symphony conductor! I sensed these feelings among my peers and accepted the fact that he will have high expectations of us. Finally, Monday came (and eventually, so did Mr. Kalmar). He acted casual and had a slight spring in his step. His high energy and swift baton movements kept our attention. He took Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances much faster than we had practiced. But halfway through the rehearsal, we already felt less intimidated by him. We began laughing and joking more while still maintaining the discipline of a civilized orchestra. He would entertain us while he would dance around to the lyrical melodies of the Rachmaninoff. The much anticipated rehearsal became a delightful and exciting experience.

Hard work can still be fun! What a great way to kick off the season. =]

Brian Ki, Viola, Co-principal.

The focus of recent rehearsals has been to perfect the togetherness of the entire orchestra so that the stylistic nuances are more easily perceived by the listener. While, after having worked on our repertoire for several weeks now, we, as individuals, have a fairly good grasp on how to play our music with the stylistic subtleties that make it uniquely expressive, we are yet to be unified in that stylistic expression. Mr. Selden was joined by Mr. Jeff Cumpston, music director at West Linn High School, today to do sectional work in the hopes of achieving unity in our playing. By the end of the rehearsal this evening we began to see the fruit of this close-attention-to-detail work: a combined expression unattainable by individuals playing individually expressively. We hope to continue to achieve that quality, and achieve it more often, both for November 10th concert and concerts to follow throughout the season.

Max Blair, Oboe, Principal