Music in the Mountains

The North Georgia Chamber Music Retreat was terrific. Nearly 60 musicians played tons of music with varying instrumentation nonstop for the weekend. Everyone brought music to share and I would guess there were 20 bins of chamber music to browse through. The event ran itself - you just picked something you wanted to play and then recruited the required instrmentalists to a cabin front porch, living area, conference center room or sitting room to read through as much or as little of the piece as the group chose. It was a chance to play new music for nearly everyone. I particularly enjoyed the one session of large group music. We played the Tchaikovsky Seranade and several other string orchestra pieces.

I surprised myself with my ability to keep up. Many folks were conservatory or graduate students with outstanding musical skills. Each person had a list of all musicians in attendance and you marked a person off when you played in a group with them. This encouraged mingling and not sticking with friends you already knew plus there was a nice prize for the person who played with the most musicians. I definitely recommend the experience.

Nervous excitement

I'm taking Friday off to head to the mountains for the Chamber Music retreat. I have worked hard on 5 or 6 chamber pieces to sharpen my sight reading skills. Maybe we will even play one of them. I have no idea what to expect and hope that I am able to keep up. We're actually heading through north Georgia to NC tomorrow for John's uncle's funeral. Uncle Bob was always a favorite. That makes 2 trips north in 2 days. I am tired of riding in the car already just thinking about it.