Concert Trip Interviews

Aaron was kind enough to write up a transcript of the interviews with CMW students that Carole conducted on the bus ride back to Providence following the Boston Philharmonic concert trip. Here are a few excerpts (outtakes):

CB: What did you think of the concert?
S: It was good.
CB: Favorite part?
S: When the violinist did his extra thing. I thought it was interesting how he played and plucked at the same time. He must have some seriously strong fingers.
CB: Did you think it was cool how he was accompanying himself?
S: Yeah!
CB: Did it make you want to figure it out on the cello?
S: Yeah, I definitely want to see how strong my left hand is. It made me want to see what I can do.
CB: Does it apply to anything you're learning on the cello?
S: Yeah, definitely in fiddling. I want to try it and see what happens. I'm definitely going to go practice.
CB: Any other thoughts?
S: Yeah, I'm glad I came. I'm excited, and I really want to go play.

CB: What did you think?
S: I thought the concert was great. It was kind of sad not hearing the first movement–you know, it might have changed the feeling of the piece. I really enjoyed the soloist and his creativity and ability to memorize all of those pieces. I really liked the cooperation all of the musicians of the orchestra. I liked how much they sounded like one group, one voice. That was really cool.
CB: Will you go home and look up the first movement of the Brahms?
S: I might if I could figure out the information. I'm really interested now that I've heard the other movements.
CB: What did you think of the Dvorak symphony?
S: It was something else. Of course it was different than the Brahms, but it really had a story behind it, and I really felt it. I really liked the sound of the wind section–I felt like they had more of a part in the Dvorak, and it was really cool to hear the bassoon–you don't normally hear it, but in the Dvorak I was paying attention to each part. There were all these exciting parts in the Dvorak that made me want to tap my foot.
CB: Did it inspire you to think about how to do some of that stuff on your instrument?
S: Oh yeah, definitely. There were some cool techniques… I noticed the violinists were using even when they were playing soft.

CB: What was your favorite part?
S: I liked it when the violinist came out and did his own thing.
CB: Did you like the first one [encore] or the second one better?
S: The first one.
CB: Did you know that was God Save the Queen?
S: No.
CB: We sing that in Canada.

CB: What did you think of the concert?
S: It was good, but I didn't hear much of the second half because I was sleepy.