Well, it was another great night's sleep in the hotel's amazingly comfy beds (woke up a few times, but that's to be expected when you're trying to sleep when your body is used to being at school). I bounced out of bed, was ready in about 20 minutes (!!!) and went down to the delicious buffet breakfast in the hotel. We had to be up a little earlier today since we were taking a picture of the orchestra on the steps of the Sydney Opera House at 8:30 am. I took the shuttle bus over there with my friend Anne-Rose, a violinist from Holland. Once we got there, everybody lined up with their instruments on the steps of the opera house and stayed there for a while as the cameras got ready. We took some of us just smiling, others of us waving, and then MTT suggested we play the Vivaldi a minor all together so we could be playing for some of the pictures. All the string players went at it, and then he stopped and said "Can we get some brass and woodwinds in there as well? Play some crazy stuff..." We then played the Vivaldi a minor violin concerto complete with glissandos, blasts, and squeaks. MTT's next request was for some of the string players to play either down a fifth or up a minor second, along with everything the wind players were doing.
THAT WAS AWESOME.
After the pictures, it was time for rehearsal. We sounded a lot better than we did yesterday! Rehearsal ended at 12:30, then we had an hour and a half more at 1:30, then sectionals at 3:30. WEOOO. Long day, but definitely a good one. The violas had another great sectional with Roger in the foyer of the concert hall, a beautiful space with royal purple carpet and a lovely view of the harbour. He did, however, suggest we sit away from the window so we weren't distracted by the view!
This experience has reinforced the idea for me that playing in an orchestra is not just about following the conductor and playing the right notes at the right time. So much of it is listening to what else is going on in order to stay together and to start making music. I really feel like this orchestra is at a level that we can do that, even though it's been such a short period of time.
Everything is fantastic here, really... the music is wonderful, the people are delightful, and just... wow, everything is so great! :D We've all been taking pictures with our new phones, and I took a video just before rehearsal, so have a look at the space:
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