Words cannot describe my first substitute teaching job Thursday, November 13. It was totally random because this orchestra teacher at Liberty High School in Henderson just put it out on the system and was prepared for anyone. His instructions were to just take roll and turn it over to a student volunteer conductor or just have them practice individually or in groups.
ARE YOU KIDDING? I'm not letting a 40-piece string ADVANCED orchestra slip through my baton! So I rehearsed them for an hour with all the music they were working on. Silent Night, White Christmas, a fun little holiday number and a serious classical piece they weren't too excited about. (I really did take my own baton!)
I drilled them like Gladys Knight does the SUV choir. It's much the same as a choir, except instruments make the voices. I had the conductor's scores for all of them, so I could follow it all. It was a workout both mentally and physically. It took all my focus and musical skill to pull it off, but you should have seen me. I was Leonard Bernstein reborn. There was no way to overdo it.
The highlight was the ending of White Christmas, which had a Handel-like climax...two big chords followed my a final single note that crescendo'd to a big cutoff. I giggled like a school kid the first time they did it right. It must have been a sight. Santa Claus waving a baton in total delight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment