May 2024 Newsletter

LEAD. INSPIRE. PERFORM. May 2024 Vol. 24 No. 1

Tower of Power? John Williams?

Cameron May, Music Dir. hen you come to SOGO’s spring concert on May 19 at the Washington Center and see and hear what the Conservatory Orchestra is playing, you might think I’ve gone off the rails.

Tower of Power AND John Williams in the same concert?! Am I crazy? Don’t answer that…

W SPRING CONCERT

Sunday, May 19th at 4pm Washington Center Tickets: $8-$23* Six & under free

360.753.8586 *plus $4 WCPA fee

CONCERT SPONSOR

which looks ahead to the Paris Games this summer.

John Williams is one of the greatest examples of a composer whose music borrows from many different styles and genres. He is of course best known for his iconic film scores, which employ the Wagnerian concept of leitmotifs assigned to various characters, but he has also written concertos for several of the world’s leading soloists, as well as many pieces for the Olympics. The Olympic Spirit was written for NBC’s coverage of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. It may not be the best-known of Williams’ Olympic pieces, but it is nonetheless strident and aspirational, and a fitting conclusion to the SOGO season.

I have written extensively in previous newsletters about my philosophy of programming and how I go about crafting a SOGO season. As time goes on, however, I continue to find myself becoming less of a purist when it comes to genre. Symphonic music does not exist in a vacuum, completely separate from other styles. Today’s musicians need to be well-versed in a variety of genres, as they are just as likely to find themselves in a studio recording a film score or supplying backgrounds to a popular artist as they are to win a job with one of the nation’s great orchestras.

Over the course of the year, we have covered some core classical repertoire, including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. We have explored some more contemporary pieces, such as Markowski’s Joyride and Moncayo’s Huapango. And this spring, we are pushing the envelope even further, with a medley of Tower of Power’s Greatest Hits – requiring the musicians to familiarize themselves with funk and swing rhythms – and John Williams’ The Olympic Spirit,

As always, there is too much happening at the May concert to write about everything in detail. Our orchestras, the stage, and indeed the concert itself, are bursting at the seams!

Highlights to look forward to include Nisqually Middle School orchestra director Jen Grady guest-conducting the Debut Orchestra (which is now larger than Conservatory!), Flight of the Bumblebee played by several trumpeters with the Academy Orchestra, soloists Sky Lin, Naomi Scott, Aidan O’Brien, and Cade McBride playing music by Gabriel Faure and Norman Leyden, and of course, our annual celebration of this year’s graduating seniors. Get your tickets now, and I’ll see you there!

SOGO’s Young Virtuosos keep it that way. The bonds and experience I have made through orchestra are priceless.”

S

unday, May 19, at 4 pm, SOGO’s season finale will highlight four very accomplished young musicians.

Sky Lin, cellist, will be performing Elegie by Faure. She started cello lessons in the 4th grade along with her mom. She has been a member of SOGO for eight years and an active member of the SOGO Student Board for the last two years. A skilled pianist as well, she has won many awards for her musicianship. The Elegie has been one of Sky’s favorite works, “It is technically not difficult, but it has a lot of musical nuances and room for me to be expressive!” Her plans are to attend the University of Washington in the College of Engineering, and she hopes to keep playing in an orchestra.

“Music is a huge part of my life, and I intend to

lessons from Erik Curley, OHS Band Director.

He has inspired and encouraged Aidan over the years, especially in helping prepare for Conservatory auditions and college auditions with a plan to go into trombone performance.

Aidan confesses, “I’ve been tired and not wanted to practice, or just not really felt like playing, but I always return to it because it’s truly what I’m passionate about. SOGO is one of the reasons I want a music career!”

Naomi Scott, Aidan O’Brien, and Cade McBride are featured in a unique work

by Norman Leyden titled Concerto for Trombones.

Naomi Scott, Olympia H.S., was first attracted to the trombone because it had a slide, and she could imitate race car noises. Now, she appreciates the Cade McBride, Yelm H.S., wanted to play extreme range of its capabilities and is saxophone like his dad, but he said, “No, the more serious about her playing. “As I’ve world needs more trombones!” The tromgrown up with the instrument…I see the bone has served Cade well over the years. effects that playing has on a musician …I During the March concert, Cade’s passion for try to take full advantage of everything arranging was featured. The Conservatory music has to offer. Naomi will be pursuing played his version of The Sunken Cathedral by a career in nursing at the University of Debussy. Next year, he plans to attend Oberlin Washington.

Conservatory to pursue a degree in trombone performance and probably find time to play Aidan O’Brien, Olympia H.S., takes disc golf, between studying!

1629 22nd Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98501 | 360.352.1438 | StudentOrchestras.org | sogo@studentorchestras.org

The Future Music Makers campaign launch-

T

he pandemic required SOGO to find new ways to reach students, including the audition process.

Three years on, we still hold our auditions over Zoom, which offers convenience and comfort for both students and families. Over the past year, the SOGO staff have continued to look for ways to demystify the audition process, which we now call the “Placement Audition/Interview,” and which involves a combination of performance and discussion to ensure each student is placed in the appropriate ensemble.

es at the May 19th SOGO concert to raise support for tuition scholarships, ensuring that financial constraints don’t hinder aspiring young musicians from participating in SOGO.

Many families face financial challenges. Despite SOGO’s affordable tuition, 16% of our membership applied for tuition assistance last year. The primary goal of the campaign is to raise $12,000, which will directly contribute to funding tuition scholarships.

The success of the Future Music Makers campaign hinges upon the collective generosity and support of our community. Help us help these talented young musicians and their families with your gift today.

Students are asked to prepare a short solo or etude and sightread, with additional excerpts for those aiming for the Conservatory Orchestra. Mr. Allison has written some sample solos for students who aren’t sure how to go about choosing one. There are many factors that go into determining which orchestra a student is the best fit for, but we are trying to make the process as straightforward and welcoming as possible. We look forward to seeing all our returning students and many new faces at auditions near the end of May!

GRADUATING SENIOR STATS...

19 97 3,395 4,656

Graduating SOGO seniors Cumulative years in SOGO

Cumulative SOGO concerts

Cumulative hours of rehearsal

f you do a computer search for careers in music you will likely IAlthough get a list beginning with Archivist and finishing with YouTuber. one of the goals of SOGO is to see graduates have a

SOGO Senior Cooper Brown will conduct the Academy Orchestra on Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Conservatory trumpeters Taylor Hopps, Allison Walker, and Bo Milam are the featured soloists, along with Dr. Ed Sandors and Greg Allison. Instead of playing, Cooper wanted to step up to the podium and conduct. That is the destination and journey he has chosen to pursue as he begins his training and college education next year to become a school band director.

lifetime connected to music in one way or another, we also see many involved in a vocational way in music or music education.

Since the SOGO artistic staff is very involved in music education it is not uncommon for some of our students to follow that same path.

Becoming a school band or orchestra director requires extensive training in many areas; conducting, rehearsing, skill development on all the instruments, child development, administration, and the list could go on (and on).

Join us at the SOGO Spring Concert as we celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors and send them off on the next steps of their musical and life journeys.

SENIORS - NUMBER OF YEARS IN SOGO! 6

5

8

8

9

2

6

1

8

6

5

5

3

7

6

L to R: Ethan Nelson, Beckett Fisher, Jay Yee, Jen Yee, Livvy Rowley, Mackenzie Cornwall, Lynlea Swanson, Madison Nelsen, Sky Lin, Hadley Manista, Naomi Scott, Aidan O’brien, Cade McBride, Cooper Brown, Taylor Hopps. not pictured: Sofia Lensegrav, Victoria Titus, Joseph Kurtyka, Luke Mathes