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-- Dec. 2006 --
Debut concert of the Traction Avenue Chamber Orchestra at the Herbert Zipper Concert Hall.
poster by Kevin Llewellyn (www.kevart.com)
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-- Dec. 2006 --
Music store added to the music page of this website.
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-- Sept. 2006 --
New music uploaded and new pictures under the gallery section.
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-- May 2006 --
Ali Helnwein's String Quartet No. 1 in E minor
now available to purchase on the iTunes music store!
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Musicians wanted for a new chamber orchestra:
The instrumentation:
1 Flute
1 Clarinet
1 Oboe
1 Bassoon
1 french horn
2 trumpets
1 trombone
1 Harp
1 percussionist
3 1st violins
3 2nd violins
2 violas
2 Cello
1 Upright Bass
21 musicians total
If you are interested in joining the orchestra in any of these spots, e-mail ali_helnwein@hotmail.com or through myspace.com/alihelnwein
Purpose of the orchestra:
To give music students a chance to play in a chamber orchestra and form a group of musicians dedicated to playing great quality classical music, whereby they can gain musical experience (both in playing and conduction) and raise audiences' awareness and appreciations for classical music.
Basic principle behind the orchestra:
The idea behind this orchestra is to choose music that is not too hard for any of the members of the orchestra to play, but is still great quality classical music. Also, not taking on too many pieces at once.
Certain orchestras get a large group of musicians together that range from beginners to professionals and choose lots and lots of extremely difficult music to play so that they can put on a 3hr concert showing off how they can tackle tchaikovsky symphonies and concertos, works by Borodin, Korsakov and Brahms all in the same evening. Whereas the truth of the matter is that only half of the orchestra can even follow the music all the way through. By having this gigantic group of musicians all sawing away at the music (and the better musicians playing a little louder) they can sort of get away with it and create an amateur mush of the piece that uneducated audiences are content with.
Before each concert the whole orchestra only has a chance to run through each piece in its entirety 6 or 7 times since they have too much music in their folders. Therefore, the conductor will encourage the musicians to take the music home to practice which rarely happens because they are completely overwhelmed by 3 hours worth of extremely difficult music. During the rehearsal the conductor gets irritated with the musicians when they sound off but doesn't see the musician's viewpoint, who's sitting there thinking, "Well, I'd like to see you sit down and sight read a presto section in varying position with 5 flats in the key signature and all sorts of accidentals".
There is endless amounts of great, simple music which even professional orchestras perform all the time. The solution is logically to choose music that each musician in the orchestra can play and not overwhelm them with too much music. By doing this they will find it easier and more bearable to take the music home and practice it and the orchestra as a whole can work on the pieces a lot more in order to then be able to perform it at a high level of professionalism. It's a lot more impressive to really perform a simple piece properly with all the dynamics, tempo changes, articulations and so on than to butcher a very hard piece of music.
Choosing the music:
The music will be chosen by the conductor, who will also allow the members of the orchestra to suggest pieces. That way the musicians aren't stuck with only the conductors personal taste in music but can help influence the decision.
Venues to perform:
The goal is to perform in a variety of venues which will be made possible by funding that the orchestra receives. There is also the possibility of performing with other artists that want to feature the orchestra at a concert of theirs.
Recording:
From time to time (around once a year) the orchestra will record a few pieces in professional recording studios, made possibly by funding received from sponsors. Aside from recording it's classical repertoire, the orchestra will also be involved in recording film scores -- any money made through this will be invested into the orchestra (for future recordings, equipment & supplies, etc.).
Opportunities to conduct & have your music performed
Any member who misses less than 4 rehearsals a year will have the opportunity
to have one of his pieces played by the orchestra to hear how it sounds (not for performance or recording). If you miss less than 6 rehearsals a year you have the opportunity to conduct the orchestra in a piece to learn and gain experience conducting (not in a recording or performance).
Copyright © 2006 Ali Helnwein
