Day 14: Gil Shaham + Chamber Music

When Gil Shaham came through the door into the backstage area of the concert hall, many of us had to take a moment to calm down from the excitement and sheer joy at seeing him in person.

Soyeong having a fangirl moment.

Gil Shaham was so personable - his smile practically lit up the whole room. And so did his beautiful violin; The Britten Violin Concerto became complete with his sound. Throughout the piece, I could see him making eye contact with everyone and smiling up at Maestro Robertson. Although the Britten wasn't quite as together as it could have been, the rehearsal was productive and hopefully tomorrow the piece will come together perfectly.

Tonight we also had a casual chamber concert, organized flawlessly by our apprentice orchestra manager Josh. People had been rehearsing chamber pieces for the past two weeks of residency, and although it wasn't quite enough time, all the groups sounded amazing. I had performed in two groups myself - one was a quasi-impromptu string chamber ensemble, performing Mozart's Divertimento, and the other was Brahms' String Sextet. It was overall so much fun to play in small groups.

I was particularly blown away by a beautiful marimba duet performed by percussionists Tyler Cunningham and Aaron Grisez. It seemed as if I was swimming underwater with beautiful fish and lots of bubbles:

Music and imagination combined with one another is so magical.

Next day is our dress rehearsal! Can't believe the concert is on Sunday!