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Hi everyone! I haven’t been on much lately because I got to play in THE most awesome gig. I am a flute player and I am near professional standard (I still have a lot to learn before I get there, and so much practice to do…) but I work as a music teacher so I am not performing to earn my money.
So, I was SOOOOO excited when the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (our main pro orchestra in Victoria, Australia) offered some of us community musos a chance to do a concert with them! It was HUGE!! It ended up being nearly a 150 piece orchestra so lets just say the 1812 Overture was massive! As far as the MSO’s Principal Flute knows, this initiative hasn’t been done anywhere else, so this could be a world first as well!
Being given the chance to learn from and perform with this caliber of musician was amazing. I have looked up to the lady that plays Principal Flute since high school and she has been in the job since before I was born, so she is an absolutely amazing player. I was very nervous about meeting her let alone PLAYING next to her, but she is the most lovely lady and put me at ease pretty quickly.
I also got to play piccolo and was the only amateur to do so. For those that don’t know what a piccolo is, it is a small flute (about half the size of a normal flute), but it is LOUD. So I couldn’t hide. At all. THAT was scary!!! The Principal Piccolo player of the MSO played with me and he has a great sense of humour and also put me at ease. It was the best fun ever being able to actually play out on picc and not have to worry about volume (I normally play with a small orchestra so I have to keep the picc under control).
I also upgraded my flute and picc to professional models recently (still paying off the picc so no Windstones for a little while…..) so to have instruments worthy of the MSO boosted my confidence. The Principal Flute and Piccolo players tried out my new babies and both said that they are great instruments and I chose them well! Woot! My instruments are both American and so have a massive sound which suits me perfectly (I am pretty loud anyway!). I went for a lovely rose gold flute (I like the sound of gold. It is darker. And pretty champagne colour…..) and a grenadilla wood picc which is so much more mellow than my old silver one. I was so excited to upgrade as I was so past the level of my intermediate instruments but didn’t have money to upgrade (not that I have it now, but the mortgage is now bigger….). I was so frustrated and couldn’t get what I needed out of my old flute and picc. The new ones are amazing and I just love playing them! To also have MSO approval of them made my day!
Anyway I am still buzzing from the whole experience and it was a week ago. I don’t think I will top this one any time soon. One doesn’t get an opportunity like this everyday and I am aware of how many flautists (flutists for you US people) applied. The Principal Flute got a culled list of 20 players to choose from and she chose 5 of us. God knows how many originally applied. So I am extremely lucky to have been chosen. The MSO are going to do this again though. They had an enormous response from the musical community. It was soooo exciting!!
Wow, this is a huge post! Sorry for rambling but I just HAVE to tell everyone because I have been bursting with excitement all week! I have had this stupid grin on my face all week and I think my students are considering me to be a bit batty right now!
Anyway, thanks for listening and allowing me to gush excitement everywhere!
Elisha.
Congratulations! That’s incredibly awesome! You’ll be flying for days (weeks) on this. It is a geat boost towards you professional career and a pretty fantastic addition to your resume, too.
You go! Gush all you want!
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Oh, that IS fantastic! 😀 Hmmm… I’m not sure if that has been done with a professional orchestra before, at least with that many community participants. I think it *may* have been done elsewhere, but it is still a rarity if it has and worthwhile when it does happen. I have seen colleges or area symphonies do something similar with higher caliber students to give them the experience for a piece or two. How exciting! I might ask at my International Music Fraternity for Women’s (Sigma Alpha Iota) triennial convention in August (I’m a province officer) and see if anyone else has heard of such an experience. Would be neat to find out. 🙂
I am a flutist/vocalist, though I changed my music ed. degree in favor of a degree in computers with minors in Music and German (the music degree was crazy busy and was causing me issues with my health). Oh my goodness, those are so many of the same feelings I had playing for my private teacher and, well, really whenever I play with a group of really good players, or those flute/pic solos in concert! Screwing up, because EVERYONE hears you! Having stage nerves does not help this! *lol*
Oh, those two instruments sound absolutely lovely! Sadly, I haven’t played in a few years (currently living at home and I can’t bring myself to play around my mom… she always has comments that, while she doesn’t think they are bad or critical, I really think that is where my nerves have come from), but I plan on playing again once I get my college debt situated and out on my own again. I definitely hear you on the gold flute though! When I upgraded to my current flute (an Emerson – open hole), the gold plated embouchure plate made SUCH a difference. My teacher let me try several that she brought up from NYC (I’m in northern NY) and I purchased the one that sounded and suited me best). It’s an intermediate level. Wow, your instruments both sound like real beauties! 😀 Hehe… being able to play loud once in a while is always nice! Besides 1812, what other pieces were part of the concert?
That’s fantastic and I’m glad to see you post again! It’s been a while! I know there is another forum member here, Tyrrlin, who does instrument repair. Thank you for sharing! Sounds like you had a great time! 🙂
I’m just wowed… Congrats!
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmCongratulations! You deserve to gush after something so wonderful. Your new intruments sound just fabulous! 😀
WOW!Congrats Tethra!!You SHOULD be proud and nothing wrong with being loud either.Loud and proud :bigsmile: My husband played the Sax,though not professionally and said KUDOS to you.That is an accomplishment to boast about.
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Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Thanks for your kind words everyone! I don’t know what to do with myself I have that much excitement!
In response to Siberakh1, the other pieces at the concert were Elgar – Pomp and Circumstance March no 4 (I played picc/3rd flute), Dvorak – Largo from the New World Symphony, and Berlioz – March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique (1st flute). The Berlioz sounded great with 150 people playing too. So much power in the basses and celli! The pieces themselves weren’t a challenge as the flute and picc parts aren’t difficult, but I was being so picky over markings due to it being the MSO! The good part about it being easier music, is that I could devote more attention to how the whole thing sounded, and being in the middle of such a huge orchestra was amazing.
Lol, I hear you about the nerves thing! I am a lot better now then I used to be a few years ago. I did a concerto performance with my community orchestra in March and I was really calm! My 2 little fumbles didn’t even worry me. This is not me at all!!!! Normally I would be a wobbly mess and my brain nowhere to be seen! Hmmm, is this what happens when you get old?? (I am turning 30 this year so yes I feel old right now! Cue the spring chicken comments!!! 🙂 )
The work experience thing with high caliber students is a common thing (the MSO has been doing it for years), but doing it with community musicians whom aren’t studying (most of us don’t work in music) and play in little community orchestras is much rarer if it has been done before at all. It would be interesting to find out if it has been done before though!
Your flute sounds similar to the one I just upgraded from. I had an Armstong 80E with open holes and the gold plated lip, and it served me well for over 10 years and throughout my music degree, but I needed to upgrade a few years ago because I went past what it could give me. It is now my back up flute. Emersons are a good flute. Yours should serve you well for years.
I’m sorry about you mum too. Those kind of comments do worm their way in and undermine you. You are a good player, you gained a place to do a music degree and you have to be pretty good and have lots of potential to do that. You sound like you have gone into sensible damage control here until you can get your own place. Smart move! It will be great when you get back into it again! You will be a bit rusty for a little bit, but the skills come back pretty quickly!
I haven’t really been on here a lot this year. It has been so busy with gigs all over the place. Last year was really quiet so I don’t know what has hit me! I have also been staying away a bit until the picc is paid off so I don’t get tempted by all the pretty Windstones and do something stupid like buy a Secret Keeper!
Congratulations!
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Excellent!
Wow, very cool! I’m a flautist, too, but there’s no way I’m anywhere close to good enough to play with a professional orchestra. Even when I’ve been practicing. What a great learning experience.
Even when I’ve been practicing.
Hehe, this reminds me of a comment my fellow band member made. He had been to see this concert (he wasn’t playing in it) and he said to me “You know, this concert actually inspired me to practice. You don’t need to worry though, the urge had worn off by the time I got home!” Lol!
I did this amazing gig back in June with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and now they have made a short film about the day and put it up on youtube! I loved watching this as it is kind of like reliving the experience.
I am one of the flute players with a red top (not the one with the frizzy hair; she is the Principal Flute of the MSO) The tall man sitting next to me in the concert playing piccolo is the Principal Piccolo of the MSO. It was so incredibly amazing to play with musicians of such skill!
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