Day 4 - The Rehearsal

I was rudely awakened at 8:30am by my alarm clock then around 9am I remembered why I'd set it so jumped eagerly out of bed! After breakfast I got my harp and music packed away, added a mince pie to my lunch and set off.

I sensed the atmosphere was buzzing as I signed in but it turned out to be the brass rehearsing in the drama studio. As I had a cup of tea word was filtering through that Brassed-Off were surprisingly good. When they finished the woodwind went to rehearse and I met the other clarinets, Helen, Kate and Sue, and assessed their chances of helping Long-Winded to victory. One had signed up to play just two days ago, one had only played for 20 minutes before today and the other had played a little. Ah, well the clarinet is not that hard really. Realising I was the guest clarinet I was asked “How do you stop it honking?” Experience generally sorts this one out but even over a lifetime of playing the squeaks pop out occasionally and reasons are many and varied. My stock reply is “if you have to ask you'll never know” but I didn't feel this would help matters so I suggested if they did squeak to look at their neighbour and tut loudly. They then decided they would look at me if any of them squeaked. Our maestro was Viv, a sax and clarinet player and conductor of Cambridge Wind Band and she perfectly managed the balance between keeping the session light-hearted and getting some effective rehearsing done. She was also able to advise on avoiding the squeaks and some suggestions made a big difference. Sensing the general level she was able to stretch players but suggesting they do the articulation that was written. This was risky as it involved a higher level of concentration but it paid off and we noticed the difference. All instrumental pieces have been written by Simon Brown and he was there to hear his creations come to life.

Viv, before rehearsal. (Note the music on the iPads on the stands in front. Very impressive, until it got to the page turn!!)

Lead horn Guy, taking things seriously...as usual

After the rehearsal I swapped details with the clarinets if they needed any further help. I had been sitting next to Helen who looked familiar. I discovered that Helen is from Northampton (all the best people are) and I soon learnt that she is the sister of the head of music at one of my schools so that explained the resemblance. Small world!

Lunch was a chance to catch up properly with everyone and hear about progress. There was a discussion about exam dates and the idea of doing a grade 1 was discussed, fuelled by the "I will if you will" type of talk that often preceeds some sort of regrettable incident. I offered to accompany anyone and was immediately accepted by Pat who is learning the violin. Pat and husband Martin featured on one or more of the 2011 blog and while Martin is continuing with the flute Pat is on a violin that has almost certainly seen some professional action. I look forward to following their progress.

After lunch we gathered in the main hall to hear Janet Hearn from MSF talk about the charity, how it operates and what money goes on. As an independent charity they have no affiliation with any political party or government. The advantages are that they can go immediately to any area that needs their help without waiting for funds to be released. All of their income is from private donations and of that just 3% goes admin. A tiny amount goes on fund-raising but over 90% goes where it is needed. I'll look up what the minimum amount is in order to be a charity but I have a feeling it is well below 90%. There are five scenarios that MSF will go to, natural disaster, war zones, areas where there is malnutrition and two others. Having been a nurse with MSF for 15 years Janet has travelled abroad 9 or 10 times and gave us some examples of the scenes she had dealt with. She talked of patients with serious limb injuries where treatment is to repair externally so screws are fitted. One asked if they could have the screws when they were taken out. Janet asked why and he replied he wanted to make a musical instrument out of them. For us as musicians this was poignant. There was more but I think it probably needs a separate post or two in the future.

The choir rehearsal was led by Silas who warmed us up then worked through the two pieces. During  the break the room was reset and we finally saw the whole orchestra. There will be four harps, myself, Helen and Robyn from the 2011 Grade-One-A-Thon, and Adrian, who is editor of Early Music Magazine and is the fiancé of Cat, a harp and recorder player who I know from one of my schools. Adrian is using Cat's lever harp and has had a little guidance from her. Robyn is currently in Canada so will practise hard when she returns and will join us on 22 February. The orchestra is conducted by Russell Keable who uses a wonderful mixture of encouraging sarcasm and dry humour to make us improve. The first run through was pretty good and we were all pleasantly surprised that we got through with no casualties. Russell gave us his philosophy which is to take the audience on a journey through the music so to make each bar lead to the next. By keeping the audience engaged in this way they would sense it would take no time at all. Good advice! We got to a section with the brass and Russell rehearsed a few bars where the horns and trombones were not quite together. Russell praised the horns for their contemplative rendition, then turned to the trombones commenting that their urgency complemented the horns very well and now the only way to improve it was to meet somewhere in the middle! The trumpets next entry was described as 'dominant' so the brass must have gone away brimming with confidence.

Of all six tubas Kirsty had to have the biggest

Anticipation...

The final rehearsal was Highly Strung, just strings, harps, guitars and piano and Russell stayed to take us through the piece. Steve Bingham will be our conductor and 'motivator' on 22 February but Russell ensured we all knew what we were doing. He said he thought we were by far the best section and would win easily but he then revealed he hadn't heard the other two groups.

2011 Grade-One-A-Thon harpists

Excitement was high and we left with resolutions to practise, and most importantly to raise awareness and sponsorship to help MSF as much as possible. I will continue my tactic of dedicating a practise session to anyone who sponsors me, no matter how big or small the amount, and I'll just practise for myself on the quiet days.

A small halo of harps