Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal, and Tech Preparation

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday September 25, 2010 – Full Team Circle and Performance Team Rehearsal, and Tech Preparation

Ah, the perils of having 4 rather major and time-demanding projects all on the front burner… the Tuning the Air blog ends up fifth in line, and too often left off entirely. Mia Culpa.

Monday and Thursday were evening rehearsals at the Wilsons, and today we were at Fremont Abbey for an hour of full team self-organized musical work, followed by a Performance Team rehearsal and an hour or so of practical work around the Abbey.

For the full group hour we began again with wordless improvisation, and as with last week it was very satisfying on every level – good group interaction, thoughtful but still playful. High level work. Toward the end of the hour, the suggestion was made that Chris begin presenting the De Hartmann piece to this group. He showed us the first 8 bars. In earlier Performance Team rehearsal, he had assigned parts, but for this we all learned every part, and then gravitated to the one that best fit us. With very little adjustment of assignments, an excellent balance and sound was achieved, and the sense that this is the right group to be taking the piece on.

A short break, and then we transitioned into Performance Team rehearsal mode. Earlier in the week the Musical Director had the epiphany that all Music Directors always have about 2 weeks before opening: we are nowhere near ready to perform, and we have very limited rehearsal time. So the heat was turned up on the Performance Team get our practice regimen amped up, our established repertoire up to performance level, and to get a firm handle on the new material that has been presented thus far. For today’s rehearsal, we touched briefly on Vroom, and it was clear that the challenge had been taken up. Not quite performance-ready, but the path to performance-readiness is clear. Then on to Bob’s Ninth Guitar E. Here we are still at the beginning of the learning curve on the composed sections, and just a little further along on the improvs. We worked primarily on getting the next 8 bars up and running. This took some time, but we crossed a certain threshold, and the general feeling was that the impossible was becoming possible. A much clearer picture of the Whole, and how these individual parts and sections fit in. Again, not performance-ready, but the path is much clearer, and the necessary work very straight-forward.

Then on to Neptune. Still the most daunting of the new material, our full parts had arrived this week and we are in a position to begin to dive into the Music much more seriously, again with a much better grasp of whole. In the case of this piece, rehearsing the group is the work most needed. Individual parts are not particularly difficult or complex in themselves, but everyone has a separate part. There is no duplication, so the way they connect to one another, and the way the various sections flow from one to the next – that is the real challenge. While a modicum of personal work to learn and memorize the parts is called for, it will be the group work that brings this little gem to life. So little time, so much to do.

After rehearsal, a small team remained at the Abbey to install some shelving in the storage area, while the rest of us drove to the TTA storage unit to collect everything we need for the show; lighting rigs, PA and house stuff. By the time we got back, the shelves were ready and we stowed the gear away. Monday night will be a tech rehearsal, which generally means a lot of tech and not a lot of rehearsal. Necessary, of course, but wouldn’t it be nice to be spending that time on Neptune?