A Note from John Conrad

​Our small community orchestra rehearses on Tuesday night. Tonight we were joined by some other school kids here in the valley. It was a lot of fun.
An orchestra reminds you that you need to do your best but that you must fit in with everyone else and follow the conductor. Each instrument is usually playing different music but quarter notes have the same time value for all players as also do the eighth notes, whole notes, etc. Individual excellence is rewarded but only as it is sublimated to the rest of the orchestra sound. You don't play a solo unless it is called for by the score. You don't get to do your own private interpretation or come up with a novel way to count time or award note values. It is not like Facebook.
And yet, it is wonderful. To hear all the different instruments blending together to produce a harmonic anthem is incredible. An orchestra, even a very amateur one like ours, is a perfect balance of individual excellence and team work.