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SubCategory Archive (tags): ‘Orchestra’

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Orchestra 101: Lighting

PUBLISHED: November 1, 2009, John Ericson

There must be light! This seems obvious to me, but it seems that this is not always obvious to students and non-professional groups. In the old Nashville Master Agreement I have referenced in this series it states “There shall be proper lighting in the performance area during all services.” This includes requirements for stand lights [...]

Orchestra 101: The Run-Out Concert

PUBLISHED: October 29, 2009, John Ericson

Periodically student ensembles at Arizona State do run-out concerts. In a school situation these can be somewhat loosely organized, but for a professional orchestra there are many travel rules that have been hammered out over years of negotiations in the Master Agreement. The most common type of travel is the run-out concert, which typically requires [...]

Sub-categories:
Orchestra, Orchestra 101, Rose French

Orchestra 101: The Sound Check

PUBLISHED: October 27, 2009, John Ericson

One of our goals with Horn Matters is educational, and with the background provided by the first two articles in this series we can move on to some specific situations I get asked about by students and also situations that relate to other pet peeves of orchestral playing. One of those is the sound check [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Orchestra, Orchestra 101

Halloween Frightmares: Newspaper Headline of Horror

PUBLISHED: October 27, 2009, Bruce Hembd
Click the thumbnail for the full view.

Musicians that make noticeable mistakes in concert make easy targets for the discerning music critic. Some critics might even go so far as to name the perpetraitor in print, publicly shaming the instigator. Some of the greatest concert halls in the world are pockmarked with good intentions. Horn cracks, clams, yodels and splee-ahs in particular can be [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Clams, Halloween horns, Orchestra

Orchestra 101: The Cast of Characters

PUBLISHED: October 22, 2009, John Ericson

Backing up a step from the first article in this series, in a school situation there are only orchestral musicians and conductors (and an audience). In a professional situation the cast of characters is more complex. In general there is a major division between management and musicians in terms of operations. Management is, well, management. [...]

Orchestra 101: What is a Service?

PUBLISHED: October 20, 2009, John Ericson

One question I have been asked by students fairly often over the years is what is a service? As in, an orchestra pays $XX per service, what does that mean? With this question I will be starting a series on orchestral playing and what it looks like at the professional level in the United States. My [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Opera, Orchestra, Orchestra 101

Random Monday: Thanks, El Sistema America and PSO Musicians Reach Out

PUBLISHED: October 19, 2009, Bruce Hembd

Kudos and thanks This new site and its open access allows visitors to browse previously posted articles – occasionally mistakes and oversights may be noticed. Thanks to Jonathan West for pointing out a few errors in my transposition chart. Since this chart is one of the most popular pages it is important for it to [...]

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Off topic, Orchestra, Phoenix
John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.