Happy November! Wow, our first concert of the season is less than two weeks away!!! I could not be more thrilled with the progress this orchestra has made, which translates to the dedication and hard work of EVERY member of the orchestra! Please think back to the beginning of the year, when I stated that the quality of a musical ensemble is only as good as “the weakest performer”. You all have risen to the challenges of the difficult music and the intense rehearsal routines of the HCO, and I am so pleased to be presenting your efforts to the entire FYO community on November 16^th! With that said, we ALL still have a lot of work ahead during these next two weeks, to ensure that YOUR performance will be the very best that it can be.

The order of the pieces we will be playing is:

~ Synergy

~ The Water Music– mvt. I Overture, II Hornpipe, VI Bourree, VII Minuet and IX Coro

Please put your music in your binder in this order

~ Fire Dance

Ms. Cheryl has sent out an email with the details for our Salvo Art Gallery performance on Dec. 2.

~Please respond to her email ASAP regarding your availability for this exciting performance!

And now, for something completely different…

During yesterday’s Violin/Viola Fundamentals class, we learned a bit about hearing and writing pentatonic scales. Pentatonic scales are the foundation of thousands of tunes from all over the world. I mentioned a wonderful YouTube video with Bobby McFerrin, (“Don’t Worry Be Happy”). I’d like to encourage everyone to check out the following 3-minute clip of a presentation that was recorded awhile back, of his demonstrating singing a pentatonic scale, to a large conference of non-musicians.

Search for: “Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the power of a pentatonic scale”, for a brief demonstration of his talents and the innate talents of anyone willing to step out of their comfort zone a bit, and explore the creativity and beauty of music.

Have a wonderful weekend, filled with lots and lots of….MUSIC

 Ms. Sue