Festival Reflection

Festival was a very new experience for me, as this is my first time doing Festival, and I thought it was a very fun and enriching experience. I thought that we did a lot better than we were expecting, and that we are definitely improving as a band. First, I would like to talk about the performance. Our three songs were very good, and I thought that our confidence was reflected in our music. Mad Anthony was the best song out of the three, obviously, since we have been playing it since November. Our beginning was really good and we had lots of good dynamics, intonation, breath control, and articulation throughout the piece. The trio from E to I was really good and the clarinets played out a lot better than they did at rehearsal. In terms of the flute, I thought that our section did a very good job with the little runs that we played while others were holding out notes especially in section A and B. Mad Anthony was definitely the best piece. Next was Old Irish Tune. This was also better than in rehearsal and I think we really captured the style of the piece. This song wasn't perfect, but it was very good. There were some intonation issues in the flutes when we got to the lower range, but we managed to keep a steady pitch as much as possible. I also think we had lots of good vibrato in this piece, which is very important. Overall, this piece was really good. Finally, Three Folk Miniatures. I think this song was truly the difference between a 1 and a 2. The first movement was really good, except it was way faster than it should have been. The trumpets sped it up at m.6 and it was almost too fast. The dynamics and everything else, including the flute solo was good, but the tempo was off. In the second movement, the opposite happened. At m. 7 and 8, the trumpets slowed down their part, which is not good because it becomes really boring to listen to with no forward motion. The third movement was the right tempo but it lacked some articulation and style. Overall, this piece needed the most attention and work. Festival was a really good experience and one that I will always remember.