Volume 23, June 2011 - New England Conservatorium of Music

REPORT
Super Smart Semibreves
It has been wonderful to witness the
development of this young string
orchestra. In term 1 their commitment
to the programme was firmly sealed
through the enjoyment of the carefully
selected repertoire which included an
evocative programmatic piece as well
as another that demanded an array of
unusual techniques to produce spooky
sound effects. The group performed to
a high standard in the eisteddfod and
it was heartening to see how these
youngsters rose to the challenge of
performing tricky technical work, such
as a bounced bow technique known as
‘spicatto’. Some of the players who were
initially lacking in confidence seem to
have come out of their shells and it has
been highly pleasurable to hear and see
those players really ‘going for it’ in their
performance. The orchestra has done
wonders for their music reading ability
and they are now able tackle more
demanding repertoire.
Next term we are planning a programme
of dance music and are aiming to create
some collaboration with local dance
teachers and students. The plan is for the
dance teachers to choreograph suitable
dances to fit the selected repertoire and
for the dance students to perform these
dances with the orchestra. The other
big work that the group have started
10 NECOM NEWS SEPTEMBER 2010
to learn is a piece that sets a story to
music and requires a narrator to tell
the story between the various musical
movements and sometimes at the same
time. We have a highly ambitious idea for
the person we would like to approach to
be the narrator. This person is a national/
international level NRL player, but as
this is obviously a long shot, we would
welcome any ideas about other suitable
people that we could approach.
SSS Cellists Georgia Lloyd, Alison Chapman & Ebony Cafarella in final rehearsal for the BSP concert this term
First Violinists Liam Smith & Liam Law-Smith and Second Violinists Angus Cornell & Amber Anderson in the Super Smart Semibreves.