We certainly spread some Holiday Cheer!

The Caroling went off beautifully on December 22.  The weather cooperated pretty well, and we had an ok turnout, although from what I hear, it was down from last year, probably due to having to reschedule so close to Christmas.
~
We're on a break now, until practice begins for the Spring Concerts.  The dates for the Spring Concerts are Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7th.  Lynn Foote will be arranging for the locations, most likely the same as in the past.  I will post that information as it is comfirmed.

Once the Spring Concert is done, we will have another short break and then morph into "Arnie's Fiddlers" for the summer!  This will include the Nisswa Stamma in June!  I have some of the Swedish Fiddle Tune sheet music that I have found in the public domain online.  If you are iterested in it, I can mail or scan them off to you.  They are the songs played at the Allspell at the opening, where all the groups gather around the main stage and play the traditional old time favorites.  Email me at akkamarie@gmail.com if you are interested in having the sheet music to practice before the Stamma.  It's really quite rewarding to be able to play these songs with the big group!  Maybe we can see about arranging a special practice time this spring just to go over these songs, if there is interest in doing so.

So!  Keep practicing!  Devote some time to those scales.  Listen to your "Inner Arnie" saying "Long bow!"  :~)

Keep Warm ~~Rachel

Caroling Postphoned! Rescheduled to Saturday, Dec 22.

Same place, same time!  It was a wise and prudent move on Arnie's part to postphone our gathering until the weather was better.

Of note, there were 53 people at the rehearsal!  Arnie said he thought maybe an additional 10 would be coming to Carol as well!  Goodness, that's over 60 sets of strings vibrating at once!  What a force for good we're becoming.  Which brings to mind the recent news.  As Mr Roger's said of his mother's response to bad news, she would say "Yes, it's bad, but look for the helpers, there are always good people stepping up to help."  Her intent was to help her then young son process tragic events and realize that even though awful things are hashed and rehashed in the news, a wiser choice may be to "look for the helpers".  We can be those helpers on Saturday as we spread our cheer, smiles and talents to those who may wander by as we're playing!

Until Saturday!  ~~Rachel

Christmas Caroling, 2012

Planning is underway to do some Christmas Caroling, "String Style" again this year.  Arnie has made arrangements and they are as follows:

Tuesday, December 4th, 6 to 7pm, practice at the CI High School Music room.

Saturday, December 15th, 3:00pm.  We will meet at the Westgate Mall at the Herberger's inside/mall entrance (by their shoe department, for those of you who are familiar with Herberger's)  We will play for approximately an hour.  Consider getting to the Mall by 2:45 to tune up and get ready.

Saturday, December 15th, 5:30pm.  We will then travel to Crosby and play at the Heartwood Senior Living Center.  The address is 500 Heartwood Drive, Crosby.  After we play, we will have Pizza!

If you need further directions or clarifications, please feel free to call me at 218-829-3818.  I will have my phone with me on the 15th.

If you have the Christmas music from last year, please bring it with you to rehearsal.  These would be good pieces to memorize as well if you haven't done so already.  Arnie didn't mention anything about attire.  What you wore last year should work.   Maybe something festive?  Let's hope the weather cooperates!

Happy Holidays to all,
Rachel

"Well, that's sounding better"

Those words, from Arnie, are music to OUR ears as we practice deligently each week in preparation for both our lesson and the Tuesday evening Orchestra rehersals.  Attendence was down this past Tuesday as there were many competing events, from sports to baby showers!

Arnie did share a tip for this week.  He says we need to be mindful of the lack of sharps in Izy's Waltz.  He had the group work on finding C natural and F natural, reminding us to use a "low second finger" for both.  It was helpful to run up and down the scale on both the A string, finding C natural, and also on the D string, zeroing in on F natural.  For most, this may seem like an easy feat, but most of our songs have been in the key of G with both F and C being sharp.

With the concert less than a month away, the next topic for Arnie's input will be about concert etiquette.  I am sure he will have some guidance for us to prepare us as some of the students will move on to bigger stages!

I want a pepperoni pepperoni pizza!!

The 2012 Fall RRS Orchestra season is well underway.  We've had 3 weeks of lessons and orchestra to prepare for the November concerts.  Arnie has again surprised us with not only some original arrangements, but has also seen his vision of a mandolin group come to be!

The mandolin group meets on Tuesdays from 5pm to 6pm.  I don't know how many students Arnie thought he was going to have, but there are at least 20 of us.  Arnie has arranged one song that he offered a "help" to get the timing down, hence the title of this posting!  It's an ear worm for many of us practicing the song.  I find myself wanting many pepperoni pizzas!

For the next posting, I am going to ask Arnie what 3 or 4 things he'd like to stress as we practice our parts each week.  I'm sure he'll have some good suggestions that would be good to review.  Maybe I could even record him and include a link.  It would be a handy resource if someone missed a lesson or a Tuesday session.

One thing to pass along from Lynn is a reminder about the silent auction that will be quietly going on during our concerts.  If you have something nice to donate, please contact Lynn, or get word to me and I will be happy to relay it on.

Hopefully the snows will hold off until after our concerts!  Dates, times and locations will be posted next week as a handy reference.  Until then!  ~~Rachel

Lynn has some music events to post

        Andrew Miller asked if I would pass the following concert information to the Great River Strings as Andy has played with us and has been a part of our past Messiah performances. Lots going on next weekend with the Lakes Area Chamber Prelude Festival in Aitkin on July 14, at 7:30 at Aitkin Methodist Church and Sunday July 15 beginning at 1:00 with the memorial jam session for Stanley Berg.  Hope you can make all 3.  Wonderful options of styles and rhythms.  "From Age to Age" professional vocal ensemble presents SummerSong Saturday, July 13, 7:30pm St. Joseph Catholic Church 617 Poplar Street, Crosby, MN Join us for a delightful evening of Celtic, Folk and Spiritual music.  Featured in the concert will be three never-before-heard world premiers of contest winning pieces written by MN choral composers.  Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door.  Bring your family and friends - you don't want to miss this one!  You are cordially invited to a reception following the concert.         Hope to see you sometime this next weekend.  If Questions call me.  218-678-3034   Lynn

News Flash!!

Arnie just called.  There was a mistake on the date for the Serpent Lake Gig in Crosby.  It is NEXT Thursday, June 28 at 6pm.

Repeating, it's not tomorrow night, it's next week!  He hopes it will be dryer as I guess there was standing water in the park today.

Any questions, give me a call or drop me an email at akkamarie@gmail.com.

Rachel

Last of the Summer Practices

Tonight marked the last practice of the summer session.  We enjoyed Pizza, courtesy of Arnie, then went through the tunes as a "dress rehearsal" for Thursday's gig at Serpent Lake in Crosby.  Just a few reminders from Lynn and Arnie to:

Wear your yellow T-Shirt and jeans.
Bring a stand if you're going to need it.
Arrive at the park at 5:30pm, or, with enough time to get set up and tuned as we play at 6pm sharp.
If it looks like rain, check the blog.  I will try to keep in touch with Lynn, et al, and post any weather related information.  There is no rescheduling plans if it does rain, so hope for good weather!

Arnie also informed the group that funds were starting to come in for the Great Mandolin Experiment! Details will accumulate and follow, I'm sure, by next fall.

Next year's concert dates have been tentatively set as November 10th and 11th 2012, and April 6th and 7th, 2013.  We're fairly certain the times and locations will be the same as they were this year.  The fall practice season is slated to begin on Tuesday, September 18, 2012.

See you Thursday!  Tack se mycet! Rachel

Summer Board Meeting, June 18, 2012

"There's a motion" "I second it!" "All those in favor?"  Board meetings can sound like pretty dry stuff, but tonight's meeting held a special guest who works in helping Non-profit's (Like Great River Strings and the Ripple River Strings) operate with more vision towards the future.  This was accomplished with the sharing of some pretty neat ideas and visions.  One thing was unanimous, that we have a pretty darn good music operation with some fine talent!  Visions included "quality music" "financial stability" and to "keep educating musicians". The Board meets twice a year.  The next meeting will be in January of 2013.  If any orchestra members have questions, comments, ideas or concerns for the board, be sure to pass them along to Lynn Foote, Becky Jones, David Lang, Jean-Paul or myself.

Just a reminder of tomorrow night's final practice (Tuesday, June 19th)for the summer session.  Don't forget to wash the pizza grease off your fingers before you pick up your fiddles!  Arnie says to come at 6pm to eat pizza, then we'll practice after.

Our final gig will be Thursday, June 21st at Crosby Park.  Be there and ready to play at 6pm.  Don't forget a stand if you think you'll need one, but I bet you know more of these songs by heart than you think!

It was an especially pretty ride home from Aitkin to Brainerd after the meeting.

A small group gathered tonight for practice, but the tunes went well.  We went through the usual repitoire, then worked on Dorothea's Polka and the Schottis fran Blyberg.  Other items discussed this evening included the upcoming gig at Serpent Lake in Crosby.  Here's the particulars!

Here is a post of the rest of the list, the "In addition to the above" part...

Arnie also wants to end our summer practice sessions this coming Tuesday (June 18) with a pizza party.  He says to come at 6pm and be ready to eat pizza and pop.  If anyone wants to bring a dessert, that would be great!

If anyone has read the comments, Paul Wilson, who heads up the Nisswa Stamman has invited the Ripple River Fiddler's back next summer!

The next post will include some details about a Musical Memorial Tribute to Mr. Berge.

Tack sa mycet! Rachel

You'd have to call the Ripple River Fiddler's first appearance at the Nisswa Stamman on Saturday, June 9, 2012 a great success on all accounts!  All the way from the Fiddler's Parade, the Allspell, serenading the Maypole through Pioneer Village, to their 1:30 time slot in the Children's Tent, they sounded great and entertained all.  They even got an "Encore!" which they answered with "Catch that Rooster". The group looked great in their bright yellow T-Shirts and did such a good job being on time and in tune!  I'm sure we'd all like to join in a big "Tack sa mycet!"(Thanks!) to Paul Wilson for the invitation.  Many of the kids I talked to described the day as "FUN!" and hoped to be able to come back next year.  Maybe we could plan a couple "jam sessions" next spring to work on more allspell tunes??  (I have some online resources for allspell tunes that are in the public domain if anyone is interested.)

Our next gathering will be to resume our summer session with a practice on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 6pm at the Deerwood Baptist Church.  Upcoming events include the Crosby Park/Serpent Lake concert on June.....(I'll have to check the date!)  Also on the agenda, the annual potluck??

Winter Board Meeting

January 23, 2011

Winter Greetings, finally!  Inspite of the weather, there is a Great River Strings board meeting this evening at 6:30pm at the Aitkin Public Library.  Lynn Foote emailed out the agenda a week ago.  It will be fun to meet everyone involved in the behind the scenes of the Orchestra.  I hope to be able to offer some communication as well as computer tools that will help the spread of Orchestra related information be more efficient.

Be sure to watch for more updates regarding the resumption of practices and music lists as they become available!