Ylss 1 - Taster session

Firstly, I will say many thanks to FerneKlang for kicking me in gear to get the ball rolling with all this orchestral malarkey :}

Forward past all preparations to arrive at the venue well before time, I was already in a rather nervous state so much so I contemplated getting off the bus and going back to the train station.

Instead even after stopping the bus and almost getting off at the wrong stop twice (much to the annoyance of the other passengers), I managed to arrive at the destination 15 minutes early.

I kept an eye out for musicians on the way, more of an assurance that I was heading towards the right direction, but there was none until I saw them outside the main building. I made sure to watch where they were headed; it was a rather big school with many entrances. Inside, there were rooms upon rooms upon doors and staircases but as I approached towards the middle of the hallway, I noticed a cello laying on its side in the first room closest to the entrance. This must be it!

There were 3 other people already inside; two engaged in a converstion, a violist and a violinist. It took me awhile before realising that the third, a fellow cellist, greeted me as I walked in. I quickly took a corner, dumped everything I was carrying and shuffled back quickly to the cellist.

"Hi! I'm Shi, nice to meet you. I'm new here, its my first day. Is this the Learners Group? I was told to come here before joining the main orchestra. I hope I'm at the right place. How do you do? Are you also a cellist? I am! How long have you been playing and how long have you been coming here? Is this your first time too? Nice to meet you!"

Well, I guess I ramble quite a bit when I'm nervous. In spite of my awkardness, everyone was very welcoming, very warm and very friendly. I was really afraid I might not catch up with everyone else but instead, I am reassured once more as there is a varied range of abilities and no one stares at you if you make a mistake; we are all here for the music :)

Today, we have the pleasure of Margaret Moseley leading the learners group. She is a violinist so it was very interesting to be in a small group of various instruments doing warmups and short pieces. I had to make up for lost time (its currently half term) and sight read the whole time - you bet my brain was in overdrive. However, the pieces were mostly in first position with splatterings of second and third so I coped well enough to play through and not miss a note. Another violinist came in later and so there were 5 of us in total - a quartet of sorts. What a wonderful experience for the ears.

Later, there was a short break where there was cake and coffee, thanks to a new violinist friend. Here, we exchanged stories of how we chose our instruments and what to expect during the orchestral session. I am comforted by the fact that everyone shared similar interests, hopes and expectations and that we were all nervous about playing well during the session.

And so we did. Played as an orchestra, that is. Today's piece is String Symphony No.10 in B minor by Felix Mendelssohn.



I haven't been conducted by a conductor in well, decades. The last time being 22 years ago when I was 12. I was playing the glockenspiel for my school orchestra; it was fun hitting things!

As I have not heard the symphony previously, I wasn't sure how to approach the piece and had to crawl through slowly as it revealed itself to me. I've never played with a double bassist before so it was a really great experience being very close to one as she helped me with my intonation and overall tempo and structure - a marvelous, resonant and powerful instrument!

After such an awesome experience, I will definitely come back next week and make this a weekly thing. I can't wait to play with an orchestra again!