I had the great fortune to have served as guest conductor for the New Mexico Music Educators Association All State Concert Orchestra, January 5-7, 2012, at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
What an experience this was! First, it was my first All-State experience, so I was pretty nervous. It turned out that the teachers who put the event together were WONDERFUL and the student musicians were AWESOME! Such great students!
One challenge I faced is that about 95% of the wind players had never played in an orchestral setting before, so there was a lot of learning about the responsibility of being an orchestral wind player. I am happy to say, that everyone did a great job and the performance was very successful! I am excited to hear the recording!
Program:
Poeme Symphonique “Les Preludes”
Liszt; arr. England
Alfred Publishing, Duration: 4:00
Academic Festival Overture
Brahms; arr. Simpson
Master Music
Duration: 9:00
A Short Overture
Joshua Missal
Kjos Music, Duration: 3:30
Symphony No. 9, Finale
Beethoven; arr. Leidig
Highland-Etling, Duration: 7:00
On a personal note, I was so excited to be able to reconnect again with my good friend Karen Ginther, an orchestra teacher in the Rio Rancho Schools. We were college violin stand partners back in the day!
We also ate a quick snack across the street at a great little diner where they had the best cinnamon rolls!
