While the beginning of the day was very unorganized, the afternoon was very well structured and planned. After lunch, all students returned to the school ready to work. We began doing large group rehearsals, where all brass instruments went into one room with Paul, all woodwinds into another with Abby, and all strings into another with Helen. This method of rehearsing went very well, and helped prepare all of the students for the full orchestra rehearsal which came next. The first part of the full orchestra rehearsal was rehearsal of ‘old music,’ the music that the musicians are already familiar with, as taught by Maestro Mackly. At this part in the rehearsal, the CSO musicians were able to sit down and play alongside their fellow musicians, the Haiti Youth Orchestra students. It was really something special. The CSO musicians led and taught within their sections, while Maestro Mackley led the full orchestra. Finally, we concluded the day with full orchestra rehearsal of the ‘new music,’ the music that was taught over the course of the day and will be taught over the course of the camp by the CSO teachers. We were able to see the amazing progress that the students made in just one day with the CSO teachers, as they were able to play 2 songs all of the way through, after just one day! Helen McDermott conducted, and, with the help of a translator, was indeed a great conductor! Day 1 was a great success, and I can’t wait to see what can happen in the next two days.
