Busy fall for orchestra

With the second six week grading period just underway, most are adjusting to school after nearly three months of summer vacation. The orchestra has already been preparing for a number of activities, including a trip to Chicago to perform at the Midwest Convention, and its first concert on Tuesday.

At the head of all this is orchestra director Julie Blackstock. Wingspan sat down with Blackstock to talk about how thing’s are going and what the orchestra is working on these days.

Wingspan: What can staff and students expect out of orchestra this year? What other events is the orchestra preparing for?

Blackstock: “I hope that they’ll expect and see some great success at All-Region and All-State auditions. Obviously our performance at Midwest in Chicago. And I hope that great results at the UIL contest in February.”

Wingspan: What exactly is the Midwest Convention?

Blackstock: “It is an international convention for music educators from around the globe. There are a variety of clinics on literature, on conducting, on how to run your class, on how to play this, how to play that. It’s just a lot for music educators. And they center it in Chicago for people to come to from all over the world. For us, we had to submit a recording to be invited so that we could actually play there. So it is a prestigious event.”

Wingspan: How do you feel about performing in Chicago for the first time?

Blackstock: “Yes, I am losing sleep. I feel excited to do it with a group of students that I really like and love. I think that’s it. And to be with colleagues that I really like and love. I think that’s really the most important thing. I know that it will be okay but yes, I am losing sleep worrying about it. Worrying is my spiritual gift. It’s my best gift.”

Wingspan: What is the program consisted of? How did you decide on what pieces to play?

Blackstock: “Mr. Hazzard, who is our director of fine arts, and also one of my best friends, took his band to Midwest a few years ago, and I went with him because we were at Creekview together. He told me that the most important thing to do would be to program pieces that you love. And things that would mean something to you as a conductor. So a lot of that went into the planning for this. Obviously not for the grade ones and twos because we had to choose some of those. But the big pieces like the Candide, and the Elgar, Summer Place obviously, Kol Nidrei. Those are all pieces that I loved and could enjoy doing. The Kol Nidrei, my best friend from Seattle is coming to play the cello solo with us so that’s something special too. Mr. Hazzard just said it should be involving the music you love with the people you love, essentially.”

Wingspan: How are students preparing for this?

Blackstock: “Hopefully they’re doing lots of practicing. And working on it with their private lessons teachers. And just working hard. I feel good about it right now. So I think people are working hard. It’s just hard, as you know, we’re combining two classes. So that’s a bit of a stresser is when we only have one rehearsal a week to combine parts, so that’s a little bit nerve-wracking.”

Wingspan: What other activities are you doing in Chicago?

Blackstock: “Oh yeah. We’re going to go see Blue Man Group. We will go to see the Chicago Symphony. And we’ll eat at some fun places like Giordano’s Pizza and some iconic Chicago restaurants.”

Wingspan: What are your goals for orchestra this year?

Blackstock: “I would love there to be a good retainment, meaning everybody who’s in orchestra this year is in orchestra next year. But that it would be a place that they feel like they can belong and have fun and enjoy playing music. Not just for the competitive awards like the extrinsic ones but for the intrinsic ones to where they feel like it’s a place they want to be. They get that making music is an enjoyable pastime.”

Wingspan: What makes orchestra unique? What makes it enjoyable to work here?

Blackstock: “I think orchestra is unique because it has a wide variety of students involved in many things from athletics to academic courses and things like that and involved in a lot of other activities. That’s what makes it fun to work here. I think the talent level of the students makes it enjoyable to work here. I think they have been really looking to raise the level of their performances over the year. All orchestras, not just the top one. I think they have been eager for that. So that makes it a fun and unique place to work.”