MUSICAMROSE '97
INSTRUMENTAL AND CHORAL WEEK
July 20 - August 2
For these two weeks there was a choir and a band workshop. For the last week there was also a string workshop. This was the first time in a long time that they had had strings at MUSICAMROSE. I was going to write out the entire concert program but that was going to take up a LOT of space so I've decided to just tell you about what the band played because that was what I was there for. There are some really interesting stories behind some of these songs.
The March From 1941 by John Williams adapted by Paul Lavender
Prelude and Rondo by David Holsinger
On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss
Requiem by Quincy C. Hilliard This piece (along with many others) was written by our conductor. He was a really cool guy. He also had the coolest sounding accent; he was from Louisiana.
For an Angel by Sherri Twarog Sherri was actually a trumpet player in the band. She wrote this piece for orchestra originally. It is a very beautiful piece that she wrote in memory of her mother who died of cancer.
The Day The Clowns Cried by Quincy C. Hilliard It become somewhat of a joke that every time we would play this song we seemed to control the weather. For the most part this is a rather sad song. At one rehearsal while we were playing it started to thunder and rain outside. After we were finished we were told to go down to the basement because there was a tornado warning. Then one sunny day we had a concert in the park, but wouldn't you know it that after we played 'Clowns' the sky clouded over and by the end of the concert it was raining. Strange isn't it? There was also the thing with Paula's toe...(inside joke)
The Dance of the Big-Toothed Beaver This song was a project of the composition class; Martian Buer Taavi Burns, Rachel Stellingworth, Adam Goring, Marci Harris, J.D. Hinkley, Anastasia Powell-Cousineau, Martian Stewart, Sherri Twarog, Sue Wenstorm, Sabrina Wilde, Eva Yarke. I'm sorry if I spelt anyone's name wrong.
The Ascension (from the "Divine Comedy") by Robert W. Smith
Pachinko by Paul Yoder This is a song is supposed to represent the travels of a ball in a type of Japanese pinball machine. We took it one step further. We played this song so fast we nearly went crazy; the people in the audience probably thought that we had. To make the song really interesting each section had to come up with something crazy to do while they had rests in the piece. The clarinets decided to blow bubbles and one of us (Eric) actually got hit in the face with a whipped cream pie.
Any one who has ever been there will tell you that MUSICAMROSE is close to the most fun they have ever had if not the most fun. You don't spend the whole day playing your instrument (though it feels like it sometimes). You also have rec. time where you can go to downtown Camrose or just hang out with your friends. Then there are the evening activities and the raids.(The guys are going to getit good in '98). If there are any fellow MC alum out there with any suggestions on what I should included, just email me.
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