Steve's Space » IWSO

Sell-out Concert

Steve — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:15:12 +0000

Not in the bad way either – the IWSO concert was completely sold-out on Saturday, and went really well. Especially important from my perspective was the complete absence of any collapsing percussion instruments! Even the tubular bells, the stand for which had lain at the back of a cupboard for many years, stood up to the hammering (please excuse the bad pun).

It was a long concert, the finish made later for the percussion section due to the sheer amount of kit we had to dismantle and stow in various cupboards, cars and vans; but I think we all enjoyed it.

Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra Concert

Steve — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:13:12 +0000

It’s the last Symphony Orchestra concert of the current season next Saturday (12th July), – and it’s going to be a good one.

I don’t think the rest of the orchestra realise just how much space the percussion section is going to take up, – here’s just the largest of the instruments we’ll be playing:

Pedal Timpani (not sure if there’ll be 3 or 4, but they’re pretty large anyway)
Xylophone
Vibraphone
Marimba
Bass Drum
Tubular Bells
Drum Kit

In addition to those, there’ll be a wide assortment of other drums (Congas, Bongos etc.), Cymbals and miscellaneous auxiliary instruments (including a bird whistle!).

Concerts and colds

Steve — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:36:05 +0000

The IWSO concert at the weekend went pretty well in the end, – despite the fact that we were unable to perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 that we’d prepared (we’re still trying to work out exactly what happened with that one). Chiao-Ying Chang, the pianist instead performed a Liszt piano sonata, which was very well played, even if it wasn’t my favourite piece in the world.

I’m actually slightly relieved that we didn’t do the Concerto, since I wasn’t feeling too well anyway, and the triangle part’s a bit of a pain (I know it sounds daft, but it’s true). I’m blaming Luke for the latest round of illness at work, since he started it…

Work continues on the new theme for this site, but with the IW Cantata Choir concert on Saturday, and rehearsals of one sort or another most evenings this week it’ll be a while before anything much happens.