50 Works in 2 Days!

What a great couple of days as conductor of the Florida All-State Reading Chorus!  It's a peculiar thing... a chorus of the 100 students who scored the highest on their sight-reading and musicianship exams as part of the audition process that come to the first rehearsal having no knowledge of what they might sing.  Thursday morning they received a packet of fifty works I'd chosen from many times and places, historical periods, styles, languages, traditions, contexts and cultures. We then spent all day Thursday and Friday exploring these works and chose four to sing at a public concert Friday evening.  Oh yeah... and SIGHTREAD another piece ONSTAGE. What? (and to add a little extra stress, it was a David Brunner piece!) These students were amazing in everyway. Bravo to them and the teachers who encourage their growth in musical skills and understanding.