{"id":663,"date":"2008-08-23T23:10:40","date_gmt":"2008-08-23T23:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2008\/08\/23\/return-to-kcyo\/"},"modified":"2008-09-01T22:02:19","modified_gmt":"2008-09-01T22:02:19","slug":"return-to-kcyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2008\/08\/23\/return-to-kcyo\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to KCYO…."},"content":{"rendered":"

My late summer staycation<\/a> (a word I had never heard before this year which is now everywhere, and will no doubt hopelessly date a forgetable blog post) comes to an end this week. Tomorrow morning, we are heady to Kent, where I will be spending my next week conducting the Kent County Youth Orchestra. <\/a><\/p>\n

Going back to work as a conductor is a bit more surreal than doing so as an instrumentalist- at least I can practice the cello for a few days before going to my first rehearsal, but without an orchestra to practice on at home, stepping in front of 90-odd musicians after a break\u00a0can be a bit of a shock. Watching Maestro on Tuesday, it really hit me what a bizarre, even silly\u00a0way this is to make a living, then watching the National Youth Orchestra Prom with Tony Pappano tonight, it struck me what a difficult job this is as well (he was amazing, IMO).<\/p>\n

However, I can\u2019t think of a more fun way to kick off the new season than with KCYO. I wrote quite a bit about our last course, which you can read here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>, \u00a0here<\/a>, \u00a0here<\/a> and here<\/a>. I would be remiss if I didn\u2019t say hi to the many wonderful young colleagues I\u2019ve worked with there in the past, as I\u2019ve learned that orchestra musicians always tend to read the blog a couple of days before we start a rehearsal sequence to see what I\u2019m saying about them. This year\u2019s course is in a different venue, further from my favorite pub in the region, the Star and Eagle, but we\u2019ll cope somehow. Other than the wonderful players, my favorite thing about KCYO is watching the tutors in sectionals- they\u2019re almost all members of the major London orchestras, and they are so knowledgeable and engaged that it is quite an education every time.<\/p>\n

The program is a nice mix of the familiar and unfamiliar- Sibelius 5, which I did not too long ago<\/a> (see posts on it here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a> and here<\/a>) is very fresh in my mind (I hope). We\u2019re doing the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod- I\u2019ve done the Prelude before and did the Prelude to Act\u00a0 III with BBC NOW a couple years ago, but I\u2019ve never done the Liebestod before. I find it much harder to pull off- I really miss the singer, even though she is mostly commenting on the melody rather than singing it. I\u2019ve often felt that orchestral performances of it are too static and slow- ponderous in a way that would never fly if a singer was there. From the ultimate German piece, we go to the ultimate French piece- the Nocturnes of Debussy (we\u2019re only doing the first two, sadly- no choir!). I\u2019ve got a great story about Nuages, but I\u2019ll save that for another post if I have time.<\/p>\n

[I don’t know how the internet will work next week so it may be feast or famine for blog posts (and answering emails).]<\/p>\n

Finally, we open the program with a new-ish piece by Philip Sawyers<\/a>, a composer I\u2019ve been following for some time. 2008 has been a good year for doing some works by composers I\u2019ve been interested in for a long time, but not been able to do things by, from Varese and Xenakis, to Downie and Higdon.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s quite a formidable program- much harder than Mahler 5 which we cancelled because we thought it might be too hard in the wrong ways\u2026.<\/p>\n

The Kent County Youth Orchestra will perform next Saturday, August 30 at 7:30 PM in Mote Hall, Maidstone.<\/p>\n

Sawyers- Gale of Life<\/p>\n

Debussy- Nuages et Fetes<\/p>\n

Wagner- Prelude und Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde<\/p>\n

Sibelius- Symphony no 5 <\/p>\n