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OT: Pardon Me While I Brag For A Moment

Rusty Mike

By Rusty Mike
in The Keyboard Corner

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Rusty Mike

Rusty Mike

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The short story: My 17 year old son was the Principal Horn on the stage at Carnegie Hall last night.

 

The long story: He's a high school Junior, and already a fairly well accomplished horn player. He's been involved in classical music, youth orchestras and various orchestra/horn workshops since about 5th grade. He just ranked 3rd overall in the recent NJ High School All State auditions, and that was while coming down with the flu.

 

He currently plays Principal Horn in the New Jersey Youth Symphony, one of three such organizations in the state. His conductor, a former horn player himself, has taken a shine to him, and has extended a few opportunities his way. This most recent one was a seat for the American High School Honors Performance Series, where Maestro was selected as the orchestra conductor this year. Kids from all over the country audition for this group, and I guess the ensemble was a few horns short, so Maestro asked my son to fill a seat. While the majority of the auditioning kids paid a tuition, my son and a few others were granted a full scholarship, to cover a weekend in NYC (at the New York Hilton), all the rehearsals, a Broadway play and other NYC tourist type of activities.

 

The way a lot of these groups work is that the kids get together for three straight days before the performance for intensive, all-day rehearsals, which then culminates in the concert. This group arrived in NYC on Thursday night, rehearsed all day Friday and Saturday as well as the first part of Sunday. They were then off to Carnegie for sound check and the performance.

 

I was sincerely expecting third or fourth chair, since he was an add-on, and was shocked when his music arrived. He was given first chair assistant, which meant he played all the first parts except for the solos, which are played by the Principal. Two days before he was to leave to NYC, Maestro send him an email saying the Principal was in the middle of an embouchure adjustment, couldn't cover the solo parts, and that my son was now the Principal! Not bad for a near walk-on.

 

Three groups performed last night. The first group was a wonderful choir of nearly 300, which did a great selection of songs. Group two was a symphonic band which also played some great and rather difficult stuff ("Angels in the Architecture" by Tichelli and "Danzon No. 2" by Marquez). Orchestra was on last, and performed the Nabucco Overture (Verdi), Dusk (Steven Bryant) and the fourth movement of Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich. All three selections have pretty rich horn parts, but the Shostakovich piece features a lengthy horn solo, which my son pretty much nailed.

 

What a moment of pride for my wife and I! Here's my kid playing a major solo to a packed house at Carnegie Hall. Maestro gave him and the other soloists recognition during the ovation at the end of the performance. Just an awesome moment.

 

I know this is severely off topic, and I apologize, but I had to boast for just a moment to people who understand this.

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Cygnus64

Cygnus64

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and the fourth movement of Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich. All three selections have pretty rich horn parts, but the Shostakovich piece features a lengthy horn solo, which my son pretty much nailed.

 

Indeed, it's a hard one that takes a lot of control. It's on audition lists for many orchestras. A hearty congrats to your son and the proud pappa! Who was conducting?

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Rusty Mike

Rusty Mike

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Thanks all! I figured it was OT since it really doesn't pertain to keyboards. Plus, it's admittedly a bit self-indulgent.

 

Cygnus, the conductor's name is Jeffrey Grogan. He's a great guy - really connects with the kids, is well networked and has made quite a name for himself. I feel privileged that he's given my son so much focus.

 

johnchop, my son was really jazzed on the ride home last night. He has a huge amount of respect for the kid he replaced, and was given some serious kudos by the other orchestra members. Interestingly enough, the kid he replaced is from LA, and is good friends with another horn player my son met and became friends with at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute last summer. So much so that after the concert last night, my son got a text from LA with something like "Dude, I heard you killed it!" It's really great to see him build this network up. He already knows most of the good horn players in NJ, and his network continues to grow.

 

He was exhausted this morning, and probably coming back to reality a bit. Aside from his band director, he has no local friends who can appreciate the magnitude of the event. But, I understand that there were supposedly college scouts in the audience last night, and I'm going to follow up with the conductor about it.

 

Thanks again for your warm responses.

 

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Mark Zeger

Mark Zeger

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Shostakovich 5 is on every brass player's favorites list. Bravo to your son. It's very nice that his peers are supportive and not combative in a competitive environment. My daughter is a music performance major and I never cease to revel in her accomplishments, great and small, and greatly appreciate the support she gets from fellow musicians and teachers.

 

If you're heading towards the college application & audition process, PM me if you'd like any thoughts, experiences, etc.

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Joe Muscara

Joe Muscara

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Congrats! That's a cool story, and I bet what happened as far as him getting those parts wasn't an accident, except for the kid not being able to make it. Your son clearly deserved to be there.

 

:thu:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Cygnus64

Cygnus64

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So much so that after the concert last night, my son got a text from LA with something like "Dude, I heard you killed it!" It's really great to see him build this network up. He already knows most of the good horn players in NJ, and his network continues to grow.

 

 

 

The world has 6 degrees of separation. The classical music world only has about 2. ;) The people I knew in all-state orchestra, music camps, festivals, college etc.- I know a lot of them as colleagues 30+ years later. Kudos to him and you for realizing the importance of this, it matters. Even if one doesn't go into music for a living, it creates life-long friendships.

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Dave Ferris

Dave Ferris

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Congrats Mike. You have a lot to be proud of.

 

Like Cygnus said, even if he doesn't pursue it full time, in addition to lifelong friendships, he'll have an appreciation and understanding of music that few lay people posses....probably even more then a lot of people that masquerade as musicians as well.

https://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris

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MonksDream

MonksDream

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Excellent news and excellent work by your son!

Q: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

His answer: "Again?"

:-)

Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker
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Rusty Mike

Rusty Mike

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Excellent news and excellent work by your son!

Q: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

His answer: "Again?"

:-)

 

LOL! As far as I'm concerned the "Practice" thing doesn't happen nearly enough! But, we were all like that when we were young.

 

Actually, he will be back on that stage in two weeks with his regular youth orchestra. They are performing four of "The Planets". I think he has a short solo in one of them, but he won't be featured quite as prominently.

 

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Rusty Mike

Rusty Mike

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So much so that after the concert last night, my son got a text from LA with something like "Dude, I heard you killed it!" It's really great to see him build this network up. He already knows most of the good horn players in NJ, and his network continues to grow.

 

 

 

The world has 6 degrees of separation. The classical music world only has about 2. ;) The people I knew in all-state orchestra, music camps, festivals, college etc.- I know a lot of them as colleagues 30+ years later. Kudos to him and you for realizing the importance of this, it matters. Even if one doesn't go into music for a living, it creates life-long friendships.

 

It's like that quite a bit with the All State stuff. They all sit around and take bets who is placing where. It's pretty funny to hear him tell the stories.

 

The interesting thing is that the circles seem even smaller within the instrument groups. There are so few horn players that they all know each other pretty well. Ubiquitous instruments like violin, flute and trumpet, not so much.

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Rusty Mike

Rusty Mike

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Congrats Mike. You have a lot to be proud of.

 

Like Cygnus said, even if he doesn't pursue it full time, in addition to lifelong friendships, he'll have an appreciation and understanding of music that few lay people posses....probably even more then a lot of people that masquerade as musicians as well.

 

He tells me even now it's hard for him to do homework w/ classical music in the background, because he's constantly analyzing it. Instead, he listens to thrash metal -- go figure. He says it's just noise in the background. I would tend to agree, but it's not really my thing.

 

WRT the full time thing, we're just trying to get his head into college research mode, since he's midway through Junior year. He's pretty reluctant. He has to work hard to be a B student, and he's not really focused on it. This should be fun.

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