Before Llewellyn 1

This was the day of another Llewellyn concert with NCO but a strange one. It was more than just making sandwiches for the after-party. That's common for these non-professional orchestras. As usual, the day started with a warmup on stage at Llewellyn. The CYO (Canberra Youth Orchestra) was there before us, practising an orchestral take on David Bowie Space oddity. I was surprised to see the full bass lines charted out for Hayley, very busy with semiquavers. It's odd that a line that would have been improvised on a chord chart becomes dots for an orchestral player but congrats to Hayley for taking on such a demanding thing. I noticed a score for a Star Wars suite by Lenny's music stand, so this looks like a very approachable and popular concert coming up. Then our practice. Mainly a warmup for the first half. Smetana Moldau and Christopher Gordon Ceremonial Games. Christopher, the composer, was there for the rehearsal and gave some input. This work had only been heard at the opening of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. The suite that we played was a selection of 3 from the original of 13 movements and we were to play the world concert premiere. A premiere always adds a little excitement to a concert. Then off home to make those sandwiches.

Canberra Youth Orchestra and National Capital Orchestra rehearsed on the stage at Llewellyn Hall.