SOGOAUGUST 2012 Vol 13 No. 1

Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia1629 22nd Ave SE, Olympia WA

studentorchestras.org | studentorchestras@gmail.com

FAQOPodium Talk - Maestro Welsh gives SOGO members a season overview.

Artistic Faculty MeetingSunday, August 26, 1-3 p.m. Church

AuditionsSunday, August 26, 4 p.m. Allison home

OMusic Pick-upSunday, August 26, 4- 7 p.m. Allison home

OOlympia Harbor Days September 1 & 2, 1-2 and 4-5 p.m.Zoo & Performance Art - music in mime

First RehearsalSunday, September 16, 3 or 5 p.m. * Instrument* Music*Music stand*Pencil

OParent MeetingSunday, September 16, 4:45 p.m.Church sanctuary*Get your $5 SOGO TEE (one time offer)*Tuition due in full

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Over 160 young musicians will open the 13th season of Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia. Sounds like the opening message to the start of the Olympics, but

in Olympia, Washington! There are over 37 schools repre-sent, including Thurston, Pierce, Lewis, Mason, and Cowlitz County’s. An amazing convergence, all these young people coming together to share one thing in common, their love of music.

Let the rehearsals begin on September 16. Conductors, coaches, board, and staff are busily preparing and getting ready for the downbeat of the first rehearsal. Musicians interested in picking-up and practicing their music ahead of rehearsal, can drop by the Allison home (1629 22nd Ave SE, Olympia) between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, August 26.

A sneak preview of the season for parents will commence on the day of the first rehearsal. Join us in the sanctuary of the First Christian Church Sunday, September 16, 4:45 p.m. (mu-sicians attend too). You will be privy to all the exciting op-portunities coming up this season. This will also be the only chance you will have to purchase SOGO tees at a one- time price of $5! Meet and visit with the artistic faculty, board, and staff and don’t forget that tuition is due in full (payment plans will also be accepted that day). Members paying tuition on or before September 1, receive a voucher for the price of one free ticket.

To successfully start your SOGO member off on good footing, please be sure to arrive 15-minutes early to the rehearsal to get situated and warmed up. Musicians will need their in-strument, SOGO music (or pick it up in the box at rehearsal), pencil and very importantly, a music stand. If you have not already downloaded the SOGO Handbook, please be sure to because it includes a lot of information about practicing, rehearsals and concerts that will help your young musician get the most out of their musical experience with SOGO.

Here is to a great season, SO-GO!

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Alex

Mallory2012-2013 Student Soloists

Tuition paid early, in full, by September 1

will earn you a voucher for a free ticket

to a SOGO season concert.

It is that time of year again! We have been plan-ning. As you might imagine, there is a lot of or-ganizational work that goes on behind the scenes.

By now, repertoire has been chosen, music has been procured and prepared, rehearsal schedules have been finalized, new coaches as needed have been hired and soloists have been chosen. We need to make this all invisible to the students and parents, and hopefully we do. You just see the results.

I am always excited about a new season, and this one turns out to be special. First of all, we have a lot of good music for the Conservatory Orchestra – music by Mozart, Bizet, Beethoven, Hindemith, von Suppe, Gordon Jacob, Debussy and Liszt. I know the other conductors have chosen music and will let you know soon.

There are some changes that have occurred. Lantz Berets will assume the role as the conductor for the Debut Orchestra. April will assume the role as String Specialist with that group. Jeff Lund and I will be working together for the first Academy Orchestra concert. One of the more regrettable changes is that, due to the calendar and schedule time for the holiday season at the Washington Performing Arts Center, we will not be holding the Messiah Sing-Along this year. Nutcracker performances go through Christmas Eve, taking up the auditorium. But we have a plan to keep us busy through that time. I will explain that in a bit.

One of the great fun things we do every year is to decide what members of the groups have excelled in musical performance and select them to appear with the various orchestras. This year Alex Carlson will perform the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with the Conservatory Orchestra on our November concert. Alex has had great success with this work at competitions and he will perform caden-zas that he has written. On the March concert, Mallory Halbert will perform Hindemith’s Trauermusik for Viola and Strings. These two soloists really are outstanding representatives of artistic development in which SOGO can proudly claim a contributing influence.

Last season we had a nationally recognized guest artist perform with us. It was truly an experience that expanded the musical horizons of our students. There was a highly successful chamber music event that brought students from Olym-pia High School together with an ensemble from SOGO and the SOGO Wood-wind Quintet. We are going to continue that effort this year. One of my long time musical colleagues, David Johnson, will be joining us on our May concert to perform the Concerto No. 1 for Flute and Strings by Gordon Jacob. David is the founder of Clarion in Manila, Philippines. It is the premier chamber music orga-nization in the Philippines and is a joint performance and music school organiza-tion. He will be in residence with us for two weeks and we will be scheduling chamber music activity of various sorts during his stay with us.

Now to tell you about a very busy November and December for Conservatory members – Chamber Music! Mrs. Rydholm and I have been busy dividing all of the members of the Conservatory Orchestra up into quintets, quartets, trios and small ensembles. We have selected repertoire for the groups and will be finalizing a schedule in the next few days. Chamber music is the core of musi-cianship and is essential for establishing a sense of working together to make music. We are excited about this new opportunity, and I know it will make a difference in our music making!

Thanks for your participation in SOGO, and most of all, thanks for the opportu-nity to work with your children!

Nancy Shohet from the Boston Globe writes...“As a longtime violin teacher and professional mu-

sician, first with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and currently as associate concertmaster for the Utah Sym-phony, Gerald Elias thought he might write a book for would-be professional musicians, covering the basics of violin technique as well as issues such as how to prepare for an audition. Yet he realized that if he had been hand-ed a book like this when he was a young music student, ‘I would have fallen asleep in about five minutes,’ he said. But how to make an instructional manual for vio-linists a little more engrossing? Well, why not work in a whodunit murder mystery? … So in 2009, Elias published his first novel, ‘Devil’s Trill.’ A contract with St. Martin’s Press led to a second book, ‘Danse Macabre,’ and since then he has published two more, ‘Death and the Maiden’ and ‘Death and Transfiguration,’ all of which he calls ‘ex-cursions into the dark side of the classical music world.’ … Elias concedes that his earlier idea of an instruction manual for violinists has more or less been sacrificed to the pursuit of murder mysteries, but he sees his approach within a greater context of novelists setting mysteries in very specific locales.”

GIFT WISH LISTJohn WelshMUSIC DIRECTOR

7th and 8th graders respond to why music is important.…

“Music lifts up your soul and releases it.”

“Music is what moves everyone, and without it, life would be pointless.”

“Music is important because it can describe people, places, movies, or animals that words can’t. Without music, the world would have a hard time understanding other things.”

“Music is important because it helps you express yourself in ways that you can’t with normal talking.”

“Music is important to me because it gives me something to look forward to every day.”

Oly HARBOR DAYSSeptember 1 & 2

The fun begins with HARBOR DAYS Saturday & Sunday, September 1 & 2!

There will be thousands attending the Olympia Harbor Days down at Percival Landing and you guessed it, SOGO

“wildlife” will be present! SOGO Student Board and mem-bers of the orchestras will be featuring the Instrument Pet-ting Zoo during the Olympia event. R.L. Ray Violin Shop will be supplying SOGO with instruments for kids of all ages at the Harbor Days to pluck and bow. The musicians will also present the “Art of Music” – music in mime! A great day of meeting people and engaging them in what SOGO does best, making music.

If you are a SOGO member and interested in helping at the Zoo and/or participating in the Art of Music, contact Student Board member Nolan Welch at np.welch@yahoo.com or Keadrin Dick at starburst-jelleefish@earthlink.net.

Why Pick Up Music Before The First Rehearsal?

If you didn’t already know, music for the No-vember concert can be picked up on August

26, three weeks prior to the first rehearsal on Septem-ber 16. If you do so, you can have 3 weeks of addition-al practice heading into the new season. Now, SOGO doesn’t expect every student to pick up his of hers mu-sic early but, doing so, you have the chance to listen to a recording, practice difficult sections, and learn your part which can be a great advantage. After all, our conduc-tors always say, “Home practice is for learning your part, group practice is for learning everybody else’s parts.”

Nolan Welch, Student Board

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Thank you to all the parents who shared their time and energy with SOGO last season.

Thank you for your kindness, even on the rare

occasions when you had to tell me “no.”

Thank you for completing the new volunteer form for the upcoming SOGO season.

Thank you for all the additional areas where

you have agreed to help SOGO this year.

Thank you for caring enough about your kids and music to make SOGO possible!

Joan Armstrong, Volunteer Coordinator 360.459.7226 | g.c.armstrong@comcast.net

BEST KEPT SECRET?Like-minded people enjoy the SOGO experience, but time and

time again we always hear, “I didn’t know about SOGO – how can I find out more?” You can be our mouthpiece in the com-munity; lets let the secret out! Help by passing the word on about this youth orchestra experience, open to young musi-cians from second year experience through age 21. With three orchestras, there are age and skill appropriate groups where musicians can be placed in during the season.

If you know of a potential musician(s), please connect them with SOGO. Our next audition is Sunday, August 26. Have them call 360-352-1438 or visit the website to sign-up for an appoint-ment time.

The following is a little history you might not know, which makes great talking points with families considering SOGO for their young musician.

• SOGO PASTIn August of 2000 two ambitious local high school music stu-dents, with the help of other young musicians, their families and music teachers, created SOGO. Complete with a mission statement, budget of $30,000, rehearsal space, conductors and coaches, music, and 90 young musicians, SOGO had its first re-hearsal just six weeks later. Ample energy and a fresh vision for building a student-led organization make SOGO unique.

The first season, two orchestras were created and performed three concerts each. Other performances included the sold out SOGO HO HO Brass Choir holiday concert, a free-to-the-public Messiah Sing-Along, and small ensembles performing at the spring Arts Walk in downtown Olympia. A generous financial gift also allowed the advanced orchestra an opportunity to tour the Olympia, Tumwater and North Thurston schools to perform for entire student bodies.

• SOGO PRESENTNow in our13th season, we have 160 young musicians in three orchestras with tuition averaging $325. There are 4 conduc-tors, 13 coaches, and 3 part-time staff members. The board and student board are responsible for overseeing the contin-ued success of the organization and a budget of $109,000. The musicians rehearse weekly with concerts presented throughout the year at various venues.

SOGO 2012-2013 Season Sponsors Olympic Dermatology & Laser ClinicTumwater Eye Clinic & VUEOlympia Federal SavingsR.L. Ray Violin ShopSalon Salon

1629 22ND AVE SE | OLYMPIA WA 98501 www.studentorchestras.org

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STUDENT ORCHESTRAS OF GREATER OLYMPIA

EXECUTIVE BOARDColleen Welch, PresidentJilyna Dick, Vice PresidentPeter Despot, SecretaryJohn Fleckenstein, TreasurerBOARDJoyce AllenJoan ArmstrongBrad CarlsonAlison CoppockJulie EvansDoug FordAnne HammondGinny NordhornDana PhelpsAmy SchutteJennifer Taft Kirk VeisSTUDENT BOARDElla Bushnell, violinKeadrin Dick, celloMaggie Taft, clarinetNolan Welch, cello

MUSIC DIRECTOR John Welsh

ARTISTIC DIRECTORGreg Allison

ADMINISTRATIVEKrina Allison, Executive Dir.Pat Kabler, Finance Dir.Mary Jo Rydholm, Lib.Doug Ford, Photos

SOGO2012-2013

Season

What meaning do the following DATES have?If you don’t know youbetter LOOK inside!

AUGUST 26

SEPTERMBER 16NOVEMBER 4What will $ 5 Get you????

The most amazing SOGO tee shirt. This one time deal is only offered at the Parent Meeting!