Haley's First Day of School…kinda

On Friday, Haley had a wonderful experience spending an entire day at school demonstrating and teaching Irish music to the middle school students at a rather large public school in PA. We met the music teacher at this school at Paraic's Monday night sessions. She plays flute and tin whistle and is learning Irish tunes. She thought it would be a nice program for her students and the rest of the school in honor of St. Patrick's Day so she asked Haley and Paraic to come to the school for the day.

They started the day with the 6th grade orchestra and another music class observing and taking notes. The orchestra students had learned the tune Drowsy Maggie. Haley took the lead in giving them some hints on how to make their reel sound more "Irish" by adding in some ornamentation and downbeats. The orchestra director had written the tune on the white board so Haley wrote her and Paraic's suggestions into the music, demonstrated, played with the students so they could practice then they rehearsed together.

The next two class periods she and Paraic played some tunes and did a question/answer segment with different classes. The kids had some great questions and were extremely well behaved and polite. We then had a nice lunch brought in. Haley was curious to see what it was like to walk the halls of the school on her own so she did. The music teacher also took her around to the lunch room, which she said was "really loud and crazy…with kids throwing oranges," and another classroom so she could see what it was like. As lunch was ending she and Paraic stood outside the auditorium and fiddled for the kids walking the halls because not every student was able to fit in the auditorium for the "show" later in the day.

They did another class with the 7th and 8th grade orchestra who had learned Tripping Up the Stairs. She and Paraic taught them how to slur notes together into the down beat and add a couple ornaments to make their tune sound more "Irish." They asked the cello section, who were playing harmony, to begin playing the tune as a little intro before the rest of the orchestra joined in. They rehearsed it a couple times before class was over.

The final class period the students filled the auditorium. It was a really big school with a large auditorium but still teachers had to sign up because not every student could fit. We even added a couple extra rows of chairs in the front. It was full of students. Haley and Paraic played a set together then they played along with the 6th grade orchestra.

6th grade orchestra

Then they performed with the 7th and 8th grade orchestra.

7th/8th grade orchestra

Haley and Paraic played a tune for a couple dancers who went to the school while they took turns Irish dancing. (I had a really hard time getting a picture to come out not blurry.)

Haley and Paraic finished the program by played two more tune sets together. As the orchestra students packed up their instruments to head to their buses a number of girls took pictures with Haley and made friends.

Haley and I jumped in the car right after school to head about 30 minutes away because Haley's string ensemble, PRYSM, was playing with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra to open their "Harp Play In." They performed Vaughn William's Variations on Dives and Lazzarus.

Haley playing her small solo section.

Here's a picture of all the harps on stage. There were over 20 harps playing at once….some concert pedal harps and others smaller lever harps. It was beautiful music!

Weekend Ramblings....or Concert Weekend Part 2

Haley tuning up the orchesta.

 Last weekend was solo concert weekend and this weekend was orchestra. Friday night Haley had a dress rehearsal for orchestra and Saturday afternoon was her first concert as concertmaster of PRYSM. The concert went beautifully. They played St. Paul's Suite by Gustav Holst, Five Variations of Dives and Lazarus by B. Vaughn Williams, and Fiddle Faddle by Leroy Anderson.

Haley had a number of solos and loved the pieces...all were more fiddle-y than most classical music. Dives was variations on Star of the County Down, a popular Irish song and they had a lovely harp part. The last movement of St. Paul's was known by us as The Irish Washerwoman and Fiddle Faddle, well the title says it all. Though it isn't Irish fiddling, it is fast and fun to play!

Full side-by-side orchestra

Haley with her stand partner.

After the concert we drove back to our side of the bridge and went out to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in the town where we had to be for another concert. Haley's buddy, Paraic, gave us tickets to the Clannad concert in our area. So, after dinner we went to take in the concert. (I didn't realize they wrote and performed the theme to the Last of the Mohicans movie...I love that movie.

Haley and Daddy at dinner.

Haley waiting for the concert to begin.

Sunday, we made a quick trip to New York for a fiddle lesson.

Weekend...

I think we are inadvertently starting a dog-sitting service. We often watch our neighbor's dog when they go away. Hershey stays in his outside kennel and one of us, usually the boys, walks over a couple times a day to let him run or take him for a walk and feed him. He'd a good dog and listens really well.

This week, an Irish music friend who often has house sessions, asked us to take care of his dog while his family went away to his daughter's wedding. He brought Loki over on Wednesday night and Loki made himself right at home. He fit himself right into our family. He and Tinks get along great with just a little butt sniffing now and then. He sleeps with one of the kids on a rotating schedule. I got him a chew rope which he rolls around on the floor with or retrieves for us. He is a great dog! (If it weren't for the shedding hair, we'd probably try to keep him.)



Today Haley's Civil War Diaries class had a table set up at Vineland Founders' Day. The table had Civil War items the kids made like lanterns and hardtack, their Civil War lap books, and other period items.

Lapbooks

We couldn't stay long because Haley's orchestra concert was also today but she had fun. She met President Abraham Lincoln and his bodyguard.

 She met some Confederate soldiers. Her character for her Civil War diary is Caroline, a violin playing Confederate spy.

 Well, I should have trimmed the photo to take out the cars but I thought this looked so "Little House on the Prairie."

Haley did a quick change in the car as we drove through traffic to PRYSM's orchestra concert. I am always impressed with what those kids accomplish in a few months. They sounded great!

Orchestra and more Irish Music...

Haley's second orchestra PR*SM had it's concert last weekend. All I can say is "Wow!" I wish I could post the videos I took because they were absolutely amazing...but I won't in the interest of other people's privacy.

After the January concert, the conductor asked a few of the orchestra members what they thought of the music they had just performed. He received replies along the lines of "easy" and "no problem" which kinda got his dander up so when he chose pieces for this spring concert, he made sure to pick selections that would challenge the best of them.

The pieces consisted of a Handel piece for the side-by-side with PR*SM Young Artists (what Haley refers to as "the younger kid orchesta...um...they are all her age or older), Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," three movements of Felix Mendelssohn's "Sinfonie in D," and three movements of Antoin Dvorak's "Serenade in E." For the Mendelssohn and Dvorak, I am not talking about versions of the pieces adapted for young orchestra's but the actual works written by these great composers.

When Haley first received her music and I looked at all those notes on the pages, I thought Chinese might have made more sense to me. I didn't see how Haley could ever learn it. The music seemed more difficult than any she had ever learned before. But she rose to the challenge and with some help from her teacher and her practice partner, she learned it and as the mother of the concertmaster noticed, memorized it.

What an amazing experience for her to be able to learn and play such beautiful orchestral music! Listening to the concert brought tears to my eyes.

Back in the fall, I wasn't so sure about this orchestra. The conductor wasn't a "Suzuki-friendly," touchy-feely kind of man. He expected the best from the students every rehearsal and they worked hard for him. He picked difficult pieces and never simplified the fingerings or bowings because they were kids but challenged them to play at a higher level. The sectional rehearsals were demanding and Haley was exhausted every Friday night following 2 hours of intense rehearsals. Some kids might balk at challenge like that but I think all those things made Haley love it even more. I can definitely say she is a better reader and a better player because of the experience. On top of it all, she made some wonderful friends whom she emails and texts (from my phone or iPod now and then).

We are looking forward to a few months of less driving and a different focus to daily practice without two orchestras worth of music to work on but Haley is ready to go right back to it come next fall. Not so sure about the "two orchestras" part but we are keeping our options open.

Recent events...

 We've had lots going on the past week so I thought I'd do a little photo montage to summarize. Haley's Temple Prep orchestra had its Spring festival last Saturday. It was held in a beautiful church in the city near R*ttenhouse Square. The kids played wonderfully. I am always amazed at what they are able to accomplish working one hour a week for 3 months. So the first couple pictures are the before the concert pics.



Haley and Dylan

Haley and Tinks

Temple Classic Strings

Haley with her conductor...the nicest man ever!

Since we were right there at R*ittenhouse Square for the concert, the kids decided they'd like to do a little busking. They have been working to raise money for their trip to Ireland and it seemed like the perfect spot. They drew a nice crowd and did very well. The little children were adorable. There were some who went right up to their instruments looking like they were trying to figure out how they worked, others danced, and some didn't want to leave when their parents were ready.

She looks like she is more interested in the tip jar but I just missed her standing inches from Dylan's guitar fascinated with him playing.

  

Playing for the dancers

Last Sunday, the kids played down in Atl*ntic City at Trinity Pub. What a neat pub and great food! They played a couple 45 min. sets, ate some lunch in between, and had a lot of fun. Their new friend, Francesca came and danced for them. I know, Dylan doesn't look like he's having "a lot of fun." I think he has to have his serious face on to play as good as he does.

Haley fiddling

Francesca dancing

Newt at the beat box

Yesterday, the kids were the musical entertainment for V*neland's Founders Day celebration. The morning was very overcast but the rain held off until after the kids' set though they did play in a bit of drizzle with Mommy and Daddy holding umbrellas to protect their instruments while the May Pole dance was done.

Getting ready to dance around the May Pole.

Orchestra

This year, Haley is in two different orchestras. The first concert, Temple Prep, was back in the beginning of December and the other orchestra's (PRYSM) concert was on Saturday. PRYSM is one of the feeder orchestras for PYO (Philadelphia Youth Orchestra) and PRYSM and PRYSM Young Artists (the beginning orchestra in the PYO family) performed in the same concert. PRYSM-YA went first, then both orchestras combined for one piece, then PRYSM finished up the concert.

Haley with her friends before the concert

Waiting for everyone to get seated

Combined orchestra performing



Full combined orchestra

 Both orchestras were wonderful. I am not a musician so I find it fascinating to hear the young people playing together at such a high level. Amazing!

It was a very long day. Call time was 11:30am so all the orchestras could rehearse. The concert was at 2pm. The pieces chosen were perfect.

I took photos during the combined orchestra rehearsal because Haley had an outside seat for that and during the rehearsal they asked that we don't take flash photos so I couldn't take any during the PRYSM alone rehearsal. The PRYSM violinists were each paired with a PRYSM-YA violinist. Haley was happy to have her friend from Next Generation, Katie, as her stand partner for that piece. I was able to get some wonderful video of Haley during the concert.