While the Modesto Symphony may go on hiatus for the sizzling months of July and August many of our talented musicians are still hard at work honing their craft and blazing new trails in contemporary music. Nicky Roosevelt, French Horn, spent two weeks of her summer playing with the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz. Here is a brief note from her summer travels:
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Hi Folks,

Hope you had a good summer. I've just returned from playing 2 weeks with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz along with 2 other Modesto Symphony musicians Forrest Byram, tuba and Drew Ford, cello.  Every summer, some 75 of us gather from around the country to play the music of living composers, many of whom join us, working together to bring their vision to life.  It is exciting to find out what the music will sound like, as most pieces have not been recorded, and some never played either here on the West Coast or even the world.  The audiences are treated to a unique experience that is created right there for them, and they often have the opportunity to talk with the composers about how the music came about. 

We are like the pioneers who explored the West, never knowing what is around the corner. There are challenges to meet (the music often has technical difficulties for musicians to conquer), and there is the thrill of achieving something together as a team.  The audience gets to travel to new sound territory that is not like any they've heard before.  I love Brahms and Mozart, but just like it's fun to travel to see new places, it's great to hear new things. 

I look forward to finding out what David has in store for us this season. It's always a pleasure to join with you at the Gallo Arts Center for a wonderful musical adventure.

See you in September!
Nicky Roosevelt

 

This is an exciting time of year as the season begins to turn and our new fall routines start to emerge. I always relish the anticipation of hearing the first rehearsal of the year. It’s often slightly different from what I remember: it sounds louder, I hear more threads of tone searching for harmonious partners across the orchestra and most importantly I feel that subtle, yet powerful impulse to communicate through music.

It makes one feel very vulnerable at first- you feel exposed and a little too self-revelatory but after a while it’s the universal in the vision of the composer that starts to dust itself off and a true voice begins to sing and declaim and whisper all the difficult and radiant truths about being human.

Most of the time I say: warmer, softer....softer,  more vibrato, sing through the line, listen, more attack but really it’s the composer entreating us through the notes not to give up, believe, rest, look harder and pass it on.

What’s great about music is that when we talk about it we all have a different revelation. It may evoke a memory, a shadow of emotion unexpressed, a philosophical insight or a spiritual path to follow. And equally it may provide relief from pain and suffering or even make us laugh. The beauty of it is that it meets you where you are, brings you to yourself and out of yourself. Ultimately I think it has the power to support us on a journey to wholeness.

In uncertain times, as things change, as seasons change, we can so easily become fearful about the future. I am so grateful that we have music to help us stay open to rediscover the world around us and within us. We are all reaching for harmonious partners of one sort or another and through the threads of tone running through us from the orchestra we may gain an additionl measure of comfort and strength.  

-DL