Epoch Christmas Caroling

12/23/2024 - Activity

This year, I was invited by a good violist friend to join her and a cellist friend to play with the Epoch ensemble. While the group had already been practicing their winter program for some time, they needed some more experienced players to fill positions in their small population-- their current players varied in skill, with some being even more skilled than the seniors, but they were all young and lacked experience. We practiced so that eventually, we would perform outside at the Allen Outlets mall during their winter celebration day. With each rehearsal lasting an intensive two hours, we investigated together the music we were playing.

Throughout our practice time, I realized a few things about ensemble practice. For one, while we had a clear ensemble leader, each individual section needed to find their own section leader that could voice the issues of their section to the ensemble. We had to communicate with each other clearly what our thoughts were on what we needed to fix, both the individual and the section, and we also all had to be receptive to the negative comments. It was also very important for us to listen to each other to balance our sounds and to be unified.

Ultimately, performance was set in a more unlikely setting than I thought it'd be. The main issue was that the players were physically distant from each other, making it harder to hear the others. Yet, we persevered, and we played for a consecutive hour. It was physically demanding, but the practice we had beforehand made it easier than it would've been.

LO5: By working together and listening carefully to each other, both musically and verbally, we-- the Epoch ensemble-- were able to create a successful winter performance.

Aim; Comms/Creative; Time; Investigation; Value; Engagement