Ah... A break is a nice thing. A little time off, even from something you love, can give you the energy to come back even better and more energized than before. The South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble is just wrapping up a short respite, its own little disco nap if you will, before jumping back into rehearsing the amazing music and performances you have come to expect. We return to begin practicing for our next concert, “Beyond Borders,” this upcoming Wednesday, July 27th at 7:00pm at Saint Mark’s Episcopal School in Oakland Park.
The first rehearsal is always fun! There are usually a few new members, and the music for the next concert is revealed. As the parts get handed out you see looks ranging from great big smiles with squeals of glee to squinty-eyed soloists scanning furtively for the chance to shine. You may even see an occasional look of dread due to the level of difficulty of some pieces. Part of the Artistic Director’s job is to push us just beyond our limits so we keep improving and not rest on the laurels of our past performance. Dan challenges us all to be better musicians and keeps the music from ever getting boring.
After the music is all distributed (not a small feat in itself), the true fun begins… Sight-reading! If you’ve been to one of our concerts, you know that the music isn’t easy. So imagine twenty-five or more individual parts for 50 musicians, each playing a difficult piece of music with no previous practice, at the SAME time for the FIRST time! It is both fantastic and a tad frightening, and can be a little hard on the ears. We have to start somewhere, and you know what comes next, of course. Practice, practice, practice!
If you’ve ever wanted to dust off your old horn and join us, now is the time! Check out this link for more details:
http://www.pridewindensemble.org/join_us
