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My debut as concertmasteršŸ˜±

Writer's picture: Chloƫ DickensChloƫ Dickens

That's right folks. This week I performed as concertmaster with the Queens College Orchestra. šŸŽ»


At some point during my undergrad at RWCMD, I realised that I wanted leading an orchestra to be a part of my future.šŸ¤” I think it happened because my confidence was growing,šŸ˜Š and I realised that sitting in orchestra was the musical place that I felt most at home.šŸ” Where I was still working things out in other areas of my life, in orchestra I was the most sure of myself that I could possibly be.šŸ’Ŗ I had an insanely inspiring teacher, David Adams, who is the concertmaster of the Welsh National Opera.šŸ“󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳ó æ I feel I owe a lot of my orchestral training to my years at Wells Cathedral School under Matthew Souter's instruction, but by example, David gave me the leadership skills that I now have.


So when the results of our auditions came through at Aaron Copland School of Music, and I saw I would be leading the last concert before Christmas? šŸŽ„Well fireworks went off. šŸŽ†A chance to try out these skills I'd been honing all these years! I've never felt more ready for anything. šŸ™Œ


I'm so grateful šŸ„¹for the opportunity I've had week after week to try out leading an orchestra. I've learned more than I could have imagined about being an ensemble musician. It's helped me put down onto paperšŸ“ that I'd like to lead my own ensemble one day. Knowing this means I can start thinking about the smaller steps to make it happen. For now, I'm still replaying how it felt to tune the orchestra with my friends beaming up at me, and the giggles we shared in the breaks, or the grins we broke out into when the music was magic. šŸ„°

Oh that's just me, my legendary theory professor Ed Smaldone who is killer on electric guitar, and Antonio Hart on the right there šŸ¤­




On the same day of the orchestra concert, I completed my chamber assessment, performing the entire Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8. It's a scary piece, super exposing for the first violin, and the moments of beauty are so delicate it feels criminal if you don't execute it right.šŸ«¤ I'm really proud of the performance we gave, and the chance to perform chamber repertoire in that hall is irreplaceable!šŸ¤© I loved the way filling the huge space felt, it gave the piece an extra sense of gravitas and made the rests terrifying!!šŸ˜³ Love it.




Me and Summer, our effervescent violist.


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