In a good edition of music, like in the Mahler, our 40-something pages of music are stapled together. Week three out of six is nearly done, and as our viola teacher likes to say, we’re “past the staples”.

I love week three. Gradually, people are spending less time in the practice rooms as they’re getting a handle on their music, and more time getting to know everyone else in the orchestra. On our last day off, I found myself moving from group to group with a mug of coffee in the dining hall following dinner. Finally, I’m talking to all those people that I don’t see during rehearsal. “Oh that’s you playing first on that piece? You sound great!” The name/face/playing puzzle is slowly being completed.

Personalities are also coming out of the woodwork like never before. The annual NYOC Idol competition took place last Wednesday, with so many excellent entries that by the end of it, there was no way I could pick a winner. Just when you thought you knew someone, they run on stage in ill-fitting clothes, a wig that made its debut in last year’s show, and sing Thunderstruck to harp accompaniment with the lyrics written on both arms. And that was just the opening act. In the end, a celtic group featuring a real smorgasbord of instruments and a dancer to top it off took the prize.

I was speaking with Kate Frobeen, a clarinettist, about the new string quartet program. I have to paraphrase her because what she said was much better than anything I could come up with, and for once, I didn’t have a post-it note to write down her exact words at the time: “When we’re watching student concerts at school, we get used to a variety of levels; you’ve got a couple of good performances, some average, and some terrible performances. While watching the string quartets the other night, I kept waiting for the terrible performances, but they never happened!”

I’ve definitely been bitten by the inspiration bug again this year, much like Brennan alluded to below. This year was my worst year in terms of school and playing, with three months spent bedridden and way too much time unable to play my instrument every time this mysterious thing happened. The problem was finally resolved just before the beginning of NYOC so here I am with more hope than I’ve ever known and I’m rubbing shoulders with the most encouraging students, staff and faculty you’ll ever find on one campus, let alone under one roof.

With less than one week before our first performance, we are having two to three full orchestra rehearsals a day. The orchestra is sounding great, and I wish our session was just a little longer. I guess this is where I get the urge to play in a professional orchestra: so I can meet up with them again!