If you have a question for the BPO now is your chance to get your answer.
Just fill out the form underneath this text, and ask away! We will answer your questions as fast as we can!
If you have a question for the BPO now is your chance to get your answer.
Just fill out the form underneath this text, and ask away! We will answer your questions as fast as we can!
I am beginning violin student, who happens to be an adult. I started 14 months ago and am struggling with rhythm and note legnth ( making eighth notes sound like eight notes and not quarter notes and so forth) - do any of you have ways of teaching rhythm to adults that vary from methods used with kids? Also what advice do you have for beginning music students?
If you (and any other member of the orchestra who cares to answer) could wake up tomorrow and play any other instrument other than yours, which would it be and why?
I have a question for Kate or anyone else…
Are your favorite pieces to play also your favorite pieces to listen to or do you enjoy listening to certain pieces you don’t like playing and vice versa?
Just a comment…tell Goeff Hardcastle the Trumpet Player/Fireman from Cleveland says Hello!!
Hey, cool…your bios are going up it looks like. However, you may want your webmaster to check them out because in some cases if you click on one name, you get three but can not separate them (see flute bios).
Also, many bios have some serious typos going on. Please hire a proofreader ASAP so we aren’t being mocked in Buffalo for yet one more thing!
Thanks for pointing this out Steve! We (the musicians) don’t actually control what they do over at bpo.org, but it is great to see that the bios are going up. I guess I should finally turn mine in! I will pass along your concerns to the appropriate person in charge.
Great, Janz.
BTW, you look a little young to be a professional musician!
Hi Musicians! (and hi Kate, with whom I spoke on Sat) I’m Jen K-G, Corporate and Foundations Relations Manager for the BPO. I figured this would be the fastest way to reach as many of you who can get back to me as possible. I’m working with Gibraltar, who sponsors the Side by Side performance every year. This year, I have been told that I will have to “work for” the funds, by proving (via presentation to the VP)to the folks over at Gibraltar what exactly the event provides. Specifically, they have indicated that they need to understand:
*how this one event helps the GBYO kids
*how this event inspires you, the members of the BPO
*how this event helps the community at large
*how this event makes Gibraltar look good in the community
In a nutshell, I know that it provides an opportunity for the GBYO kids to perform with professional musicians, to be mentored by you, and to glimpse the glamorous (ahem) lifestyle to which you have all become accustomed. It provides you the opportunity to see your students in action, to perform with them, and to become re-invigorated by their youthful enthusiasm. The students can bring their BPO experiences back into the community via their participation with school ensembles, thereby enriching many more musicians than themselves. what I need is to stir some of your personal experience and passion for the event into the mix — if anyone can jot down a few testimonial lines as to the value, as a musician, the Side by Side event provides from your perspective I would be very grateful. my e-mail is jkochgibson@bpo.org . Thank you all very much for your assistance!
jen
I’m thinking the communication within the orchestra community has to be at an all time low if a member of the staff can only reach a musician(s) by way of a blog that hasn’t had an entry since April. This is not intended to be an insult toward the whole idea of a blog (even though it doesn’t seem to be receiving too much attention), but an obvious call for some reconfiguration within the organization.
John, thanks for your comment. Actually, the blog has had an entry since April, one dated June 22. I’m surprised you didn’t see it on your way in! We would post more, but we do have to practice for our concerts!! As to the idea that communication is at an all time low, I could not disagree more. As a member of the orchestra I can assure you that this blog is not the only means of communication between the musicians and staff! Actually, this blog is not a means of communication between staff and musicians at all. Furthermore, I can report that communication between management and musicians is very active and quite healthy.
As to your parenthetical comment about the amount of attention our blog is getting, I am happy to inform you that people ACTUALLY read the blog!! Readers do seem a little shy to post comments or ask questions, but they do stop by to read.
Finally, as many of our readers already know, Let’s Go BPO! is written and run by the musicians, not staff. We are in no way affiliated with or governed by the BPO. If you have any comments or suggestions for the staff or management about reconfiguration or anything else, you can get contact information for them at their website, http://bpo.org/html/staff.html
Hi!
I was at the concert at the Botantical Gardens tonight and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it, but there aren’t really words for that. Suffice it to say that I came home and practiced my own violin.
I got to talk to a couple of violinists and the conductor afterwards, it was so kind of them to take the time to answer questions and talk with us.
Thanks so much for a wonderful evening.
Andi.
Andi! Thank you so much for coming to our concert! I really like the Botanical Gardens show. It’s such a pretty venue, and we always get such an appreciative, friendly crowd. I am truly honored that you were inspired to practice your violin upon returning home. I’m glad you got to talk to a few musicians- and just as a note to other readers, most BPO musicians love talking to and interacting with concert goers. So thanks for not being shy, Andi!
Hi Janz,
Sorry, you’re right - I was looking at the entries under “Ask a Queston” which don’t seem to get much attention.
Actually, the question I was asking was why Jen was reaching out to musicians about their opinions re: GBYO through this site and not through some other means. It seemed more fitting for an internal communication rather than a public one.
Re: your comment: “I can report that communication between management and musicians is very active and quite healthy”, I don’t know about the management but one can see during concerts that the communication is quite healthy between the musicians anyway!
Management works in mysterious ways…