独自练琴总是枯燥,但是在乐团练四个小时也是干劲十足,因为自己的声音汇入了音乐巨大的和谐的洪流。来听听LIndsay的现场报道。
All County is a very good musical program. You must be recommended by your music teacher to be considered to participate in it. In All County, there is chorus(合唱团), band(管乐团) jazz band(爵士乐团) and orchestra(弦乐团)。As you get older it gets harder and harder to get in. For example, in my year you must have achieved a 100 on your Level 6 NYSSMA. County, 中文直译是郡,下面有很多镇Town,几十个总要有,每个Town又会有自己的学校,All County就是号召所有郡里的学校参与。NYSSMA是New York State School Of Music Association的简称,LIndsay这里说的六级考试就是指这个协会组织的音乐考级系统之一,一年一次,分得很细,涵盖各种乐器,也有声乐。LIndsay l就是因为考得好才被学校选送参与这次表演活动,她这个年级全校只有她一个,有些学校一个都没有,很不容易呢。All County的演出从五年级开始,分六个年级组,包括弦乐团,管乐团,和合唱。 It was a four day event. The first three days were rehearsals. At 2:30PM, everybody boarded school buses which drove us to the site where all musicians from all schools gathered together. We practiced for 4 hours under a professional conductor指挥 who holds a musical doctor degree音乐博士学位. We all had our music pieces given to us around 2 months before the rehearsals to prepare. 介绍一下这个深具影响的地方音乐活动。每个年级组一个固定的中学作为排练场所,各校把自己的学生送过来排练。乐曲是早就定好的发给学生事先熟悉过了自己要演奏的部分,在一起就是排演合奏,不同声部,乐部,表现力,音乐性,不断磨合,这是三天课后4个小时的排练,再由校车晚上送回自己的学校,父母等着接回家,很辛苦,但孩子们都特别骄傲特别开心参与这样的演出。指挥是特约的专业音乐指挥,附近大学的音乐教授是常见的选择。想想几十个学校的组织工作,还是很复杂的。所有参与组织的都是各个学校的音乐老师,他们主动请缨做义工,这个传统已经延续几十年了。 During the first day of rehearsal, we had the seating audition. At the end, we got our seat number, and the best violinist would be the first chair, or concert master/mistress. I was not first chair, which I didn’t mind, because then I did not need to worry about all the pressure. I was among many other talented violinists in the first violin section. Seating Audition, 就是听演奏水平排席次的过程。小提琴部表现最好的就是首席小提琴,在正式演出中会特别介绍,最后出场,带领乐团调音,演出结束跟指挥握手,是很大的荣誉。在排练的时候,首席小提琴有时还需要配合指挥给全团示范演奏。男性首席叫ConcertMaster,女性首席叫ConcertMIstress。我看的几场都是女性首席。LIndsay 在First Violin Section,第一小提琴声部,一般负责演奏主旋律的小组,相应还有second violin section,第二小提琴声部,Viola,中提琴部,Cello,大提琴,以及Bass Cello,低音大提琴,这些组成了弦乐团。 The last day was the formal performance. We were asked to wear all black as that is the usual concert attire(乐团服饰). The **auditorium(演出厅)**is huge and beautiful, fully occupied by families and friends. Our orchestra was the first group to perform, followed by band, and then the last group was chorus. 演出在一个巨大的剧场,基本是座无虚席。好多观众都手捧鲜花已是庆贺,置身于这个庞大的音乐社区里,观赏孩子们的精彩演出,感受老师们的无私奉献,享受身为家长的巨大幸福。非常美好。 All County is for the very advanced 高级的高段位的players and the pieces are much harder than the typical ones you might play in your normal school ensemble. We all have had very successful performances. To me, one of the goals to being a serious musician is to be able to get into the All County performance. Playing violin by yourself is boring, but being one voice in the huge orchestra is amazing, especially once you begin to play with people who are as good or better than you. All County helps you improve violin skills and it also helps you with playing in an orchestra.