Wednesday, July 8, 2009

First staging rehearsal with the men!

First staging rehearsals are always interesting... you don't know what to expect from your cast. Well, I was right when I said this was one of our strongest yet. They are all very well prepared and the staging went really smoothly.

It's also always interesting when you announce to the men that they will be doing choreography :-) But, after a couple of initial titters they were all in there acting just as ridiculous as we hoped they would.

One thing that impresses me with this group is how quickly they are able to make changes to the way they are singing based on the notes I'm giving as the conductor. It's really exciting to conduct a responsive group.

On that note, there was a moment in rehearsal tonight when I really was reminded that a very small change to the kind of gesture I make really influences the sound that the singers create. The more I conduct, the more I love it, and the more I realize that there is still such a vast amount of learning for me to do. But, that's what keeps it exciting, and the desire to learn is what makes a good musician. We can never sit on our laurels and assume that we have it all figured out. Back to the mirror for me so I can see what these gestures look like!

John Arsenault
Music Director

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