St. Cecilia at the Tower (Part 3)

[niquerio]

Dinner and Concert
Dinner was pretty uneventful. I actually got to go to a restaurant, which was a novel idea for me. At Terpsichore we never go out because we have to prepare for the ball, and in any case ever since that one time at the Fox-Something-Or-Other restaurant in Hamilton, ON, we never go out to sit-down restaurants at events where we’re

Comments

Longer Concert

[ermenrich]

So I thought about how to have a longer concert as well. Obviously more groups participating would be awesome, since it shows that people WANT to have this event (and that seemed to be the overall consensus). So how do we allow more groups to play while not making the length of the concert unbearable or shortening everyone's playing time? Here is my thought.... If you have at least three more groups in the concert at St. Cecelia II (Revenge of the Crumhorn!) than this year, divide the concert up with supper in between. The supper would allow people to get food, talk about what they had heard so far, and hopefully lead to anticipation of the second half

Re: Longer Concert

[niquerio]

That's not a bad idea. In the questionnaires at least one person mentioned that the break for dinner was too long.

Maybe we could have a dinner tavern in addition to the lunch tavern? Would that be too much? If we could use the sanctuary for the concert (which I heard might be possible next year) that would free up the basement for set-up. Or Maybe a mini-feast or a potluck or something?

Or we could have feast on site, and then a longer concert with an intermission...

Or we could have auditions, but that has a whole host of problems. 1) I probably already would know ahead of time which would be the best quality groups. Why have auditions in that case? 2) We want people to prepare something ahead of time. How much would it suck to have been practicing for months only to find you didn't make the cut for the concert. 3) The point of the concert isn't just to show off the best stuff; it's to show everyone off. More like a talent show than a concert.

We could rotate which groups get to do a longer set or something.

Re: Longer Concert

[shalmestere]

Maybe we could have a dinner tavern in addition to the lunch tavern?...Or we could have feast on site....

Sure! The cooks in your Barony might view a small focused event as a proving ground for newer kitcheners, or as a chance to make dishes that are too fussy for a large feast--and not having to allow time for restaurant-hunting might tighten up your schedule.

(Our local group happens to have a group of period-cookery enthusiasts who welcome the opportunity to spend the weekend &$%#&ing around in the kitchen to feed a small audience of adventurous eaters, so our musicians' "encounter weekend" offers Saturday breakfast/lunch/dinner and Sunday breakfast.)

The Tomkins

[ermenrich]

So a thought occurred to me. I think I know part of why Tomkins got such a huge reaction. While many people in the audience were very knowledgeable in the finer aspects of music, there was also a group (and here is where I belong) that lack the knowledge to fully appreciate some of the more difficult works (like Perotin). I understand that it there is something in the Perotin piece that is complex, but I don't really have the ability to figure it out.

Tomkins was right there. Anyone could understand it and what was going on musically. It is sort of like musical theatre. Someone new to the area might think that Phantom is deep in its look at a musician's tortured soul. Then you watch Into the Woods or The Fantastics and realize that Phantom is not that big of a deal. Sure some songs are good, but other musicals do things better. Tomkins was your Phantom. Anyone can listen and enjoy. I am glad you had both.