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March 24 - 1:45pm MT
A much needed sleep in and relaxed morning helped kick off Day 4 with a slightly slower pace. After breakfast, though, we took care of some housekeeping and kids were set off to clean their rooms and pre-pack for our hotel move tomorrow. Part of what we are (trying to) work on with the students is personal responsibility and so previewing the day(s) ahead to help with pre-planning and thinking about how to be best prepared. GIven that today is a very long and late one (we anticipate getting back to the hotel some time around 10:30-11:15pm and we are out of the hotel, fully packed to tranfer to Colorado Springs, at 7:30am! So before we left for our outings today we took advantage of that late start to prepare for tomorrow.
From the hotel we headed to Boulder and stopped at the famed Pearl Street Mall for sightseeing, lunch, and maybe purchasing a few trinkets. After refueling we hopped on the bus and traveled to CU Boulder where we had some play/down time on a college quad before our first workshop of the day.
March 24 - 2:45pm MT
Our first workshop of the day was with former Crowden student, CU Bolder Professor Emily Gee (Class of '03). Emily is a cellist who experienced physical challenges including thoracic outlet syndrome and focal dystonia while playing cello. That led her into a life dedicated to helping to create healthy bodies. Emily was recently brought on faculty to found and direct the university's new Musicians’ Wellness Program. She led our students through an informative college-level health and wellness workshop for musicians that had students showing off their anatomical knowledge (shout out to Karen Ginsberg!) and out of their seats to think about ways to warm their bodies up for musical performance.
During the lecture portion of the workshop Emily presented information about how bodies respond to stress (perhaps before or during a performance!) and talked through a number of strategies and tools to help students connect their minds to their bodies and help enhance focus. Students walked away with stickers with different exercises they can try. For example, we walked through a 5-4-3-2-1 exercise (5 things you can name the color of, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste) - just thinking that task through disrupts cascading nervous system threat detection.
March 24 - 4:30pm MT
After a brief moment to get outside and touch grass, it was time for a chamber music workshop and masterclass. We knew that we would be working with Professor Meta Weiss, but we didn't know that Professor David Requiro (Crowden Class of '99, Baumer String Quartet) would be joining, as well! What a gift to be able to work with not one, but two such accomplished and generous chamber musicians.
The workshop started with the Smyth quintet (Marcus, Bronwen, Aria, Willow, and Both David and Meta shared tremendous insights about the piece while weaving in refinements on chamber music skills like how to cue more effectively.
The Turina trio played next. Meta pushed the group to think about how strings might sound more piano like in certain areas and how the piano might sound more string like in others as a way to really push the textural depth of the piece, especially during the pieces many transitions.
March 24 - 11:30pm MT
The (long) day's activities closed with a fun and unique opportunity for Crowden students as we drove north to Loveland to join Loveland High School's string orchestra for their Spring Concert. It's a true honor to be included in any school's regular concert schedule and our hosts treated us well. We arrived to a pizza dinner and some time to make new friends.
The concert opened with pieces by LHS's Concert Orchestra and String Quintet. After intermission Crowden took the stage for a program featuring the Turino trio (Sasha, Oliver, and Noelle), Rachmoninoff piano duo (Sasha and Ben), and three orchestral pieces (Postcards, Winter, and Go Go Go). Crowden students wowed the audience and were given roaring and raucous standing ovations after each piece.
The concert closed with LHS's Chamber Orchestra performing two pieces, culminating with a fun rendition of Leroy Anderson's Plink, Plank, Plunk - a fun all pizzicato performance.
Following the concert Crowden students received rave reviews and universal praise from the audience and their new musical friends. One LHS student admitted that they almost skipped performing tonight because they had so much homework, but were so glad they came because of the Crowden students. Another LHS student shared that they started to cry during Winter because the performance was so beautiful. The Crowden/LHS hangout that followed the concert went on for a while as new friendships were forged and students from both schools congratulated each other for the performance. On our way to the bus a number of students, parents, and school employees thanked us for coming and sharing our dedication and artistry with them that it, "would be a night they would never forget." We hope the same is true for our students!
On the bus as a number of students and adults shared relfections and gratitude for the wonderful day we've had Eugene rightly noted that tonight's performance is, "what Tour is all about - sharing the gift of music with others and having them share their appreciation with us." It was a long, but great day full of memorable experiences. Tomorrow we leave the hotel early for some more!
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